Caroline Henderson – Don’t Explain (2003) [SACD Reissue 2004] [SACD / Stunt Records – STSACD 03175]

Caroline Henderson - Don't Explain (2003) [SACD Reissue 2004]

Title: Caroline Henderson – Don’t Explain (2003) [SACD Reissue 2004]
Genre: Jazz
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Caroline Henderson is a Danish–Swedish pop and jazz singer. She moved to Copenhagen from Sweden in 1983 and become one of Denmark’s top talents. A surprising album, exploratory jazz on a true surround recording (vocals from 1 channel only, usually female in the center, sometimes female on the left and male on the right, and instruments left and right, hall echo from the surrounds). More alive than other popular female jazz artists on a piano, this album brings some freshness into this area. Recommended.

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1 min read

Captain Beefheart – Ice Cream For Crow (1982) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015] [SACD / Virgin – UIGY-9691]

Captain Beefheart - Ice Cream For Crow (1982) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015]

Title: Captain Beefheart – Ice Cream For Crow (1982) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

With yet one final Magic Band lineup in place, featuring Richard Snyder on bass and Cliff Martinez on drums alongside returning vets Jeff Moris Tepper and Gary Lucas, Beefheart put the final touch on his recording career to date with Ice Cream for Crow. It’s a last entertaining blast of wigginess from one of the few truly independent artists in late 20th century pop music, with humor, skill, and style all still intact (as even the song titles like “Semi-Multicoloured Caucasian” and “Cardboard Cutout Sundown” show). With the Magic Band turning out more choppy rhythms, unexpected guitar lines, and outré arrangements, Captain Beefheart lets everything run wild as always, with successful results. Sometimes he sounds less like the blues shouter of lore and more of a spoken word artist with an attitude, thus the stuttering flow of “The Host the Ghost the Most Holy.” “Hey Garland, I Dig Your Tweed Coat” is even more entertainingly outrageous, Beefheart’s addictive if near impenetrable ramble about tobacco juice and straw hats and more backed by an insanely great arrangement. Magic Band members each get chances to shine one way or another – “Evening Bell” in particular demonstrates why Lucas went on to later solo renown, a complex, suddenly shifting solo instrumental that sits somewhere between background music and head-scratching “how did he do that?” intrigue.

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2 min read

Captain Beefheart – Doc At The Radar Station (1980) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015] [SACD / Virgin – UIGY-9690]

Captain Beefheart - Doc At The Radar Station (1980) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015]

Title: Captain Beefheart – Doc At The Radar Station (1980) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Generally acclaimed as the strongest album of his comeback, and by some as his best since Trout Mask Replica, Doc at the Radar Station had a tough, lean sound owing partly to the virtuosic new version of the Magic Band (featuring future Pixies sideman Eric Drew Feldman, New York downtown-scene guitarist Gary Lucas, and a returning John “Drumbo” French, among others) and partly to the clear, stripped-down production, which augmented the Captain’s basic dual-guitar interplay and jumpy rhythms with extra percussion instruments and touches of Shiny Beast’s synths and trombones. Many of the songs on Doc either reworked or fully developed unused material composed around the time of the creatively fertile Trout Mask sessions, which adds to the spirited performances. Even if the Captain’s voice isn’t quite what it once was, Doc at the Radar Station is an excellent, focused consolidation of Beefheart’s past and then-present.

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1 min read

Carole King – The Carnegie Hall Concert: June 18, 1971 (1996) [MFSL 2011] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2067]

Carole King - The Carnegie Hall Concert: June 18, 1971 (1996) [MFSL 2011]

Title: Carole King – The Carnegie Hall Concert: June 18, 1971 (1996) [MFSL 2011]
Genre: Pop
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Archive live album from the songstress, an unmissable Tapestry-era performance recorded live at Carnagie Hall. With her album Tapestry on it’s way to selling millions upon millions of copies, Carole sounds relaxed, joyful and in total control of her audience. During this set, King performs 17 of her most well-known songs including, “I Feel The Earth Move”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, “It’s Too Late” and “You’ve Got A Friend” (performed with James Taylor, who joins her for her encore). Anyone who took the gray-striped kitty on the cover of Tapestry as a totem, from your hip junior-high English teacher to Ben Folds, will recognize the import of Carnegie Hall, recorded the week “It’s Too Late” went to No. 1. Mostly solo at the piano, King brought home 10 of that already emblematic album’s tunes with a smattering of other numbers. Some of the latter are more callow than absolutely necessary, with “Carry Your Load” way too bouncy and “Snow Queen” too glib. But when she digs out “No Easy Way Down” (immortalized by Dusty Springfield on Dusty in Memphis) and “A Natural Woman,” it’s a little bit of heaven, even when her voice starts cracking. Actually, her nervousness is charming, though some of her between-song wisecracks fail to wow the very partisan crowd, much less the CD listener a quarter-century later. Guess that’s only natural for someone just coming into her own in public after a decade or so behind the curtain, and no one seems to mind much anyway. As the history books tell us, this was a pretty polite rock moment; to further prove it, James Taylor shows up for the encores. Though Tapestry remains the essential item, this one gets by on the grace of King’s heart.
Carnegie Hall Concert: June 18, 1971 is 17-song set recorded just as Tapestry was topping the charts and making Carole King a superstar. Featuring most of Tapestry and a few songs from Writer and Music this is, in a sense, Carole King unplugged (although that terminology was not yet in use). King performs the first half-dozen songs alone at the piano; bassist Charles Larkey, guitarist Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, and a string quartet back her (in varying combinations) throughout the rest of the program. Tapestry wasn’t exactly a high-wattage affair to begin with, so these rearrangements aren’t radical, but they’re different enough from the studio versions to merit attention by serious King fans. James Taylor, then at the peak of his own popularity, joins King on vocals for a medley of some of her old Brill Building hits, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”/”Some Kind of Wonderful”/”Up on the Roof”.

