Award-winning duo record an album for B&W
Justin Adams (Robert Plant, Jah Wobble) has been described by the Guardian as “one of the most intriguing, enthusiastic musicians in Britain” and together with Gambian griot and master of the ritti, Juldeh Camara, has recorded a follow-up to their critically acclaimed album “Soul Science” which won a BBC Radio 3 World Music Award.
Mixing up raw blues, electric guitar and African roots, the reference points for this release are recordings from the 1950s by the likes of Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters.
To acheive the rawness and slight distortion meant a live feel was very important, Justin decribes the recording process: “The way we’ve gone for that is to record in a very live way in the Wooden Room at Real World Studios. You’ll hear the sweat and blood of the live performance, and all the scratchy bits!”.
With all B&W Music Club albums, we try and bring you something different and very special and would love to know what you think of it.
Armando Fiorini says:
I did ejoy that kind of music so unusual for me, i appreciated the purity of sounds as well, even thought i felt in love with the voice and bossa nova songs played by Julianna Raye….
Kind regards.
Armando
Posted: Sunday, 15 March 2009
fernando says:
excelente, gostei muito.É preciso serem mais divulgados no Brasil.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Dude says:
Everything becomes so much more vivid when recorded GOOD in 24 bit. My goodness, it’s the new black!
But WHY this wambo chambo noise, nobody likes anyway!? Try to do a album like Roger Waters – amused to death, with all the reverse phase stuff, that would be nice to hear!!
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Urie says:
Loved the sound on this one (and Portico Quartet, too!) The grit is a nice touch, since it fits the musical style and provides a nice alternative to the overproduced music that assaults the radio!
I’m on the free, three EP trial: so far, a 2 out of 3, Bowers and Wilkins! I look forward to next month’s music!
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Benjamin says:
It was a very good album for me.
So far, the albums I most appreciated were those mixing different cultures and styles. They are the richest.
Keep on this way please.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Merle Prosofsky says:
The sound quality was very good. I have been more critical about good sound since buying my 804s as I can hear every little nuance. I look forward to the next download
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Pete Wilson says:
Taste comment – I preferred Darby Toure etc
Sound quality seemed fine
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
craig says:
Just joined, first download.
Audio quality was awesome, but respectfully the genre of the Afrobilly Sessions just didn’t do it for me, I appreciate what was being attempted but honestly I still can’t see what the ritti, a single stringed instrument, brings to such an attempt at high fidelity.
I don’t want to be critical, I respect what was attempted here, I did like Adams guitar, but I was anticipating genres of music wherebye the lack of compression would play a role in expanding the music, I don’t think a ritti requires lossless audio or benefits from it.
I was very intrigued by some of the previous artists, especially Tom Kerstens album, unfortunately I can’t get it.
I think this site is great, I love the concept and as a music lover I really hope it works. I’m looking forward to the next artist.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Mervin Pearce says:
Did not enjoy this album as much. The sound quality and talent is there however not the type of music I would like to sit and relax with a warmed up glass of cognaq.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Tjaze says:
This was a very cool/smooth album. The sound was something I hadn’t heard before and I’ve been playin’ the blues for more than 30 years. I don’t know how to “wax eloquent” but I do know that was a very good jammin’ sound coming from these talented players.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
ullodea says:
More like an abstract juxtaposition of sounds than music. Perhaps it’s just ahead of its time, but I didn’t enjoy the album…
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Mark White says:
Great sound quality at 24 bit and superb musicians, what more could you ask for.
The recording quality through my valve amp sounds even closer to vinyl sound quality which is a good thing.
Many thanks for a great value service.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Ozkan Huray says:
I like blues and specially electric guitar. I was very happy that I have downloaded this album. The sound quality is very very nice. And also all the sounds are so clear and I can feel the music deeply while listening. Many tanks to B&W Music Clup.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Brian Walsh says:
I cannot figure out where the link is to download the music – the three month trial was a waste as I couldn’t download the music.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Paul Everist says:
Sorry. This album didn’t do anything for me. I have deleted it already.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Eric Neumann says:
It’s great to be a member!
