Silence Kit

From Russia, a fabulous album that would have the UK rock press sailvating if it were a British product. Silence Kit's eponymous 2002 debut is a record that deserves a wide audience. Events commence in eerie but ominous fashion with the instrumental 'Transmiss To Fades' but then the modern post-punk threat of 'Twenty Eight And Two' featuring a thrilling guitar rhythm, clattering percussion and a ghostly vocal. 'Francesca White' is leaner, rawer; evocative of Sonic Youth in their mid-80s pomp. After the doleful lo-fi rock of 'Lunik' the second half is occupied with the dynamic post-rock that Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai used to do so well..

Performed across two nights at the Royal Dramaten Theatre in Stockholm in March of 2017, Who By Fire is a theatrical staging of Leonard Cohen’s songs, poems and letters. Conceived and anchored by First Aid Kit, the band are joined by an array of guest artists, two actors, an 8 member band and strings and on two songs a 20 strong choir. An incredibly ambitious undertaking, they selected and sequenced all of the material performed and collaborated with the theatre and their music director to stage and orchestrate the show.

Kit Watkins has played keyboards for Happy The Man, Tone Ghost Either, and between 1979-1982 was a member of Camel (recording on I Can See Your House From Here as well as On the Road 1981 and On The Road 1982). He has also perfomred on recordings by Forrest Fang, The Blind Messenger, Richard Sinclair, Paul Adams and Djam Karet.

American pianist and composer Kit Armstrong steps back in time to revive the spirit of Elizabethan England. For his first album on Deutsche Grammophon, Kit Armstrong presents works by two composers who elevated instrumental music to new heights of refinement in the Golden Age of Elizabeth I and her successor James I.

Described as the Swedish answer to the Pierces, sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg, aka First Aid Kit, blend autumnal folk and wistful '60s Americana, and have gathered a pretty illustrious following since their cover version of Fleet Foxes' "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" became a YouTube hit back in 2008. As well as releasing their debut single through the Knife's Rabid Records label, they have since made Patti Smith cry with their rendition of her 1979 single "Dancing Barefoot," been courted by Jack White, who invited them to appear on two tracks for his Third Man Records' Blue Series, and now find themselves under the guidance of producer Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes) for their second album, The Lion's Roar. It's an impressive turn of events for a duo that hails from a small suburb of Stockholm, but the follow-up to 2010's The Big Black & the Blue reveals why First Aid Kit have attracted so much attention. Juxtaposing the girls' glorious ethereal harmonies with a genuine sense of melancholy, the bittersweet alt-country of "Emmylou," a tribute to the musical partnerships of Ms. Harris and Gram Parsons, and Johnny Cash and June Carter; the twinkling Mama Cass-esque "Blue"; and the lush acoustics of "I Found a Way" are all beautifully heartbreaking.

This “short diary (of loss)”, as drummer Sebastian Rochford calls it, is offered as “a sonic memory, created with love, out of need for comfort.” It is dedicated to Rochford’s father, Aberdeen poet Gerard Rochford, 1932-2019, and to his family. Seb, one of ten siblings, wrote most of the music shortly after Gerard’s death and delivers it here, in performances of deep feeling and hymn-like clarity, together with pianist Kit Downes. The final wistful piece, “Even Now I Think Of Her” was composed by Gerard Rochford. Sebastian explains: “It’s a tune my dad had sung into his phone and sent me. I forwarded this to Kit. He listened, and then we started.”

Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg have taken what, in the era of TV talent shows and Internet stars (they were once YouTube sensations themselves), has become a rare path to major-label success. Their hard work and growth within a trusting and nurturing indie label climate have helped develop and mature their sound from the enchanting folk of their debut to the polished Americana that dominates Stay Gold. Making the jump from Wichita to Columbia Records for their third full-length has given the duo the scope to dream bigger, and that's exactly what they've managed here with an assured and comprehensive collection of songs.

Barney Kessel - Kessel's Kit (1969) {2015 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICJ 100}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 248 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 88 Mb
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© 1969, 2015 RCA / Sony Music Japan | SICJ 100
Jazz / Bop / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Soul Jazz / Groove / Guitar

Reissue with the latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. One of Barney Kessel's greatest albums ever – a rare Italian-only session that has a sparkly Brazilian groove! The record was recorded in Rome in 1970, and it's got Kessel's guitar fronting a combo with organ and some very tight percussion – all dancing around in a fast samba mode that's different from virtually anything else he ever recorded – very groovy, very upbeat, and very much what you might expect when the talents of a west coast guitar giant meets the best of the Italian studio scene of the time! There's loads of original tracks on the set – like "Freeway", "Lison", "BJ's Samba", and "On the Riviera" – and the whole thing has a breezy dancing feel that's really wonderful!