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3 min read

Carole King – Tapestry (1971) [Remaster 1999] [SACD / Epic – ES 86328]

Carole King - Tapestry (1971) [Remaster 1999]

Title: Carole King – Tapestry (1971) [Remaster 1999]
Genre: Pop
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Carole King was famous as a writer of girl-group hits in the ’60s. In 1971, she became more famous. That’s the year Tapestry became one of the biggest-selling LPs of all time. It’s easy to hear why–the music is loose, earthy, L.A. session-pop. King is casual, intimate, and tough; she covers all the emotional ground of the post-liberated woman with ease. She brings adult nuance to “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” and comes up with hits (“It’s Too Late,” “I Feel the Earth Move”) whose white-soul realism and maturity put pop hits to shame.

Carole King brought the fledgling singer/songwriter phenomenon to the masses with Tapestry, one of the most successful albums in pop music history. A remarkably expressive and intimate record, it’s a work of consummate craftsmanship. Always a superior pop composer, King reaches even greater heights as a performer; new songs like the hits “It’s Too Late” and “I Feel the Earth Move” rank solidly with past glories, while songs like “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” take on added resonance when delivered in her own warm, compelling voice. With its reliance on pianos and gentle drumming, Tapestry is a light and airy work on its surface, occasionally skirting the boundaries of jazz, but it’s also an intensely emotional record, the songs confessional and direct; in its time it connected with listeners like few records before it, and it remains an illuminating experience decades later.

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2 min read

Carole King – Tapestry (1971) [Reissue 2017] [SACD / Epic – SICP 10120]

Carole King - Tapestry (1971) [Reissue 2017]

Title: Carole King – Tapestry (1971) [Reissue 2017]
Genre: Pop
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Carole King brought the fledgling singer/songwriter phenomenon to the masses with Tapestry, one of the most successful albums in pop music history. A remarkably expressive and intimate record, it’s a work of consummate craftsmanship. Always a superior pop composer, King reaches even greater heights as a performer; new songs like the hits “It’s Too Late” and “I Feel the Earth Move” rank solidly with past glories, while songs like “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” take on added resonance when delivered in her own warm, compelling voice. With its reliance on pianos and gentle drumming, Tapestry is a light and airy work on its surface, occasionally skirting the boundaries of jazz, but it’s also an intensely emotional record, the songs confessional and direct; in its time it connected with listeners like few records before it, and it remains an illuminating experience decades later.

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1 min read

Carole King – Tapestry (1971) [MFSL 2013] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2117]

Carole King - Tapestry (1971) [MFSL 2013]

Title: Carole King – Tapestry (1971) [MFSL 2013]
Genre: Pop
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Carole King brought the fledgling singer/songwriter phenomenon to the masses with Tapestry, one of the most successful albums in pop music history. A remarkably expressive and intimate record, it’s a work of consummate craftsmanship. Always a superior pop composer, King reaches even greater heights as a performer; new songs like the hits “It’s Too Late” and “I Feel the Earth Move” rank solidly with past glories, while songs like “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” take on added resonance when delivered in her own warm, compelling voice. With its reliance on pianos and gentle drumming, Tapestry is a light and airy work on its surface, occasionally skirting the boundaries of jazz, but it’s also an intensely emotional record, the songs confessional and direct; in its time it connected with listeners like few records before it, and it remains an illuminating experience decades later.

(more…)

1 min read

Carole King – Music (1971) [MFSL 2011] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2068]

Carole King - Music (1971) [MFSL 2011]

Title: Carole King – Music (1971) [MFSL 2011]
Genre: Pop
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Music, official name Carole King: Music, is the third album by American singer-songwriter Carole King. The album was released in December 1971 and quickly rose to the top of the charts. It features songs such as “It’s Going to Take Some Time” (US No. 12 by The Carpenters), “Sweet Seasons,” a No. 9 hit for Carole King, and “Brother, Brother”. Carole King: Music experienced immediate success and was certified gold on December 9, 1971, days after release. It was certified platinum on July 17, 1995.

