The Jimmy Castor Bunch – Supersound (1975/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 31:50 minutes | 1,20 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino Atlantic
James Walter “Jimmy” Castor was an American pop and fun disco/funk saxophonis. As leader of The Jimmy Castor Bunch in the 1970s, and also as a solo artist, he released several successful albums and singles. “Supersound” is The Jimmy Castor Bunch’s 1975 album released by Rhino Atlantic Records. The record features lively titles “King Kong”, “A Groove Will Make You Move”, “Bom Bom” and the title track “Supersound”.
Read morePavle Krstic – Stravinsky: Petrouchka & Early Works (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]
Pavle Krstic – Stravinsky: Petrouchka & Early Works (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 56:42 minutes | 856 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © OnClassical
The Austrian-based pianist, Pavle Krstic (1998), has been credited with “individuality, sensitivity, lyricism, as well as dramatic and expressive” playing. He performs as a soloist, chamber musician and with orchestra, works on arrangements and orchestrations, and focuses on an analytical approach to the interpretation of piano music. Since the winter semester of 2022 he is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Musicology of the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
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The Jayhawks – Back Roads And Abandoned Motels (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 45:43 minutes | 540 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sham
Since the outset, the Jayhawks have thrown themselves heart and soul into resurrecting an alternative country music fed on Seventies folk. It’s a rootsy soundtrack which allows itself a few nods at power pop. The concept of Americana was in vogue back in the early 1990s, and the group of Gary Louris and Mark Olson were spearheading it. They were armed with the legacy of Gram Parsons, the Byrds, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Tom Petty and even Big Star… some albums and some years later, they were greying a little around the temples but their talent was still intact. In 2016, the album Paging Mr. Proust neatly rejuvenated the group’s genetic makeup. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, Mark Olson quit again, but Louris stood in fantastically as a songwriter. Without Olson, the Jayhawks started showing more of their power-pop side than their folk side. And that tendency was confirmed on Paging Mr. Proust… With Back Roads And Abandoned Motels, Gary Louris hasn’t really brought out a new album. But whatever. With his bandmates, he is offering up two new songs which he has rounded out with compositions written or co-written for old albums by Natalie Maines, the Dixie Chicks, Jakob Dylan, Ari Hest, Scott Thomas, Carrie Rodriguez, the Wild Feathers and Emerson Hart. It’s an odd exercise (the material is a patchwork) but it’s anything but stupid (the quality is very real), and it allows him to perform his own versions with perfect freedom. This is an offering from the Jayhawks which brings us back to their country rock and folk roots. – Marc Zisman
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Lightnin’ Hopkins – Lightnin’ and Co (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 36:40 minutes | 322 MB | Genre: Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Music Manager
Lightnin’ and Co. is an album by the blues musician Lightnin’ Hopkins, recorded in Texas in 1962 and released on the Bluesville label. The album was reissued in 1981 on Fantasy Records as a double LP compilation titled How Many More Years I Got, with additional tracks from the sessions.
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The Irwin Twins (Len & Glen) – Columbia Singles (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 39:21 minutes | 522 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy
US Rock ‘n’ Roll duo, Lynn and Glynn (or Len and Glen) were born in 1942 in Louisville (Kentucky). The Irvin Twins recorded at Tel Star and Columbia Records.
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The Moth & The Flame – Ruthless (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 37:02 minutes | 722 MB | Genre: Alternative, Indie, Electronic
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Robot Farming
“I love being in this band, we just have the most fun together. Writing Ruthless is what writing an album should feel like, in my opinion,” frontman Brandon Robbins tells. “It was extremely cathartic and spiritual, but also strange and uncomfortable. I think comfort can be a hindrance to the writing process. It’s important to push yourself, to push the boundaries at least a little bit.” On bitingly honest tracks such as “Beautful Couch” and “The New Great Depression,” TMTF are able to articulate the complexities of mental health (sample lyric: “the monster in my head is ruthless”). Lighter tracks are still tinged in darkness, as the band employs distorted synths and pulsing beats alongside melodic vocals. This is an album that does not live in either extreme, instead choosing to venture into the murky reality of the human mind.
