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Table Of Contents

Vinyl - Archived Information - Aug 2004

 

* Archived information does not necessarily mean out of stock.  We are just archiving older information to keep the main page uncluttered and faster-loading for your browser.

 

 

Vinyl - Archived Information - Aug 2004

In Association with Amazon.com  In Association with Amazon.com   

In association with Amazon.com, you can click on an album picture or title for more information, to listen to a sample track, or to purchase the CD version.

 

* Album photos above are from CD versions, and LP cover art may be different *

 

* Most are In-Print Vinyl and the latest releases and not the usual audiophile labels. 

Explore and taste more music on vinyl !

Aug-2004: 4th week Estimated Arrival Date

 

*Highlights:

  • The immensely popular Diana Krall's first-ever full-length LP back in stock

  • The Eagle's "Hell Freezes Over", back in stock, in line with their Singapore concert :), a Stereophile R2D4

  • Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man", also a Stereophile R2D4

  • Nirvana's two Stereophile R2D4 albums "Unplugged" and "Nevermind" back in stock

  • Kristin Hersh - explore her music

  • Curtis Mayfield - Live! - finally, a reissue on this superb soul/funk album

  • and more ...

Disco

Trammps, The

Disco Inferno - 12" - album version

 

AMG - "Disco took the majority of its stylistic cues from the silky, sophisticated Philly soul sound of the early '70s, so it makes perfect sense that the Trammps — a product of the City of Brotherly Love as well — would make the transition from one to the other with characteristic smoothness. A highlight of the generation-defining Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, their 1977 smash, "Disco Inferno," remains one of the most instantly familiar records of its time, thanks as much to its unforgettable "Burn, baby, burn!" chorus as its scintillating rhythm, sweeping strings, and Jimmy Ellis' booming, incendiary lead vocal. It's a quintessential record because no other single celebrates the very essence of the disco era quite so exuberantly, capturing the spirit of the moment in all its over-the-top glory."

 

Amazon.com - creed427 - (Midland, Texas USA)

5 out of 5 stars Even the worst dancer and disco hater will HAVE to move, April 25, 2002

"Put on the tune "Disco Inferno" and try not to move and it will be nearly impossible. I am not a big dancer at all and I have a really hard time not letting loose and getting down to this. Some may think its cheesy and it may be but this is some fun stuff and for an out of shape thirty-something, it is even excellent exercise and a whole lot of fun."

WSM

Folk-Rock

 

Cohen, Leonard

I'm Your Man

 

Stereophile R2D4 - Barry Willis. 

 

With Jennifer Warnes on background vocals.

 

"Godfather to countless art-rock bands and now in his fourth decade of rendering his dark visions to a perspicacious public (his 1966 novel Beautiful Losers ranks as one of the Great Works), Cohen here offers, in a strong, emotionally resonant voice, a subterranean panorama: from the horrifying humor of a terrorist's anthem ("First We Take Manhattan"), to a celebration of futility ("Everybody Knows"), to a wistful, romantic evocation of late-Victorian Vienna ("Take this Waltz," with a cameo appearance by Jennifer Warnes). Where do old songwriters go to die? A hundred-storey nursing home called the "Tower of Song." (XI-12)" - Stereophile

 

Review by Jason Ankeny - AMG
"A stunningly sophisticated leap into modern musical textures, I'm Your Man re-establishes Leonard Cohen's mastery. Against a backdrop of keyboards and propulsive rhythms, Cohen surveys the global landscape with a precise, unflinching eye: the opening "First We Take Manhattan" is an ominous fantasy of commercial success bundled in crypto-fascist imagery, while the remarkable "Everybody Knows" is a cynical catalog of the landmines littering the surface of love in the age of AIDS."

 

"Even the production, laden with synthesized strings and cooing female choruses, is wry on I'm Your Man, a definitive Leonard Cohen album. Though still touched with the tragic ("Take This Waltz," based on a Garcia Lorca poem), the album often achieves its high points by combining Cohen's world-weariness with black-humored evocations of social and romantic ills and artistic quandaries. "I was born like this, I had no choice," the gravelly Cohen intimates at disc's end. "I was born with the gift of a golden voice." --Rickey Wright, Amazon.com

COLUM

Folk-Rock

Cohen, Leonard

Ten New Songs

 

Review by William Ruhlmann - AMG

"On Ten New Songs, his partner is former backup singer Sharon Robinson, who co-wrote "Everybody Knows" on 1988's I'm Your Man and earns co-writing credit on all the material here. She has also conjured the musical backgrounds ("All tracks arranged, programmed, and performed by Sharon Robinson, reads the credit), and she harmonizes with Cohen throughout. But all collaborators (even Spector) are in the service of Cohen's poetic vision, which remains the dominant element on this elegiac set." -

COLUM

Cole Espanol, Vol. 1

Male Vocals/

Latin

Cole, Nat King

En Espańol

 

Nat King Cole - a massively successful pop singer who ranked with such contemporaries as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Dean Martin.  In this album, he renders beautiful songs in Spanish - rumba and cha-cha rhythms accentuating the album

 

1. Cachito
2. Maria Elena
3. Quizas, Quizas, Quizas :: Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
4. Las Mananitas
5. Acercate Mas :: Come Closer To Me
6. El Bodeguero :: Grocer's Cha-Cha
7. Noche De Ronda

8. Te Quiero, Dijiste :: Magic Is The Moonlight

9. Adelita
10. Ay, Cosita Linda
11. Aquellos Ojos Verdes
12. Suas Maos
13. Capullito De Aleli
14. Fantastico
15. Nadie Me Ama

