I'm Listening To ...

[The Computer Audiophile]

This is the start of the official thread to tell everyone what you are listening to now. I've actually purchased a lot of great music based on threads like this. Below is the template to use, but feel free to stray as you see fit. This is a laid back forum, no worries for a little free-styling. The more information the better, but don't feel obligated to complete everything like a government form. To post an image of the cover art use the following format including the and the ""

 

 

 

 

Artist:

Title:

Genre:

Good song to sample:

Similar artists:

Interesting notes:

Recording quality:

Comments:

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

 

 

Artist: Metallica w/ San Francisco Symphony

 

Title: S&M (live double disc)

 

Genre: Metal

 

Good song to sample: The Call Of The Ktulu

 

Similar artists: Megadeth, Black Sabbath, Motörhead

 

Interesting notes: This was conducted by composer Michael Kamen (1948-2003) who collaborated on The Wall with Pink Floyd and with Queen, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Eurythmics, Queensrÿche, Rush, Herbie Hancock, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Sting and Kate Bush.

 

Recording quality: CD ripped to AIFF 16/44.1, it sounds pretty good. Probably 7 out of 10.

 

Comments: I was skeptical of this release at first but the more I listen to it the more I like it.

 

 

[markr]

 

 

Artist: Various?

 

Title: Super Audio Surround Collection Volume 3 - Linn Records

?

Genre: iTunes says Classical, but there is some Jazz, Chorale, Rock, Acoustic, and Jazzy Latin-style stuff on here too.

?

Good song to sample: He Never Mentioned Love, Paganini-Grande Etudes (III) (really, just pick a song and go if you have broad tastes - I like them all)

 

Similar artists: Various?and too many to mention

 

Interesting notes: 270 minute download at broadband speed (4 - 8:30 pm)?- only $13.50 for some very good performances - The computer was completely able to surf the web or play music while downloading ( OS X Tiger/Core 2 Duo @ 2.4 Ghz/ 2Gb Ram) - ALWAYS BE SURE that your audio hardware and the computer's preferences are set to 24 bit / 96 KHz ( or a setup matching the source ) when you venture above the 'standard' audio resolutions in order to actually 'hear' it properly!

 

Recording quality: 24 bit / 96 KHz Master Quality FLAC

?

Comments: I've had to listen to it for a 2nd and then 3rd time to really appreciate the sound that seems to me to be as true to the instruments and voices used here as any recording I've ever heard. My first listen left me thinking it had no life: just sort of flat.... I now think my first impression was dead wrong - I wasn't really listening, it appears to me now, because each new listen (iTunes says 5 now) reveals another nuance I had missed before. This recording is really incredible. Except for some electronic music passages, I can detect no coloration except those afforded by the voice of the instruments or the recording spaces themselves. Not all of the music here may be your cup of tea, but there are several types to choose from. I came to see and hear the great 24/96 audio download promise of the future and came away with a growing admiration for Linn Records and the artists they associate with. Wow.

 

[Lord Chaos]

A friend introduced me to the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams back in the mid-1970s. Until then I'd not heard any 20th-century music that I liked. Since then I've collected quite a few CDs, and one of my favorites is "A Sea Symphony," his first.

 

Artist: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Title: "A Sea Symphony"

Genre: Classical

Good song to sample: Right from the start.

Similar artists: Elgar, Grieg

Interesting notes: Boult recorded this twice. This is the 1968 one. The newer one is said to be better in some ways but I've not heard it.

Recording quality: Very good. (London/EMI)

Comments: Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Text by Walt Whitman. The two disparate mediums are woven beautifully together. It's a unique work. At the time I bought this (1985 or thereabouts) this was the only version available. Now there are some others but this one is still respected.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

 

 

Artist: Pepe Romero

Title: Flamenco

Genre: Flamenco

Good song to sample: Farrucas

Similar artists: ?

Interesting notes: One of Winston Ma's favorite flamenco albums ever

Recording quality: Excellent, K2 HD

Comments: The is issued by First Impression Music and done in their "new" K2 HD process.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

 

[markr]

 

 

Artist: Spirit

Title: Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus?

Genre: iTunes says Rock. I think of it as "Spiritual"?

Good song to sample: From Prelude/Nothing to Hide through Soldier, it IS ALL GOOD

Similar artists: None, really. They combined Jazz and Rock sensibilities with the 'Psychedelic-sound wave' that had just 'crested'. I really cannot compare them to anyone else

Interesting notes: Amazingly to me, this band never "made it big". There are varying explanations, but I think the one that might be most true is that there was just so much talent in this band that the egos involved were too much to have peacefully coexisted for a long time.?

Recording quality: Vinyl - very well done?(I have the CD with extra tracks too, but......)

Comments: To this day, I tell people who ask "what was the best show you ever saw?" - 'Spirit'. Country Joe and the Fish opened, and then Spirit TOOK OVER. I could say something really emotional here about my love for this band, but I won't. I will say that I think this recording ranks equally with pieces like Electric Ladyland, Dark Side Of the Moon, and Tommy. It is classic rock from the period of that genre' where it meant the most.

