Rumer - Boys Don't Cry (2012) [Deluxe Edition]
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time - 55:56 minutes | 1,18 GB | Front cover

Boys Don’t Cry is the alluring sophomore album from British singer-songwriter Rumer. Her breakthrough debut, Seasons of My Soul, has sold over a million copies, establishing the vocalist as one of music’s rising stars. The evocative listen is packed with soft-rock covers from various male artists of the 1970s. Her sultry and soulful vocal stylings have engaged fans across the globe. In 2011, the singer won the MOJO Award for Best Breakthrough Act and the UK Asian Music Award for Best Alternative Act. On Boys Don’t Cry, the singer’s interpretative skills are simply unparalleled. The album includes Hayes’ “Soulsville,” Webb’s “P.F. Sloan,” Hall & Oates’ “Sara Smile” and much more. An essential recording that will have you on the edge of your seats!

Rumer's sophomore effort, 2012's Boys Don't Cry, is a retro soft rock covers album that finds the vocalist tackling tracks by various male artists of the 1970s. As with her acclaimed 2010 debut, Seasons of My Soul, Boys Don't Cry showcases Rumer's gentle and sweetly soulful vocal style that is clearly perfectly suited to this material. In fact, for anyone already familiar with her, it almost goes without saying that Rumer sounds a lot like soft pop icon Karen Carpenter. However, rather than coming off as a copycat, Rumer always sounds like the real thing and seems like she has genuine respect and love for Carpenter and the rest of the soft singer/songwriter titans. She nailed Bread's "Goodbye Girl" on Seasons for gosh sakes, and Boys Don't Cry takes its cue from that cover and not the original material written in a retro style that made up most of Seasons. Here we get Rumer's take on such laid-back cuts as Jimmy Webb's "P.F. Sloan," Todd Rundgren's "Be Nice to Me," and Hall & Oates' "Sara Smile," among others. Adding to the '70s soft rock vibe is the lush orchestral production from Steve Brown, who was also responsible for the sound of Seasons. These are organic and rich-sounding tracks that frame Rumer's voice in sparkling piano, cinematic bits of strings, rounded horn parts, the twang of the occasional pedal steel guitar, and even a poignant harmonica line, as on Townes Van Zandt's "Flyin' Shoes." Kudos to Rumer for not just covering the most well-known cuts from the best-known '70s artists, but also including such lesser-known numbers as Clifford T. Ward's "Home Thoughts from Abroad" and Terry Reid's "Brave Awakening".

I know, I know, this one is not 96kHz+. But I love her voice.

http://www.filefactory.com/f/f8b7e94f6d3336e9

Zac Brown Band - Uncaged (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time - 44:14 minutes | 1021 MB | Digital Booklet
Country / Bluegrass

Two-time GRAMMY Award winners and multi-platinum artists Zac Brown Band have become one of music’s most creative acts. With a historic nine consecutive #1 hit singles, the band has released their highly anticipated third album, Uncaged. Highlighted by their unmatched chemistry, the work features guest appearances by Amos Lee and Trombone Shorty, as well as songs written and co-written by the likes of Jason Mraz, Nic Cowan and Sonia Leigh. The compelling album filled with sophisticated vocal harmonies includes the stunning tracks, “Goodbye In Her Eyes,” “The Wind” and “Sweet Annie.” Pushing their own standard of musicianship, the album is an undeniable masterpiece.

In a sense, it's possible to measure the progress of the Zac Brown Band by the magnitude of their guest stars. In 2010, they consolidated the breakthrough of 2008's Foundation by enlisting Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson for duets -- elders whose very presence suggested they were passing a torch (although, to be sure, Buffett has a far greater pull on Brown's sound than Jackson). Two years later, it is the Zac Brown Band who occupy the power position, drafting in peers, not idols, to play alongside. And it is a diverse batch: twee, twiddly Jason Mraz co-writes the sprightly opening cut, "Jump Right In," with Zac, Trombone Shorty colors "Overnight" with some New Orleans funk, and upcoming folk/blues troubadour Amos Lee sings on "Day That I Die," each guest representing a different field for the ZBB, each suggesting the range of this ever-evolving nominal country band. And at this point, the Zac Brown Band would fit the grander stages of such worldly, knowing vaguely hippie enclaves as Bonnaroo better than they would a rocking country outlet somewhere in the Deep South. But Southern they are, in sensibility and sound, reflecting not the dusty beer joints and cutthroat honky tonks of the middle of the 20th century but the sports bars and sandy beaches of the present, the kinds of places where the kin of the Allmans feel as Southern as the descendants of George Jones...and where a bearded soft rock crooner like Zac Brown is happy to make evident his debt to James Taylor. Brown's sweeter side isn't hidden here but it's not quite as prominent as it's been in the past, either. He has plenty of soft, crooning melodies but there's a bit of bluegrass and a bit of reggae, a little blues and a lot of rock. Above anything else, Uncaged is a Zac Brown Band album, one that emphasizes the range of this quintet and its elastic interplay. It is the sound of a band operating from a position of considerable strength: they're confident, assured, even playful, having fun bending the rules and blurring boundaries, eager to please but never pandering. It's the rare album that suggests how good the band would be in concert yet still sounds vibrant on record.

