Ride (2014)

On 1993's HAPPIER BLUE Smither returned to the full-band recording approach after more than 20 years. While that album's production proved a little too genteel for Smither's earthy blues-folk style, it set the stage for '95's UP ON THE LOWDOWN, arguably the finest recording of Smither's long career. Perfectly produced by guitarist Stephen Bruton, the album wisely focuses on a tougher, leaner small-band sound than its predecessor. The arrangements have just the right combination of bluesiness and delicacy to complement both Smither's Mississippi John Hurt leanings and his more lyrical side. As always, Smither's the master of redefinition, tackling Dylan's "What Was It You Wanted" and Jesse Winchester's "Talk Memphis" successfully. His compositional muse is also at its apex here, as on the introspective "I Am The Ride" and the elegant, bittersweet "'Deed I Do".

If Out Among the Stars had come out when its sessions were completed, it would've appeared sometime in 1984, arriving between 1983's flinty Johnny 99 and 1985's slippery, sentimental Rainbow. Allegedly, this album – discovered by Legacy and John Carter Cash during some archival work in 2012 – was shelved because its Billy Sherrill production was just a little bit too pop for Johnny Cash's taste, but that reasoning isn't sound, particularly with the Chips Moman-produced crossover of sugar of Rainbow taken into consideration. Moman had been riding high on the hits he produced for Willie Nelson – notably "Always on My Mind," Willie's last great crossover smash – and he applied a similar heavy-handed touch to Cash, who at that point was several years away from his last Country Top 10 hit ("The Baron" went to 10 in 1981).

Formed in 2014 by founding Entombed member Lars-Göran Petrov, Entombed A.D. sees the influential Scandinavian death metal legends' punishing work published under a slightly different moniker…

In 2013, David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label released Who is William Onyeabor?, a compilation of the obscure, but increasingly influential Nigerian musician William Onyeabor. Now (in 2014) follows a 9xCD box set that collects the entirety of Onyeabor’s recorded output.

Miles Davis - Dark Magus: Live At Carnegie Hall (1974) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia–RCA Series, SICP 4238~39}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 699 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 242 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 220 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1974, 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 4238~39
Jazz / Jazz Fusion / Jazz Funk / Trumpet

Reissue. Available only for a limited period of time until December 21, 2015. Comes with liner notes. Dark Magus is a live recording of a very specific 1974 Carnegie Hall date that included most, but not all, of the members who recorded the classics Agharta and Pangaea. While drummer Al Foster, bassist Michael Henderson, percussionist James Mtume, and guitarists Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas were all present, the key element of Sonny Fortune was not yet in the band. Saxophonists David Liebman and Azar Lawrence were doubling in the saxophone chairs, while Dominique Gaumont, with his Jimi Hendrix-styled effects and riffs, was the band's third guitarist. The deep voodoo funk that gelled on the aforementioned recordings hadn't yet come together on this night at Carnegie, near the end of a tour.

Man - All's Well That Ends Well (1976) {Remastered & Expanded 3CD Edition Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 32431 rel 2014}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 870 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 311 Mb
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© 1976, 2014 Esoteric Recordings / Cherry Red Records | ECLEC 32431
Rock / Prog-Rock / Psychedelic / Pub Rock / Hard Rock

In 2014 Esoteric Records released a completely remastered issue of All's Well That Ends Well. It is the original album release remastered from the original 24-track tapes and select recordings of the shows from the 10 and 11 December 1976 of the three night stint at the Roundhouse. The recordings are a mix of the in-house recordings done by the Roundhouse sound team and the Manor Mobile recordings who also did the gig. This was the last line up until the band reformed in 1984, and captures most of the consistent members who played in Man, other than Micky Jones who never left it.