Mark Knopfler – Local Hero (2022 MFSL UltraDisc UHR SACD) (1983/2022) [SACD ISO]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 00:44:39 minutes | Full Scans included | 1,85 GB
Genre: Score, Soundtrack | Publisher (label): Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – MFSL UDSACD 2227

Three years removed from crafting Dire Straits’ third album, Making Movies, band leader Mark Knopfler elected to adhere to the record’s title and try his hand at doing just that in an aural way. Written and performed to accompany the film Local Hero, the iconic guitarist’s first soundtrack continues to serve as one of the decade’s most prized scores. No wonder the BAFTA Award-nominated work has long eclipsed the Bill Forsyth film in stature, merit, and popularity – and emerged as the basis of a stage musical that debuted in Scotland in 2019.Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition hybrid SACD of Local Hero gives the beloved effort audiophile-grade sound on a par with the reference-quality sonics afforded Dire Straits’ Mobile Fidelity reissues. In each arrangement, Knopfler’s methodical guitar lines emerge with supreme transparency and multi-hued textural detail. The intricate notes, finger-picked passages, and cosmopolitan lines come across as if they’re transmitted just feet away from you in real time.

Ditto the diverse accompaniment, including the Celtic-themed effects, supplemental jazz accents, and folk inflections. The keys to the nearly 44-minute effort’s success and continuity relate not only to Knoplfer’s laidback style and low-key approach, but his ear for uncanny melody and blues traces. Woven acoustically and electrically, his tapestries benefit from the newfound airiness, openness, and balance that live on this reissue. No matter the instrument or treatment, the music arrives with pinpoint imaging and vibrant liveliness. Close your eyes, and the Mobile Fidelity version of Local Hero projects movies in your head.

For instance, take the closing “Going Home,” a cherished instrumental whose proud spirit resonates with English football fans and features saxophone playing by the late, great Michael Brecker. Heard before every Newcastle United F.C. home game, it has become an anthem on both sides of the Atlantic. Or, look to “The Ceilidh: Louis’ Favorite, Billy’s Tune” on which Scottish-flavored vibes and dance tempos conjure a festive jig until a transition gives the number a more subdued, romantic feel. Then, the pattern repeats. Seeking to expand beyond the parameters of Dire Straits, Knoplfer taps into a global economy of structures and sounds, and takes anyone with a sense of adventure along for the ride.

Not that his hallmark six-string is absent from the proceedings. It frames the lovely tin-pan whistle motif of the aptly titled “Whistle Theme,” acts as a beacon for the elegant, vibraphone-kissed “Smooching,” and pushes forward the jovial, top-down momentum of “Freeway Flyer,” among other highlights. Knopfler also receives assistance from session pros Mike Mainieri, Steve Jordan, and Terry Williams, as well as vocalist Gerry Rafferty on the set’s sole vocal tune, “That’s the Way It Always Starts.”

Tracklist:

01 – The Rocks & The Water (3:36)
02 – Wild Theme (3:39)
03 – Freeway Flyer (1:49)
04 – Boomtown (Variation Louis’ Favourite) (4:12)
05 – The Way It Always Starts (4:06)
06 – The Rocks And The Thunder (0:50)
07 – The Ceilidh And The Northern Lights (4:19)
08 – The Mist Covered Mountains (5:11)
09 – The Ceilidh: Louis Favourite Billy’s Tune (3:42)
10 – Whistle Theme (0:53)
11 – Smooching (5:04)
12 – Stargazer (1:34)
13 – The Rocks And The Thunder (0:38)
14 – Going Home: Theme Of The Local Hero (5:05)

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Mark Knopfler – Shangri-La (2004) [MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 66:00 minutess | Scans included | 3,76 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,3 GB

