Johann Schop - Hamburger Ratsmusicus - Hamburger Ratsmusik
(Erster Theil newer Paduanen, Galliarden […] - 1633)
Classical, Baroque | 1 CD | EAC | FLAC, CUE, LOG | Scans | 307 MB | RS
Recorded: 3-5/1 2006, Schloss Salzau, Schleswig-Holstein | TT: 55:58
Released: 2006 | Label: Thorofon CTH 2464
Hamburger Ratsmusik - Simone Eckert

Johann Schop [c. 1590-1667] was director of town music in Hamburg for much of the period overshadowed by the Thirty Years War (1618-48). After the war, he worked in the city until 1665, and died two years later. He was a virtuoso violinist and it is no surprise that he seems to have been highly regarded by the other town musicians […] Despite this apparent fame in his own time, Schop's music remains almost unknown. […]

[…] the individual lines as played here are admirably clear. The recorded balance between the parts is also excellent. The players perform the music very well indeed, and with a great deal of sensivity […] the commitment and musicianship that Hamburger Ratsmusik bring to their performances […] you cannot fail to be drawn to this music. (Michael Robertson, Early Music, Feb. 2007)

Status Quo, also known as The Quo or just Quo, are an English rock band whose music is characterized by their distinctive brand of boogie rock.
The group's origins were in "The Spectres" founded by schoolboys Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster in 1962. After a number of lineup changes, the band became "The Status Quo" in late 1967, finally settling on the name "Status Quo" in 1970. They have recorded over 60 chart hits in the UK, more than any other rock group in history. 22 of these have reached the UK Top Ten.

Willi Boskovsky was born and trained in Vienna and served as concertmaster of the great Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for forty years. The outstanding performances of Viennese waltzes and other music by Johann Strauss II – The Waltz King – as well as by his father Johann I, and his brothers Josef and Eduard which are presented on these CDs make clear that Boskovsky thoroughly mastered the essence of this delightful musical idiom. This is beautiful music superbly conducted and played by people who understand and love it. All of the Strauss favorites and many delightful lesser-known works are included. Very highly recommended.

OSIRIS-TYPHON UNMASKED is a must purchase for all those metalheads that prefer to enjoy their dose of Black Metal with some great harmonies, those who like it symphonic and atmospheric and are indeed able to give lots of credit for a great production. This is no bullshit, garage sounding Black Metal recorded by a shitty 4-track recorder, so stay fuckin´ away from this excellent album, both song and production-wise, if that fact disturbs or irritates you somehow. This album offers just more than ´trolls´ for you.

Insomnium is a melodic death metal band from Joensuu, Finland, whose music also reveals links to other, neighboring metallic subgenres like doom, melancholy, and dark metal. Originally formed in 1997, the group released a pair of demos in 1999 and 2000 before signing a contract with England's Candlelight Records, and making their full-length debut via 2002's In the Halls of Awaiting CD. Two additional albums – Since the Day It All Came Down, Above the Weeping World and Across the Dark– have since followed, in 2004, 2006 and 2009 respectively, and not only confirmed Insomnium's enduring passion for their chosen musical style, but also their stable lineup consisting of Niilo Sevänen (bass/vocals), Ville Friman (guitar), Ville Vänni (guitar), and Markus Hirvonen (drums)

It's hard to resist Goose Creek Symphony, an unabashed hillbilly outfit who like to rock a little, mess around with bluegrass, and tell fractured tall tales in a back porch style that falls somewhere between an Appalachian version of the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa (if Zappa had been raised in Kentucky). Goin' Home might not be as sharp as the group's classic early albums from the 1970s (Established 1970, Words of Earnest), but it shares the same irreverent country joy, and leader (and main songwriter) Charlie Gearheart's odd, sideways view of life is as arresting and infectious as the jaw harp he frequently plays. Among the highlights here are the country funky "Gob Sows," the slow-down plea "Livin' in a Panic," and the bizarre (but totally normal in Goose world) "Say "Hi" to the Toad." Listeners new to the Creek's down-the-holler shenanigans might want to start with the earlier albums, but already converted Gooseheads will no doubt welcome any new installment from this amazingly long-lived band.

This brilliant new wave classic by Ultravox was performed in studio by frontman Midge Ure. This acoustic version really expresses the depths this song holds in itself.

Duran Duran - Greatest
EAC Rip | Included: EAC Log + AccurateRip Log + CUE + Flac + Covers
RAR 3% Rec. | 553 MB | RS.com | Genre: Rock / New Wave | Mono/Stereo: 2 Channel
Release: Nov 3, 1998 | Label: EMI | Number: 7243 4 96239 2 7

Album Notes:
Greatest was an update of the 1989 tenth anniversary compilation album, Decade: Greatest Hits. The new release included songs from their eponymous debut album through 1997's Medazzaland. The album includes all 14 songs featured in Decade: Greatest Hits, plus "New Moon on Monday" and four singles from the 90's, however both "Save a Prayer" and "Rio" are presented in their shorter US versions in order to fit on a single CD whereas they appeared in their full versions on the former compilation. The album was released by EMI after parting ways with the band after the disastrous Medazzaland album release in 1997, and marked the first of many releases designed to capitalize on the band's extensive EMI-controlled back catalog. To coincide with the release of the Greatest album in the United Kingdom, the song "Electric Barbarella" was released as a single. This track was originally released as a single in North America in 1997 to promote the Medazzaland album (which was never released in the UK). As of 2009, the collection has sold over a million copies in the United States. To date, a full collection of Duran Duran's singles on one album still hasn't been released. The album release was followed in 1999 by the release of a videotape compilation of the band's groundbreaking music videos, also entitled Greatest. It was not released on DVD at the time, probably due to the band's disintegrating relationship with Capitol Records.