CAPIT

Pop/Rock

 

Dylan, Bob

Love And Theft

 

Stereophile R2D4 - Robert Patterson

 

"Recently doing his most vibrant and captivating work since the 1960s, Dylan says it all in the title: steal (as he's done all along) from the original roots music he loves, and ingeniously mold it into something new and revelatory yet deeply grounded and genuine. Witty wordplay and trenchant turns of phrase abound, and Dylan sings it all with expressive élan on his best set of mythic American fever dreams since The Basement Tapes. Backed by his fiery and keenly honed road band, Dylan hasn't sounded as invigorated and inspired since Bringing It All Back Home. The master, still
at work." (XXIV-11) - Rob Patterson, Stereophile

"When we last left the ever-confounding saga that is Bob Dylan's now-superhuman recording career, he'd reunited with producer Daniel Lanois, with whom he cut 1997's Time Out of Mind, his most coherent and appealing collection in nearly a decade. Now the still-reigning prince of musical contrariety and potent wordplay is back with his most focused, well-played collection since 1989's Oh Mercy, another Lanois production. One listen to the fade-in of the opener "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum" and it's clear that all Dylan's roadwork has shaped him and his band (including guitarist Charlie Sexton) into a mighty musical weapon. And while his craggy howl continues to resonate, it's the songs here that astonish. A sturdy midtempo melody makes "Mississippi" the equal of the best numbers on Time, which it was actually written for. He convincingly puts over the R&B swing (yes, swing) number "Summer Days." "Honest with Me" ("I'm not sorry for nuthin' I've done / I'm glad I fight, I only wished we'd won") is a driving rocker that packs a genuine punch. And the light, lounge-like "Bye and Bye" and the southland ramble "Floater (Too Much to Ask)" show extraordinary confidence. He's labeled these songs "blues-based," but in typical Dylan fashion what would promise to be the most overtly blues number here--"High Water (for Charlie Patton)"--sounds like a banjo-based gunfighter ballad. But then that's this artist's gift: confounding expectations. --Robert Baird"

COL

Pop/Rock

Eagles

Hell Freezes Over

 

Stereophile R2D4 - Larry Greenhill.

 

One of the few recommended Simply Vinyl reissues, good news as the original is as rare as can be, being pressed in the 1990s.

 

"Although they didn't include my favorite, "Lying Eyes," there's enough good stuff on the Eagles' reunion CD to make me feel 20 years younger with the first few notes of "Desperado" or "Life in the Fast Lane." Time has thickened Glenn Frey's and Don Henley's voices slightly and slowed the tempos on some cuts, but "Hotel California" ' new concert opening and closing work much better than the original studio version. Henley's voice sounds better for not being buried in studio reverb, and is enhanced here by added dynamic range, subterranean drums, bass slam that doesn't quit, superb air and soundstaging, and pinpoint placement of the acoustic guitar and keyboards. Best is the moment of recognition when the crowd finally realizes which song is being played and goes wild. Play this cut on the biggest, baddest audio system you can afford." - Larry Greehill, Stereophile

SI.VI.

Jazz/Bossa Nova

Getz, Stan / Luis Bonfa

Jazz Samba Encore !

 

Stereophile R2D4 - Barry Willis.

"Brazilian jazz took the world by storm in the wake of the phenomenal film Black Orpheus, winner at the 1959 Cannes film festival. In the 1960s these recordings were in heavy rotation on the turntables of jazzheads on every side of the Iron Curtain, and for good reasons"


Jazz Samba was recorded in audio verite by Ed Green at All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, DC in February 1962. Getz/Gilberto is a studio recording from the following year by Phil Ramone, who wisely abandoned his "wall of sound" technique for a warm, intimate acoustic. R2D4 fans: You read this feature to build a respectable music library. These recordings are must-haves! Free of irony and self-conscious posturing, this is the theme music of a period that was in many ways far hipper than anything since. Japanese purist-audiophile LP pressings were available in the mid-'80s; an LP of Jazz Samba is available on DCC Compact Classics LPZ-2011. Play through tubes for greater authenticity. (Getz/Gilberto, XVII-12, XVIII-2, 3; Jazz Samba, XVIII-3, XIX-3)

 

Review by Richard S. Ginell - AMG
"Here's some more bossa nova from Stan Getz when the bloom was still on the first Brazilian boom. This time, however, on his third such album, Getz relies mostly upon native Brazilians for his backing. Thus, the soft-focused grooves are considerably more attuned to what was actually coming out of Brazil at the time. Two bona fide giants, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá (who gets co-billing), provide the guitars and all of the material, and Maria Toledo contributes an occasional throaty vocal. Getz injects more high-wailing passages into his intuitive affinity for the groove, even going for some fast bop on "Un Abraco No Getz," and Bonfá takes adept care of the guitar solos against Jobim's rock-steady rhythm. Clearly Jobim's songwriting contributions — "So Danco Samba," "How Insensitive," and "O Morro Nao Tem Vez" — would have the longest shelf life, and though the album didn't sell as well as its two predecessors, it certainly helped break these tunes into the permanent jazz repertoire. Avid bossa nova fans will certainly treasure this album for the lesser-known Bonfá tunes."

VERVE

Pop/Rock, Alternative

 

Hersh, Kristin

Hips & Makers

 

Kristin Hersh's debut album. 

