LATEST ADDITIONS

Andreas Staier, Freuburger Barockorchester : J.s. Bach: Harpsichord Concertos

C. Breunig (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Mar 11, 2016

96kHz/24-bit & 16-bit, FLAC, Harmonia Mundi HMC 902181. 82 (supplied by www. eclassical. com) For these 2013 Freiburg Ensemblehaus recordings of the seven keyboard concertos with strings – BWV1057 more familiar as the Fourth Brandenburg, BWV1054 and 1058 derived from violin concertos – Staier has chosen a modern copy of a 1734 Hass instrument.

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David Gilmour : Rattle That Lock

A. Everard (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Mar 11, 2016

Sounding much more like a Pink Floyd album than last year’s ‘Endless Album’ of cutting-room sweepings [Endless River; reviewed here], David Gilmour’s first solo outing for almost a decade has all the familiar traits and musical clues to keep the faithful more than happy. There’s the soaring guitar, and little things like the title track fading out into steam-hammer-like industrial sounds. Similarly, the track ‘Faces Of Stone’ might well have come from any Floyd album you care to mention. And Mrs Gilmour, Polly Samson, can write perfectly Floydesque lyrics! With exemplary production and sound, and a guest roster encompassing David Crosby and Graham Nash, Robert Wyatt and Jools Holland, this is just what you might expect from David Gilmour as he approaches the ripe age of 70 – although some might suggest that’s both its greatest strength and its major weakness.

Classic Venues

Shea Stadium, Queens, NY

Steve Sutherland | Mar 01, 2016

The Beatles' record-breaking appearance at a multi-purpose sports arena in one of the most densly populated boroughs of New York was to kick-start a revolution known as stadium rock. Steve Sutherland brings you the tale of Shea Stadium in Queens

Overpaid, oversexed and over here' – that's the phrase we Brits coined to describe the American servicemen who were fortunate enough to be stationed in the British Isles during World War II.

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Alexander Melnikov, Pablo Heras Casado, Et Al : Schumann: Piano Concerto Op. 54, Piano Trio No. 2 Op. 80

C. Breunig (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Feb 12, 2016

As with their Dvorák series with the Czech PO, Faust/Melnikov/Queyras are coupling a chamber work with a concerto – this time with a period-instrument orchestra. For the Schumann Concerto, Melnikov has elected to play a robust 1837 Érard; then an 1847 Streicher in the Trio – with more body than the one heard in their Trio No 3 [HMC 902196]. Clear and open, this is an attractive recording, with some subtle detailing mostly from Faust. The Concerto is more unsettling.

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Daniel Cacija : Lifeline

A. Everard (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Feb 12, 2016

This début album by Croatian-born but German-resident singer ?a?ija features what could only be described as an eclectic mix of music, from hip-hop influences to standards (some of them recorded live), but with one major unifying factor: the star, here front and centre before a band of anonymous musicians, has a damn fine set of pipes on him. He can cruise through Mingus’s ‘Strollin’’ with consummate ease, slam out the self-arranged ‘No Church In The Wild’ (which credits writers from Kanye West to Phil Manzanera and James Brown), and whip up the audience at the North Sea Jazz Festival with his take on ‘Lush Life’, one of three live tracks closing the album. He’s served well by recordings (again uncredited) fully able to reveal his timbres and techniques, to make a fine showcase for what is clearly a highly impressive voice and some great musicianship. AE Sound Quality: 80% Hi-Fi News Lab Report All tracks present as 88.

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Terence Blanchard : Breathless

A. Everard (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Feb 12, 2016

Trumpeter and composer Blanchard joins forces with his regular quintet to deliver an album of covers and originals combining plenty of funk and groove, along with lush, deep washes of sound and moments of sparkling musical genius. Executive producer here is Blue Note president Don Was, and the material ranges from a soulful version of Hank Williams’s ‘I Ain’t Got Nothing But Time’ to the take on Coldplay’s ‘Midnight’ used to close the set. The sound ranges from the stripped down to the near-orchestral, with Blanchard’s instrument always sounding glorious, and the band – Donald Ramsey on bass, Oscar Seaton on drums, guitarist Charles Altura and Fabian Almazan – has that intuitive ability to break free and bounce the tunes around when required. Mixed sample rates notwithstanding [see Lab Report, below], this is one superb-sounding album.

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Bill Stewart : Space Squid

A. Everard (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Feb 12, 2016

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’.

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Jonas Kaufmann : Nessun Dorma: The Puccini Album

C. Breunig (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Feb 12, 2016

Kaufmann and Puccini – how could anyone resist, when his vocal artistry is so complete? He floats a line with infinite care then expands dynamics to meet every theatrical demand. Terrific warm backing from Pappano too. And the production adds variety by changing vocal perspectives for soloists and chorus – occasionally, though, I found Kaufmann almost too forward and spread. Every Puccini opera is represented with these arias except, of course, the all-female Suor Angelica.

Classic Venues

Carnegie Hall, New York

Steve Sutherland | Feb 01, 2016

One of the most prestigious venues in the world, this concert hall in Manhattan has played host to such luminaries as The Beatles, Martin Luther King and Maria Callas. Steve Sutherland takes you to the heart of the live music experience at Carnegie Hall

A little over a decade ago, the comic actor David Walliams was interviewing Liam Gallagher's brother Noel for the now-defunct Observer Music Monthly and Noel told him this story about how the Gallagher bros happened to be at a Spinal Tap show taking place for charity at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York.

Classic Venues

Empress Ballroom, Blackpool

Steve Sutherland | Jan 01, 2016

From '60s rioters to '80s ravers, generations of music lovers have gathered beneath the chandeliers of this capacious seaside venue to see and hear their heroes perform. Steve Sutherland heads for the lights of Blackpool for tales from the Empress Ballroom

You may have read recently about a chap named Adrian Cox, a train driver from Bournemouth, who appeared in the papers when he blew two grand hiring a print of Monty Python's Life Of Brian to show friends and family at his local, condemned ABC cinema in celebration of his 51st birthday.

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