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The Doobie Brothers – Minute By Minute (1978) [Japan 2017]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 36:52 minutes | Scans included | 1,49 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 754 MB
With Tom Johnston gone from the lineup because of health problems, this is where the “new” Doobie Brothers really make their debut, with a richly soulful sound throughout and emphasis on horns and Michael McDonald’s piano more than on Patrick Simmons’ or Jeff Baxter’s guitars. Not that they were absent entirely, or weren’t sometimes right up front in the mix, as the rocking, slashing “Don’t Stop to Watch the Wheels” and the bluegrass-influenced “Steamer Lane Breakdown” demonstrate. But given the keyboards, the funky rhythms, and McDonald’s soaring tenor (showcased best on “What a Fool Believes”), it’s almost difficult to believe that this is the hippie bar band that came out of California in 1970. There’s less virtuosity here than on the group’s first half-dozen albums, but overall a more commercial sound steeped in white funk. It’s still all pretty compelling even if its appeal couldn’t be more different from the group’s earlier work (i.e., The Captain and Me, etc.). The public loved it, buying something like three million copies, and the recording establishment gave Minute by Minute four Grammy Awards, propelling the group to its biggest success ever.
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The Doobie Brothers – Livin’ On The Fault Line (1977) [Japan 2017]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 35:18 minutes | Scans included | 1,43 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 721 MB
Livin’ on the Fault Line fell between two of the Doobie Brothers’ biggest-selling records. The album had no hit singles, and one-time leader Tom Johnston kept a markedly low profile (this would be his last record with the group, not including a later reunion). Despite this, Livin’ on the Fault Line contains some of the most challenging and well-developed music of the band’s career, with Patrick Simmons and Michael McDonald really stepping to the fore. There’s a vague mood of melancholia running through the songs, as well as a definite jazz influence. This is most obvious on the title track, which has several instrumental passages that showcase the guitar abilities of Simmons and Jeff Baxter. Similarly, “Chinatown” is a spooky mood piece not unlike the smooth fusion of late-period Steely Dan or Little Feat. But “Echoes of Love” and “Nothin’ But a Heartache” are both intelligent, glistening pop songs that confirm Simmons and McDonald as first-rate tunesmiths. The record slips a little at the end, with a plodding R&B song and a Piedmont guitar instrumental thrown in as filler. Overall, though, this is a chapter in the Doobie Brothers’ history that deserves a second look.
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The Doobie Brothers – Farewell Tour (1983) [Japan 2017]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 65:17 minutes | Scans included | 2,64 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,39 GB
Farewell Tour is the first live album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers. It documents the group’s 1982 Farewell Tour and is a double LP set. By the early 1980s, the Doobie Brothers had evolved from the guitar-boogie sound under original band frontman Tom Johnston to a soulful keyboard-driven AOR sound under Michael McDonald. Despite the many personnel changes in the group, Patrick Simmons remained from the original incarnation of the group. The front cover shows Keith Knudsen cutting the strings on John McFee’s guitar as a symbolic gesture. The last two songs on the album were recorded at the final concert of the tour in Berkeley, California, on September 11, 1982 with vocals by original lead vocalist and guitarist Tom Johnston. For a long time the album was available on CD only in Japan.
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The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnanyi – Dvorak / Smetana (1986/1995) [Reissue 2005]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 77:47 minutes | All Scans included | 4,18 GB
Warning: Features Multichannel surround sound ONLY | Label: Decca / Eloquence # 476 782-6
Christoph von Dohnányi is recognized as one of the world’s most distinguished conductors. Von Dohnányi served as sixth music director of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1984 to 2002, having been appointed music director designate in 1982. He conducted the orchestra in subscription concerts, in semi-staged concert version opera performances at Severance Hall, and on domestic and international tours to Asia and Europe. He initiated a project conducting world premieres of composers from the Cleveland area. The renovation and the extension of Severance Hall, the founding of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and Youth Chorus were significant achievements during his era as music director. He recorded numerous works with the Cleveland Orchestra: CD releases by Decca feature wide ranging repertoire with works by Mozart, Mahler, Bruckner, Dvorak, Strauss, Ives, Varese, Bartok, Adams, Ruggles, Webern, Ran, Shostakovich and all Schumann symphonies. A compilation of all Beethoven symphonies was recorded by Telarc, and a collection of all Brahms symphonies by Teldec. Live radio broadcast recordings were released by the Cleveland Orchestra, one set in celebration of the orchestra’s 75th anniversary and one commemorative box upon finishing his tenure in Cleveland representing his 20 years as music director. In 2002, he was named the first music director laureate of the Cleveland Orchestra. Since ending his tenure in Cleveland, von Dohnányi has been a regular guest conductor with the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as the Cleveland Orchestra.
