The Mighty Clouds Of Joy – Kickin’ (1975/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 42:24 minutes | 878 MB | Genre: Gospel
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Omnivore Recordings
In the late 1950s, The Mighty Clouds Of Joy released their first records on the Peacock label, alongside gospel legends The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Sensational Nightingales and others. In 1974, they moved to ABC Records, where they released their acclaimed crossover album “It’s Time” with producer Dave Crawford (Wilson Pickett, The J. Geils Band, B. B. King).
The following year, Kickin’ exploded on the charts, landing at #1 on the Billboard Disco Action Chart with the title track “Mighty High.” The album contained other energetic original compositions, as well as cover versions of Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston and Kiki Dee. Gospel music had evolved into universal music and songs that appealed to listeners of all genres.
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Pedro Lavirgen – VERDI: UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, Pedro Lavirgen (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 02:06:54 minutes | 4,32 GB | Genre: Classical, Opera
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © HD Remastered
Historical recording of the 1978 live performance of Verdi’s famous opera Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball).
The album features Pedro Lavirgen, Salvatore Susso and Florida Norelli , all under the direction of Napoleone Annovazzi.
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Arturo Nieto-Dorantes – Ponce: Complete Piano Works, Vols. 3 & 4 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:35:29 minutes | 2,52 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Urtext
Manuel M. Ponce is the precursor of Mexican nationalism, but his music is not based on the fictional recreation a Pre-Hispanic narrative, nor the dazzling modernity of the post-Revolutionary Mexico. A piano student of Martin Krause, who, in turn, was a pupil of Liszt, Ponce’s piano lineage comes directly from Beethoven but his musical soul is deeply rooted in the nostalgia of rural Mexico, the love stories and nostalgic longings of the inhabitants of Zacatecas and Aguascalientes. Like Bartok he collected folk songs, but he also composed songs that reflect so expressively the music of the late 19th century rural Mexico that the lines become blurred. When we examine what he created and what he collected is hard to tell them apart. He was also a music chameleon who can sound Spanish, Baroque, Cuban, Modern or Mexican with equal ease. The remarkable piano virtuoso and scholar Arturo Nieto-Dorantes, Chair of the piano department at Laval University in Canada, has embarked in a creative and rigorous journey of recording the complete piano music of Ponce. An arduous enterprise, since very much like Chopin, Ponce left different versions of his music in manuscripts, recordings, printed scores and even pianola rolls. And this was not due to carelessness, but rather to the freedom he gave his performers. The concert hall, the drawing rooms of educated señoritas or popular street musicians were all invited to perform his works. Nieto-Dorantes who recently completed a reference recording of Albeniz’s Iberia is particularly suited to perform the music of Ponce. Both artists were very close to great singers, Ponce’s wife was a gifted French soprano, just as Nieto-Dorantes is the son of a remarkable Mexican couple, a soprano and a baritone with national and international careers. No wonder he performs this music with elegant lyricism and phrasing, as well as with dazzling virtuosity. This is a reference recording of fantastic and diverse Mexican piano music that needs to be heard and enjoyed around the world.
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Trio Isimsiz – Brahms, Coll, Korngold (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:19:05 minutes | 1,34 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RUBICON
Korngold was one of the most amazing prodigies in musical history, and more gifted than Mozart in that he arrived musically fully formed. He was just 12 years old when he composed his Op.1 Piano Trio.
This is a large-scale work, displaying great originality and simply stunning precociousness. Brahms’s 2nd Piano Trio was written in 1882, and is a big boned work, with glimpses of the similarly monumental 2nd Piano Concerto which dates from the year before.
Francisco Coll’s Piano Trio was commissioned by Borletti-Buitoni Trust, Britten Pears Arts, and Centro Nacional de Difusion Musical (Madrid) and composed for Trio Isimsiz. It is a 17-minute long work rich in contrasting styles and influences, with brilliant but barbed invention.
