Various Composers

In four albums, Worrisome Heart (2008), My One And Only Thrill (2009), The Absence (2012) and Currency Of Man (2015), Melody Gardot has managed to sneak in between Diana Krall and Norah Jones to also find her place in the selective club of the female singers that are “a bit jazzy but not too much”, this oneiric cast that was so popular during the 50s, and in which she soon made the singularity of her very sensual voice resonate. A voice that she ceaselessly took touring to locations all over the world, and multiple times over at that. And so, there are enough recordings in the cellar to release a live album. However, live discs are rarely a must. There is often something missing, this small impalpable thing, that only those present that night will have kept inside of them… This Live In Europe from Melody Gardot is lucky to have kept, precisely, this “small thing”… The American has probably meticulously built it (apparently, she has listened to more than 300 recordings before making her decision!) by avoiding the true-false best of. “Someday, someone told me, ‘never look back, because there’s no way you’re going back’, she says. It’s nicely said, but if you don’t look back sometimes, it’s hard to see that time is on the verge of catching up to you. We all need to quickly look back into the rear-view mirror from time to time in order to adjust our trajectory. This disc is precisely that, the rear-view mirror of a 1963 Corvette, a postcard of our touring all over Europe. We spent most of our time on the road these last few years, and we’ve taken advantage of this trip to not only get around and get some fresh air but also to try, as much as possible, to get rid of the rules and create something exciting. I’ve been dreaming for years of releasing a live album like this one.” This desire can be felt in every moment of this disc comprised of titles recorded in Paris, Vienna, Bergen, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Lisbon, Zurich and London. Whether she performs her hits Baby I'm A Fool and My One And Only Thrill or covers the classic Over The Rainbow, Melody Gardot offers up a different point of view, but it’s always an open performance. To help her in her introspective trip that is constantly shifting, she is surrounded by her impeccable musicians, discreet but decisive. Drummer Charles Staab, saxophonist Irwin Hall and bass player Sami Minaie are completely in tune with her singing, like some kind of thin hand that you take and only let go of after the last note. Finally, there is this album cover which will lead to extensive press coverage… or not. © MD/Qobuz

After the amazing masterpieces of Revolver and Sergeant Pepper's, The Beatles dove back into the art of pure writing, bringing about a certain level of sobriety and leaving aside their recent psychadelic delusions, awesome as they were. Released in November 1968, this double White Album is a return to more refined pop and rock; the essence of their art. The title of the disc, The Beatles, does not manage to hide the growing dissension between the four musicians at the time, and their diverging personalities saw this album herald the beginning of the end for the Fab Four, and the budding of their future solo careers... Despite all of this, The Beatles managed to release a new and totally unique album here, which can be enjoyed step by step as a true emotional rollercoaster: The fantasy of Dear Prudence, the dark madness of Revolution 9, the legendary guitar solo in While My Guitar Gently Weeps, the labyrinth of Happiness Is A Warm Gun and Sexy Sadie, the emotion of Julia (which Lennon dedicated to his mother, who died when he was 17), the purity of Blackbird and the ultra-violent tsunami that is Helter Skelter… the White Album is a brilliant production, a new masterpiece from a group growing apart ... For its 50-year anniversary, this legendary double album makes a return in Deluxe Edition form, a well-deserved title. As well as the stereo remixed version by legendary producer George Martin's son, the original mono version (praised by purists for this format) and the famous Esher Demos there are 27 demo tracks of some famous hits recorded in Harrison’s home and three studio-session CDs. It’s a marvellous collection (107 tracks in total!) which let’s us further explore this glorious piece of work that still fascinates us 50 years after its creation… © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

