It's Not That Deep

Innovatively fusing traditional ethnic musics with state-of-the-art rhythms, the work of Deep Forest was best typified by their 1993 smash "Sweet Lullaby," which brought together the contemporary sounds of ambient techno with the haunting voices of the Pygmies of the central African rain forest…

Jim Capaldi, Gordon Jackson, Dave Meredith, Luther Grosvenor, and John 'Poli' Palmer - collectively known as the Deep Feeling - came close in 1966 to being the "next big thing" to come out of the West Midlands. As events would have it, the group folded when on the verge of success, leaving behind precious few recordings previously unavailable until now. Sunbeam Records has finally done the group justice by issuing this CD that will help ensure their place in the region's rich rock music history. Deep Feeling evolved from the Worcester group The Hellions whose origins can be traced back to that town's early 1960s beat scene.

Created slowly over a years-long span that encompassed the recording of 2019’s Stray Fantasies, wife and husband duo Hollie and Keith Kenniff deliver In a Deep & Dreamless Sleep, a distinctly hazier chapter of their technicolor pop venture Mint Julep. Where the former album bore a crystalline latticework of defined pop structure, the latter blunts the sharpness and softens the glare, striking a balance between songcraft, and Hollie’s solo material, as well as Keith’s output as Goldmund. In a Deep & Dreamless Sleep assumes a more aerated form, exuding a heavy fog of shoegaze sensibility, though the infectious pop know-how of its precursor remains firmly intact.

Stick Men - Deep (2013) [CD + DVD9 A/V NTSC] {Deluxe Book Special Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 379 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb
DVD9 A/V-> 7.21 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 16:9 | ~ 127 min | ISO Image
5.1 DTS / MLP 5.1/2.0 96 kHz / 24 Bit / LPCM 2.0 24/48 / Dolby AC3, 2 ch (video)
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 175 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 7D Media / Stick Men Records | STM 9867D
Rock / Prog Rock / Avant-Garde

Limited edition (only 300 copies made!) Deluxe 32-page linen-bound book with personal photos and notes by the band. Stick Men (Tony Levin of King Crimson, Peter Gabriel; Pat Mastelotto of King Crimson, XTC, Mr. Mister; Markus Reuter of Tuner, Centrozoon) present their new Special Edition CD/DVD release of Deep. The bonus DVD includes a wonderful 5.1 DTS mix of the entire album and hi-res versions of the stereo mix. All of this uncompressed at the highest fidelity. Also included is a 65 minute documentary and concert film A Little Deeper. Also included are two alternative versions of Crack in the Sky in both Italian and Spanish and a postcard signed by Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, and Markus Reuter.

Joan Wasser's first Joan as Police Woman album, Real Life, mourned the loss of her lover, Jeff Buckley, while her second, To Survive, mourned the loss of her mother. The Deep Field, however, finds her alone but not lonely, still searching for something and finding beauty and even happiness, if not answers. Wasser reunited with producer Bryce Goggin for this set of songs, but the guests that popped up on her previous albums are notably absent, as is much of the sadness that made Real Life and To Survive as wrenching as they were compelling. Not that The Deep Field is entirely clear sailing: on “Nervous,” she’s shaken precisely because things are going so well with a new love, while on “Run for Love,” she cautions, “I don’t wanna talk on the future with you” even as she revels in togetherness. Here, her highs are as stratospheric as her lows were deep before; “The Action Man” starts as a spin around the dancefloor and ends with Wasser losing track of time and space. These unique twists she puts on happiness keep the album fresh, even when its second half ventures into the smoothest musical territory Wasser has yet explored.

No one, least of all Deep Purple themselves, expected the success of 2013's Now What?! It placed at number one on four European album charts and in the Top Ten of six other countries. It also sold exceptionally well: It was certified Gold in Poland, Germany (where it sold over 100,000), the Czech Republic, and Russia – it was the band's first album to crack the U.K.'s Top 40 charts in 20 years. For InFinite, Deep Purple re-enlisted producer Bob Ezrin. At this point, he is almost a sixth member. This the longest running lineup in their history. InFinite is a heavier and more expansive record than its predecessor, but it's not as consistent. Ian Gillian is in excellent form – still possessing intense expressive power and range, his falsetto remains intact four decades on. Don Airey's organ and keys – so elemental in DP's musical architecture – is physical, atmospheric, and dynamic.