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The Claude Williamson Trio – Autumn In New York (1995) [Japan 2016]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 56:49 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 2,29 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 1,15 GB
Claude Berkeley Williamson was an American jazz pianist. On this album, Claude Williamson and his trio of Bill Crow and David Jones join together to bring an album full of favorite standards as well as a few originals to their jazz-loving fans. Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in his studio.
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The Charlie Byrd Trio – The Bossa Nova Years (1991) [Reissue 2003]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 54:19 minutes | Scans included | 3,22 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Scans included | 1,16 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound
Guitarist Charlie Byrd revisits a variety of bossa nova songs, including nine by Antonio Carlos Jobim on this pleasing and accessible set. What makes this release stand out from his many similar dates is that Ken Peplowski’s clarinet and tenor are well featured, adding variety to the music and a lead voice for Byrd to play off of. Otherwise the music is predictably excellent, with such classics as “One Note Samba”, “Corcovado”, “Dindi”, “O Pato”, and “The Girl from Ipanema” receiving very favorable treatment.
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The Cars – The Cars (1978) [MFSL 2016]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 35:19 minutes | Scans included | 1,44 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 715 MB
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab # 2162
The Cars’ 1978 self-titled debut, issued on the Elektra label, is a genuine rock masterpiece. The band jokingly referred to the album as their “true greatest-hits album”, but it’s no exaggeration – all nine tracks are new wave/rock classics, still in rotation on rock radio. Whereas most bands of the late ’70s embraced either punk/new wave or hard rock, the Cars were one of the first bands to do the unthinkable – merge the two styles together. Add to it bandleader/songwriter Ric Ocasek’s supreme pop sensibilities, and you had an album that appealed to new wavers, rockers, and Top 40 fans. One of the most popular new wave songs ever, “Just What I Needed”, is an obvious highlight, as are such familiar hits as “Good Times Roll”, “My Best Friend’s Girl”, and “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”. But like most consummate rock albums, the lesser-known compositions are just as exhilarating: “Don’t Cha Stop”, “Bye Bye Love”, “All Mixed Up”, and “Moving in Stereo”, the latter featured as an instrumental during a steamy scene in the popular movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. With flawless performances, songwriting, and production (courtesy of Queen alumni Roy Thomas Baker), the Cars’ debut remains one of rock’s all-time classics.
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The Cars – Heartbeat City (1984) [MFSL 2016]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 38:57 minutes | Scans included | 1,58 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 788 MB
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab # 2163
MTV had become a major marketing tool by 1984, and the Cars were one of the first bands to use the new video medium to their advantage. The band’s fifth album, Heartbeat City (Elektra), spawned several imaginative and memorable videos, which translated into massive chart and commercial success, making it one of the biggest releases of the year. Produced by hitmaker John “Mutt” Lange (AC/DC, Def Leppard), the album included two Top Ten singles — the ballad “Drive” and the charismatic “You Might Think” — plus an additional two that landed in the Top 20: the summer anthem “Magic” and the eccentric “Hello Again”. But it didn’t just stop there, plenty of other tracks could have been hits as well, such as the sparse rocker “It’s Not the Night” and the breezy pop of “Looking for Love”. Other highlights included the ethereal title track, the melodic rocker “Stranger Eyes”, and the moderately paced love song “Why Can’t I Have You”. Although the Cars experienced their greatest success yet with Heartbeat City, it would unfortunately not last for long — after just one more studio album (1987’s spotty Door to Door), the band split up.
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The Carpenters – Carpenters Singles 1969-1981 (2004)
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 77:32 minutes | Scans included | 4,3 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | 76:50 mins | Scans | 1,46 GB
There’s a certain inherent sadness listening to this concise 12-song collection of the Carpenters’ early hits, especially as it opens with “We’ve Only Just Begun,” with its hopeful, dreamy lyrics — for it was never supposed to be definitive, just the first of at least two such collections. But changes in the public’s taste and a slackening (though never a disappearance) of hits for the duo, and Karen Carpenter’s death in 1983, made this the first and only real mass choice for a Carpenters collection. Ten of the duo’s dozen Top Ten hits are present, from “Close to You” to “Top of the World,” with their gorgeous and original slow ballad interpretation of “Ticket to Ride” and their cover of Carole King’s “It’s Going to Take Some Time” thrown in to offer a slightly wider perspective. Listening to this material, it’s easy to accuse the Carpenters of being hopelessly retro even in their own time — bear in mind that “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Superstar” being contemporaneous with the Allman Brothers’ At Fillmore East and Eat a Peach and you get the idea. But the lush melodies brought out in Richard Carpenter’s arrangements and Karen’s singing are justification in themselves.
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