When he’s not working on a film score or paying a musical visit to one of his numerous friends, Mark Knopfler focuses on producing high quality solo albums. Down The Road Wherever is no exception, it’s arguably up there with Golden Heart and Get Lucky at the top of the heap. For this ninth album, available in different editions (something which has become a habit for him), he demonstrates more than ever the sheer scope of styles he can play with outstanding subtlety and elegance. He’s like a magician refusing to show off with shiny new tricks, but rather favouring his older acts with a few delicate updates, of which he seems to have many up his sleeve! More relaxed and confident than ever, particularly in his perfect guitar performances, Knopfler is second to none when it comes to harmoniously juxtaposing jazzy (When You Leave, Every Heart In The Room), bluesy (Just A Boy Away From Home), funky (Back On The Dance Floor, Nobody Does That), folk (Nobody's Child, Matchstick Man) and trad (Drover's Road, One Song At A Time) atmospheres, at times incorporating inspired Latin touches – samba, bossa nova, or cha cha chá − (Floating Away, Slow Learner, Heavy Up, Rear View Mirror) or electro layers (Good On You Son)… Even though the album starts off like Dire Straits’ Love Over Gold with the perky Trapper Man, and then My Bacon Roll which would fit right into Brothers In Arms, he has obviously come a long way, setting himself apart from a band whose memory is slowly fading. © Jean-Pierre Sabouret/Qobuz

She loves Madeleine Peyroux and Melody Gardot and she doesn't care who knows it. But Hailey Tuck does have a little something of her own up her sleeve. It's a personal touch that makes this young Texan, who has made landfall in Paris, an attractive voice in its own right, and not a pale imitation of anyone else. Larry Klein, who produced her two idols, even agreed to put together the first album of this starlet who shares a hairdresser with Louise Brooks, and a wardrobe with Josephine Baker. Klein even put together a perfect and never over-produced backdrop, with the help of some five-star studio musicians like drummer Jay Bellerose (Elton John, Robert Plant) and guitarist Dean Parks (Joe Cocker, Steely Dan)… In terms of their repertoire, the eclecticism and quality of these covers also displays thoroughgoing good taste. And the fact that she revisits That Don't Make It Junk by Leonard Cohen, Cry To Me, made famous Solomon Burke, Cactus Tree by Joni Mitchell, Some Other Time by Leonard Bernstein, Underwear by Pulp, Alcohol by the Kinks, Junk by Paul McCartney, I Don’t Care Much from the soundtrack to Cabaret and indeed the wonderful Say You Don’t Mind by Colin Blunstone, Hailey Tuck deploys her voice intelligently and with a dash of retro in every word and every phrase. Let this beautiful and timeless Qobuzissime carry you away... © Max Dembo/Qobuz

  A guitar held up by the neck, a child's head pressed against the holder's body. Cat Power reveals a lot with the cover of her tenth album. The American is up and running again and now she is a mother. At 46, Chan Marshall seems to be doing... better? Well, It's not as if her life, which has been studded with internal chaos, turbulence, a lot of moving around, depression and addiction is going to be all plain sailing from here on in, but Wanderer contains some of her most beautiful songs yet. Stripped-down compositions. A simple piano. A few notes on a guitar. A lean rhythm section. It's clear that the message here is "less is more." Perhaps her aim is to return to the roots of her old folk and blues mentors. Bringing a child into the world during the Trump era is enough to get anyone thinking again... And Cat Power hasn't sung for years. Her tones with their bluesy style, unmistakeable from the first syllable, reach sublime heights here. After a slightly electro detour with Sun, mixed by Zdar from Cassius, she doesn't give us too many surprises here in terms of the pretty classical form of her songs, but the surprise comes in the sheer quality of the tracks. One of her biggest fans, Lana Del Rey, makes an appearance on the album on the track Woman maintaining the sober feel to this beautiful and honest record. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz    

An androgynous voice reminiscent of Anohni’s of Antony and the Johnsons. A very 80s hushed groove comparable to Everything But The Girl and Sade and an outline worthy of The XX. Rhye’s first album, Woman, released in 2013, came as a real surprise. The improbable LA-based duo, made up of Canadian Mike Milosh and Danish Robin Hannibal, unfolded their R&B with insane sensuality (sexuality?). Five years later, Blood also comes through as a troubling and erotic urban soundtrack. A weightless soul based on the principle of less is more. Unfortunately Hannibal left the project in 2017, leaving Milosh alone aboard this beautiful vessel. As a result, Rhye’s music became more organic, less sophisticated and, in a way, more real. Moreover the falsetto voice of the man in charge is a powerful magnet for the ears. A voice even more beautifully showcased than in Woman, making Blood the apex of refined groove. © MD/Qobuz

