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Watershed
(more) »rank: 938by: k.d. lang
: :Watershed, K.D. Lang’s second Nonesuch album, indeed represents a significant juncture in her 25-year career as a recording artist-a collection of eleven new original songs produced, for the first time, by Lang herself. As with any challenge she’s met in her unparalleled career, lang is a natural behind the boards in the studio. Watershed has an intimate feel and a sophisticated sound that highlights the warmth in Lang’s voice, the maturity of her songwriting and the simple beauty of her arrangements. The Grammy Award-winning artist draws on her wealth of experience with an impressively wide range of genres to fashion a revealing portrait ...
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Chopin: The Piano Concertos
(more) »rank: 952by: Lang Lang
:Album Description:The long-awaited and highly anticipated recording of Lang Lang performing Chopin's Piano Concertos nos. 1 & 2 has arrived. Both concertos are among the most beloved in the repertoire and Lang Lang's many concert performances frequently receive the highest praise. Lang Lang is joined by Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic in a brilliant pairing of talent and temperament. This is sure to become a benchmark recording of these beloved concertos. Lang Lang has sold over 100,000 CDs in the US alone and will be on tour September to November throughout the US, including many performances of the Chopin concertos.
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Hymns of the 49th Parallel
(more) »rank: 1409by: k.d. lang
:Album Description:Hymns of the 49th Parallel fulfills k.d. lang’s longstanding desire to create a Canadian songbook. On the album, her first for Nonesuch Records, she pays homage to fellow Canadian artists including Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Jane Siberry, Ron Sexsmith, and Bruce Cockburn. :Was it homesickness that compelled longtime Los Angeles resident k.d. lang to fashion her one-woman campaign for north-of-the-border nationalism, or just plain good sense? All Canadian content has long been a mainstay of the Canadian Broadcasting System, but few have selected their material with such a fine hand and a high aesthetic. The expatriate singer has taken great ...
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A Wonderful World
(more) »rank: 1194by: Tony Bennett, k.d. lang
: :Never mind the project's odd couple, 'He's got a girlfriend; so does she' marketing shuck. This is a musical love affair in all its splendor. Produced by the seemingly chameleonic producer T Bone Burnett (who previously revived traditional bluegrass with spectacular success on O Brother, Where Art Thou?), the septuagenarian legend and his unlikely contemporary foil affectionately court a dozen songs from the Louis Armstrong repertoire with the warmth and natural grace that have been a deceptively effortless Bennett trademark for 50-plus years. The pair kick proceedings off with a playful, irony-free 'Exactly Like You,' then perform a tender vocal waltz across both ...
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Camelot (Original Broadway Cast)
(more) »rank: 1945by: Frederick Loewe, Moss Hart, Julie Andrews, Mary Berry, Robert Goulet, Richard Burton, Alan Jay Lerner
: :For one brief, shining moment, there was a place known as Camelot--and this 1961 recording is the only document available of JFK's favorite musical, the one that's been used to describe his presidential administration ever since. Truthfully, Lerner and Loewe's musical score for this retelling of the King Arthur story doesn't measure up to My Fair Lady, which was still playing when Camelot opened on December 3, 1960. That being said, the three principals here were stronger musically than their 1968 film counterparts--Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet (who became a star as Lancelot, thanks to 'If Ever I Would Leave You') could sing, ...
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Annie (1977 Original Broadway Cast)
(more) »rank: 1568from: Sony
: :The original Broadway cast recording of Annie still has as much charm as it did in 1977. Charles Strouse wrote the snappy music and Martin Charnin's clever lyrics capture the misery of the Great Depression, the glitter of the upper-crust life, and the character of the FDR administration. Andrea McArdle shines in the title role, most notably with the classic anthem 'Tomorrow,' while Tony-winner Dorothy Loudon and Reid Shelton provide support as the hag Miss Hannigan and the benevolent Daddy Warbucks, respectively. The 1998 remastered edition includes as bonus material 17 minutes of tape Strouse and Charnin recorded for backers' auditions in 1972. ...
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Lie to Me
(more) »rank: 4598by: Jonny Lang
: :\N :Jonny Lang cut his debut album in Memphis when he was just 15, and, upon its release in 1996, the guitar prodigy from Minneapolis instantly became one of the leading lights of modern blues. He's a fast and flashy player whose approach rests equally on technical assurance and musical intelligence. Sizing up a dozen songs, he gets a pleasing, razor-sharp sound out of his ax while building excitement in his lead lines--thankfully, he steers clear of cliché and bombast. As a fledging singer, he acts out the lyrics of Ike Turner's age-old shuffle 'Matchbox' and his own romantic ballad 'Missing Your ...
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Ingénue
(more) »rank: 4475by: k.d. lang
: essential recording:The album on which she officially gave up on Nashville and began singing torchy, adult-contemporary pop, Ingenue has been referred to by lang as her 'stalker' album for its emphasis on songs about desire and obsession. Despite such onerous implications, the album is a charmer, thanks to lang's sincerity and passion and the smoldering arrangements of songs such as 'Constant Craving,' 'The Mind of Love' and 'Still Thrives This Love.' The album's somewhat dark spirits are tempered by the campy 'Miss Chatelaine,' which lang has often performed live to the accompaniment of a Lawrence Welk-style bubble machine. With Ingenue, you can ...
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Lang Lang: Dragon Songs (Plus DVD)
(more) »rank: 7326from: Deutsche Grammophon
:Album Description:Lang Lang has fascinated audiences all over the globe--now he takes them home to show them 'his' China with Dragon Songs, a CD+DVD set with Chinese piano solo, chamber, and orchestral music. Discover the musical culture that forged one of the most acclaimed classical musicians of our day. The CD juxtaposes the Yellow River Concerto, a large-scale, highly virtuosic piano concerto with colorful sound scales, with miniature pieces for solo piano and with chamber pieces that combine the piano with traditional Chinese instruments. Most of the pieces merge tradional Chinese melodies and idioms with the Western classical music--the result is music of ...
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Shadowland
(more) »rank: 6493by: k.d. lang
: essential recording:Pulling out all the Nashville stops, k.d. lang's 1988 album is a meticulously crafted work, her bid for mainstream country acceptance, and an homage to her idol Patsy Cline. Surrounded by the brilliance of Owen Bradley's string-laced production and a host of legendary pickers (Buddy Emmons and Pete Wade) and singers (Kitty Wells, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn), lang's voice soars and moans like a dove. After the lush Chris Isaak-penned opener 'Western Stars,' lang follows with more-familiar country writers, from Roger Miller ('Lock, Stock and Teardrops') to Harlan Howard ('I'm Down to My Last Cigarette'). Both a commercial (the album went ...
