PORTICO QUARTET — Knee-Deep in the North Sea (2007) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Since 2005, the Portico Quartet has created a singular, cinematic sound that melds jazz, electronica, ambient music, and minimalism. At the lead edge of South London's nu-jazz movement, theiur debut album 2007's Knee Deep in the North Sea was shortlisted for a Mercury Prize. Subsequent outings included albums for Peter Gabriel's Real World Records. They temporarily slimmed to an issued they the album Living Fields on Ninja Tune. Subsequently returning to their quartet lineup, they released 2017's Art in the Age of Automation for Matthew Halsall's Gondwana label.

Formed in 2005, the band was initially inspired to play via founding member Duncan Bellamy's purchase of an exotic yet contemporary instrument, the Hang, at a music festival. The Hang, invented in 2000 in Switzerland, is a metallic lap drum with clamped shells, the melodious sound of which resembles both a steel drum and Balinese metallaphone. Where the quartet's influences clearly reference modern jazz and African music, the trance-like sonics of the Hang draw closer comparisons to minimalists Philip Glass and Steve Reich, or gamelan music. A weekly session at the South Bank and residency at the Brixton Ritzy earned them a cult following. It also inspired London's premier jazz club, the Vortex, to start a record label to release their music.

Championed by archivist and historian/mixer Gilles Peterson, the Portico Quartet's debut release, Knee Deep in the North Sea, was acclaimed as jazz, folk, and world music Album of the Year for 2007 by Time Out magazine, and was a Mercury Music Prize honoree for 2008. With Jack Wylie on soprano saxophone, Milo Fitzpatrick on acoustic bass, and Nick Mulvey and Duncan Bellamy playing the Hang and percussion instruments, the group's modern contemporary sound was favorably compared to the diverse, ethnic-flavored work of Ben Allison, E.S.T., and the Cinematic Orchestra. Michael G. Nastos
Tracklist :
1 News from Verona 4:21
2 (Something's Going Down On) Zavodovski Island 4:25
3 Knee-Deep in the North Sea 4:47
4 Too Many Cooks 5:33
5 Steps in the Wrong Direction 6:13
6 Monsoon: Top to Bottom 4:12
7 The Kon-Tiki Expedition 4:30
8 Cittàgazze 4:46
9 Pompidou 3:13
10 Prickly Pear 5:41
11 All the Pieces Matter [BBC Maida Vale Session] 5:18
12 Knee-Deep in the North Sea [Live in Copenhagen] 6:09
13 Steps in the Wrong Direction [Live in Copenhagen] 8:06
Credits :
Double Bass – Milo Fitzpatrick
Drums, Idiophone [Hang] – Duncan Bellamy
Idiophone [Hang] – Nick Mulvey
Saxophone – Jack Wyllie
Composed By,  Arranged By, Performer, Producer – Portico Quartet

NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN & MICHAEL BROOK - Night Song (1995) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Canadian guitarist Michael Brook worked with Nusrat to create the 1990 crossover hit Mustt Mustt, and the release was hailed internationally and credited with leading Pakistani youth to discover Sufi religious music, qawwali. This follow-up project helped establish something of a tradition for Real World crossover projects. The genre features dreamy, atmospheric keyboards and guitars, simple, mid-tempo rhythms, and a kind of low-key understatement that, depending on your point of view, sounds either profoundly mystical or else tedious and bland. With West African kora and electronic backing and Nusrat singing in a relaxed mid-range voice, the opener "My Heart, My Life" sounds almost like a Salif Keita ballad as it works up to its energized closing chant. "My Comfort Remains" and "Crest" are essentially pop numbers with catchy melodies, the former bouncy but static, the latter building towards a revelatory crescendo. Not until the fifth of eight tracks, "Longing," do we hear Nusrat's signature scat singing and his singular wail, unmistakable even when lavished with effects. "Sweet Pain" might be the strongest track, beginning deep in dream space with a wandering bassline and a simple backbeat, and then heating up to powerful close with Nusrat delivering spitfire scat. Wherever you stand on Real World's arty aesthetics, you have to admire the qawwali star's sense of adventure here. You also have to recognize that no crossover project, including Nusrat's far more fun collaboration with London DJ Bally Sagoo, approaches the power of his standard fare qawwali.  by Banning Eyre
Tracklist :
1    My Heart, My Life 5:30   
Michael Brook / Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
2    Intoxicated 7:33
Michael Brook / Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3    Lamen t5:15
Michael Brook / Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
4    My Comfort Remains 6:39
Michael Brook / Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
5   Longing 5:35 
Michael Brook / Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
6   Sweet Pain 6:27
Michael Brook / Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
7   Night Song 4:48
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
8   Crest 6:15
Michael Brook / Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Credits
Bass [Uncredited] – Robert Ahwai (tracks: 1, 4 to 6)
 Drums [Uncredited], Percussion [Uncredited] – James Pinker (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8)
  Written-By [Uncredited], Guitar [Infinite] [Uncredited] – Michael Brook (tracks: 1 to 6, 8)
  Written-By [Uncredited], Vocals [Uncredited] – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan