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Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 01 Mar 2010 19:38:11 | Comments : 1

Alison Krauss & Union Station - Every Time You Say Goodbye
Bluegrass | MP3 VBR 161 kbps | 48 MB | 1992

Alison Krauss was born to sing bluegrass. Her voice just wouldn't work in a riot grrrl or hip-hop setting. Not even close. The fiddle wouldn't quite fit either. Lucky thing she found her calling. On Every Time You Say Goodbye, Krauss is once again teamed with the stellar craftsmen of Union Station, and she sounds as comfortable as a porch swing and lemonade on a warm summer evening. Although Krauss gets the majority of the accolades, this is truly a group effort as the various musicians share the credit as writers and producers. Ron Block, Tim Stafford, Barry Bales, and Adam Steffey also take their turns stepping up to the mic, offering harmony and lead vocals where fitting. The songs range from traditional country fare to unexpected covers like Shawn Colvin's "I Don't Know Why." Their arrangement might seem oddly peppy to those who know the Colvin version. But to those who don't, it works just fine. Other highlights include the title track, "Who Can Blame You," "Last Love Letter," and the Karla Bonoff composition "Lose Again." And you just have to love a record that includes "Cluck Old Hen," which happens to be a fine showcase for Krauss' outstanding fiddle work. She has done a lot to make bluegrass a viable, contemporary genre of music. Every Time You Say Goodbye does much to further that cause.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 01 Mar 2010 19:33:44 | Comments : 0

Alison Krauss & Union Station - Home On The Highways
Bluegrass | MP3 320 kbps | 86 MB | 2005
Covers included

Home-cooked food and bluegrass -- in this case Alison Krauss and Union Station and Cracker Barrel -- are served up simultaneously on Home on the Highways: Band Picked Favorites. The blue-collar freeway eatery has teemed with Rounder Records to provide this 12-track advertisement for "beef tips and country vegetables" that is -- according to the liner notes -- "as pleasing and as enjoyable as anything you'd find at any Cracker Barrel Old Country Store." This however is a matter of taste, as Krauss and company seem reluctant to revisit anything that doesn't appear on Lonely Runs Both Ways, New Favorite, or Forget About It. While good enough, Home on the Highways is the musical equivalent of a pot roast, wholly predictable and occasionally comforting.
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Posted by :: Alex | Date :: Aug 20, 2008 19:05:00 | [ 34 comments ]


Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 01 Mar 2010 19:29:29 | Comments : 2

Alex Harvey - The Blues
Blues | MP3 256 kbps | 96 MB | 1965

For his second album, Harvey eschewed the full R&B combo sound of his debut for a solo set of traditional blues, accompanied only by a couple of guitars. No one would mistake this for a hard-bitten set by a wizened Delta bluesman, but Harvey doesn't make an attempt to disguise the fact that he's a hard-living, life-loving Scotsman plunging full-tilt into the music he loves. As British trad blues efforts go, this is pretty good. Harvey attacks standards with a gusto that is wrenching and jolly (sometimes both at once) on this set of fairly raw performances.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 01 Mar 2010 18:56:01 | Comments : 1

The Alex Dixon Band - Rising From The Bushes
Blues | MP3 320 CBR | 102 MB | 2009

Alex Dixon is Willie's grandson, and if the young blues musician's pedigree isn't enough, his training certainly should impress even the hardest of cynics. Alex got his start in the music biz at an early age, playing piano with his grandfather in clubs and at festivals while still a teen, learning the instrument from folks like Lafayette Leake and his uncle Butch Dixon. Alex was taught the mechanics of songwriting by his granddad, and co-wrote some 40 songs with the elder bluesman, including several on the Grammy™ Award-winning, T-Bone Burnett produced 1988 album Hidden Charms. Rising From The Bushes is the debut album from the 33-year-old Dixon and his Alex Dixon Band. A collection of songs that mix blues, R&B, and rock music, Rising From The Bushes also features the vocal talents of Marcy Levy, who has sung behind Eric Clapton and Bob Seger; as well as a finely-tuned band of veteran players, including bassist Gerald Johnson and drummer James Gadsen, one of the most prolific beat-men ever who has played behind talents like Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, B.B. King, and many others.