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The Killers – Rebel Diamonds (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:21:01 minutes | 1,67 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Island Records (The Island Def Jam Music Group / Universal Music)
The band from Las Vegas is celebrating their 20th anniversary with their brand new best-of album “Rebel Diamonds”!
The title of the album comes from a song on the four-piece band’s 2nd studio album. In “Read My Mind” Brandon sings: “The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds”.
With this best-of, The Killers deliver a good dose of nostalgia – but also present new, previously unreleased songs!
In addition to all their celebrated hits, the album contains the previously unreleased song “Spirit”. The three songs “boy”, “Your Side Of Town” and “Spirit” have never been featured on a studio album before and will round off “Rebel Diamonds”.
20 songs for 20 years of band history: you can experience the whole thing on CD and vinyl!
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The Chronicles of Father Robin – The Songs & Tales of Airoea – Book II (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 39:01 minutes | 448 MB | Genre: Progressive Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Karisma Records
Following Father Robin and his travels through the archaic world of Airoea, Book 2 takes our protagonist to the underwater city of Oriasaleah and over the Sea of Ayrouhr. There, on the Grand Reef, he faces grave danger at the hands of the island people. With this we invite you to discover the second part in this exciting epic work which is The Songs & Tales of Airoea.
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Tate McRae – THINK LATER (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 38:22 minutes | 443 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RCA Records Label
Multi-platinum singer/songwriter Tate McRae announces her sophomore album THINK LATER to be released December 8th via RCA Records. Executive produced with hitmaker Ryan Tedder (Taylor Swift, Beyoncé), THINK LATER and it’s songsare steeped in pop appeal and infectious toplines. Showcasing Tate’s boundless vocal talent and evolution as a songwriter, this new body of work explores the all-too-relatable feelings of falling in love and embracing the raw emotions that you experience as a result of leading with your intuition and heart
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Suede – Autofiction: Expanded (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:53:02 minutes | 1,32 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited
Suede return with Autofiction: Expanded – a deluxe version of critically acclaimed album ‘Autofiction’, which debuted at #2 in the UK Albums Chart and marked Suede’s highest charting LP since 1999’s Head Music. Accompanying the original album on the special limited edition 3CD release are B-sides and additional album session material, as well as an ‘Autofiction’ live album recorded on their March 2023 UK tour.
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Solomon’s Knot – Lost Majesty: Sacred Songs and Anthems by George Jeffreys (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:25:57 minutes | 2,23 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Prospero Classical
The recording of this composer’s extraordinary vocal music was made at Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire, where this one-time organist to Charles I lived and worked for the Hatton family. Thanks to the kind permission of English Heritage, and the generous donations of so many of our supporters, we have the pleasure of bringing the forgotten composer of the English 17th century back into the light. The double album features all of Jeffreys’ works for 4 and 5 voices with continuo, including many world-premiere recordings. It is released on the Prospero Classical label: streaming services on 8 December 2023 & in physical form in February 2024 worldwide.
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Siobhan Donaghy – Revolution in Me (20th Anniversary Edition) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 02:05:24 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © London Records (Because Ltd)
Siobhan Donaghy celebrates the 20th anniversary of her debut album Revolution In Me, first released in 2003. This expanded edition includes the singles ‘Overrated’ and ‘Twist of Fate’, as well as 16 bonus tracks including B-sides, alternate takes and rarities.
Produced with Cameron McVey (Massive Attack, Portishead, All Saints, Sugababes, Neneh Cherry), Revolution In Me revealed Siobhan’s great capacity for catchy, sultry and evocative pop.
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Sempasúchil – Sempasúchil (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 24:57 minutes | 256 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Tiny Moon Records
Most musicians are looking for that inexplicable something that beats alive under the songs. That’s what they call elf, energy, magic. The genius who inhabits melodies and appears when he is invoked well, with a calm heart and the right word. There are albums that should be celebrated because that hot substance beats in them. It happens here, in “Sempasúchil”, the album that brings together four great musicians from the Galician scene around a handful of good songs. An album of instrumental music in pop language recorded in a jazz approach, all together in an identical breath to catch that atmosphere where the melodies become believable, where the improvised and the felt are shown in all their simplicity. Because the sincere is beautiful and nothing moves more than music played from the touched heart of the musician himself.