Shangri-La, Mark Knopfler’s fourth solo release and his first since breaking his collarbone, shoulder, and seven ribs in a motorcycle crash in March 2003, finds the eternally laid-back Dire Straits frontman in familiar territory. Instead of constructing a song cycle about his brush with mortality — the wry “Don’t Crash the Ambulance” aside — he uses his warm baritone and effortless guitar work to ruminate on everything from the plight of the modern fisherman — the beautiful and rustic “Trawlerman’s Song” — to the entrepreneurial skills of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc (“Boom, Like That”). Knopfler has more or less abandoned the British folk and Celtic-influenced pop that began to surface on his previous two recordings, opting instead for a full-blown yet quiet and considerate collection of country-folk ballads and bluesy, midtempo dirges that revel in their uncharacteristic sparseness — one of the better examples of the latter is the gutsy, backwoods boxing tale “Song for Sonny Liston.” Knopfler spent seven months away from the guitar in physiotherapy, but his melancholic slow-burn tone is as peat-smoked as ever, and his penchant for wrapping Americana-gothic folk around subjects that are uniquely English — colliers, cockneys, the one-armed bandit man who meets his maker in the atmospheric opener, “5:15 A.M.” — is evident throughout. Dynamically, Shangri-La loses steam about three-quarters of the way through — the cringe-inducing “Whoop De Doo” and the sweet but dull “All That Matters” bring things to a sleepy halt — but Knopfler fans and lovers of Chet Atkins, Gordon Lightfoot, and J.J. Cale, as well as late-night poker players and early risers with an acerbic streak, will find much to love here.

Tracklist:

01. 5:15 A.M.
02. Boom, Like That
03. Sucker Row
04. The Trawlerman’s Song
05. Back To Tupelo
06. Our Shangri-La
07. Everybody Pays
08. Song For Sonny Liston
09. Whoop De Doo
10. Postcards From Paraguay
11. All That Matters
12. Stand Up Guy
13. Donegan’s Gone
14. Don’t Crash The Ambulance

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Mark Knopfler – Local Hero (1983/2022) [SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]
SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | ~ 1.85 GB
or DSD64 2.0 (SACD-ISO => Tracks.dff) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | ~ 1.82 GB
or 24-bit/96 kHz | Flac(Tracks) | ~ 684 Mb
Folk Rock, Soundtrack, Ambient | MFSL UDSACD 2227 | Artwork: 57 Mb

Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition hybrid SACD of Local Hero gives the beloved effort audiophile-grade sound on a par with the reference-quality sonics afforded Dire Straits’ Mobile Fidelity reissues. In each arrangement, Knopfler’s methodical guitar lines emerge with supreme transparency and multi-hued textural detail. The intricate notes, finger-picked passages, and cosmopolitan lines come across as if they’re transmitted just feet away from you in real time.Ditto the diverse accompaniment, including the Celtic-themed effects, supplemental jazz accents, and folk inflections. The keys to the nearly 44-minute effort’s success and continuity relate not only to Knoplfer’s laidback style and low-key approach, but his ear for uncanny melody and blues traces. Woven acoustically and electrically, his tapestries benefit from the newfound airiness, openness, and balance that live on this reissue. No matter the instrument or treatment, the music arrives with pinpoint imaging and vibrant liveliness. Close your eyes, and the Mobile Fidelity version of Local Hero projects movies in your head.

For instance, take the closing “Going Home,” a cherished instrumental whose proud spirit resonates with English football fans and features saxophone playing by the late, great Michael Brecker. Heard before every Newcastle United F.C. home game, it has become an anthem on both sides of the Atlantic. Or, look to “The Ceilidh: Louis’ Favorite, Billy’s Tune” on which Scottish-flavored vibes and dance tempos conjure a festive jig until a transition gives the number a more subdued, romantic feel. Then, the pattern repeats. Seeking to expand beyond the parameters of Dire Straits, Knoplfer taps into a global economy of structures and sounds, and takes anyone with a sense of adventure along for the ride.

Not that his hallmark six-string is absent from the proceedings. It frames the lovely tin-pan whistle motif of the aptly titled “Whistle Theme,” acts as a beacon for the elegant, vibraphone-kissed “Smooching,” and pushes forward the jovial, top-down momentum of “Freeway Flyer,” among other highlights. Knopfler also receives assistance from session pros Mike Mainieri, Steve Jordan, and Terry Williams, as well as vocalist Gerry Rafferty on the set’s sole vocal tune, “That’s the Way It Always Starts.”

Tracklist:

01 – The Rocks & The Water (3:36)
02 – Wild Theme (3:39)
03 – Freeway Flyer (1:49)
04 – Boomtown (Variation Louis’ Favourite) (4:12)
05 – The Way It Always Starts (4:06)
06 – The Rocks And The Thunder (0:50)
07 – The Ceilidh And The Northern Lights (4:19)
08 – The Mist Covered Mountains (5:11)
09 – The Ceilidh: Louis Favourite Billy’s Tune (3:42)
10 – Whistle Theme (0:53)
11 – Smooching (5:04)
12 – Stargazer (1:34)
13 – The Rocks And The Thunder (0:38)
14 – Going Home: Theme Of The Local Hero (5:05)

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