Martyrs Elcamino

Coming in at a tidy three hours and eight minutes, Donizetti’s huge Les Martyrs, composed (or adapted) for Paris in 1840, is here presented in its fullest conceivable form, including ballet and many passages cut right after the first performances. The opera was a reworking of his 1838 Poliuto, composed for the San Carlo in Naples, which had been banned by the king himself, since Christian martyrdom under the Romans was found unpleasant by the censors and the king was devoutly religious.

Steve Jansen - Slope (2014) {3CD Set Burning Shed Digisleeve Edition bshed 1305} (ft. David Sylvian)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 995 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 481 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 463 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013-2014 Burning Shed / Steve Jansen | bshed 1305
Experimental / Experimental Electronic / Avant-Garde / Ambient / Alternative

Released to highly positive reviews in 2007, Slope was the debut album from Steve Jansen (Japan / Rain Tree Crow). Exhibiting a bold combination of inventive rhythms, intricate programming and emotive vocal performances, the album features guest contributions from an impressive line-up including David Sylvian, Tim Elsenburg (Sweet Billy Pilgrim), Joan Wasser (Joan As Policewoman), Thomas Feiner, Anja Garbarek, Nina Kinert, and Theo Travis. As Jansen explains, "With Slope, I approached composition attempting to avoid chord and song structures and the usual familiar building blocks. Instead, in an attempt to deviate from my own trappings as a musician, I wanted to piece together unrelated sounds, music samples, rhythms and 'events'."

"Turn of the Tide" is BJH's second album following the departure of founding member Woolly Wolstenholme in 1979. Woolly was one of three writers in the band, with leanings towards classical music, and had brought that influence to bear on BJH's sound, particularly on their first four albums…

Azel is the second studio album recorded in the West by Tuareg Ifoghas guitarist, singer, and songwriter Bombino (Omara Moctar) and fifth overall. It stands in sharp contrast to 2013's Nomad, produced by Dan Auerbach. The earlier album placed Bombino's signature playing style – directly descended from the Niger master Haja Bebe and informed by Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler – inside a mélange of lap steel guitar, vibes, and a less syncopated rhythmic framework. While the songs and jams were unmistakably Bombino's, the sound and arrangements reflected the producer as much as the artist. Azel was produced by the Dirty Projectors' Dave Longstreth, a hardcore fan. Recorded in a converted barn in Woodstock, New York, this set delivers the full range of Bombino's gifts as composer, singer, and guitarist. The only Longstreth signature is the bright, canny mix. Bombino's double-tracked guitar is framed by a crack rhythm section.

David Sylvian - Sleepwalkers (2010) {Samadhisound sound cd ss020}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 379 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 158 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 377 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2010 SamadhiSound | sound cd ss 020
Experimental / Art Rock / Experimental Electronic / Avant-Garde

Like everything else he does, musical iconoclast David Sylvian's idea of a retrospective compilation is very different from the norm. Sleepwalkers is a 16-track, hour-plus collection focused on his many collaborations during the previous decade. Included are alternate takes from his own albums, remixes, reworked material and his contributions to the albums of others. There is one new cut, pointing to the future: "Five Lines" with Japanese composer Dai Fujikura, is a complex art song with a string quartet. (According to Sylvian, Fujikura is working with him on a completely new, orchestral version of Manofon.) This new piece is one of the many highlights.