ANNETTE PEACOCK – I Belong To A World That's Destroying Itself (aka Revenge) (2014) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Annette Peacock gets it right again. In the lyric booklet here she writes "This is my first record. It was the right album, in the wrong century." Startling but true. An earlier version of I Belong to a World That's Destroying Itself was released as Revenge by Polydor in 1971 -- the same year as her classic I'm the One on RCA, which is usually regarded as her debut. The former album was credited to the Bley-Peacock Synthesizer Show. Her then-husband Paul Bley got top billing, despite the fact he played on only half the record. Peacock's Ironic label corrects this historical inaccuracy in deluxe fashion. Recorded live in various studios in 1968 and 1969 (written and arranged completely by Peacock), this is one of, if not the, very first record to feature a Moog Synthesizer modulating lead vocals. The rough recording aspect -- understandable given technological limitations at the time -- is actually a boon to this version; it is remarkably fresh, raw, energizing, and prophetic even now. This set marks the first showcase for Peacock's iconic free-form songwriting style -- which has inspired three successive generations of musicians across several genres -- and her trademark phrasing and delivery. As evidenced here, she pioneered a radical technique of commanding the synthesizer to serve her singing in perfect complement -- she made the instrument actually sound passionate. Check the way she makes it strain to meet her high-pitched soaring on "A Loss of Consciousness." The electric bass, trap kit, and a fingerpopping acoustic piano vamp behind her foster the groove. Tom Cosgrove's guitar adds funky leads and the band matches them, while her rhythmic pulse -- processed through the synth -- takes it over the margin somewhere else entirely. The testifying title track is an environmental anthem that demands a return to natural sources; its poetry is just as bracing in the 21st century, and absolutely free of idle sentiment. The gospel stomp of the B-3, electric bass, and breaking drums frame her distorted vocal, adding primal urgency and steely poignancy. This set also contains the first version of "I'm the One." With its rickety upright piano and slightly reverbed vocals, it is at once earthy and otherworldly. On "Joy," with its bumping bassline and grooving Rhodes-and-organ groove, Peacock marshals the Moog to add emotive adornments in the instrumental mix as well as to her voice. She lyrically embraces life and love because of their impermanence. This edition includes two bonus cuts: "Flashbacks," a hard-driving funk jam with a lyric comprised of a diary entry (complete with rough-cut studio moments) that leads directly into "Anytime with You," a deeply moving, souled-out number with clean vocals and Cosgrove's guitar as a second voice. Not that it was required, but I Belong to a World That's Destroying Itself further cements Peacock's role as a singular artist whose searing and provocative musical vision has always been decades ahead of itself. 
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <- 
Tracklist :
1.    A Loss Of Consciousness    6:42
2.    The Cynic    3:35
3.    I Belong To A World That's Destroying Itself    4:30
4.    Climbing Aspirations    1:40
5.    I'm The One    4:30
6.    Joy    7:07
7.    Daddy's Boat (A Lullaby)    7:28
8.    Dreams (If Time Weren't)    4:11
        +    
9.    Flashbacks    3:32
10.    Anytime With You    3:28
Credits :
 Alto Saxophone – Mark Whitecage
 Bass – Gary Peacock, Glen Moore, Richard Youngstein, Stu Woods
 Clarinet – Perry Robinson
 Drums – Barry Altschul, Laurence Cook, Rick Marotta, Steve Haas
 Electric Piano – Bob Mason
 Guitar – Tom Cosgrove
 Mixed By [Remastered And Bonus Tracks] – Annette Peacock, Tod Levine
 Piano [Prepared] – Apache Rose Peacock
 Piano, Organ – Mike Garson
 Synthesizer, Electric Piano – Paul Bley
 Tenor Saxophone – Michael Moss 
 Vocals [Acoustic And Synthesized], Synthesizer [Moog], Vibraphone [Electric], Producer, Written-By, Arranged By, Performer – Annette Peacock

ANNETTE PEACOCK — I'm the One (1972-2012) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    I'm The One    8:45
 Written-By – Annette Peacock / Bob Ringe
2    7 Days    3:54
 Written-By – Annette Peacock / Bob Ringe
3    Pony    6:15
 Written-By – Annette Peacock
4    Been & Gone    2:20
 Written-By – Annette Peacock / Bob Ringe
5    Blood    2:00
 Written-By – Annette Peacock / Bob Ringe
6    One Way    6:12
 Written-By – Annette Peacock / Bob Ringe
7    Love Me Tender    3:45
 Written-By – Elvis Presley / Vera Matson
8    Gesture Without Plot    3:29
 Written-By – Annette Peacock / Bob Ringe
9    Did You Hear Me Mommy?    1:44
 Written-By – Annette Peacock / Bob Ringe
Credits :
Performer [Players, "The Team"], Bass – Glen Moore (tracks: 5), Stu Woods
Performer [Players, "The Team"], Composed By [Music & Words], Arranged By [Arranger], Vocals [Singer, Electric Vocals], Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer [Synthesizers], Vibraphone [Electric], Directed By [Direction], Liner Notes – Annette Peacock
Performer [Players, "The Team"], Drums – Laurence Cook (tracks: 8), Rick Morotta
Performer [Players, "The Team"], Guitar – Tom Cosgrove
Performer [Players, "The Team"], Organ – Michael Garson (tracks: 1, 6)
Performer [Players, "The Team"], Percussion – Airto Moreira, Barry Altschul, Dom Um Romão, Orestes Vilato
Performer [Players, "The Team"], Piano – Apache Bley (tracks: 9), Michael Garson (tracks: 1)
Performer [Players, "The Team"], Synthesizer, Piano – Paul Bley (tracks: 5, 8)
Performer [Players, "The Team"], Tenor Saxophone [Tenor] – Michael Moss