Thanks B&W MUSIC CLUB. Being a fan of all fusion music, this album was a nice and fine discovery. You need more than one listening to enter in this smooth combination of style and music culture. At the end of the travel, you want more. Music is love!
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Philip Phillips says:
Good sound. I prefer classical music where sound quality is more important than in pop music
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Knockin Guy says:
I don’t think I am in the target market for this style of music. Sorry, it ain’t for me. Very well performed; very well recorded… but I just don’t enjoy it.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Noel Calleja says:
Hi, I did like the sound quality and I must say it is excellent. Unfortunately it is not my style of music but I am impressed on the techniques used and for this I say a very well done. Hope to see you some time later on this year. Noel
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Dieter Paterek says:
Dear B&W
The sound quality is perfect but it is not my type of Music.
Thanks and best regards
Dieter
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
denis van helleputte says:
I enjoyed the fact to discover new type of music with good musicians in this recorded quality.It’s a good way to promote great artists with original sounds and keep my ears wide open.I especialy appreciated Daby Toure and Skip Mc Donald.
well done’thanks!
Denis
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Jason Brown says:
The sound quality was tip-top, but I’m not too thrilled by classic rifts being made into “world music”. I know that was only some of the songs, but changing the language and one or two instruments does not qualify, in my opinion.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Lazarus says:
Great sound quality, however the content was definately not my “cup of tea”. More jazz and R&B please.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
stephen hayes says:
I am on the three month trial but was only able to download crappy mp3 version, Why can I not download the 24/96 version ?.
I want 24/96 trial versions to see if its worth continuing with a subscription.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Michael Chen says:
I have not been able to download this session
the link has an error..
for the last two sessions
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Mario Aradillas says:
I am sure that you have an expert technical group to select the “rigth” and propoer music to show the great quality of B&W speakers, but do not you think that you have exceeded about tribal rithm? on the other hand I never could download the music.
Thanks and regards
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
mark says:
could not burn a cd with the downloaded 24 bit flac file. Any instructions please?
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Alejandro Flores says:
the preview of the tracks seems OK, willing to download them, however, I can’t do it on my Mac!! Is there any other user out there on a mac that is experiencing the same problem? Both Safari and Firefow fail on me…
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Scott Key says:
As a songwriter myself, I appreciate the innovation, but I admit to being stingy with my iPod Touch’s memory and did not place the songs there. Thus I never got to hear the technical sound quality (which I’m sure is awesome). Dave Stewart knocked my socks off a few offerings back.
As for the afrobilly music … very respectful of the wonderful musicianship … it’s not my cup of tea. I do like African flavors (I listen to radio out of Zimbabwe all the time) and prefer the more “traditional” inspirations coming from the mbira and the highly syncopated guitar styles melded with tribal “chant-like” melodies.
If BW were to ask what I’d like to hear more of, I’d be hard pressed to answer. If I ask to only hear what I like, I’d never grow. So keep up the good work. Right now, I’m nearing the end of my free membership (love my Zeppelin) and do not know if I will officially join.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
rob owen says:
the music was ok. not really my knid of thing (a bit WOMAD-tastic, really).
The sound qulaity was great and you could really appriciate the difference on my set of 683′s.
Some nicer material next time would be even better.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Jorge Correia says:
Hi there,
I’ve recorded music from four groups and the overall quality is simply excepcional !!!
The fact that the whole work is done in Peter Gabriel’s facilities is obviously not to be neglected.
I’ve tried with several formats and discs.
The best results i have achieved were with sony CDRs for audio use and converted files from the 24 bit flacs.
I am an high end afficionado, and though an excellent recording is much better than a poor one even on a laptop, the only way to get what the artist had in mind is to listen to it through the very best equipment you can get.
I have used “xrecode” wich is a pretty basic converter regarding “look and feel” but it is very competent.
Converting the 24 bit flacs to MP3, i’ve achieve better results than with the other formats including the 16 bit flacs.
