Glass Opening

Hazel O'Connor - Breaking Glass (1980)
EAC, FLAC image, CUE+LOG, covers - 245.84 mb | mp3 CBR 320 - 89.78 mb
Soundtrack | Contemporary Pop/Rock | November 1980 | No 5 in the UK Albums Chart with a 28 week stay / Label: Spectrum Audio

The album went double platinum, reaching number 5 in the UK Albums Chart with a 28 week stay and produced several hit singles, the most successful being the haunting "Will You", and "Eighth Day". When O'Connor toured the UK in support of Breaking Glass the album, she selected as her opening act a then-unknown local group from Birmingham called Duran Duran. It was the band's first opportunity to play to large audiences throughout the UK and gave them the exposure they needed to secure a recording contract (with EMI).

Philip Glass’ soundtrack to the 1985 film Mishima gained a new following when its opening was used in 1998’s The Truman Show. Pianist Maki Namekawa, an acclaimed interpreter of Glass’ piano works, performs a new arrangement of the atmospheric score, following precisely its original scheme and including as much of the orchestral and chamber textures within the piano version as possible. Namekawa voices Glass’ often heartrending music with a beautiful evenness of touch, a warmth of tone, and a sense of the composer’s compelling narrative arc. In her hands, Mishima emerges renewed, a stand-alone modern masterpiece.

This is a tribute to the master of minimal music, legendary Philip Glass, who turns 80 on 1.31.2017. A year ago Philip Glass handpicked some pianists to perform all of his Etudes together at the Barbican in London.

On first glance, Through the Listening Glass is a duet recording between bassist David Friesen and guitarist John Stowell, at the time two burgeoning jazz fusion musicians whose kinship to the world sound of the group Oregon is easy to recognize. As one absorbs this music, you realize this album could easily be titled "The Art of the Overdub." Using multiple basses and guitars, percussion instruments, and the soprano sax of Gary Campbell, Friesen and Stowell create landscapes and skyscapes of sound on sound, at times a bit busy, mostly reaching for inner truths and a connection to some other dimension. There's no modicum of earthiness, but they strive to reach for the heavens, and use the technology of the times to create conversations within basic texts, layering them to a degree approaching epiphany…

Julia Holter - Celebration (2010) {Engraved Glass egp06}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 269 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 152 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 14 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2010 Engraved Glass | egp06
Indie / Indie Pop / Non-Music / Field Recording

Highly limited edition (50 copies) release by Julia Holter. Featuring field recordings, song & a lengthy extract from Julia's interpretation of a score by Michael Pisaro. Very tired and somewhat stressed today after a difficult day. i have been listening to music tonight through the haze of a cloudy headache, and I’m surprising myself by settling down to write about it now… If the rest of this post is even more vague than usual please understand why!

This limited edition presents three outstanding albums by Víkingur Ólafsson in a box set including additional fan content and deluxe packaging. With three albums on Deutsche Grammophon so far Ólafsson is known as one of the most exciting pianists of today and widely acknowledged for his “individuality of spirit and intelligence of execution” (Limelight Magazine).

The Essential Philip Glass is a three-disc 2012 compilation not to be confused with the single-disc 1993 album, The Essential Philip Glass. The tracks from both are taken from previous Sony releases. Two of the discs of the 2012 set are made up of single tracks from a number of albums, including Songs from Liquid Days, Glassworks, the film score Naqoyqatsi, the ballet In the Upper Room, and the choral-orchestral piece Itaipu. Stylistically the music represents a fairly narrow range in Glass' career; all the music except for Naqoyqatsi is from the 1980s. There is variety in the musical forces used; the Philip Glass Ensemble led by Michael Riesman figures prominently, but there are also pieces that use chorus, vocalists, and piano. Linda Ronstadt, Yo-Yo Ma, the Kronos Quartet, and Glass himself are among the distinguished soloists.