ANNETTE PEACOCK — An Acrobat's Heart (2000) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Annette Peacock has been a defining influence on the music of ECM for many years, but An Acrobat's Heart is the first album she has made for the label as a leader. Here Peacock turns away from her previous work with electronic elements to produce a spare, ethereal set of compositions for voice, piano, and strings echoing the style of her early '80s album Skyskating. An Acrobat's Heart also marks the first time that Peacock has composed for strings, and the Cikada String Quartet's seamless accompaniment almost breathes with her. Silence and minimalism play major roles in this work, and both Peacock's voice and the accompanying instrumentation seem to bloom up from the quiet background and then dissipate again as quickly they appeared. The tones are clear and precise, but occasionally veer into dissonance as Peacock's wistful lyrics are fleshed out into holograms of sound, transparent but fully realized. Elements of jazz, blues, and torch songs ebb and flow throughout the album, adding to the nostalgic themes of romance and longing embodied by the lyrics. While seeming deeply personal, the lyrics are the weakest element of An Acrobat's Heart, lacking in the kind of poetic imagery and rhythm that would place them on a par with the quality of the surrounding music. Overall, however, this album proves that after over three decades as a performer, Annette Peacock still has the skill to compose and execute truly beautiful music. Stacia Proefrock
Tracklist :
1    Mia's Proof    5:24
2    Tho    5:24
3    Weightless    4:42
4    Over.    3:52
5    As Long As Now    3:49
6    U Slide    4:17
7    B 4 U Said    4:42
8    The Heart Keeps    3:08
9    Ways It Isn't    3:50
10    Unspoken    2:59
11    Safe    3:29
12    Free The Memory    4:36
13    , Ever 2 B Gotten.    2:53
14    Camille    4:50
15    Lost At Last    2:18
Credits :
Ensemble – Cikada String Quartet :
Viola – Marek Konstantynowicz
Violin – Henrik Hannisdal, Odd Hannisdal
Violoncello – Morten Hannisdal
Words, Music, Vocals, Piano – Annette Peacock

PAUL BLEY — Improvisie (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Recorded in 1971 for the French America Recording label, Improvisie captures pianist Paul Bley, Annette Peacock, and master percussionist Han Bennink in concert in Rotterdam. Bley plays electric piano and synthesizer here, with Peacock playing both electric and acoustic piano, synthesizer, and electric bass as well as singing. There are two pieces on the set, the elegiac title cut, which is nearly 14 minutes in length, and the much more adventurous "Touching," which is nearly 24. On "Improvisie," elements of jazz phrasing and harmony usher in the piece haltingly, purposefully, almost reverently. A melody asserts itself from the ether, decorated by Bennink's hushed use of multiple percussion instruments and Peacock's accents on the theme itself. Tones and harmonic fragments whisper their way into the mix, governed by a crystalline use of spatial dynamics. Even as Bennink ups the ante with his instruments, Bley and Peacock dance very slowly through their interaction. It isn't until the six-and-a-half-minute mark where things begin to get atonal and angular, but even here, space is the key to expression. The unhurried procession of tones and colors makes the piece, no matter how strange and ethereal it gets, feel purposeful and accessible in its exploration. "Touching" begins on the fringes as electronic sounds mash up against one another and Bennink decorates the blips and gratings with the organic rhythmic material that keeps it all on the ground. The intensity with which the work begins is off-putting at first, but quickly opens up and out into a more relaxed and perhaps even inviting manner. Peacock's block chords add weight to Bennink's light percussion and Bley goes to elongated, deeply held tones on his synthesizer, single notes as opposed to dense washes of sound. Peacock is clearly the force behind "Touching"; it is her pace, her piano lines, and her sense of time that unwind it from its elementals. When she begins to sing about six minutes in, the work becomes something else entirely: a new song form, or a new framework for it. Her poetic lyric illustrates the music rather than vice versa; whether she is crooning, droning, or emoting powerfully at the margins of her voice, the sheer musicality and ghostly richness in her approach are captivating and beguiling. Bley's filling the spaces between her verses ranges from lilting melodic interplay to harsher, grinding tones that respond to Bennink's manic yet taut and gentle percussive dance. The industrial sounds that begin to assert themselves about halfway through never quite overpower the musicality inherent in the piece's foundation. Even 35 years later, "Touching" is still a brave and uncompromising work, one that asks as many questions as it answers, and one that renews its freshness with each repeated listening.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-

BILL BRUFORD - Feels Good To Me (1978) lp [24bits-96hz] FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This is the first solo date by drummer Bill Bruford after the first demise of King Crimson. Feels Good to Me goes far beyond the usual prog rock conceits of its time, and enters fully into the compositional structures and improvisational dynamics of jazz. Here he surrounds himself with various mates from the Canterbury scene -- guitarists Allan Holdsworth (Soft Machine and Tony Williams' Lifetime) and John Goodsall (Brand X), bassist Jeff Berlin, keyboardist Dave Stewart, and ECM flügelhorn stalwart Kenny Wheeler. He also enlisted the enigmatic vocal prowess of poet, singer, and songwriter Annette Peacock.