 

Amazon.com Essential Recording:

"In 1994, Kristin Hersh took a sabbatical from her beloved and beleaguered Throwing Muses to record her first solo album, Hips and Makers. Mostly acoustic, entirely personal, Hips' songs touch the core of Hersh's daily life, specifically as it involves her husband and family, topics she rarely explored with her band. Produced by ex-Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, Hips and Makers infuses the singer/songwriter tradition with a jolt of complexity and authority. Hersh still favors the taut, stream of consciousness lyrics she whittled down to the bone with the Muses, but she never veers into confessional "dear diary" territory, although she does allow peeks into a world where clotheslines, bee stings, and the occasional ghost aren't unusual. Musically more measured and clearly quieter than any Muses disc, Hips showcases Hersh's fluttery voice atop powerful acoustic guitar with flourishes from cello and piano. "Your Ghost," the album's moody and dazzling opener, features backup vocals by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and sets the tone for the album: like a family, it's happy on the surface, intriguing when explored." --Shawn Stewart

UNIV

cover

Pop/Rock,

Indie

 

Keane

Hopes And Fears

 

"It's perhaps inevitable that Keane's debut album, Hopes and Fears, will draw numerous comparisons to Coldplay. Like them, Keane were discovered by indie label Fierce Panda, who released a single ("Everybody's Changing"). And, like Coldplay, Keane also do a fine trade in catchy and heartfelt indie-pop, all bruised verses and soaring choruses. But though their sound is sure to please fans of Coldplay and Travis, the reality is that Keane manage to sound that little bit more delicate.

 

This could be down to the band's relatively unusual make-up: rather than guitars, the trio use a piano.


... Hopes and Fears is still a remarkable and surprisingly mature debut album from a young band with a bright future." -Robert Burrow

UNIV

Jazz vocals,

pop/jazz

Krall, Diana

The Girl In The Other Room

 

Singer/pianist Diana Krall breaks new ground interpreting modern standards by Tom Waits, Mose Allison, and Joni Mitchell, as well as compositions by her and her new husband, Elvis Costello. Krall's piano-jazz cred comes through loudly and clearly on her Count Basie-styled version of the Bonnie Raitt staple "Love Me Like a Man" (written by folk-bluesman Chris Smither). But it's the collaborations with her spouse that unearth untapped emotional nuances of her velvet voice; many are reminiscent of Bill Evans's moody, impressionistic pieces. The title track, "Narrow Daylight," "Abandoned Masquerade," and "I’m Coming Through" all deal with love and loss. "Departure Bay," a picturesque ode to her hometown of Nanaimo, B.C., proves that this is the start of something big, and that two heads--and hearts--are better than one. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

 

"While the jazz fascists (read: purists) may be screaming "sellout" because Diana Krall decided to record something other than standards this time out, the rest of us can enjoy the considerable fruit of her labors. The Girl in the Other Room is, without question, a jazz record in the same manner her other outings are. The fact that it isn't made up of musty and dusty "classics" may irk the narrow-minded and reactionary, but it doesn't change the fact that this bold recording is a jazz record made with care, creativity, and a wonderfully intimate aesthetic fueling its 12 songs. ..." Read more at AMG

VERVE

Soul/funk/r&b

Mayfield, Curtis

Curtis /  Live !

One of the great soul/r&b/funk albums, legendary.  Includes superb renditions of "People get Ready" and "We've Only Just Begun", and the infectious "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go", also featured in the movie "Dead Presidents".

Review by Bruce Eder - AMG
"Curtis/Live! is, simply, one of the greatest concert albums ever cut on a soul artist, and one of the legendary live albums of all time. Cut in January of 1971 during four nights at The Bitter End (then Greenwich Village's leading music venue) in New York, the resulting double LP transcended any expectations in both its programming and execution — Mayfield performed numbers off of the Curtis album ("[Don't Worry] If There's a Hell Below We're All Going to Go"), as well as exciting and urgent new versions of songs originally performed by the Impressions ("We're a Winner," "People Get Ready," "Gypsy Woman"), plus a very moving R&B version of "We've Only Just Begun." This is all beautifully stripped-down work by a quintet consisting of Mayfield (vocals, guitar), Craig McMullen (guitar), Tyrone McCullen (drums), "Master" Henry Gibson (percussion), and Joseph "Lucky" Scott (bass) — a solid, intense performance, with quietly elegant guitar playing against a rock-solid rhythm section, as Impressions hits are rethought and reconfigured in a new context, and Mayfield's early solo repertory comes to life in newer, longer live versions. [The British import from Sequel adds the complete contents of 1973's live Curtis in Chicago.] "

GET B.

Death / Black Metal

Merciless

Merciless

 

"Late 2002 album from Swedish legendary death/thrash metal band featuring drummer Peter Stjarnvind, also in Entombed. Black Lodge label." -  amazon.com

 

"One of the first bands to combine high-speed death metal riffing in the style of Rigor Mortis with the simple melodicity of Sodom or other experimental minimalist black metal bands, resulting in a style of fast metal that could deliver what modern black metal wanted: bewildering chaos."

