Hi-Res Downloads

Jakob Bro, et al
Taking Turns (88.2kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.ecmrecords.com; ECM 2543

Recorded in 2014, but not mixed and released for a decade, this set brings together guitarist Bro with an all-star band. Performers include saxophonist Lee Konitz, guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Jason Moran, bassist Thomas Morgan, and drummer Andrew Cyrille – all of whom, with the exception of Moran, were seasoned partners either on the stage or in the studio prior to this recording. Opening with the contemplative 'Black Is All Colors At Once', it’s soon clear that the album’s title is borne out in the easy way the performers trade phrases and play off each other, while still working together to create the musical whole. As the titles suggest – and particularly the likes of 'Milford Sound', 'Aarhus' and 'Haiti' – this is a much-travelled crew of musicians, drawing thematic inspiration from locations around the world. Your best bet is to sit back, relish the finely detailed sound, and simply enjoy the ride. AE

Sound Quality: 85%

Lab Report

Unusually for ECM, this ‘88.2kHz’ file looks more like upsampled 48kHz material. Recording level is (sensibly) lower than the norm here – peaks from –3.5dB to –9.8dB – reducing chances of intersample clipping with hi-fi DACs. PM

Christophersen/Skalstad/Telemark Chamber Orchestra
Concertos (96kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.grappa.no; www.simax.no; Simax Classics PSC1413

When so much of the classical catalogue seems to be unadventurous – how many versions of familiar works do we really need? – thank heavens for labels such as Norway’s Simax Classics, and this stunning release of unfamiliar pieces performed by the Telemark Chamber Orchestra under Per Kristian Skalstad. The title work, B. Morten Christophersen’s Concerto For Violin And Strings, combines Taiwanese and Norwegian influences in three movements, and makes the most of the set’s open, crisp and detailed sound. Kari Beate Tandberg’s 'Deviations', with its unusual combination of accordion and strings, is somewhat filmic, recalling tense moments of drama, while Bjørn Bolstad Skjelbred’s 'And Then It Was Winter' is a sad, dramatic evocation of the arrival of the season in Paris in 2010. This set is no less than a wonderful discovery. AE

Sound Quality: 85%

Lab Report

A true 96kHz recording that illustrates the ~40kHz bandwidth required to capture the full flourish of orchestral strings. Dynamic range is also excellent and peaks – natural, not normalised – range from –0.4dB to –2.4dB. PM

Fassine
Never To Heaven (48kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.fassine.com; Default Collective Records, n/a cat. no.

Fassine favours a big drum sound on this, the band’s fourth album, plus dark-hued synths reminiscent of Gary Numan and Trent Reznor, with brass for added punch. Vocalist Sarah Palmer explores the ego, including lyrics about President Nixon and chess master Bobby Fischer who inspired 'Fifty-Move Fools'. She sounds like she’s running out of patience with these subjects as her voice grows from a sweet coo to a power and severity close to the intimidating tones of Grace Jones. On 'Drerty (Acid Drops)', a title inspired by late comedian and raconteur Kenneth Williams’ 1980 slim volume of witty and caustic comments, she warns, 'I will terrify you as your local therapist'. It’s high on energy and character, and there’s a groovy version of Julian Cope’s 'Sunspots' for some light relief amidst the sheer density of the mixes on offer here. MB

Sound Quality: 80%

Lab Report

All seven tracks here are normalised to –1dBFs – high, but at least not 0.0dBFs! – although with a peak-to-RMS of less than 2-bits, dynamic range is sadly well below average. There’s a hint of aliasing (~26kHz) but this is not significant. PM

Bernocchi/Chaplin
The Same And The Other (48kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.curiousmusicia.bandcamp.com; self-released, n/a cat. no.

The result of a collaboration between Italian composer, arranger and producer Eraldo Bernocchi, and British composer and experimental artist Christopher James Chaplin, this album continues what seems to be this month’s theme of ambient music and electronica. As with Pauline Anna Strom’s album [Spectre, adjacent], this isn’t one to have you dancing around your listening room, but it combines electronic instruments with near-industrial samples in the opening 'Oblique', with an underlying vestigial rhythm driving things along. The tracks throw their own kind of shapes – 'Curved', 'Diagonal' and 'Angular' – before reaching the soaring 'Foursquare', which is perhaps the most approachable track on this album. Yes, there’s a tendency for some of the tracks to sound rather 'samey', but overall there’s enough variety here to hold the interest. AE

Sound Quality: 80%

Lab Report

All tracks in this release are at 48kHz with a 24-bit depth, except trk 4 which is at 16-bit. Many sounds are sampled at 44.1kHz so the ‘bandwidth’ is arbitrary, but peaks are at –1.3dB and dynamic range slightly below average. PM

Pauline Anna Strom
Spectre (96kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.igetrvng.com; RVNG ReRVNG19

Our review of Strom’s 1983 album Plot Zero [HFN Jul ’25] provides a glimpse of what you’re going to get here. Spectre, released the following year, was the next step in the self-taught blind Californian electronic musician’s seven-album output as the Trans-Millenia Consort, building up the music on a four-track recorder using multiple keyboards. The album opens with great foghorn-like bass notes on 'Tenement Stairwell', and soon develops into familiar electronica of the period, all arpeggios and swirling spacey chords. By 1990 she had sold all her equipment, choosing to focus on spiritual healing in San Francisco, only returning to music with 2021’s Angel Tears In Sunlight, released shortly before her death. So yes, this album, like the others, is something of an oddity, more aural pictures than tunes as such, but for students of electronica, it’s also fascinating. AE

Sound Quality: 75%

Lab Report

Dynamic range is a little below average despite all tracks being pushed up to –0.45dB (trk 6 is –3.1dB). As with Plot Zero [HFN Jul ’25], your DAC will indicate 96kHz but, in practice, it’s upsampled from 44.1kHz – set by the synths(?). PM