The Hollies – Butterfly (1967/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

The Hollies – Butterfly (1967/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:07:45 minutes | 1,98 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino

This late 1967 album found the Hollies making some modest adjustments to the psychedelic era: occasionally trippy studio effects, a sitar on their most psychedelic track (“Maker”), songs that didn’t always deal with boy-girl relationships. In fact, however, the group’s focus remained where it usually was: modest but pleasing, similar-sounding catchy tunes with high harmonies and strumming guitars. It’s not remarkable or essential, but it’s certainly pleasant enough, and a bit better than their earlier 1967 LP, Evolution, with some of their better album-only cuts (“Postcard,” “Pegasus,” “Butterfly,” “Away Away Away”). With some track alterations, the record was issued in the U.S. as Dear Eloise/King Midas in Reverse; the U.K. edition, as collectors should note, has a few songs that were never released in the States (“Pegasus,” “Elevated Observations?,” “Try It”). – Richie Unterberger

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The Hold Steady – Open Door Policy (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

The Hold Steady – Open Door Policy (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 43:52 minutes | 528 MB | Genre: Alternative Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Positive Jams

Open Door Policy is The Hold Steady’s 8th full length studio album and the follow up to 2019’s Thrashing Thru The Passion. Produced by Josh Kaufman (The National, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter), this new release once again finds the 6-piece line up in peak form in what Craig Finn describes as “the best band we’ve ever been”.

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The Hold Steady – Almost Killed Me (2004/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

The Hold Steady – Almost Killed Me (2004/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:00:20 minutes | 728 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Frenchkiss Records

After Lifter Puller, the long-running indie rock band he fronted, broke up, Craig Finn took his vocal declarations and lyrical twists and started the Hold Steady. He was joined by old bandmate Tad Kubler on lead guitar plus a crew of hard rocking, bar hopping dudes intent on taking the rambling indie rock of Lifter Puller and replacing it with scuffed-up AOR and swaggering hard rock. Their 2004 debut album, Almost Killed Me, sounds like the E Street Band after they slipped into the gutter, Thin Lizzy if they got fat and American, and a hundred other bands from Southside Johnny to the early-’70s Kinks that liked to party, but did it with the occasional tear-filled eyes and desperate hearts. Like the best of these classic rock staples, the Hold Steady can flat out rock. Kubler can rip off a fret-searing solo with bullfighter style, which he does quite frequently, and the rhythm section has enough muscle power to stop a speeding locomotive. On top of this vintage rock chassis, the band drop Finn’s vocals and vision. Without him, the music is straightforward enough to appeal to the AOR masses and backstreet fanatics; with him they are far too weird and wild. His pop culture name-drops, knowing references to obscure musicians like Andre Cymone, real-sounding tales of the streets, and flights of knuckle-busting anger are far out in left field, and his bracing, eye-bulging delivery of said lyrics pushes it even further over the top. It’s a high-wire balancing act of sorts, and it would be easy for the band to topple over into boring mainstream rock cliches or veer into embarrassing drunken poetry territory but it never happens, not even once. The group plays with intense energy at all times, propping Finn up and giving his words the dramatic backdrop they deserve. Finn holds up his end of the bargain by being hilarious and oddly touching as he rambles, coughs, and shouts his way through what sounds like a lifetime of journal entries, inside jokes, and record store soliloquies. Tracks like “The Swish” and “Knuckles” are endlessly quotable, the story songs don’t wear out after repeated listens, and at times, the words and music combine in such a thrilling manner that the Hold Steady feel like the best, most alive band in the world. It’s a brilliant debut, and the sense that Finn and friends viewed Almost Killed Me as a renewed lease on musical life is tangible throughout. The last-chance desperation and burning desire bleed out through the grooves and it’s impossible not to get swept up in the flood right along with them.