 

Death / Black Metal

Necrodeath

Mater Of All Evil - PD

 

"NECRODEATH was formed back in 1985 by Claudio (guitars), Peso (drums) along with Ingo (vocals) and Paolo (bass). After being influenced by bands like SLAYER, KREATOR, HELLHAMMER, VOIVOD and BATHORY they released a 4-track demo titled "The Shining Pentagram" which gained them an incredible following throughout the underground. Tons of tributes in majors magazines, fanzines and other underground rags followed the release of their first two legendary albums "Into The macabre" (1987) and "Fragments Of insanity" (1989). "

 

"NECRODEATH are definitely back in y2k with a full length fuckin' album "Mater Of All Evil" and are now killin' again with the new album "Black As Pitch" out on 24th September 2001. In 2002 they released a home video "From Hate To Scorn" and after a short break they were back in the studio and in September 2003 the last album "Ton(e)s Of Hate" is in the stores to kick your ass!"

SCAR. B

Rock / Grunge

 

Nirvana

Unplugged In New York

 

Stereophile R2D4 - Paul Messenger

The music business seems to hold live albums in low esteem—convenient contract fillers to bang out when the muse is elusive and the sales season looms. I couldn't disagree more. Sure, there've been some abject horrors, but when I trawl back through more than 30 years of record collecting, the live albums are the ones most likely to get pulled out and played. Among the recent and readily available, few can match MTV's Nirvana Unplugged—New York sessions from 1993 (published 1994) that make a fine live-and-acoustic counterpoint to the group's essential electric Nevermind, and a fitting memorial to one of rock's briefest and brightest flames. Kurt Cobain's fragile voice sends shivers through the nervous system more painful even than the subsequent loss of his songwriting talents, even if the musicianship can at times be naďve and heavy-handed.
My vinyl copy suffers from warping and an off-center hole—the consequent wow is a pain—and the miking might have been better. But the relatively small, intimate acoustic is much better suited to a live recording than are large, stadium events. (XVIII-3, 5)

 

Amazon.com essential recording
"The last Nirvana collection recorded before the untimely death of Kurt Cobain, Unplugged caught many by surprise with its stripped down, neo-acoustic offerings with a bridled fury. When Cobain sings, "I swear I don't have a gun, I don't have a gun" with clenched teeth (instead of an open howl) and when the haunting strains of "About a Girl"--from their earliest LP--chills even with quieted guitars, you discover a new appreciation for the nuances of one of the greatest bands of recent times. Highlights include covers of three Meat Puppets tracks (featuring special guests Curt and Kris Kirkwood of that influential "college rock" band), the weepy cello on the Vaselines' "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam," and their cover of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World." --Lorry Fleming

UNIV.

Rock / Grunge

Nirvana

Nevermind

 

Stereophile R2D4 - Corey Greenberg

"My earlier review said all you need to know about why this trio of ugly mofos from Seattle is the first thing I feed a hi-fi rig when I want to hear what it can really do. Hardcore flannel-shirts have disowned Nirvana cuz they made it big and got a radio hit with "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and JA thinks they're too derivative, but I don't give a damn; Kurt Cobain's talkin' 'bout my generation better than anyone else in music today. And the sound (especially the LP, but the CD kicks ass too) is so good that most "in" audiophile speakers fall flat on their faces with it; try Nevermind on some Maggies or Quad ESL-63s and tell me I'm wrong." (XV-6)

 

- we know a lot of speakers that fall flat too on this album, played loud, the right way to listen to this :-) - webmaster

 

 

Douglas Wolk - Amazon.com

"I have never written a review, but had to when I saw this album had a rating of 4.5 stars. You have got to be kidding me! I don't care if you conduct a symphony orchestra, veg out to trance, are strictly blues, or hang cool with the jazz men, this album is a MUST. Like the Beatles' "Revolver", the national anthem by Jimi Hendrix, Beethoven's 5th, "What a Wonderful World" by Satchmo, "Bobby Magee" by Janice Joplin, "Respect" by Aretha, "Ave Maria" by Pavarotti, or "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, no true music collection is complete without "Nevermind". By nearly all rock experts and historians, this album is considered one of the top ten OF ALL TIME!! Actually, most have it in the top 5. If you cannot sit down and listen to this album and understand its importance and its genius, then you don't know enough about Cobain, Seattle, grunge, the late 80s/early 90s, and music. Go do some research. Then sit down and listen again. The brilliance is bittersweet, since we must now listen knowing that such a light is extinguished, and by his own hand." - H. Hopkins

 

If Nevermind's sound is familiar now, it's only because thousands of rock records that followed it were trying very hard to copy its style. It tears out of the speakers like a cannonball, from the punk-turbo-charged riff of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" onward, magnifying and distilling the wounded rage of 15 years of the rock underground into a single impassioned roar. Few albums have occupied the cultural consciousness like this one; of its 12 songs, roughly 10 are now standards. The record's historical weight can make it hard to hear now with fresh ears, but the monumental urgency of Kurt Cobain's screams is still shocking."

UNIV
Sleep Of The Angels

Gothic Metal

Rotting Christ

Sleep Of The Angels

 

Chronicles Of Chaos.com
Rotting Christ -Sleep With Angels
(Century Media, 1999)

by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
"I was pleasantly surprised by the work found on Sleep With Angels, having been a fan of the band for sometime, breathing a sigh of relief as the band still wallows in the darkened, black metal realms of uncertainty, but still soothing for bringing into their songs some interesting concoctions. While their early stuff (i.e., Passage to Arcturo in 1991 and 1993's Non Serviam) was groundbreaking and allowed them to become the front runners in the rather combative black metal scene, there was always something really tranquil and mystical about the work of this Greek band. While frontman Sakis has lengthened himself a bit from the bands early roots, moving slowly towards some melody and consistent rhythms, it's his stunning vocal style and matching of the music to it that is the true bread and butter of this release. Not in a long time has a record been so flavourful in song structure, allowing such a brilliant atmosphere to stem forth from the recording. Choice cuts: "After Dark I Feel", "You My Flesh" and "Thine Is the Kingdom". Fans will love this, I suspect, and I'm assuming many new legions of metal fans might latch onto such a superb release."

