Drinkard Singers / Houston,Cissy - The Albums Collection And More 1956-62 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Acrobat has a significant catalogue of gospel collections by many of the leading quartets of the classic era in the immediate post-war decades, and this adds a further dimension to that repertoire with the highly-regarded Miami-based husband and wife duo of Sullivan and Iola Pugh, who performed as The Consolers, Sullivan Pugh was born in Moorhaven, Florida in 1925. When his mother was killed in the 1926 Lake Okeechobee hurricane, Pugh and his five siblings were adopted by a family in the community of Punta Gorda. Pugh began singing as a child soloist at the First Born Church of the Living God in Miami. He met his wife Lola when she was singing with the Miami Gospel Singers. The couple married in 1950. In 1952 the pair decided to form a gospel trio with Pearl Nance-Rayford, and they called themselves the Miami Soul Stirrers. Their original repertoire was based on the traditional spirituals and songs of the Holiness Church. Early influences included other African American gospel groups such as the Soul Stirrers of Chicago (from which they took their name) and the National Gospel Twins of Delray Beach, Florida. In 1953, Nance-Rayford quit the trio and Sullivan and Lola took the name the Spiritual Consolers for their duet.

The trio sonatas by Telemann were already regarded by his contemporaries as Inchmodels of their kindInch, they demonstrate Telemann's imaginative composing style. Compagnia Transalpina under the direction of Andreas Böhlen highlights the colourful partnership of recorder and oboe, complimented by a rich bass line combining bassoon, cello and harpsichord. Sumptuous ornamentation is applied to the upper lines, inspired by Telemann's own writing, resulting in dynamic and flamboyant ensemble playing. Recorder player and jazz-saxophonist Andreas Böhlen, professor for recorder at the renowned Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, has combined forces on this recording with leading baroque oboist Andreas Helm, professor in Vienna. Produced as a SuperAudioCD, this album presents versions in high-resolution stereo as well as in multi-channel surround sound.

A cursory listen to Brooklyn indie act Habibi's self-titled debut album would initially seem to suggest a straightforward punk approach to the classic girl group template. Front-loaded with sweetly catchy upbeat pop tracks like InchI Got the MovesInch and InchDetroit Baby,Inch Habibi's indie shimmy rhythms and reverb-heavy harmonies find the middle ground between the Shangri-Las and the Undertones in the same way the Vivian Girls did on their earliest work. The guitar lines are direct and no-frills, drummer Karen Isabel manages to play in a way that is equally powerful and understated, and the vocals are distant and eerie, whether delivered in a frantic rush solely by lead singer Rahill Jamalifard, as on spiky garage tracks like InchPersepolis,Inch or in a dreamy cloud of harmony by multiple bandmembers. Getting past the first few easily digestible girl group pop hits, it becomes clear that the true strength of Habibi lies in just how strange and haunted the songs can get. There's a spooky desperation in the slinky after-hours club narrative of InchLet Me InInch and a simmering anxiety lurking beneath what first appears to be a carefree tale of summer seduction on InchSiin.Inch Habibi tap into the very specific energy of a young band putting together it's earliest songs, free from the self-consciousness and rules that can creep in and dull groups down once they become more established. Instead, the 11 songs that make up this perfectly brief album feel fresh and spirited even in their moments of occasional awkwardness or disjointedness. Far from naive but also completely lacking any of the jaded calculation of many of their peers, Habibi's debut offers up a set of songs that swim in strangeness, beauty, and discovery and are every bit as infectious as they are refreshing.Far From RightI Got The MovesDetroit BabySunsetsSweetest TalkShe Comes AlongPersepolis Let Me InSii