 

 

[Innertuber]

Ditto for vinyl Best of Spirit, 1973. I love these songs. I got to see them once in the early 70's, I'm thinking 71 or 72, but I was seeing Jo Jo Gunne too, so at least Ferguson and Andes had left the band. I'm going to hunt a copy of your album. I love these songs. Did I say I love this stuff?

 

[markr]

You did say you love this stuff so I'd highly recommend any of their 'original band' records ( in order: Spirit, The Family That Plays Together, Clear AND 12 Dreams) - Hell, I like a lot of the stuff from the other band lineups too. I recently was pointed to an online vinyl retailer from whom I have bought a couple of records. So far, they are reasonably priced and ship quickly. My most recent purchase there - the soundtrack to "Model Shop" - previously unreleased and done by Spirit. Check it out:

http://www.soundstagedirect.com/spirit-twelve-dreams-of-dr-sardonicus-vinyl-lp.shtml

 

markr

 

[Innertuber]

NIce site , some good prices. Boy, even those old MC5 LP's. I'll have to order some goodies.

 

[sgbaird]

This is one of the most incredibly mesmerizing albums I've ever heard. My first exposure to it was in that NPR program called Hearts of Space that aired back in the eighties. Generally speaking, this is not the kind of music I enjoy, but Stomu Yamashta continues to draw me in like no other who is generally thought of in this new age genre.

 

Coupled to that are some truly incredible sonics with wide dynamic range and frequency bandwidth.

 

Your chances of finding a copy? Slim and none. It took me nearly a year to find mine, and that was 24 years ago.

 

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Great SGB - Another album we all want & you already got :-)

 

[markr]

Chuck Prophet and friends on Letterman. Great pop songwriter. Give him a try in the strictly-audio format too!

 

 

 

 

[markr]

Cool Steven! I HAVE to hear this! I became a Stomu fan back .....well, a long time ago. He release an album with Steve Winwood called 'GO', I believe. I had forgotten about that until I saw this here. While I've always been a fan of atmospheric electronica and related styles (I'm a TOTAL Tangerine Dream fan), I do have to admit that it can be difficult to find 'replayable' pieces in that genre'.

 

Dang you and your collection anyway! 8^P

 

 

[sgbaird]

Several copies of this available at Amazon. Read the (very accurate) customer reviews. Everyone needs at least 1 electronic album in his collection. markr, U R right about S.Y's GO project. I think it was with Winwood et al.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Sky-Stomu-Yamashta/dp/B0000018WV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1201705954&sr=1-1

 

If you buy this, remember to fasten your seat belts before you begin the journey.

 

[markr]

Ahhh well, I'll eat beans.....

 

Yes. GO was with Steve Winwood, Al DiMeola, Michael Shrieve, Klaus Schulze and more. I have the vinyl though it is well worn ? . Getting the 'plastic' now along with Sea And Sky! Thanks for the heads up!

 

I feel guilty that we are messing with this thread, so here is the best site I could find on the GO project on short notice:

 

http://www.groove.nl/cd/7/74864.html

 

...there is a nice MP3 link there for 'Solitude' check it out

 

markr

Hear Here!

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

I heard this in the car this morning and I can't get it out of my head! Does that mean I am listening to it right now :-)

 

 

 

 

[sgbaird]

Thinking about things that keep playing in your head...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

 

 

[sgbaird]

 

 

I've just loaded this into my iTunes library via Roxio Toast.

 

Ever since the vinyl days, this has been a record that I can listen to over and over. It's simply the best concept album ever done that would mate a (then) contemporary artist with classic tunes from previous decades. Many people fail to recognize the (well-intended) humor in Harry's presentation and in the revised lyrics, but in essence, the album is a tribute to the trials involved in love affairs that sometimes go wrong — note the chronology from beginning to end. As the final tune on the album states so sublimely, the more things change, the more they remain the same: "The world will always welcome lovers as time goes by."

 

Much of the success of this album comes from the genius of Gordon Jenkins whose orchestrations perfectly fit the mood that he, as arranger and programmer for Nilsson, and Nilsson's subdued presentation evoke. To hear this album as it deserves to be heard, grab your sweetheart and some nice wine, turn down the lights, and let Harry work his magic. Easily one of my two or three favorite albums of all time.

 

The sound is absolutely superb but sounds the best on the British release http://tinyurl.com/2xapbr

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

I'm hooked!

 

Add to cart.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

 

 

Great cover album. I really like the cover of Real Men.

 

[Innertuber]

 

 

Guess I'm cheating a little since I'm not listening at this exact moment, but did you catch them on CMT live the other night? I loved it. Alison sang When the Levee Breaks, duets on Gone, Gone, Gone and Black Dog, Rob sang Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn. Great show I thought. Band was hot, more of a Strange Sensation vibe rather than Union Station. Some short interview info mixed in with the songs. I'll watch it a few more times fou shou.

 

Edit - well I talked myself into it. Chattanooga show is single tics only left, no good with wife. Most of Europe shows look sold out. We could do Wembley from Amsterdam by coincidence. So, let's see, we're going to West Virginia from Florida and Alabama is now the detour stop on 4/26. They still have good seats, but 2 fewer for the Birmingham show than before this post. I should have followed my gut and done this a month ago.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Very cool though!