CE.ME

Trip-Hop

Sneaker Pimps

Bloodsport

 

Our favorite song on the album is "Loretta Young Silks", a very fine song accentuated by Kelli Dayton's sultry and soulful vocals.

 

Amazon.com - Steffan Chirazi

"Best known for their dance-floor hit "Spin Spin Sugar" and cracking 1997 debut, Becoming X, the British trip-hop quartet Sneaker Pimps have delivered a marvelous third album that bristles with inventive, shimmering electronics. Evoking slivers of old Depeche Mode, Killing Joke, Moloko, and Marilyn Manson, the Pimps meld and manipulate samples and snippets into smart trip-pop that hits on every level. Highlights? All of it, but "Sick" has a rudely addictive, airy loop in its upbeat refrain, while "The Fuel" is a Wim Wenders desert movie filtered through the Pimps' trip-hop conscience. With Bloodsport, the Pimps have successfully made their very own groovy alterna-dance-punk masterpiece. --Steffan Chirazi

TO.BO

Back To Table Of Contents

   
 
Aug-2004: 3rd week Estimated Arrival Date

 

*Highlights:

  • Very limited copies of Diana Krall's first-ever full-length LP back in stock

  • Eric Clapton's definitive album, "Unplugged", a Stereophile R2D4 by 2 writers

  • Ella and Louis - back in stock, must-buy LP for jazz fans, superb music and recording, another Stereophile R2D4

  • Joss Stone's debut album - back in stock, remarkable 16-year old with a very soulful voice

  • Ray Brown and Laurindo Almeida's "Moonlight Serenade" back in stock.  Another must-have for jazz fans, a true audiophile legend LP

  • Bill Evan's Waltz for Debbie - a classic jazz album, live in an intimate club setting, a Stereophile R2D4

  • and more ...

Hip-Hop/Funk

Black-Eyed Peas

Let's Get Retarded - 12" - album version

 

From the album Elephunk.

 

"Even though the radio changed it to "Let's get it started" , its still great either way. Great to dance to. Even my dad likes this one!! (And he's old!) 5/5" - Olivia (York, PA)

 

"My favorite "Let's Get Retarded" (which is now released as "Let's Get It Started") lifts you up and gets you so hyped its unbelievable." - Brandin (New Orleans, LA)

A&M

Hip-Hop/Funk

Black-Eyed Peas

Where Is The Love - 12" - featuring Justin Timberland - album version

 

From the album Elephunk.

 

"Finally Black Eyed gets socially conscious and brings something a little different from the electro-funk party tracks of most of the album. Taboo and Apl have the best verses lyrically. Justin's high pitched singing is a nice change from Fergie. The production is great using many layers of electric guitar, moog, horns, violins, bass and acoustic guitar. (This LP version is extended extra long and the beat changes to a practically different song with different production and Justin Timberlake disappears, Will and Fergie take over)" - Amazon.com

A&M

Pop/Dance

Spears, Britney

Toxic - 12" - Album Version

 

"There's no denying songs like 'Toxic' (an energy driven techno/pop 'bond' song) and 'Everytime' won't get stuck in your head!" - amazon.com

- and so it did get stuck in our heads, and here is the 12" ! Now we can hear it better on our audiophile turntables :)

 

From the latest album, In The Zone.  "irresistible ear candy" - AMG

 

Blues Company, From Daybreak to Heartbreak (Cover)

Blues

Blues Company

From Daybreak To Heartbreak

 

Germany's oldest and most successful blues band that gained recognition among Western and Asian audiophiles under the DMP label.  All songs have been selected based on what pleased the audience the most in their various concerts.  All songs have been taken live in the studio, and cover a wide spectrum of the blues.  New Orleans groove, Chicago blues, reminiscent of  Jimmy Reed, etc.  Naturally some classic blues ballads are included.  Also on limited audiophile hybrid SACD.

 

** Translated from the German text found at In-Akustik's webpage.

INAK

Jazz

Brown, Ray and Laurindo Almeida

Moonlight Serenade - 180gr

 

"Originally Released In 1980 As A Direct-To-Disc Recording On Bell Records, so rare we have never come across an original copy. Jeton have taken a novel approach to reissuing this album which has paid off in spades.  The results are wondrous and reveal every nuance of the performance from these two modern jazz giants. Pressings are by Pallas, Germany."

JETON

Singer / Songwriter, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Contemporary Singer / Songwriter

Cassidy, Eva

Songbird -LTD-

 

Original pressing from Blix, very limited.

 

Amazon.com
Songbird cherry-picks tracks from the three locally released albums of Eva Cassidy, whose hauntingly beautiful vocals went virtually unheard outside her native Washington, D.C., during her short 33 years with us. Lost to melanoma in 1996, Cassidy sang with an unaffected purity and an astonishing ability to make both classic and contemporary songs sound like they were written just for her. Sting's "Fields of Gold" finally lives up to its title through the alchemy of Cassidy's transcendent rendition, while other tracks on this anthology showcase her ease in the realms of pop (Christine McVie's "Songbird"), soul ("People Get Ready"), gospel ("Wade on the Water"), and traditional standards ("Autumn Leaves" and "Over the Rainbow"). Framed by understated jazz and pop arrangements, Cassidy's clear, soulful voice and exquisite phrasing make her that rarest of vocalists whose interpretations are a complement to any song. A fine introduction to a true talent. --Billy Grenier

People
The album is rendered hopelessly poignant by the knowledge that Cassidy died two years ago at 33 from melanoma.... Whether in jazz, folk or inspirational music, Cassidy's potential was huge, and this album stands as a testament to popular music's loss.