Tracklist:
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 01 Mar 2010 18:52:43 | Comments : 3

Albert King - More Big Blues
Blues | MP3 320 CBR | 144 MB | 2001

All of King's recordings for the Bobbin label are on this 22-track disc, including everything from his 1959-1963 singles for the label and previously unissued alternate takes of "Why Are You So Mean to Me," "The Time Has Come," and the previously unissued "Blues at Sunrise." While these are decent journeyman urban blues/R&B, they're not up to the level of his subsequent recordings for Stax. Albert King just sounds too much like the records another King — B.B. King, that is — was making during the same era. There are similar horn arrangements and alternation of stinging guitar with smooth, confident vocal phrasing. It's a tribute to Albert King's abilities, in a way, that it does sound confident, and not the work of an imitator, despite the similarities. Some more variety to largely self-penned songs would have made his Bobbin era stand out more too. It does feature his sole big R&B hit from his stint with the label, "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong," a showcase for his mean, lean guitar licks that increases the drama with changing drum tempos. Of the other songs, the standout is "Ooo-Ee Baby," in which King really draws out the vibrato in a slow blues with earthy tension, sounding more spontaneous than he did on many of his other Bobbin singles. The production's more basic than that of his Stax sides, but is hardly raw, with a jazzy lilt to the horns in particular. Rock fans will recognize "I Get Evil" as essentially the same song as "Don't Lie to Me," which the Rolling Stones covered (and whose composition was erroneously credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards when it appeared on the Stones' Metamorphosis).
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 01 Mar 2010 18:52:02 | Comments : 1

Albert King - I'll Play The Blues For You [Stax]
Blues | MP3 192 kbps | 55 MB | 1972

It's not as if Albert King hadn't tasted success in his first decade and a half as a performer, but his late-'60s/early-'70s recordings for Stax did win him a substantially larger audience. During those years, the label began earning significant clout amongst rock fans through events like Otis Redding's appearance at the Monterey International Pop Festival and a seemingly endless string of classic singles. When King signed to the label in 1966, he was immediately paired with the Stax session team Booker T. & the MG's. [The results were impressive: "Crosscut Saw," "Laundromat Blues," and the singles collection Born Under a Bad Sign were all hits. Though 1972's I'll Play the Blues for You followed a slightly different formula, the combination of King, members of the legendary Bar-Kays, the Isaac Hayes Movement, and the sparkling Memphis Horns was hardly a risky endeavor. The result was a trim, funk-infused blues sound that provided ample space for King's oft-imitated guitar playing. King has always been more impressive as a soloist than a singer, and some of his vocal performances on I'll Play the Blues for You lack the intensity one might hope for. As usual, he more than compensates with a series of exquisite six-string workouts. The title track and "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" both stretch past seven minutes, while "I'll Be Doggone" and "Don't Burn Down the Bridge" (where King coaxes a crowd to "take it to the bridge," James Brown-style) break the five-minute barrier. Riding strutting lines by bassist James Alexander, King runs the gamut from tough, muscular playing to impassioned cries on his instrument, making I'll Play the Blues for You one of a handful of his great Stax sets.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 01 Mar 2010 18:49:45 | Comments : 1

Albert King - Let's Have A Natural Ball
Blues | MP3 VBR 203 kbps | 57 MB | 1989

Guitarist Albert King, a Mississippi native, settled into a recognizable mode of expression while fronting a jump blues band in St. Louis during the 1950s. This compilation of Bobbin and King sides from 1959 to 196~including the 1961 R&B hit "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong' '-has him condensing B. B. King expositions into dagger-sharp phrases that carry more pained feeling than does his church-trained singing. Refined St. Louis combos, often with Ike Turner or Johnnie Johnson on piano, pilot his displays of technique and conviction. Exciting mono sound.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 28 Feb 2010 18:50:23 | Comments : 4