The opener, "Beelzebub," is a furious staccato workout. Holdsworth trades eights with Bruford and Berlin executes loping basslines as Stewart waxes painterly with both organ and synthesizer. It's knotty and stops on a dime before charging into a beautiful solo by Holdsworth and resolving itself with the ensemble restating the theme. "Back to the Beginning" has one of four vocal performances by Peacock. It's a jazz tune -- funky, syncopated, and heavily and wildly lyrical both in groove and meter. It's a song about addictions and, given Peacock's sultry treatment, it's hard to tell if they are chemical, material, or sexual. The band works hard staying behind the singer but can't help but overshadow her.
On the two-part "Seems Like a Lifetime Ago," musical schizophrenia sets in. After a colorful pastoral intro, Peacock glides beautifully through Bruford's lyric of forlorn reverie accompanied by a gorgeous Wheeler solo. Then "Part Two" begins with her growling out the refrain and the band taking off for parts unknown. Hard funky rhythms call Holdsworth's lead guitar to move flat up against Bruford's frenetic drumming. They challenge each other dynamically as the rest of the rhythm section nervously dances around them. Holdsworth finally grabs the lead and plays a solo that is nothing short of breathtaking, giving way to a restatement of the theme and Bruford opening up the harmonic structure before bringing it to a transcendent close two minutes later. The album's six instrumentals are tight: they hold improvisational breaks to the limits of compositional dictation rather than vice versa. The most beautiful, "Either End of August," features Stewart and Wheeler playing unusual yet melodic solos that entwine with each other as the rest of the band struggles to keep the drama out of the music. They don't succeed entirely and the track is all the better for it.
The set closes with "Adios a la Pasada (Goodbye to the Past)," a collaboration between Peacock and Bruford. It's on Peacock's favorite theme: to emerge from love scraped and beaten, yet resolved to keep an open heart. The opening is spare and strange, coated with whispering keyboards and bass haunting the artist's every word. Then Bruford majestically leads the band, soaring into the heart of her lyric, "What it is/Is this/Is what it is/Forgive yourselves/Release yourselves from the past." The music opens up an entirely new sonic dimension, as if history, both musical and emotional, was being rewritten. And it was. Bruford has yet to issue a solo recording as powerful as Feels Good to Me.  by Thom Jurek  
Tracklist:
A1 - Beelzebub 3:16
Written-By - Bill Bruford
A2 - Back To The Beginning 7:09
Words By, Music By - Bill Bruford
A3 - Seems Like A Lifetime Ago (Part One) 2:30
Words By, Music By - Bill Bruford
A4 - Seems Like A Lifetime Ago (Part Two) 4:25
Written-By - Bill Bruford
A5 - Sample And Hold 5:12
Written-By - Bill Bruford, Dave Stewart
B1- Feels Good To Me 3:49
Guitar [Additional] - John Goodsall / Written-By - Bill Bruford
B2 - Either End Of August 5:27
Written-By - Bill Bruford
B3 - If You Can't The Heat 3:20
Written-By - Bill Bruford, Dave Stewart
B4 - Springtime In Siberia 2:43
Written-By - Bill Bruford, Dave Stewart
B5 - Adios A La Pasada (Goodbye To The Past) 7:56
Music By - Bill Bruford / Words By - Annette Peacock
Credits
Bass – Jeff Berlin
Featuring [With], Flugelhorn – Kenny Wheeler
Guitar – Allan Holdsworth
Keyboards – Dave Stewart
Percussion [Tuned And Untuned Percussion], Drums [Kit Drums] – Bill Bruford
Vocals – Annette Peacock