http://www.filefactory.com/f/ad10424281004c79

Lionel Richie - Can't Slow Down (1983/2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time - 40:40 minutes | 887 MB Front cover

Pop-soul legend Lionel Richie’s 1983 landmark release, Can’t Slow Down, showcased the musician’s smooth vocals, eloquent songwriting and funky grooves. The album comprised of up-tempo songs and stunning ballads, sold millions of copies worldwide and became one of Motown’s bestselling albums. The recording peaked at #1 on Billboard’s album charts and spent 160 weeks within Billboard’s Top 200. Included were the chart-topping smash hits, “All Night Long,” “Penny Lover,” “Stuck On You,” “Running With The Night,” and Lionel’s iconic masterpiece, “Hello.” This timeless classic and one of Lionel’s most celebrated works is available now as a pristine hi-res download!

On Can't Slow Down, his second solo album, Lionel Richie ran with the sound and success of his eponymous debut, creating an album that was designed to be bigger and better. It's entirely possible that he took a cue from Michael Jackson's Thriller, which set out to win over listeners of every corner of the mainstream pop audience, because Richie does a similar thing with Can't Slow Down -- he plays to the MOR adult contemporary audience, to be sure, but he ups the ante on his dance numbers, creating grooves that are funkier, and he even adds a bit of rock with the sleek nocturnal menace of "Running With the Night," one of the best songs here. He doesn't swing for the fences like Michael did in 1982; he makes safe bets, which is more in his character. But safe bets do pay off, and with Can't Slow Down Richie reaped enormous dividends, earning not just his biggest hit, but his best album. He has less compunction about appearing as a pop singer this time around, which gives the preponderance of smooth ballads -- particularly "Penny Lover," "Hello," and the country-ish "Stuck on You" -- conviction, and the dance songs roll smooth and easy, never pushing the beats too hard and relying more on Richie's melodic hooks than the grooves, which is what helped make "All Night Long (All Night)" a massive hit. Indeed, five of these songs (all the aforementioned tunes) were huge hits, and since the record ran only eight songs, that's an astonishing ration. The short running time does suggest the record's main weakness, one that it shares with many early-'80s LPs -- the songs themselves run on a bit too long, padding out the running length of the entire album. This is only a problem on album tracks like "Love Will Find a Way," which are pleasant but a little tedious at their length, but since there are only three songs that aren't hits, it's a minor problem. All the hits showcase Lionel Richie at his best, as does Can't Slow Down as a whole.

http://www.filefactory.com/f/f79556b592218e48

Bill Evans - Affinity (1978/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time - 49:26 minutes | 1,73 GB | Front cover

This remarkable audiophile recording pairs together two of jazz’s most legendary players, pianist Bill Evans and harmonica player Toots Thielemans. The duo’s luscious and harmonious performance can be enjoyed on breath-taking covers of Paul Simon’s “I Do It For Your Love” and Michel Legrand’s “The Other Side of Tonight,” as well as on two jazz standards “Body & Soul” and “Blue and Green.” The album would be the final studio recording to feature Evans on electric piano and is a must-have album.

Pianist Bill Evans (who doubles on electric piano on this album for the final time in the recording studio) welcomes guest harmonica player Toots Thielemans and Larry Schneider (on tenor, soprano and alto flute) to an outing with bassist Marc Johnson (making his recording debut with Evans) and drummer Eliot Zigmund. The material contains some surprises (including Paul Simon's "I Do It for Your Love" and Michel Legrand's "The Other Side of Tonight") and only two jazz standards ("Body & Soul" and "Blue and Green") with the latter being the only Evans composition. Excellent if not essential music that Evans generally uplifts.