BLIX

Acoustic  Blues, Pop/Rock

Clapton, Eric

Unplugged

 

Stereophile R2D4.

 

"Clapton caught the "unplugged" trend just at the right time, when the public was hungry to hear how well rock stars and their material can hold up when stripped of elaborate production values. Clapton himself seemed baffled by the phenomenon, especially when picking up the armload of Grammys Unplugged earned him, including Record and Song of the Year for "Tears in Heaven," the heart-rending elegy to his young son, Conor. That song and a reworked version of "Layla" got most of the attention, but the rest of the album has fine versions of acoustic blues numbers such as "Malted Milk," "Rollin' & Tumblin', and "Before You Accuse Me" that make it worth investigating further. --Daniel Durchholz"

WARNE

cover

Pop/Jazz

Cole, Holly

Romantically Helpless

 

"2000 album from the jazz/ pop chanteuse, a collection of 12 covers of choice jazz & pop songs. Includes her renditions of Paul Simon's 'One Trick Pony', Randy Newman's 'Ghosts', Sammy Chan & James Van Heusen's 'Come Fly With Me', Ralph Bass & Lowman Pauling's 'Dedicated To The One I Love' and Stephen Sondheim's 'Loving You'. The first single from the album, 'Make It Go Away', is a re-working of a track from her 1997 album 'Dark Dear Heart'."

FMS

Pop/Rock

 

Dylan, Bob

Love And Theft

 

Stereophile R2D4.

 

"When we last left the ever-confounding saga that is Bob Dylan's now-superhuman recording career, he'd reunited with producer Daniel Lanois, with whom he cut 1997's Time Out of Mind, his most coherent and appealing collection in nearly a decade. Now the still-reigning prince of musical contrariety and potent wordplay is back with his most focused, well-played collection since 1989's Oh Mercy, another Lanois production. One listen to the fade-in of the opener "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum" and it's clear that all Dylan's roadwork has shaped him and his band (including guitarist Charlie Sexton) into a mighty musical weapon. And while his craggy howl continues to resonate, it's the songs here that astonish. A sturdy midtempo melody makes "Mississippi" the equal of the best numbers on Time, which it was actually written for. He convincingly puts over the R&B swing (yes, swing) number "Summer Days." "Honest with Me" ("I'm not sorry for nuthin' I've done / I'm glad I fight, I only wished we'd won") is a driving rocker that packs a genuine punch. And the light, lounge-like "Bye and Bye" and the southland ramble "Floater (Too Much to Ask)" show extraordinary confidence. He's labeled these songs "blues-based," but in typical Dylan fashion what would promise to be the most overtly blues number here--"High Water (for Charlie Patton)"--sounds like a banjo-based gunfighter ballad. But then that's this artist's gift: confounding expectations. --Robert Baird"

COL

Contemporary Jazz

Evans, Bill - Trio -

Waltz For Debbie

 

Stereophile R2D4.

 

"Recorded live at the Village Vanguard, this set rounded out what became known as an early "full" portrait of Bill Evans by following Sunday at the Village Vanguard with most of the rest of the music he played on June 25, 1961. Very little in the annals of piano-trio jazz ever reached the clarity of execution that Evans made his own with the recordings from this single date. With bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, Evans reached a rapport that sounded whisper-intimate, rolling into gentle cascades and then rhythmically pouncing juts. On the keys, Evans sounds at once completely walled-off and nakedly open as he takes on "My Foolish Heart" and the title melody. The chords are voiced ever so oddly, as are the bass and drums. Coming as it did several months in the wake of the successful first episode in Evans's Vanguard, Waltz for Debby just made it all the more obvious what a wonder the world had in this trio and its leader. --Andrew Bartlett"

OJC

Jazz/Vocals

Fitzgerald, Ella / Louis Armstrong

Ella & Louis

 

Stereophile R2D4.

 

"What we have here is the mating of honey and molasses. Or is it the sound of melted butter over gravel? Never mind--sweeter, more joyous music has never been recorded (although the follow-up, Ella and Louis Again, may be even better). You can't listen to these two without smiling. It's such an inevitable pairing that you wonder what titanic forces of nature could have kept Ella and Satchmo apart until they made this record together in 1957, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson trio and Buddy Rich on drums. The songs are standards--extraordinary standards, of course, like "Moonlight in Vermont" and "A Foggy Day"--but nirvana is reached on "Cheek to Cheek." Heaven. --Jim Emerson

VERVE

cover

Pop/Rock,

Indie

 

Keane

Hopes And Fears

 

"It's perhaps inevitable that Keane's debut album, Hopes and Fears, will draw numerous comparisons to Coldplay. Like them, Keane were discovered by indie label Fierce Panda, who released a single ("Everybody's Changing"). And, like Coldplay, Keane also do a fine trade in catchy and heartfelt indie-pop, all bruised verses and soaring choruses. But though their sound is sure to please fans of Coldplay and Travis, the reality is that Keane manage to sound that little bit more delicate.