These were the best results for listening to the music in my KRELL KPS 28c.
Another alternative if you have an high end DVD is to record the files in 24 bit, 48 Khz in DVD format.
I have also tried this on my KRELL DVD SHOWCASE with excellent results.
These CDs rival and outperform many recordings one can buy on a CD store.
In any case, the ones that i have from Peter Gabriel are even better, specially the Super Audio remastered series.
Regarding music, the artistry, the liberty and the ecletic expression of these musicians and vocalist are as follows:
1) Portico Quartet – Excellent, not only the idea of including a new instrument that melts with the whole group, but also the exploratory movement expressed in their music.
2) The Afrobilly Sessions – An incursion on the popular African Music, expressive, exciting and a lot of fun.
3) Daby Touré and Skip McDonald – Simply Exceptional, the texture, colour and rithm. Thoughtful experience !!! Very good indeed.
4) Dave Stewart – Inspiring and intelligent lyrics, more mature and melodic than it was with the Eurythmics, more introspective but not so explosive emotionally.
Thank you Peter (Gabriel) for an insight on the recording experience and for making it possible to explore new grounds musically speaking.
Jorge Correia
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Francesco Mazzilli says:
Very good quality!
I listened on my stereo with my B&W 683 and sounds great!
Anyway, i prefer jazz or classic,but it’s a good album! :)
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Rob says:
Good stuff especially enjoyed “Kele Kele”. Anyone who liked the music ought to check out stuff like “Sounds of Soweto” or bands like Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
Laszlo Karolyi says:
This is a wonderful mix of ethno, rock, and jazzmusic in an extraordinary quality! Thanks a lot!
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
k . grills says:
sorry – missed it
Posted: Monday, 16 March 2009
chris says:
enjoyed the download, an interesting fusion but lacked in taking the combination to a new level. excellent sound quality, like the concept, look forward to the next one, respect.
Posted: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Bryant TREW says:
Another winner for me! Great creativity and great artist!
Posted: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Pierre-André says:
Quel bonheur !!! enfin de la musique digne de ce nom sur le net !!!. Je ne parle pas du style ou du genre (tous les goûts sont dans la nature), mais de la qualité. Rien à voir avec les offres légales que proposent les sites en lignes. Pas de galère avec les DRM, pas de compression pourrie comme le mp3 ou le WMA qui dénaturent le son. Vive le *.flac 24Bits. Et quand la prise de son est faite de manière PRO cela s’entend !!! si si écoutez bien, il faut prendre son temps. Encore une fois, rien à voir les enregistrements « fast food » qui envahissent nos oreilles malgré nous. STOP à la soupe industrielle qui nous pourrie les oreilles. Vive la culture du bon et du beau. Nos ordinateurs et nos baladeurs en tous genres, sont depuis longtemps capables de lire autre chose que du 128Kbps destructeur.
MERCI B&W ;-) pour votre offre géniale et très originale. Je suis toujours très impatient d’attendre le prochain album à télécharger. Même quand je ne connais pas, je découvre toujours avec le même bonheur, tous les artistes que vous nous proposé. Quel pied !! à ce prix là c’est vraiment de la folie merci encore.
PA
Posted: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Michael Wilbur-Ham says:
Unfortunately I was not able to get the 24bit version transfered onto a DVD properly. (My old version of Toast on my Mac upconverted it to 96 kHz and this introduced very bad distortion.) So these are my comments on the 16bit FLAC,
It only took the first few seconds of the first track to realize that this is yet another very badly compressed recording.
It sounds nothing like the musicians are in the room with you. On a good system it just sounds like you are listening to a bad radio recording.
If this was not compressed as it was recorded the original recording must have sounded amazing. Pity that we are not given the option to hear this.
It is not unexpected that all of the comments above say the recording is good. Most people these days just use music as aural wallpaper, and compressed music makes ok background. And most commercial recordings these days are compressed as much, if not more, as this recording, so this might sound good compared to other recent CDs.