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The Highwomen – The Highwomen (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The Highwomen – The Highwomen (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:06 minutes | 877 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Low Country Sound – Elektra

The country supergroup of Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby—the Highwomen—mercifully isn’t about girl power. Theirs is a show of strength by four grown-ass women and their mighty voices. They harmonize like nobody’s business (the ’80s-tinged “Redesigning Women,” rodeo-sweetheart track “Heaven Is a Honky Tonk”) but it’s just as fun when they trade verses, as on the wickedly swinging “My Name Can’t Be Mama” and lonesome-West title track, co-written with Jimmy Webb (who composed “Highwayman,” made famous by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, who adopted the moniker in 1985 for their quartet). Morris takes center stage for “Loose Change,” highlighting her clever-metaphor lyrics: “I’m gonna be somebody’s lucky penny someday / instead of rolling around your pocket like loose change.” Carlile exudes star power for the excellent “Wheels of Laredo” and “If She Ever Leaves Me”—a claim-staking weepie told from a lesbian POV. While not as famous, Shires (“Don’t Call Me,” a real spitfire) and Hemby (the Anne Murray-esque “My Only Child”) prove much more than supporting players. And when all four voices come together with no solo turns for the angelic “Crowded Table,” it’s truly a high.

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The Highwaymen – The Very Best Of (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

The Highwaymen – The Very Best Of (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 58:32 minutes | 644 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia Nashville Legacy

Frequently referred to as ‘the Mount Rushmore of country music,’ The Highwaymen Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson were American country music’s first bona fide supergroup, an epic quartet comprised of the outlaw country genre’s pioneering stars.

The Very Best Of The Highwaymen contains the group’s best known songs plus a previously unreleased cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘One Too Many Morning’ and a track from the new The Highwaymen Live American Outlaws release.

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The Highwaymen – Live – American Outlaws (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

The Highwaymen – Live – American Outlaws (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 02:43:05 minutes | 1,82 GB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia Nashville Legacy

Country music’s first supergroup comprised of four stalwarts of the genre: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. The Highwaymen were active for a decade spanning 1985 to 1995 recording three major label albums including a debut number one single, title track “Highwaymen”. This 3 CD and DVD set takes in their legendary live show at Nassau Coliseum, New York 1990 across two discs and a third CD of tracks from live appearances at Farm Aid Festivals. The DVD features the full length, previously unreleased concert film recorded live at Nassau Coliseum, transferred from the original reels especially for this collection.

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The Highwaymen – Highwayman (1985/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

The Highwaymen – Highwayman (1985/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:17 minutes | 1,17 GB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia Nashville

The 1985 album from the country supergroup of Merle, Johnny, Kris and Willie that lived up to all expectations. „Highwayman“, consisting of ten tracks, was released as a follow-up to the successful single of the same name and the title track of the album itself. ‘Highwayman’, a Jimmy Webb cover, hit the top of the country charts and was followed up by the Top 20 hit ‘Desperados Waiting for a Train’, whose original version was released by Guy Clark. The album was entirely produced by Chips Moman.

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The Helicopter of The Holy Ghost – Afters (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

The Helicopter of The Holy Ghost – Afters (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 39:12 minutes | 419 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Kscope

In 2001 Billy Reeves, fresh from introducing the world to Sophie Ellis-Bextor (via their band theaudience) was smashed to bits by joyriders whilst in his Morris Minor – resulting in a two-week coma and a year in and out of hospital. In 2017 his brother gave him two mini-discs that had been saved from the wreckage, including demos of songs he had forgotten – due to crash-related amnesia.

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The Head Shop – The Head Shop (1969/2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The Head Shop – The Head Shop (1969/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 31:49 minutes | 747 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Epic – Legacy

The Head Shop is one of those horribly out of print oddities that it’s practically impossible to find information on. My basic impressions are that I can’t really tell if this was a legitimate band, or one of those psychedelic exploitation albums. Basically, the playing is very much along the exploitative lines; my wife doesn’t know much about psych but she pointed out that this music reminded her of The Zodiac’s Cosmic Sounds. Still, there’s a touch more of weird inspiration than the bulk of exploitation albums have. For some reason, a lot of this album also makes me think of the music from Jesus Christ Superstar – especially around the middle with tracks like “Listen With A Third Ear” and “Opera In The Year 4000.”

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The Head and the Heart – Signs of Light (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

The Head and the Heart – Signs of Light (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 49:12 minutes | 627 MB | Genre: Indie Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

Seattle folk-rock artisans the Head and the Heart have always been admirably honest about their rustic notions of musicality, celebrating uncluttered craft, homey detail and vérité revelation. “Signs of Light” is their third studio album, and first album released through Warner Bros. Records.