After years as one of the most prolific and successful songwriters in pop music, Carole King emerged in the ’70s with Tapestry, an album that catapulted her to the forefront of the singer/songwriter movement. While she had mined her back catalog for that album, she relied more heavily on songs written with new collaborator Toni Stern for Music. Coming out on the heels of the classic Tapestry, it’s hard not to feel like this album was a bit of a letdown. However, time has shown this album to be one of her finest. While these songs lyrically lack the simplistic beauty of Gerry Goffin-penned tunes, the melodies are very strong and Carole King adds some nice texture to her piano-based tunes with the tasteful percussion of Bobbye Hall. When King goes for grand statements, however, it doesn’t always work. Her call for peace and brotherhood works on songs like the opening track, “Brother, Brother,” but her voice is not strong enough and does not convey enough emotion to prevent uplifting tunes like “Carry Your Load” from sounding a bit hollow and preachy. But her songwriting is still in peak form, and there are many highlights including “It’s Gonna Take Some Time” (also made into a hit by the Carpenters) and “Song of Long Ago” (with backing vocals by James Taylor).

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2 min read

Carol Kidd – Nice Work (1987) [Reissue 2004] [SACD / Linn Records – AKD 229]

Carol Kidd - Nice Work (1987) [Reissue 2004]

Title: Carol Kidd – Nice Work (1987) [Reissue 2004]
Genre: Jazz
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Carol Kidd is one of Britain’s best loved jazz singers, and one of her most respected ambassadors in the field worldwide. She has received favourable comparisons with Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee and has had continued praise from modern and traditional performers. These 1987 recordings, are typical of her work, features a spectrum of standards from the Great American Songbook interpreted by a legendary UK singer.
The now-legendary Carol Kidd covers several American Songbook recordings from the likes of Gershwin, Rogers & Hart and Ellington & Strayhorn on Nice Work. On an album of such quality material, Kidd proves that she knows her way around a song, recording with both an ease and flair that never seems forced.

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1 min read

Carol Kidd – Dreamsville (2008) [SACD / Linn Records – AKD 325]

Carol Kidd - Dreamsville (2008)

Title: Carol Kidd – Dreamsville (2008)
Genre: Jazz
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Dreamsville marks the long-awaited return of a UK jazz legend. Dreamsville showcases American Songbook favourites as well as previously unrecorded original songs. Carol Kidd is renowned for her impeccable phrasing and delivery along with an innate ability to breathe fresh life into jazz standards. Dreamsville places a great singer, at the top of her form, back where she belongs – in the upper echelons of world class vocal jazz.

Carol Kidd is well known for her impeccable phrasing and delivery and for her innate ability to breathe fresh life into jazz standards. A Linn Records artist since 1984, Kidd celebrates the 25 year relationship with a hand-picked selection of standards. After the studden death of her partner in 2003, Carol took a complete break from singing for a few years. However, she found therapy in writing the lyrics and penning two songs, co-written with guitarist Nigel Clark, which appear on the album – ‘Do You Believe’ and ‘There Goes My Heart’. The album also features a delightful new version of her signature song ‘When I Dream’. Carol Kidd’s first album in eight years also marks the 25th anniversary of her relationship with the Glasgow-based Linn Records. And what a partnership it has been – Kidd a faultless vocalist of impeccable stylistic credentials, and Linn a beacon of artist and audiophile quality for independent British labels. A tellingly bittersweet and plangent affair, “Dreamsville” is a long overdue return to the fray after the death of her partner in 2003 and subsequent trauma-induced loss of voice. Although now into her 60s, Kidd’s voice remains full of character and colour, an emotionally alert and expressive instrument she puts to perfectly-phrased, beautifully-pitched use with a crafted, lightly-worn elegance that continues to astound as it delights. Two songs are new and self-penned (with guitarist Nigel Clark): There Goes My Heart is a soft, lilting leave-taking, and Do You Believe a hymning lullaby to love and second chances. A heartfelt cover of Harold Arlen’s Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe is offered as a tribute to the late Humphrey Lyttelton and benefits from Paul Harrison’s softly measured piano accompaniment. Indeed the four-piece band assembled here – Mario Caribe on double bass and Alyn Cosker on drums ably partnering Clark and Harrison – prove to be a crack outfit who seize a fabulous opportunity in Cole Porter’s adrenalin-fuelled It’s Alright With Me to show off their virtuosic wares. Illustrating a more sensitive side, Stars Fell on Alabama glints and sparkles with a hushed loveliness that makes much of Kidd’s eloquent ability to hold and extend a note. Familiar standards How Deep is the Ocean?, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and Can’t We Be Friends? are set down with consummate and engaging ease while Kidd’s signature song, When I Dream, newly arranged by Nigel Clark and producer Graeme Duffin, brings things to a glowing, finely delivered conclusion.

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3 min read