 

This could be down to the band's relatively unusual make-up: rather than guitars, the trio use a piano.


... Hopes and Fears is still a remarkable and surprisingly mature debut album from a young band with a bright future." -Robert Burrow

UNIV

Jazz vocals,

pop/jazz

Krall, Diana

The Girl In The Other Room

 

** Unfortunately, this batch sold out again.  Until the next batch arrives.

 

Singer/pianist Diana Krall breaks new ground interpreting modern standards by Tom Waits, Mose Allison, and Joni Mitchell, as well as compositions by her and her new husband, Elvis Costello. Krall's piano-jazz cred comes through loudly and clearly on her Count Basie-styled version of the Bonnie Raitt staple "Love Me Like a Man" (written by folk-bluesman Chris Smither). But it's the collaborations with her spouse that unearth untapped emotional nuances of her velvet voice; many are reminiscent of Bill Evans's moody, impressionistic pieces. The title track, "Narrow Daylight," "Abandoned Masquerade," and "I’m Coming Through" all deal with love and loss. "Departure Bay," a picturesque ode to her hometown of Nanaimo, B.C., proves that this is the start of something big, and that two heads--and hearts--are better than one. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

 

"While the jazz fascists (read: purists) may be screaming "sellout" because Diana Krall decided to record something other than standards this time out, the rest of us can enjoy the considerable fruit of her labors. The Girl in the Other Room is, without question, a jazz record in the same manner her other outings are. The fact that it isn't made up of musty and dusty "classics" may irk the narrow-minded and reactionary, but it doesn't change the fact that this bold recording is a jazz record made with care, creativity, and a wonderfully intimate aesthetic fueling its 12 songs. ..." Read more at AMG

VERVE

photo/image text

Marley, Bob & The Wailers

Soul Rebels - HQ Vinyl

"Originally issued in 1970, this was the first album credited to Bob Marley & the Wailers, and it was also the band's first full-length collaboration with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, for whom they had already recorded a string of fairly successful singles. Working with the newly configured Upsetters band, Marley and crew delivered a strange and wonderful set of early reggae that at times plays fast and loose with the already established conventions of the genre — on "My Cup" the beat sounds inside out, while "It's Alright" sounds like a slightly Jamaicanized version of Motown soul. Other songs, such as the beautifully harmonized "Try Me," show their deep roots in rocksteady. One of the most arresting tracks on the album is the Bunny Wailer composition "Four Hundred Years," on which Wailer unburdens himself of some of his typically dread pronouncements in his rich, chesty voice." - AMG

EA.MA

photo/image text

Metheny, Pat

Works

 

"Featuring recordings from both Pat Metheny's solo albums and Pat Metheny Group releases, Works is an excellent introduction to the artist who helped make ECM Records a successful "boutique" record label. This collection includes seven excellent recordings originally released in the late '70s and early '80s." - AMG

ECM

Pop/Rock

Morisette, Alanis

Alanis Unplugged (Live)

 

Alanis Morissette MTV Unplugged - Elegantly beautiful!, January 1, 2004 - K. Wyatt  (Jamestown, NC United States)

 

"As Alanis was contemplating an Unplugged session she was thinking that 'You Learn' so much in life that in 'Joining You' I feel 'No Pressure Over Cappuccino' in this setting and 'That I Would Be Good' enough that you might end up 'Head Over Feet' by the end of this lovely display and maybe 'Princes Familiar' might show up, at least 'I Was Hoping' she would but it would be 'Ironic' if she didn't but 'These R The Thoughts' of the 'King of Pain' as 'You Oughta Know' but then again I don't wish her to feel 'Uninvited' to this special event!

Alanis Morissette MTV Unplugged is a beautiful rendition of some of her best songs minus the "electric" connection and it serves delightfully in bringing out even more, that which makes her music so phenomenal, her exquisite voice and her astonishing lyrics. Lyrically, much of Alanis' music is biting and there are those that may find those lyrics somewhat difficult to stomach; I entreat you to listen again because if you give it a chance, you may find that you've been missing something special. She brings such a depth of emotions to her lyrics, followed up by an equally well thought out melody, that one cannot help but listen to and feel the emotions she's trying to convey."

WEA

NWOBHM,

Heavy Metal

 

Motorhead

Ace Of Spades - HQ Vinyl -

 

They're still going, of course, having earned a similar place in the affections of the British public to that of the Queen Mother. Ace of Spades is the reason for Motörhead's high standing. Or, to be precise, the title track of this album is the reason. "Ace of Spades," along with Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild," is the definitive heavy-metal biker anthem, and Lemmy's midsong bellow of "And that's the way I like it baby, I don't want to live forever" is declaration of intent that has rung down the ages. That Lemmy has since given every appearance of obstinate immortality does not detract from it in the slightest. --Andrew Mueller

 

"1980's Ace of Spades was the album that put Motörhead on the top of the heavy metal heap, albeit for a brief length of time. The band's raw sound was still in place, but the anthemic title track broke the band through to a broader audience; the single reached the British Top 20, while the album peaked at number four on the charts. The trio couldn't have picked a better time to issue their best studio album yet, as England was in the midst of a massive heavy metal movement — bands such as Australia's AC/DC and Judas Priest had released big albums, while newcomers such as Iron Maiden and Def Leppard were making a big splash as well. As with 1979's Overkill, Lemmy and company had issued another extremely consistent album — while tracks such as "(We Are) The Road Crew" and "The Hammer" would become instant concert standards, such lesser-known titles as "Shoot You in the Back," "Jailbait," and the brief "Bite the Bullet" are all standouts as well. Unfortunately, Ace of Spades would prove to be original lineup's last classic studio album; Lemmy would be the only original member remaining by 1984." - AMG

EA. MA

Rock / Grunge

Nirvana

Nevermind

 

Stereophile R2D4.

