Sunday, April 3, 2011

Contante & Sonante - Highlights and Rarities














“Highlights and Rarities” is Contante & Sonante's long-awaited comeback release after the critically acclaimed triumph of 2009's “Fly Away: The Songs of David Foster”, which definitely marked a turning point for the indie label. “Highlights and Rarities” is a special compilation of songs from the label, comprised of the previously mentioned David Foster tribute, Steve Dorff's magical release of “Original Demos” and two releases by Swiss music-maker Urs Wiesendanger, “Somebody New” and “A Christmas Eve in LA”. But this isn't your typical compilation album. The real treat comes with the eight unreleased songs such as the enchanting ballad "My Angel's Voice” by Steve Dorff, beautifully performed by the late Warren Wiebe; the previously unreleased gems by Urs Wiesendanger, "Luckiest Man", a smooth, sultry R&B number featuring great vocals courtesy of the talented Skyler Jett and "When I Think of You" featuring great Swiss singer Rey Thomas. Additionally you’ll find three previously unreleased numbers from the same Fly Away sessions, which remained uncompleted at the time and have been produced and re-arranged by the very talented Tomi Malm for this special compilation. Among these new songs, the haunting cover of "Forever" (a ballad originally sung by Kenny Loggins, who co-wrote it with David Foster for Loggins’ Vox Humana album, featuring a fantastic new name from Korea, SunHo Lim; a stunning rendition of The Tubes' rocking classic "She's a Beauty" with amazing vocals by Bjarne Langhoff and last but not least is a new outstanding bossa nova flavoured version of the David Foster and Boz Scaggs’ hit "Look What You've Done To Me" with wonderful vocals by singer Cecily Gardner. What is amazing about this release is that just as “Fly Away: The Songs of David Foster”, the real beauty of this album rests in the fact that these are great beautiful songs brought to life by a cast of superior musicians and singers and the appeal of these covers and originals is undeniably attractive and you cannot help but to feel the labor of love minced into this release, which compels you to continue listening to this wonderful production again and again.

Track Listing:
1. A Little Thing Called Life
2. Kindred Spirits
3. Somewhere In Time
4. My Angel's Voice*
5. The Final Reason Why
6. If Only For A Day
7. Luckiest Man*
8. When I Think Of You*
9. The Christmas Song
10. This Christmas
11. Silent Night*
12. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas*
13. In The Stone
14. Jojo
15. Through The Fire
16. Forever*
17. She's A Beauty*
18. Look What You've Done To Me* (sampled above)

Tracks 4, 7,8,11,12,16,17 & 18 Previously Unreleased
Tracks 1, 2 & 3 from Steve Dorff “Original Demos”
Tracks 5 & 6 from Urs “Somebody New”
Tracks 9 & 10 from “A Christmas Eve in L.A.”
Tracks 13, 14 & 15 from “Fly Away: The Songs of David Foster”

Buy it at Contante & Sonante or at CD Baby

1 comment:

  1. Do you have the album uploaded for listening....?

    ReplyDelete