[MorbidToaster]

Best thing she's ever done.
 
Quote:

Don't mock me.
 
 

 
Katy Perry - MTV Unplugged

 

[MrQ]

Quote:

How is it? Almost preordered it.
 

It's ok. Classic DCD in style. No real surprises. I looking forward to their tour.

 

[MorbidToaster]

I might be going with some friends when they make their way down here soon. Might go ahead and pick up the CD / Vinyl combo from Amazon after all.
 
Quote:

It's ok. Classic DCD in style. No real surprises. I looking forward to their tour.

 

[GloryUprising]

Quote:

Best thing she's ever done.
 

 
Yea man, I really like most of the MTV Unplugged stuff, really brings a new dynamic to a lot of popular music stars and you get a glimpse of their music without all the flash.

 

[MorbidToaster]

It's honestly usually well recorded and mastered as well. It gives a...proper aspect to Pop music as well as just a different (more appealing, IMO) sound.
 
Quote:

 
Yea man, I really like most of the MTV Unplugged stuff, really brings a new dynamic to a lot of popular music stars and you get a glimpse of their music without all the flash.

 

[Hi-Finthen]

~ 

ANDY McKEE and NEXT: Sound Roots

Picture this: Miles’ exciting, late sixties horn blend, the rhythmic urge of a Mingus solo, a note-bending, bluesy electric guitar—and Mapleshade sound. That’s Sound Roots. “The mood here is modern, blues-tinged… McKee plays the devil out of the bass, as his performances with the Mingus Big Band, Elvin Jones and others have proved. His walking lines are wrist-thick, filled with limber notes; his intonation is spot-on…” 41ž2 Stars, according to Down Beat. Andy’s feel-it-in-the-floor bass propels the gorgeously natural-sounding horns and the warm electric guitar. Billy Kilson’s drums are excitingly splashy and dynamic The originals by McKee are irresistible. Their rhythmic twists and turns, their surprising changes in mood keep me riveted. Features Alex Foster on sax locked ultra-tight with Ryan Kisor on trumpet, backed by Ed Cherry’s soulful, Bensonesque electric guitar. (#04432) Andy McKee, bass More info on Andy McKee Ed Cherry, electric guitar  Alex Foster, saxophones  Ryan Kisor, pocket trumpet  Billy Kilson, drums with guest  Hamiet Bluiett, bari sax

TRACK LISTING: 1. TOP HAT - Listen to Sample 2. ALL BLUES 3. SOUND ROOTS 4. ANDREA 5. 56 BLOWS 6. INNER CIRCLE 7. BLUES INTERROGATION 8. U-TURN 9. HILLTOP STOMP - Listen to Sample 10. IN A PERFECT WORLD - Listen to Full Song   All compositions by Andy McKee, except Track 2 by Miles Davis and Track 4 by Ed Cherry.

 
 
Down Beat:
reviewed by Fred Jung
On the grounds of an old tobacco plantation in Upper Marlboro, Maryland lies the home of a recording studio called Mapleshade. Mapleshade's no-nonsense approach to recording makes them an audiophile's dream. Hamiet Bluiett has been producing albums for Mapleshade in his quest to bring recognition to musicians that have been overlooked by major labels. 
  Andy McKee's Sound Roots is the seventh volume in Bluiett's Explorations series. McKee, the bassist for the Mingus Big Band and Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, has been the first bassist-director of the Mingus Big Band since Mingus himself. The Philadelphia native has been developing his quintet, NEXT, for the past few years. NEXT features McKee on bass, Ed Cherry on guitar, Alex Foster on saxophones, Ryan Kisor on trumpet, and Billy Kilson on drums.
 
McKee starts Top Hat, a tune that grew from a sound check riff, with a series of big, fat plucks. Foster's hard-blowing intensity compliments Cherry's immensely resonant, lyrical sound. Kilson aggressively attacks the toms and snares on 56 Blows, McKee's response to the anger and frustration he felt over the Rodney King verdict.
 
Kilson's furious rant lasts throughout this five minute drum solo. Bluiett's haunting, hollow sound dominates the lower registers of Hilltop Stomp, a tune he guests on, literally getting off the couch of the recording studio to play. Bluiett's liberal grooves are one of the many highlights of a stimulating hour of music.
McKee may bring about comparisons to Mingus, but McKee is planting his own roots and carries on the uncompromising music generating from an old tobacco plantation in the backwoods of Maryland.
September 1997

CMJ:
reviewed by Gene Kalbacher
From the Explorations series supervised by baritonist Hamiet Bluiett (who guests) comes the debut offering from bassist/composer Andy McKee and his quintet, NEXT. The wail of the blues and the polyrhythmic of this material bespeak the leader's two principal associations — drummer Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine and the Mingus Big Band. But equally integral to the success of this postbop production are McKee's composing style and his chamberlike instrumental configuration: Eschewing piano, the leader fashions a fluid, tight-knit ensemble ethos by employing guitarist Ed Cherry along with saxist Alex Foster, pocket trumpeter Ryan Kisor and drummer Billy Kilson.
Recorded live to two-track analog without overdubs, mixing or noise reduction (as all Mapleshade CDs are), Sound Roots is full and flavorful without being the least bit predictable. Choice cuts include the title track and 56 Blows (written in anger after the cops were acquitted in the Rodney King case).
August 18, 1997

 

[MorbidToaster]

 
If I ever actually achieve my career dream of teaching music theory (Professorship, aww yeah) this would be the first work in my Modern Masterpieces class. This album is flat out amazing. The only complaint is that I wish it were a little more dynamic. It does well at the beginning but the rest of the album lacks some dynamic range. 
 
Anyway...Hairs standing up on your neck good, IMO. Some of the positional cues could easily make you turn your head.

 

[ssrock64]

Quote:

It's honestly usually well recorded and mastered as well. It gives a...proper aspect to Pop music as well as just a different (more appealing, IMO) sound.
 

I'm always extremely surprised that such generic artists and such a horrible entertainment organization can produce beauty when put together.

 

[KevinWolff]

Some great songs but a serious victim of the loudness war overall. They remixed 2 of the tracks as best they could on Retrospective III, One Little Victory and Earthshine. Rush claimed they will remix the entire album at some point in the future. If you love these songs as I do it's worth it to give the remixes a listen.
Quote:

Rush - Vapor Trails
 

 

[kstaken]

Dead Can Dance - Anastasis
 

 

[gibbsy]

 
Faunts - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of
I've always liked this album, but its starting to grow on me a bit more.

 

[bl42ed0]

Purity Ring - Shrines
 

 

[Jimmy24]

Tete Montoliu: That's All

 

[Redcarmoose]

 
 

 
 
New DCD 2012...........!
 
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16906-anastasis/

 

[kstaken]

Deadmau5 - 4x4=12