Released to coincide with Kiss' successful 1996 reunion, 12 Picks contains six highlights from Ace Frehley's late-'80s solo albums, plus six live tracks featuring the guitarist running through Kiss classics with Frehley's Comet. It might be a ripoff collection – after all, a compilation that baits casual fans into believing that it contains the original hit versions is just as bad as one that baits fanatics into purchasing material they already have by adding new, previously unavailable live tracks – but it nevertheless consititutes the best, most consistent album in Frehley's solo catalog, since it captures all of the fire of his work with Kiss and distills the best of his solo albums to a manageable collection.

Götterdämmerung, the final instalment of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung, is a story of human passions. Two essentially benevolent creatures, involved with and possibly doomed by their traffic with the gods, find treachery and evil in the world of the humans, and are ruined by the dark side of humanity.

On his first LP of original songs in nearly a decade—and his first since reluctantly accepting Nobel Prize honours in 2016—Bob Dylan takes a long look back. Rough and Rowdy Ways is a hot bath of American sound and historical memory, the 79-year-old singer-songwriter reflecting on where we’ve been, how we got here and how much time he has left. There are temperamental blues (“False Prophet”, “Crossing the Rubicon”) and gentle hymns (“I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You”), rollicking farewells (“Goodbye Jimmy Reed”) and heady exchanges with the Grim Reaper (“Black Rider”). It reads like memoir, but you know he’d claim it’s fiction.And yet, maybe it’s the timing—coming out in June 2020 amidst the throes of a pandemic and a social uprising that bears echoes of the 1960s—or his age, but Dylan’s every line here does have the added charge of what feels like a final word, like some ancient wisdom worth decoding and preserving before it’s too late.

Lou Donaldson does attempt to loosen up a bit with Mr. Shing-A-Ling, but the whole affair is a bit stilted and misconceived. Not quite the full-fledged electric funk workout that was becoming commonplace for old-guard soul-jazz musicians in the late '60s, but not quite the bop-inflected soul-jazz of the early '60s. either, Mr. Shing-A-Ling falls into a netherworld that won't connect either with jazz purists or fans of grooving jazz-funk. When the group does try to get funky on the record, the results just sound lazy – there's no spark to the rhythms, or to Donaldson's melody lines, especially on the embarrassing cover of the pop hit "Ode to Billie Joe." When the quintet settles into a midtempo vamp, Donaldson, trumpeter Blue Mitchell, and organist Lonnie Smith do spin out some good solos, but the lack of energy and enthusiasm the group has for the material makes Mr. Shing-A-Ling a bit of a tiring listen.

Stephan Mathieu & Ekkehard Ehlers - Heroin + Remixes (2003) {Orthlorng Musork ‎orth12.cd}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 457 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 219 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 5 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2003 Orthlorng Musork ‎| orth12.cd
Experimental / Sound Art / Modern Classical / Electronic / Acousmatic / Reflection / Slow Listening

Orthlorng Musork are proud to re-release Stephan Mathieu and Ekkehard Ehlers' 2001 classic "Heroin", remastered and with an additional CD/LP of remixes by an all star line up of artists. First released on Brombron in 2001, "Heroin" was received with widespread critical acclaim, described as "a wondrous journey into a very warm, emotional soundspace" (Incursion Music Review) and "a beautiful (if mutant) remnant of pop sentimentality" (Aquarius Records). Recorded and produced in seven days between Christmas 2000 and the dawn of 2001, "Heroin" features a suite of recordings produced in Extrapool's typical rock'n'roll rehearsal space (think trash, beer cans and cigarette stubs - hence the title).

Art Pepper - Living Legend (1975) {Contemporary OJCCD-408-2 rel 1989}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 244 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 120 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1975, 1989 Contemporary / Fantasy | OJCCD-408-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Saxophone

Art Pepper, one of the major bop altoists to emerge during the '50s, started his comeback with this excellent set, Living Legend. After 15 years filled with prison time and fighting drug addiction, Pepper was finally ready to return to jazz. Accompanied by three of his old friends (pianist Hampton Hawes, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Shelly Manne), Pepper displays a more explorative and darker style than he had previously. He also shows a greater emotional depth in his improvisations and was open to some of the innovations of the avant-garde in his search for greater self-expression. Although this recording would be topped by the ones to come, the music (five Pepper originals and an intense version of "Here's That Rainy Day") is quite rewarding.

Under a Funeral Moon is the third studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was recorded in June 1992 and released 24 June 1993 by Peaceville Records. Under a Funeral Moon was the last album on which guitarist Zephyrous (Ivar Enger) performed; he left the band shortly after its release.

Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers - Live In Holland 1958 (1991) {Bandstand ‎BDCD1532}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 312 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 125 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1958, 1991 Bandstand ‎| BDCD1532
Jazz / Hard Bop

Another fine live recording of one of our greatest masters of music. As always the Blakey's groove and ensemble are intense, passionate, focused and tight. It's a great study for Blakey fans and how Mr. Golson distinct styles integrated with the band.

Gov't Mule - The Georgia Bootleg Box Set (1996) {2012 issue 6 CDs & Bonus CD}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.66 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 986 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 137 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1996, 2012 Gov't Mule / Evil Teen | 651751-1212-2-5
Rock / Blues Rock / Jam Bands / Hard Rock / Southern Rock

Those of you that have followed the Mule's history know that our connection with the state of Georgia is a deep one. Our first rehearsals were at the one-time living quarters of the Allman Brothers Band known as The Big House (now the ABB museum) in Macon, GA. Some later rehearsals took place at what used to be the legendary Capricorn Recording Studio in Macon while recording the song GONNA SEND YOU BACK TO GEORGIA for the HOUND DOG TAYLOR Tribute CD. A lot of our earliest shows were in Georgia as well so a lot of our growth as a band took place in front of Georgia audiences.