I find it very sad that people have forgotten what real music sounds like. And it is even sadder that B&W don’t seem to realize that uncompressed music sounds MUCH better. (How can a company make great speakers if they think this sounds good?)
My listening before this was Steven Wilson’s (of Porcupine Tree) just released solo album – Insurgentes. I listened to the DVD-Audio surround mix. Not only is the music great, but Steven knows not to compress the life out of his recordings. This is both a sound quality and a musical masterpiece.
The B&W club release would be fun if it sounded like live music. But this aural abortion will go to the bottom of my pile.
I think I need to listen to Insurgentes again to clear out my ears.
As I have said in an earlier posting, when I joined (right from the beginning) I was expecting not great music that sounded terrific. I was wrong on both counts – the music is all great, and the over compressed sound makes these recordings not worth listening too.
Posted: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Pedro Juanes says:
La verdad es que son todo un descubrimiento. Buena música y buenos músicos combinan!!!!!!!!!!
En cuanto al sonido… GENIAL!!!
Posted: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Dave Lorde says:
Excellent quality recording, really shines. I love these cross-genre mixes, the links between them are fascinating, if not my main listening.
Keep recording a broad variety of quality music and I’ll stay with the project.
Posted: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Scott Gilbert says:
It’s great to finally have high quality downloads. Thank you for making the 24 bit/ high resolution versions available. I have enjoyed all the artists presented so far and look forward to your future offerings.
Posted: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Ken says:
I love the quality of all the music I have downloaded but it seems like the site has a “different equals superior” thing going on.
Classical music and traditional vocalists are being ignored for the sake of “NEW” (which by definition must equate to better with you) and I think it sad.
Let the high quality of the recordings shine with music most of us will listen to many times over.
I am six months into my membership and consider it a 50/50 proposition. It will be interesting to see where you take it.
Ken
Posted: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Ethnomann says:
Afrobilly Sessions was my type of music since I love all kinds of blues music. This cooperation of musicians gave a new and adorable note to it. Also a very decent blues groove.
Posted: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Thomas Huber says:
Hi,
sound quality is again excellent … I love it. The music itself is not really the type of music I normally go for .. still I ve enjoyed it – but it does not force me to repeatedly listen to it (which is the case with the album from portico quartet !!!).
.. I am still impressed overall. Hope to see new stuff coming up … and trying to attract my friends – as I think this activity MUST BE SUPPORTED as much as possible – hope that the musicians feel also comfortable with it .. but guess this is the case.
Thomas
Posted: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
HB says:
As always, I loved the sound quality. It’s a great relief to be downloading albums that aren’t compressed to within an inch of their life.
Not 100% enthused by the music itself – a matter of personal taste no doubt.
Portico Quartet was amazing however. I saw them perform last week over in East London and found the experience to be extremely rewarding.
Posted: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
SusannaGrant says:
Hi,
to the commenter who thinks he has missed the album – it is still available until 23rd March so there’s still time to download and let us know what you think
Thanks,
Susanna
B&W
Posted: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
SusannaGrant says:
Hi Mark,
Unfortunately you cannot burn 24-bit FLAC Files to CD – you can burn the 16-bit one however.
Thanks,
Susanna
Posted: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
YTT says:
Interesting combination of African and western influences. Kele Kele was positive and fluently proceeding African rockabilly. But most I liked the groove in Achoo. Thanks!
Posted: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Hoffmann says:
this is a great album. I love to let other people listen to it and talk about those two great artists and their brilliant musical instruments. very impressing, well done.
Posted: Thursday, 19 March 2009
gmeddens says:
Good sound, nice music but not 96K but 48K, wich I thought it would be. Still wortwhile and better then CD.
Burning to CD should be no problem using XLD for Mac OSX to create 16 bits AIFF or Apple Lossless
Posted: Thursday, 19 March 2009
Hugh says:
I have the 24/48 version of this, and the sound quality is very good; I am looking forward to the next album when hopefully I can enjoy music more to my taste.
Posted: Thursday, 19 March 2009
Youzee says:
Not my choice of music. I tend to more conventional western styles. But quality was very good.
