Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit FLAC, Pirouet Records PIT3089 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

So, why Space Squid? Drummer/composer Bill Stewart says ‘I like the sound of the title and I am slightly fascinated with squid and octopus. They can also be delicious’. With that out of the way it’s also worth knowing that, according to German label Pirouet, he ‘reaches for the sky and plumbs the depths with a group of like-minded musical explorers’. Hmmm… Joined here by Seamus Blake on sax, Bill Carrothers on piano and bassist Ben Street, and recorded at Sear Sound in New York, Stewart serves up ten original tracks, closing with a downbeat take on ‘Dancing In The Dark’. Perhaps we already know what to expect, as most of the album is jazz of the gentle, impressionist kind: full of immaculately recorded instruments, with drums prominent, but more for late night chilling with a knowing nod of the head, rather than getting the old toes tapping. AE

Sound Quality: 80%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

Very cleanly recorded and mastered at 96kHz this 24-bit download looks both free of spurious tones and sampling artefacts and enjoys a decent dynamic range to fully express the scope of the accompanying percussion. PM