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Rudolf Kempe – Wagner: Lohengrin, WWV 75 by Rudolf Kempe (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 03:38:30 minutes | 3,60 GB | Genre: Classical, Opera
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alexandre Bak – Classical Music Reference Recording
Lohengrin, WWV 75, is a Romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and its sequel Lohengrin, itself inspired by the epic of Garin le Loherain. It is part of the Knight of the Swan legend.
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Robert Neumann – Robert Neumann plays Kreisleriana (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 35:14 minutes | 289 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SWR Classic
For his second album on the SWR label Robert Neumann chose two works that are easily paired and are close to the pianist’s heart. Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana depicts a character featured in several tales by E.T.A. Hoffmann, while Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition describes the contemplation of art works by the painter Viktor Hartmann. Both are examples of programme music with somewhat comparable ideas but, as Neumann puts it, ‘One idea deals with a real character, the other one doesn’t… And I think both show in an exemplary manner how flawlessly and in different ways a great Romantic cycle can be structured.’
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Tomas Brauner, Prague Symphony Orchestra – Dvořák: Slavonic Dances (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:18:34 minutes | 2,73 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Supraphon a.s.
Highly impressed by the Moravian Duets, even though the set had yet to be issued, the Berlin-based publisher Fritz Simrock wrote to the young Antonín Dvořák, commissioning from him another work and outlining his idea of its being in the fashion of Brahms’s Hungarian Dances. The composer duly sketched the first series of Slavonic Dances within a few hours, and completed the version for piano four hands in three weeks. At the same time, he worked on the orchestration. In an extensive essay in the NationalZeitung in Berlin, the influential critic Louis Ehlert lauded Dvořák so keenly that he brought the then unknown Czech artist overnight fame: “I consider the Slavonic Dances a piece that will circle the world just as Brahms’s Hungarian Dances have… Divine naturalness circulates in this music… Dvořák writes such cheerful and singular basslines that the heart of a true musician jumps for joy… I think how wonderful it would be to see once again emerging a musician about whom we would need to argue as little as about spring.” During the first year after its publication, selected Slavonic Dances were performed in Prague, New York, Boston, London, Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne, Bonn, Nice, Graz, Lucerne, and other cities… Dvořák’s music is deeply engraved in the DNA of the Prague Symphony Orchestra, who have performed it under conductors of such renown as Jiří Bělohlávek, Charles Mackerras, Václav Neumann, Tomáš Netopil, etc. The new recording, made with Tomáš Brauner, the orchestra’s current music director, draws upon an illustrious interpretation tradition, with its rounded and transparent sound capturing the best qualities of the exquisite Art Nouveau Smetana Hall of the Municipal House in Prague.
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Porcupine Tree – CLOSURE / CONTINUATION. LIVE. AMSTERDAM 07/11/22 (CLOSURE/CONTINUATION.LIVE) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:29:35 minutes | 2,83 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Music For Nations
“Closure / Continuation Live” impressively documents Porcupine Tree’s triumphant return to the stage. The live recording, which was recorded on November 7, 2022 in the 17,000-capacity Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, puts the listener/viewer in the middle of the stage for the duration of the show, where psychotropic visuals explode behind the band.
Porcupine Tree, meanwhile, play a superlative set of songs that contains – to use Steven Wilson’s words – “no hits”, and yet each is received like an anthem from an alternate universe.
“Closure / Continuation Live” features live recordings of much of the 2022 reunion album (including the singles “Harridan” and “Of The New Day”) as well as classics like “Trains”, “Fear Of A Blank Planet” and “Anesthetize”.
The Blu-ray contains the full concert film as well as bonus features, Dolby Atmos surround sound, 5.1 audio and 24-bit high-resolution audio (excluding bonus features). The DVD contains the complete show.
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