Posted: Friday, 20 March 2009
Euterpe says:
Hi,
This is an interesting album, reach sound quality, but difficult to compared against each of files, 16 and 24 bit Flac… BTW, I’m waiting for the next album, I hope it will be a Blues session …
Marc
Publisher
http://www.magazine-audio.com
Posted: Friday, 20 March 2009
Earlyriser says:
Count me in the apparent minority who was disappointed in the sound of this album. First listen through my iPod on a noisy walk was great, but then playing on the main hifi I was struck by the very flat production. There appears to be very little contrast between loud/quiet.
In a few places it sounded as though the guys really made a strong push, but it did not actually result in any more volume from the speakers!
Very happy with the change to hi-res downloads, but why not 24/96?
Like the music though.
Posted: Friday, 20 March 2009
Andy says:
In response to your recent email asking for feedback on Afrobilly Sessions. I have to say it’s not my style of music. I loved the Portico Quartet, but I did not enjoy this month’s Afrobilly.
I am a big fan of the 24-bit auido, as I am able to play it in full quality by burning a DVD of the music. It does sound amazing – matches the in-store speaker demo, which is impressive to achieve at home!
I am on a 3-month trial and have my fingers crossed for next month.
Posted: Sunday, 22 March 2009
bblue says:
The Afrobilly Sessions was interesting musically, but not something I’d listen to very often. Kele Kele and Tonio Yima are the most likable for me.
Sound quality is a lot less than I would have expected. It is very ‘loud’ and overly compressed. My N801′s and I don’t like it at all, even at 48/24.
Posted: Tuesday, 24 March 2009
j says:
personally I disagree with those who didn’t like the album, and I think that it really was amazing, and the quality of the songs sounded perfect on my 685′s. You can’t judge an album based only on the numbers that define its “quality”, yes 24/96 would be nice but this is still fantastic, and that is because of the artists themselves who got together to make original, creative and altogether beautiful sounding music.
Posted: Wednesday, 25 March 2009
AudioBear says:
“Which download file format should I choose?
With Music Club you currently have a choice of three files and two Lossless file formats: Apple Lossless (16 bit) or FLAC (16 bit & 24 bit)….”
This used to be the case but today (26th march 2009) clicking on the Download Button – means I automatically just get a ALC Zip download. No FLAC option? I don’t want this I want the 24bit FLAC file! Why, because your FAQ is wrong!!
“45. Why dont you offer 24bit Apple Lossless
iTunes doesn’t support 24bit recording and all Apple Lossless music files are automatically converted back to 16-Bit by iTunes.”
iTunes DOES support 24bit files AIFF or Apple Lossless. It also support higher rates as well, (96Mhz) for example, so how about some higher quality options too like 24bit 96Mhz!!
So… how do I get the 24 bit FLAC files from MAC? Also I have never been able to login via Firefox on a Mac and have to use another browser…
Posted: Thursday, 26 March 2009
SusannaGrant says:
Hi Russ,
I don’t know why the FLAC option isn’t coming up, please could you email musicclub@bwgroup.com with specific details of this plus your browser and OP details and we’ll ensure you get that option back.
Regarding Firefox, a number of people seem to have had a problem with that browser so I guess it’s best to stick to another one when accessing the club.
I’m going to look into iTunes and 24-bit because as far as I knew, they were automatically converted back to 16-bit.
Will stay in touch and thanks for this.
Susanna
B&W
Posted: Thursday, 26 March 2009
Joel Bursztyn says:
Sorry, not to be so positive. The sound is great. But I feel the B&W selection seems to try to be too much unusual. I would prefer some more “regular” material. In order to enjoy music. I can tell you that 30 years ago , I loved (and still love), Genesis, ELP, YES, Gentle Giant, Pink floid etc.. So its not that I am waiting for hip-hop etc.. but something that it is more general – Just like LastFM finds for me very good new music. I found that I rarely listen to the discs I burned. As summary, let the sound support music and not the other way around.
Posted: Sunday, 29 March 2009