Albert King - Albert
Blues | MP3 256 kbps | 77 MB | 1976

Gilded by strings and horns, keyboards and flutes, and driven by a propulsive disco beat, Albert is about as slick as Albert King ever got, but he manages to turn in a few strong performances on the album. On the whole, the songs aren't particularly distinctive, and the instrumental support is way too anonymous, but hardcore Albert fans may find a couple solos, a couple of phrases worth hearing beneath all the heavy-handed production and thumping beats.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 28 Feb 2010 16:34:36 | Comments : 3

Albert Lee & Hogan Heroes - Tear It Up
Country | MP3 320 CBR | 124 MB | 2002

Guitarist Albert Lee is the most in-demand pickers who has played with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Eric Clapton. He teams up here with his own backing group, Hogan's Heroes, for 15 up-tempo country, blues and rock 'n' roll hits.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 28 Feb 2010 16:30:13 | Comments : 2

Albert Lee - Gagged But Not Bound
Country | MP3 192 kbps | 49 MB | 1988

The master musician plays unworldly guitar on this acoustic/electric country-, rock-, and traditional-oriented masterpiece. Exquisitely recorded.

Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 27 Feb 2010 22:14:00 | Comments : 0

The Pretenders - Live In London
Rock | MP3 V2 VBR 211 kbps | 107 MB | 2010

Proving that the Pretenders' unexpected 2008 revival wasn’t limited to the studio and the excellent Break Up the Concrete, the 2010 CD/DVD set Live in London finds Chrissie Hynde’s band lean and vital, running through classics and new tunes with equal vigor. While this is founded on the former — “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Brass in Pocket,” “Middle of the Road,” and “I’ll Stand by You” all make appearances — the newer songs gain strength in this setting, and the Pretenders slip in some nice surprises, chief among them an airing of “Cuban Slide” toward the end of the set. What’s best about this set is that it’s not a grand reunion, or an attempt to recapture past glories: it’s a testament to the power and pleasure of a working band.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 27 Feb 2010 22:09:52 | Comments : 2

Albert King - New Orleans Heat [Rhino]
Blues | MP3 256 kbps | 76 MB | 1978

Allen Toussaint is one of the greatest R&B producers ever to grace New Orleans, but his touch as a blues producer is shaky at best. This attempt to update King's early classics is a snooze.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 27 Feb 2010 22:02:09 | Comments : 2

Albert Collins - Collins Mix The Best Of Albert Collins
Blues | MP3 256 kbps | 96 MB | 1993

This provided fresh looks at 11 Collins classics, among them such epic numbers as "Don't Lose Your Cool," "Frosty," "Honey Hush" and "Tired Man." There were slow, wailing ballads with blistering solos, electrifying uptempo wailers with a great horn section answering Collins' phrases with their own bleats, and first-rate mastering and production. Guest stars included B.B. King, Branford Marsalis, Kim Wilson and Gary Moore, while Collins injected vitality into numbers he'd already made standards years ago. This set is a wonderful tribute to an incredible guitarist and musician.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 27 Feb 2010 21:46:19 | Comments : 0

Albert Collins - Iceman
Blues | MP3 192 kbps | 59 MB | 1991

Albert Collins doesn't change anything for his major label debut, Iceman. Like its predecessors, it is slick and professional, featuring a variety of shuffles, R&B tunes, and slow blues, all stamped with Collins's trademark icy wail. None of the songs or performances are particularly noteworthy, but Iceman is a solid set that delivers the goods for fans of his style.
Posted By : azor2010 | Date : 27 Feb 2010 21:45:05 | Comments : 2

Albert Collins - Truckin' With Albert Collins
Blues | MP3 256 kbps | 60 MB | 1969

TRUCKIN' WITH ALBERT COLLINS is a replica of the 1969 Blue Thumb reissue (BT-8).
A re-titled reissue of the 1965 album THE COOL SOUND OF ALBERT COLLINS, this set of early sessions shows the style of this blues-guitar behemoth already clearly defined. Collins plays in minor tuning and plucks the strings aggressively with his right hand, giving his playing--even at this stage--an utterly distinctive sound. The set list features Collins's original, groove-inflected instrumentals (he turns in one vocal performance on "Dyin' Flu"), with tenor sax, alto sax, and trumpet adding punchy lines and jazzy solos over comping from a tight bass-drums-and-organ rhythm section.