 

"I have never written a review, but had to when I saw this album had a rating of 4.5 stars. You have got to be kidding me! I don't care if you conduct a symphony orchestra, veg out to trance, are strictly blues, or hang cool with the jazz men, this album is a MUST. Like the Beatles' "Revolver", the national anthem by Jimi Hendrix, Beethoven's 5th, "What a Wonderful World" by Satchmo, "Bobby Magee" by Janice Joplin, "Respect" by Aretha, "Ave Maria" by Pavarotti, or "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, no true music collection is complete without "Nevermind". By nearly all rock experts and historians, this album is considered one of the top ten OF ALL TIME!! Actually, most have it in the top 5. If you cannot sit down and listen to this album and understand its importance and its genius, then you don't know enough about Cobain, Seattle, grunge, the late 80s/early 90s, and music. Go do some research. Then sit down and listen again. The brilliance is bittersweet, since we must now listen knowing that such a light is extinguished, and by his own hand." - H. Hopkins

 

If Nevermind's sound is familiar now, it's only because thousands of rock records that followed it were trying very hard to copy its style. It tears out of the speakers like a cannonball, from the punk-turbo-charged riff of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" onward, magnifying and distilling the wounded rage of 15 years of the rock underground into a single impassioned roar. Few albums have occupied the cultural consciousness like this one; of its 12 songs, roughly 10 are now standards. The record's historical weight can make it hard to hear now with fresh ears, but the monumental urgency of Kurt Cobain's screams is still shocking. --Douglas Wolk

UNIV

Pop/Rock, alternative

R.E.M.

Out Of Time

 

Amazon.com essential recording
Though R.E.M. titled a later album Monster, this 1991 smash was the true monster, with the little Athens, Georgia, quartet graduating once and for all from its jangling independent-rock roots. The confusion Michael Stipe communicates in the catchy "Losing My Religion" and the dark-and-dreamy "Low" hit the mainstream-rock audience when it was most primed for uneasy angst. (Nirvana's Nevermind was released a few months later.) There are also odd but successful experiments, like ceding the opening "Radio Song" to rapper KRS-One (with Stipe playing the moaning straight man) and going peppy for the surprisingly nonsarcastic "Shiny Happy People." --Steve Knopper

Amazon.com
Matching their ugliest album cover with some of their most sublime music, Out of Time inaugurates the finest phase of R.E.M.'s work. This meditative yet sometimes seething album offers not only their greatest single since "Radio Free Europe" ("Losing My Religion," about which critics and programmers agreed for once), but a moodscape that ties together that song's ambivalence, the sneer of "Radio Song," the doom of "Low" and the sprightliness of "Shiny Happy People" and "Me in Honey." Their bestseller, and deservedly so. --Rickey Wright

WARNE

Pop/Soul,

R&B

Stone, Joss

The Soul Sessions

 

Excellent soul, R & B album - remarkable voice for a young woman.

 

"Q: She's 16 and British, what can she possibly know about singing vintage American soul music? A: Enough to make you squirm, get off your ass, and dance close with anybody who'll have you.

 

This is a debut that, along with those fine practitioners in the nu-soul underground such as Peven Everett, Julie Dexter, Yas-rah, Fertile Ground, and a few others, is solid proof that soul is alive and well. And perhaps, given her youth and stunning looks, the perverse star-making machinery will use this unusual entry into the marketplace to reinvestigate the wonders of timeless depth and vision inherent in soul and R&B that are far from exhausted, as this record so convincingly proves. " - Read more at AMG

EMI

Jazz/Blues

Washington, Dinah

Mellow Mama

 

"When Dinah Washington left Lionel Hampton's Orchestra in 1945, she recorded 3 sessions yielding 12 songs for Apollo records. Dinah teamed up with Lucky Thompson who had just arrived in Los Angeles after a stint with the Basie band. Gene Porter, Charles Mingus and Lucky were playing in Happy Johnson's band in Long Beach. Milt Jackson was passing through with Diz & Bird's quintet. Lucky organized the sessions and the music is pure delight. Complete liner notes by Dempsey Travis, best selling author of The Autobiography of Black Jazz."

 

Jazziz
"Dinah at her early best."

Down Beat
Four stars. "Classic."

Utne Reader
"You know Ella, you love Billie, so now rediscover Dinah."

DELMA

Pop/Rock

Zutons

Who Killed The Zutons

 

"Beefheart worshipping Scousers with a penchant for skiffle-ridden pop. 'Who Killed The Zutons?' is quite possibly the best debut album to arrive from Liverpool since the La's proved there was more to the city than Lennon & McCartney. Energetic, inventive."

 

"I just saw these guys (and gal) on Aug. 2nd, 04. Man, what a live set. This is one of the few bands that is hard to place. They definitely carry a vintage vibe. There are some classic rock sounds, there are some nice folky songs (but not traditional), there is a bit of Mo-town, a bit of ska and a splash of rockabilly! Now blend it up, shake it, and play it loud. If you are not infected by the songs, check your head, eh?
This is the record that I hoped the band the Coral would follow up with, but they didn't.
Buy this and enjoy introducing them to you buddies."

- Steven Draa

D.SON

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