Random Access Memories is het vierde studioalbum van het Franse duo Daft Punk. Het album is een liefdevol eerbetoon aan de disco en softpop uit de jaren 70 en 80. Er is weinig over van de op samples gebaseerde elektro van hun vorige albums. Op het album staan onder andere gastperformances van funkgitaarlegende Niles Rodgers, Pharrell, Julian Casablancas en Panda Bear. De eerste single “Get Lucky” (feat. Pharrell) was een van de grootste hits van 2013. De rest van het album is voor de doorsnee Daft Punk fan misschien iets te nostalgisch en retro, maar voor de aanhoudende luisteraar is het een rijk album waar je veel tijd mee wilt doorbrengen.

Roger Waters zette The Wall in elkaar, een narcistische rockopera op een dubbelalbum over een emotioneel gehavende rockster. The Wall schildert zo een onsympathiek portret van de rockster, met de slimme naam “Pink”, die iedereen de schuld geeft – vooral vrouwen – van zijn neuroses. Zulke tekstuele en thematische tekortkomingen konden misschien vergeven worden als het album uit een geweldige verzameling nummers bestond, maar Waters nam zijn neiging naar opera ter harte, en bouwde het album op als een reeks fragmenten die bij elkaar worden gehouden door grotere nummers als “Comfortably Numb” en “Hey You”. De volledig ontwikkelde nummers behoren tot Floyds beste, maar The Wall is voornamelijk een triomf van productie: het naadloze oppervlak, waarin melodieuze fragmenten en geluidseffecten worden vermengd, maakt het gemakkelijk om de muzikale tekortkomingen en twijfelachtige teksten te negeren.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The story of Parcels is both a childhood dream and a wonderful human adventure. Formed just four years ago, for what is the “first real band” for each of its members, the quintet (music-lovers and Steely Dan-addicts) quickly sold out their first concerts in Byron Bay, a surfing spot on the East coast of Australia. But despite being half a world away, the smell of Berlin nights lured them over to try their luck in Europe. Good move: the international music hub that is the German capital lead them to a signing with the Parisian label Kitsuné. After two EPs where they demonstrated their compatibility, Thomas Bangalter came to congratulate them and give them some advice following a concert in Paris, producing their single Overnight a few months later. Now equipped with Daft Punk’s totem of protection, the Aussies have launched their debut album with an emphasis on the collective – symbolised by the title of the album, Parcels – a pop-funk wave that sounds like an album by The Beatles with Nile Rodgers on the guitar. Amongst these twelve tracks (three of which have already turned heads: Tieduprightnow, Bemyself and Lightenup), you realise that this group really is a group in the true sense of the word and that these guys love nothing more than jamming out. The lyrics on Lightenup were written collectively – proof that Parcels plan to head down this road together (or at least that their lead singer isn’t a complete megalomaniac). And as long as they keep their spirits up this high, nothing will stop them from cruising on down this sunny highway. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

Kimberose for “Kimberly ose”, meaning Kimberly dares. A pure product of the Parisian suburbs, Kimberose is a dazzling new band built around Kimberly Kitson Mills, a formerly shy singer with English and Ghanaian origins. Exorcising its singer’s wounds, opened by her father’s death, in a soul directly borrowed from Amy Winehouse, Kimberose puts out 11 intimate tracks of surprising homogeneity and incredibly hushed minimalism, paced by rather sparse keyboards, drums and guitars that put emphasis on the voice. That hoarse, harrowing, but ever so warm voice of the greatest singers of soul and jazz. With Chapter One, Kimberly might very well walk in the footsteps of legends. Only time will tell. © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz