Sacd

Bryan Ferry - Boys And Girls [Hybrid SACD - DTS 5.1]
Hybrid SACD Release: April 12, 2005 (Orig Year: 3 June 1985) | Label: Virgin Records Ltd.
Genre: Pop/Rock, Art Rock | Mono/Stereo: Multi Channel
Included: EAC + CUE + Wav + Covers | Size: 359 MB

Album Notes
Having at last laid Roxy to bed with its final, intoxicatingly elegant albums, Ferry continued its end-days spirit with his own return to solo work. Dedicated to Ferry's father, Boys and Girls is deservedly most famous for its smash single "Slave to Love." With a gentle samba-derived rhythm leading into the steadier rock pace of the song, it's '80s Ferry at his finest, easy listening without being hopelessly soporific. As a whole, Boys and Girls fully established the clean, cool vision of Ferry on his own to the general public. Instead of ragged rock explosions, emotional extremes, and all that made his '70s work so compelling in and out of Roxy, Ferry here is the suave, debonair if secretly moody and melancholic lover, with music to match. Co-producer Rhett Davies, continuing his role from the latter Roxy albums, picks up where Avalon left off right from the slinky opening grooves of "Sensation." The range of people on the album is an intriguing mix, from latterday Roxy members like Andy Newmark and Alan Spenner to avid Roxy disciples like Chic's Nile Rodgers. Everyone is subordinated to Ferry's overall vision, and as a result there's not as much full variety on Boys and Girls as might be thought or hoped. The album's biggest flaw is indeed that it's almost too smooth, with not even the hint of threat or edge that Ferry once readily made his own. As something that's a high cut above the usual mid-'80s yuppie smarm music, though, Boys and Girls remains an enjoyable keeper that has aged well.---allmusic.com

Joe Beck and Ali Ryerson have been working as a team for more than four years, playing concerts and other gigs under the name Duo. This is their second album, and, with the name Django, one would assume it is in honor of guitarist Django Reinhardt. Instead, the set is dedicated to the members of the Modern Jazz Quartet, who pioneered chamber jazz, the style that dominates this session with flautist Ryerson. John Lewis' "Django" is one of the tunes on the agenda that they play within the chamber style. Ryerson's passion for Brazilian music is documented on her six albums for Concord Jazz. She gets to show her mastery of this tempo on "Carioca Blue" and "O Barquinho." Jazz veteran Joe Beck, one of the first to mix jazz and rock guitar, uses an alto guitar which he invented. It provides a strong harmonically mellow and rhythmic cushion upon which Ryerson carries the melody line with her expressive, buoyant flute.

Anton Bruckner - Symphony No. 8 WAB 108 (Version 1890) in C minor
Beethoven Orchester Bonn / Stefan Blunier
2xSACD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 331 MB | Full Artwork: 98 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Live" # 937 1713-6 | Country/Year: Germany 2011
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Orchestral

"Even though Stefan Blunier's 2011 recording of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 in C minor is a lot to digest, timed at over 88 minutes and stretched almost to the breaking point, this is a deeply compelling performance and an impressive recording that deserves all the time listeners devote to it. (…) MDG's natural, unprocessed sound is a great aid to capturing the orchestra's subtle dynamics, and the live recording has very few extraneous sounds. Highly recommended." ~AMG

Anton Bruckner - Symphony No. 8 WAB 108 (Version 1890) in C minor
Beethoven Orchester Bonn / Stefan Blunier
2xSACD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 331 MB | Full Artwork: 98 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Live" # 937 1713-6 | Country/Year: Germany 2011
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Orchestral

"Even though Stefan Blunier's 2011 recording of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 in C minor is a lot to digest, timed at over 88 minutes and stretched almost to the breaking point, this is a deeply compelling performance and an impressive recording that deserves all the time listeners devote to it. (…) MDG's natural, unprocessed sound is a great aid to capturing the orchestra's subtle dynamics, and the live recording has very few extraneous sounds. Highly recommended." ~AMG

Bill Frisell - Richter 858
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 235 MB | Full Artwork: 110 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Songlines # SGL SA1551-2 | Country/Year: Canada 2005
Genre: Rock, Avant-Garde, Jazz | Style: Modern Classical, Ambient Rock, Jazz Guitar

"The music from Richter 858 was originally commissioned and recorded to accompany a book of paintings by Gerhard Richter, which was only available in limited quantities back in 2002. Tony Reif of Songlines decided to rescue the recordings from obscurity, and re-released them in early 2005. The band is Frisell on guitar and delay, Eyvind Kang on viola, Jenny Scheinman on violin, and Frisell's old bandmate Hank Roberts on cello. The pieces were directly inspired by a specific painting, and recorded live to two-track with no editing or overdubs."