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The Head And The Heart – Living Mirage: The Complete Recordings (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

The Head And The Heart – Living Mirage: The Complete Recordings (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 58:08 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Indie Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Reprise

The Mojave Desert reverberates with mysticism. It’s a landscape of boulders seemingly transported from the moon alongside Joshua Trees, their tops angled upward like hands grasping at the heavens. This is where everyone from John Lennon and Keith Richards to Victoria Williams and Gram Parsons have come for inspiration. And early last year, it’s where The Head and the Heart decided to shed old skin before writing their fourth album, Living Mirage, a sweeping, artful expansion of the earthy folk rock that once defined them.

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The Head And The Heart – Living Mirage (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

The Head And The Heart – Living Mirage (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 41:46 minutes | 801 MB | Genre: Indie Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Reprise

The follow-up to 2016’s chart-topping Signs of Light, Living Mirage sees the Head and the Heart operating without co-founder Josiah Johnson, who left the group amicably shortly after Signs of Light’s release — replacing him on guitar and vocals is Matt Gervais, the husband of violinist and vocalist Charity Rose Thielen. The Seattle group’s fourth full-length effort and their second outing for Warner Bros, the 11-track set continues to mostly eschew the rural folk-rock of their first two records for a more radio-ready approach that hews closer to “Little Lies”-era Fleetwood Mac than it does Fleet Foxes or the Avett Brothers. Still, there is a sort of sanguine rusticity that runs through the LP that evokes the breezy folk-pop of contemporaries like Of Monsters and Men and the Lumineers, especially on the slow-churning title track and the life-affirming opener “See you Through My Eyes.” The glossy production that made Signs of Light a tad divisive is dialed back a bit this time around, but there’s no denying the band’s pivot toward pop, as evidenced by the lead singles “Missed Connections” and “Honeybee,” both of which exhibit a significant electro-folk sheen. As per usual, the Head and the Heart excel at delivering familiar melodies paired with lyrics that look inward, yet just far enough into the abyss to wring out some sort of generic catharsis. As emotionally and musically on the nose as songs like “Running Through Hell” and “Saving Grace” are, they, like all of the material on Living Mirage, are executed with great care and performed with genuine spirit. That the album ends with just Jonathan Russell and his acoustic guitar looking for refuge inside the embassy of music is fitting. Stripped of all of the bells and whistles, the Head and the Heart are as homespun and simple as they come, and it’s in that state of undress where those relatable words and melodies most resonate. ~ James Christopher Monger

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The Hallé – Momento immobile (Bonus Track Version) (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

The Hallé – Momento immobile (Bonus Track Version) (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:22:34 minutes | 346 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RUBICON

Hailed as ‘the new voice of Russia’ and the star of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Venera Gimadieva has quickly become one of the most sought-after lyric coloratura sopranos in Europe. Her performances as Violetta in La Traviata have earned sensational reviews, with the Guardian describing her at her Glyndebourne Festival debut as “a soprano of huge presence, compelling to watch, with a voice of thrilling security and range, and a special quality to her quieter singing that makes you hang on every note.”

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Various Artists – he Hague Songbook Exchange (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Various Artists – he Hague Songbook Exchange (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:43:25 minutes | 1,07 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Challenge Records

The Hague Songbook Exchange is an exchange of compositions between jazz musicians and producers from the electronic music scene.

Initiator Martijn Verlinden: “This album is a collection of songs which shows that the city of The Hague is bursting with musical talent. Many jazz musicians and producers from the city have been leading and innovative in music for decades. The idea for the album came about because I have been active in music for more than 25 years, and because of that I am especially a great fan of jazz and electronic music. By exchanging compositions between the two music styles, they have been rearranged without deviating from their own genre and new music has emerged. This album is an ode to my father Martin Verlinden, he was a jazz pianist and passed away in 1989.”

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Sonat Vox – Klang der Verbundenheit (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Sonat Vox – Klang der Verbundenheit (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 55:53 minutes | 1,01 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Animato

Together with a horn quartet led by the renowned horn player Marc Gruber and the Schubert expert Paul Sturm on the fortepiano, a companion from a time with the Windsbacher Knabenchor, as well as a string ensemble, Sonat Vox present a compilation of selected romantic choral movements by composers such as Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner and Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Sonat Vox illuminate motifs such as friendship, love, closeness to home and nature, but also address their opposites: longing, separation, loneliness and loss.

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