Cocoon Parallel Lines

Up Against It! is a 1997 album by Todd Rundgren consisting mostly of song demos he wrote and recorded between 1986 and 1989 for the musical theater adaptation of the never-produced screenplay Up Against It. The play was originally written in 1967 by Joe Orton for the Beatles. This album is Rundgren's score to the stage adaptation of playwright Joe Orton's Up Against It, the unfilmed screenplay originally mooted as the third Beatles film (after Hard Day's Night and Help). They declined it, so he reworked it to lessen their presence, successfully sold it to the producer Oscar Lewenstein, and then was violently murdered by boyfriend Kenneth Halliwell in a notorious murder-suicide.

As the '80s drew to a close, Todd Rundgren turned over a new leaf with his first album recorded specifically for Warner Bros. Not long after the release of A Cappella, he separated from Bearsville and disbanded Utopia, choosing to embark on a few years as a producer and session man. He finally returned with Nearly Human, his first album of new material in four years, in the summer of 1989. During his hiatus as a recording artist, Rundgren became fascinated with recording live music, deciding to record Nearly Human live in the studio – not nearly as flamboyant as A Cappella, but a gimmick nonetheless. If anything, the live-in-the-studio gimmick works better than the all-vocal track, not only because it's easier to execute, but because the production style complements the soul-inflected songs. Song for song, Nearly Human is his best record since The Hermit of Mink Hollow, since not only is the bulk of the album filled with charging blue-eyed soul like "The Want of a Nail" or sweet ballads like "Parallel Lines," but because there are no novelties and the cover choice (Elvis Costello's "Two Little Hitlers") is fresh and surprising. At times, his eccentricities get the best of him, as he overstuffs his arrangements or lyrics with unnecessary details, but these are minor points – Nearly Human finds Rundgren at the top of his game as a performer, producer and songwriter, sustaining his momentum in a way he hadn't for nearly a full decade.

CITIZEN CAIN originally formed in London in 1982 with Gordon Feenie (drums/flute) and Cyrus (bass/vocals) and shortly after Tim Taylor on guitar. But even though many critics rated them very highly the band split in 1988 and Cyrus returned home to Scotland…

The title of this latest release from bassist Neil Swainson is fitting: HERE FOR A WHILE. Amen to that. At 68, he’s had not just a long career, but a most distinguished and impactful one. In Canada and internationally, a world-class musician.

The title of this latest release from bassist Neil Swainson is fitting: HERE FOR A WHILE. Amen to that. At 68, he’s had not just a long career, but a most distinguished and impactful one. In Canada and internationally, a world-class musician.

Michael Jefry Stevens - For The Children (1995) {Cadence Jazz Records ‎CJR1202 rel 2008}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 290 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 146 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 31 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1995, 2008 Cadence Jazz Records ‎| CJR 1202
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

During his long and fruitful career, pianist Michael Jefry Stevens has spanned the range of music from commercial rock and funk to mainstream jazz, and the modern creative improvised style. This recording was in the can for some 13 years before seeing the light of day. It showcases the quartet of Stevens while he was living in New York City, teamed with the mighty bassist Dominic Duval, drummer Jay Rosen, and ex-Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers tenor saxophonist David Schnitter. The music reflects on a certain hard- to post bop esthetic, ballads for old flames, and a solid metropolitan edge that neither boils over, nor secedes to any pressure, expectation or self-doubt. In many ways a robust session due to Schnitter's expressive playing, it also marks this rhythm section as a driving force that can also play tender and restrained, but no less potent jazz.

Travis - Where You Stand (2013) [CD+DVD Deluxe Edition] {Red Telephone Box}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 320 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 118 Mb
DVD5 -> 1.35 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 16:9 | English (Dolby AC3, 2 ch) | ~ 30m | ISO Image
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 39 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 Red Telephone Box | PHONE010DEL
Rock / Alternative / Indie Rock

Limited Edition CD/DVD featuring two bonus audio tracks 'Anniversary' and 'Parallell Lines'. Bonus DVD including videos for Another Guy, Where We Stand, Moving and the Making Of The Album: Where You Stand. Sounding and looking more invigorated than ever, the Scottish band, with "Super Swede" Michael Ilbert (The Hives/The Cardigans/The Wannadies) on production duties, are now back after a five year hiatus with the follow-up to 2008's 'Ode to J. Smith'. The album was written and recorded across London, Norway, New York, and took in a production stint at Berlin's legendary Hansa Studios. This was enjoyed particularly by the band's Bowie-fanatic Dougie Payne, who revelled in layering the famous synthesisers of 'Low' fame onto 'Different Room'.

Four Tet has released a pair of new albums: Parallel and 871. The two albums follow Kieran Hebden’s most recent full-length Sixteen Oceans, which came out earlier this year. Hebden recently revealed that he and Madlib had finished work on the reclusive producer’s solo album Solo Ancestors, sharing the single “Road of the Lonely Ones.” He teamed with Thom Yorke and Burial for a pair of songs—“Her Revolution” and “His Rope”—earlier this month.