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

Posted by: Richard Dane on 31 December 2013

Posted on: 11 May 2014 by Kevin-W

The Brown Bomber, on Jap vinyl replica CD. Because nothing's nicer than getting back from your hols and sticking on your favourite band.

Posted on: 11 May 2014 by matt podniesinski

Posted on: 11 May 2014 by Voltaire

XL will release an album of unheard Gil Scott-Heron recordings called, Nothing New, exclusively on Record Store Day, 19 April 2014. It will only be available on 12" vinyl.

During the 2008 I'm New Here sessions at New York’s Looking Glass studios, Scott-Heron recorded stripped-down new versions of some of his greatest songs. Accompanying himself on piano and with no overdubs, this is Nothing New, a unique musical insight into one of the most profound recording artists of our time.

Posted on: 11 May 2014 by Steve C

Originally Posted by Lloydy:

Originally Posted by Clive Blackman:

Originally Posted by Steve C:

The Who-Tommy on Track vinyl.

OK my wife got through the The Wall from start to finish.Now this will be a challenge because she hates The Who.

Are you still on speaking terms? I rather like the Who and Pink Floyd, but both The Wall and Tommy can be quite a challenge. Possibly overplayed in my youth. I think you have to be in a certain mood for both those albums.

Good shout! I've not listened to this for a while.

Your comment made me smile. I took my wife to see The Who play Quadrophenia at the O2 last year, she wasn't impressed. There was me thinking that would convert her into one of the The Who's next biggest fans!

Just tried Quadrophenia didn't even got to the end of side one .

Posted on: 11 May 2014 by Florestan

Originally Posted by Bert Schurink:

Originally Posted by Florestan:

Originally Posted by Bert Schurink:

I have re-tagged and reorganized the whole collection and moved the huge collection to my NAS, just started with the 1st one of the pleasant Liszt journey....

CDA66771/2 - Liszt: The complete music for solo piano, Vol. 26 – The Young Liszt

Bert, this sure brings back some memories for me. I would have bought this volume 26 about 20 years ago. I was one of those guys that bought each disc as they came out over maybe 14 or 15 years. Back then single discs were about $28 each and a double was $56. That was 57 volumes or 95 discs and 117 hours. Then came another 3 discs of "New Discoveries." For waiting, you got 99 discs for a very nice price.

Not sure if your set is arranged chronologically? It is a lot to chew but when you find something you like then it is wise to make note and eventually add some alternate interpretations. The worth of this set for me is that it allows me to hear all the rare or never recorded gems that I never would have found in any other way. Actually the rare stuff that I like in here (not the top 40) probably adds up to more music than some other composers entire output.

On this disc, The Young Liszt, means most of this was written before he was 16 years old. It is kind of neat to hear things like the "Étude en douze exercices" which of course eventually morphed into "Douze Grandes Études" and then finally "The Transcendental Études." It is kind of like a reverse transcription. Although the early stuff is charming you can see the improvements made over the years with the later versions but I think listening to all variations strengthens ones connection with the music. For instance, the Apparitions are largely all there and connect the future with the creative mind of a precocious youthful mind that was already mature beyond his years.

Thanks for your insight. I was indeed planning to use it as a kind of guide for also getting into the less familiar stuff - also I am quite excited by the transcriptions...a different view on existing material. By downloading it and getting the 25% discount I got it pretty cheap ....but that sometimes also happened to me by being the first buyer and seeing afterwards that it's gone for just a fraction of the price.

Liszt is definitely a very exciting composer with a rich oeuvre......I am not yet sure how long it will take me to get through the full collection...

Bert, don't worry about racing through this set. I have had most of this stuff for nearly 25 years and I guarantee you that I haven't listened to 100% of it. Maybe only 98.7% of it . The stuff I like though gets a lot of listening. You have a lifetime of music here from one man so there are some specific styles and periods of change. Some of it probably won't appeal. What interested me 25 years ago is different than what I appreciate today. Some things I wouldn't listen to then I have grown to love now.

Speaking of transcriptions you have a lifetime of them here. Hearing many of the Operatic transcriptions really changed a lot of things for me and led me in a direction that I probably wouldn't have necessarily gone had it not been for Liszt. Then there is Schubert, Mozart, Bach, Chopin for starters. The Beethoven Symphonies & Septet etc. are wonderful works. The Magyar Dalok or Album d'un voyageur are nice journeys too.

Anyway, you've inspired to revisit a lot of this set too now.

Posted on: 11 May 2014 by sjbabbey