What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol.IX)

hyperion 3 x CD (p) 1991 : )

This album launched Paul Simon solo career and arguably paved the way for the most creative period of his career.

Easy to work to listening. G

On vinyl:-

Hi George,

Interesting comments.  While my opinion on this varies case by case maybe, in general, my heart goes out to the hummers and grunters of the world.  My view now has also evolved over the decades where I think I would have had even a harder view on the subject than you and as you say kindly "a real impediment."   

So here we go; my name is Doug and I'm a hummer and grunter.   I never really knew this about myself as it isn't really evident to me (at least very often or if I suddenly think about it).  The thing is that I do not hum and grunt the minute I sit down and warm up with technique, for instance.  I don't even know when or can explain when (or if) it starts but my theory is that this starts when I get in a certain zone.  It is after some time of warm up when I'm falling deeper and deeper into focus on the music only.  It is the space when I loose focus on my surroundings and even time.  Nothing exists anymore outside of musical bliss.  When this happens, I consider myself lucky as this is the preferred place to be.  It is a natural high.  It is when I think I have the most "spiritual" (although this may not be the right word?) relationship to the music.  Of course, I'm talking as a player.  Who knows what the listener may hear or perceive or if it is closer to any ideal?  They of course, as with most, may only hear the occasional grunts and moans and be annoyed if they even care.  The sober person tends to find the drunk persons demeanour annoying too.

I reason also that it may have something to do with tuning and finding my way around the keyboard.  When I dabble a bit with the cello this is for sure a crutch as all the tuning comes from your ear.  My inner voice has to match this and hence the humming.

For this reason, I have come to understand this in others and give much leeway as I know why this happens.  I think this process does in a sense give the musician a natural way of digging deeper within themselves and it is relaxing to do so.  One thing is for sure, a musician the hums along is certainly in the same comfort zone as when they were practicing for hours on end by themselves.  This is good.  On the other hand, I'm sure not every musician hums or grunts ever.  It may just be a bad habit I've picked up and cannot get rid of but if Casals was guilty of this then I'm in good company, I think.

The funny thing about sound quality and superfluous noises is that whether in an imperfect world (replay) or the real thing, I always compare my ideas of what is real to the ideal, which is unreachable.  They will never equal but I have to have some sort of north star to aim to.  In other words, I actually like recordings where I can hear fingers moving on strings, some bowing changes, pedal changes, breathing or a sniff to signal coordination between players, the odd finger nail click on a key or squeak of a chair etc.  These things I consider all real and part of the music making.  I suppose that the music industry has mostly killed this reality of what musicians experience as the recording process mostly edits everything out and people grow accustomed to and then demand some sort of unnatural perfection.  I may also accept a bird chirping outside while recording but would strongly oppose traffic noise or a bus roaring by.  Overall, in recordings it is much like a digital camera can now resolve images so clear that they become so sickeningly sterile and fake looking (to my eye).  The grain of black & white film, for example, tends to add back some character to a image.  Great music needs natural noise too for it to be real (within reason and what is expected normally).

In the end, what I'm trying to convey is that I prefer recordings that can come close to sounding like real instruments (a cello sounding like a cello or a piano sounding like a proper piano etc.) with the odd hum of the musician thrown in than a clean, perfectly sterile black background noise and poor sounding / out of tune instruments or uninspired interpretation.  In theory, maybe there is someone who pushes my limits but I have yet to hear anyone who exceeds my limits of good taste in the humming / grunting department.

Best Regards, 

Doug

Genius! Just a few months older than me. G

Lovely interplay on this. Gomez particularly. G

Yes that's a great album G. I love the version of "Suicide is Painless" particularly.

This, which came this morning. A great album, to be sure, and on first listen, the new transfers sound very good - I think Albini went back to the analogue tapes.

Playing as you typed Kevin!

My three newest -- two that are not new at all except to me, and one that is pretty new:

First CD press in 'fatboy' case.  Worth a few quid now. G

Compilation of the genius production work of the late, very very great Martin Hannett.

On vinyl:

I have posted before on the Forum just how good this three LP set is from Music on Vinyl. Not played it for a while but it has not failed to impress.....

Original 1988 vinyl

It's easy to Schubert's D.956 for granted, with the enormous amount of recordings out there. I was thoroughly done with it in any case, until I popped this (one of my oldest CDs) in the player. It is uncompromisingly sparse and direct, there is no other recording I know of that touches it for intensity. Not easy listening, but then Schubert, who had just learned he had only months to live, didn't intend it to be.

EJ

1st press vinyl. Really nice copy. Just compared it to my A3/B4 copy. The A1/B1 copy is better but not by a whole lot and both are probably better than any recent reissue. 

Original vinyl. Not listened to this in a while.