Tracklist:

01 - I Do It For Your Love
02 - Sno' Peas
03 - This Is All I Ask
04 - The Days Of Wine And Roses
05 - Jesus' Last Ballad
06 - Tomato Kiss
07 - The Other Side Of Midnight (Noelle's Theme)
08 - Blue And Green
09 - Body & Soul


http://www.filefactory.com/f/add151ffda9966d6

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out (1959/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time - 38:46 minutes | 1,74 GB | Digital Booklet

Time Out is the groundbreaking double-Platinum jazz classic by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. This pivotal outing is widely declared Dave Brubeck’s defining masterpiece and is one of the most innovative jazz albums of all time. It began as a musical experiment showcasing the quartet performing seven original jazz compositions, each in a different time signature and includes the massive hit “Take Five.” It soon became an iconic crossover, spending 164 weeks on the charts. In 2005, Time Out was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry and the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. It is the first jazz album to earn a Platinum certification.

Dave Brubeck's defining masterpiece, Time Out is one of the most rhythmically innovative albums in jazz history, the first to consciously explore time signatures outside of the standard 4/4 beat or 3/4 waltz time. It was a risky move -- Brubeck's record company wasn't keen on releasing such an arty project, and many critics initially roasted him for tampering with jazz's rhythmic foundation. But for once, public taste was more advanced than that of the critics. Buoyed by a hit single in altoist Paul Desmond's ubiquitous "Take Five," Time Out became an unexpectedly huge success, and still ranks as one of the most popular jazz albums ever. That's a testament to Brubeck and Desmond's abilities as composers, because Time Out is full of challenges both subtle and overt -- it's just that they're not jarring. Brubeck's classic "Blue Rondo à la Turk" blends jazz with classical form and Turkish folk rhythms, while "Take Five," despite its overexposure, really is a masterpiece; listen to how well Desmond's solo phrasing fits the 5/4 meter, and how much Joe Morello's drum solo bends time without getting lost. The other selections are richly melodic as well, and even when the meters are even, the group sets up shifting polyrhythmic counterpoints that nod to African and Eastern musics. Some have come to disdain Time Out as its become increasingly synonymous with upscale coffeehouse ambience, but as someone once said of Shakespeare, it's really very good in spite of the people who like it. It doesn't just sound sophisticated -- it really is sophisticated music, which lends itself to cerebral appreciation, yet never stops swinging. Countless other musicians built on its pioneering experiments, yet it's amazingly accessible for all its advanced thinking, a rare feat in any art form. This belongs in even the most rudimentary jazz collection.

Tracklist:

01 - Blue Rondo à la Turk
02 - Strange Meadow Lark
03 - Take Five
04 - Three To Get Ready
05 - Kathy's Waltz
06 - Everybody's Jumpin'
07 - Pick Up Sticks

http://www.filefactory.com/f/88f8afb14946cbec

Joe Lovano - Cross Culture (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time - 61:49 minutes | 1,39 GB | Front cover

Cross Culture is the newest work by GRAMMY Award-winning saxophonist/composer Joe Lovano. Lovano has been hailed by the New York Times as “one of the greatest musicians in jazz history.” The album marks his 23rd recording for Blue Note and his third consecutive release by his critically-acclaimed quintet, Us Five. Cross Culture features the band’s original line up of Francisco Mela, Otis Brown III, James Weidman, Esperanza Spalding and the newly recruited Peter Slavov, plus a special guest appearance by Lionel Loueke. Cross Culture is a stunning eleven-track album of ten Lovano originals along with a breathtaking rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s “Star Crossed Lovers.” The album fulfills Lovano’s lifelong dream to explore the notion of universal musical language.

2013 release, saxophonist and composer Joe Lovano's most fully realized representation of a career-long quest to explore the notion of universal musical language. The album is an 11 track tour de force that represents I 0 of Lovano's original compositions along with a stunning interpretation of the Billy Strayhorn ballad 'Star Crossed Lovers.' The album features his core Us Five ensemble of pianist James Weidman, bassists Esperanza Spalding and Peter Slavov, and drummers Otis Brown and Francisco Mela and is augmented with guitarist and fellow Blue Note artist Lionel Loueke.

Tracklist:

01 - Blessings In May
02 - Myths And Legends
03 - Cross Culture
04 - In A Spin
05 - Star Crossed Lovers
06 - Journey Within
07 - Drum Chant
08 - Golden Horn
09 - Royal Roost
10 - Modern Man
11 - PM

http://www.filefactory.com/f/3f3fb5e01e33842f

Finally back from the monkey world!