Frank Zappa - Waka/Jawaka (1972) + The Grand Wazoo (1972) {2012 UMe Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 488 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 174 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 33 Mb
© 2012 UMe / ZFT | ZR 3848 / ZR 3849
Rock / Experimental Rock / Jazz Rock

When Frank Zappa found himself stuck in a wheelchair for most of the year 1972 (after a "fan" pushed him off the stage on December 10 of the previous year), he relieved his then-current band (including singers Flo & Eddie) of its duties and turned to studio work. One of the first things he tried was to write jazz fusion music scored for wider instrumentation than an average rock band. Waka/Jawaka was conceived in parallel to The Grand Wazoo, but with fewer players. The album, released in July 1972, is comprised of two extended instrumental pieces and two shorter songs.

Downbeat grooves from Scandinavian shores. Ease Division is a series of downbeat and chill-out compilations from Spiral Trax. Here you find an amazing collection of downbeat Scandinavian music from some of the most prolific electronic music producers around.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" & Symphony No. 2
The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen · Paavo Järvi
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 290 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA Red Seal # 88697006552 | Country/Year: Europe 2006 | Genre: Classical

…Without doubt this is a most memorable Pastoral, to be placed with the best, including Gardiner's terrific period version from his OAE cycle on RBCD. Vänskä's Pastoral (also using the new Urtext) is splendid too, and put beside Järvi he is several degrees more romantic and softer-edged (musically - the recording is superb, although somewhat more distant), as if Nature was visited in reminiscence more than reality. Listeners can make their choice…

A high-octane performance of Verdi's much-loved opera, which was transmitted from the Metropolitan Opera 'Live in HD' to cinemas around the world…
“Alvarez made a stalwart, passionate, masculine figure…Radvanovsky has all the technical devices necessary for Leonora, and she is, moreover, a passionate actress…Hvorostovsky sang with superb, flawless line, total control and long, flowing, high notes…Zajick held down Azucena powerfully…The opera’s end I have never seen staged or acted more convincingly” (Opera Today)

Ugis Praulins (b. 1957) counts classical music, folk tunes from his native Latvia and progressive rock among his influences. All three are evident in his impressive Missa Rigensis*, composed in 2002. It combines blocks of choral sound with beautiful melodies, effects reminiscent of electronic music and whispered prayers. ... Setting the traditional text in Latin, the piece lends elements of fresh modern harmonic, rhythmic and textural thinking to a polyphonic tradition traceable through the baroque to the Renaissance. The Gloria has a lively, popular appeal, while the opening Kyrie is rich and magnificent; other sections have a simple, hymn-like quality or a pulsating urgency, not unlike minimalism, but without its repetitiveness. The composer’s fondness for syncopated rhythms identifies the piece as a modern work, but one respectful of tradition.

Joe Morris, William Parker, Gerald Cleaver - Altitude (2012) {Aum Fidelity}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 422 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 173 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 13 Mb
© 2012 Aum Fidelity | AUM073
Jazz / Free Jazz / Modern Improvisation

Joe Morris, William Parker, and Gerald Cleaver are among the most gifted instrumentalists & improvisers in the world today—natural and consistent innovators, always sharing, igniting new ideas, and seeking something beyond description. They have performed & recorded together in different configurations on numerous occasions over the last 15 years. Altitude documents their first communion together as a trio, and they gripped it by creating timeless music rife with invention fully in the moment.

Strictly judging from the lyrical sentiment of his recordings, it might be wise not to make Chicago guitarist Byther Smith angry. Smitty's uncompromising songs are filled with threats of violence and ominous menace (the way blues used to be before the age of political correctness), sometimes to the point where his words don't even rhyme. They don't have to, either you're transfixed by the sheer intensity of his music.

Digitally remastered two CD release containing a pair of albums from the Seattle Thrash Metal band fronted by Warrel Dane: Refuge Denied (1987) and Into The Mirror Black (1990). Refuge Denied, a Thrash album with a different perspective, was produced by Dave Mustaine. The album contains a great version of Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit'. Into The Mirror Black was Sanctuary's second and final album and remains an overlooked masterpiece, blurring the lines between technical, Bay area-style Thrash, traditional Heavy Metal and European Power Metal. Every song hitting the sweet spot between hook and riff, it is a triumph and a shame that it was their final album.