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

I didn't have access yesterday evening when I played this...

This one is also from yesterday evening..

Haitink/LSO Beethoven. He recorded the entire cycle in 1978 and then 30 years later again with LSO.

So far no home run.

Bob James: Sign of The Times

Half-speed mastered LP. 1981 release.

Another one of my overpaid audiophile record. :/

At one point I was following Bob James' career. After the hit 'Angela' in the US sitcom Taxi, he was moving towards more electronic effects and using less analogue instruments. I can't get on with the 80s synthetic digital sound.

During workout, good workout music...

Thank you Kuma, is now on wish list (LSO at least).

During breakfast, nice gentle collection of music...

He recorded them with the KCO in the mid 80s as well - it's the one I prefer if only for the excellent sound quality, although a cycle that lacks a great fifth can't be a universal recommendation.

EJ

- With a lot of passion... (through Spotify)

Streaming | CD FLAC rip

Litmus - Aurora

A modern-day space-rock band very much in the fashion of 70s Hawkwind. There's bludgeon riffola guitars, vintage synths and tone generators bleep and swoosh in all the right places, the drummer's giving it 13 to the dozen and there's mellotron  all over the place. All that's missing is Stacia.

But that wouldn't be worth a penny if they hadn't got the tunes right, and they're flat-out excellent (albeit with that vigorous nod of the head to Dave Brock). 

Judge for yourselves:

Miles Away

Red Skies

Very you, Gary. There's an almost Freebird-like quality going on there too, as if Lynyrd Skynyrd had shunned Jack Daniels for Absinthe...

It's good, and much more helpful, to be able to read a well-considered assessment of the band and the music than simply see the album cover.

Thank EJ, Vinil or CD? Grazie, Maurizio

On CD:-

On CD:-

Steven Wilson - Hand.Cannot.Erase.

On CD:-

Streaming | Spotify premium

The Knife ~ The Knife (2001)

The sister and brother band's quirky first album, I much prefer her solo work when Karin Dreijer renamed herself Fever Ray to make that superb self titled album

Streaming | Spotify Premium

Freedom To Glide ~ Rain (2013)

Trying before buying. This band is well reviewed [on Bandcamp] and are due to be releasing their second album later this year. 

"Freedom to Glide draw together the sound of Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Porcupine Tree on an album that is very much the spiritual successor to ‘The Final Cut’ with its conceptual theme of the costs of war. Beautifully played and perfectly recorded, ‘Rain’ is a throwback to the sublime melodies and fluid guitar work of ‘WYWH’-era Floyd with a touch of ‘Starless and Bible Black’ era Crimson thrown in for good measure. Poignant and intelligently written, there is no surprise that the album gained a number of plaudits (including Prog Mill album of the year) upon its release." 

"The music, meanwhile, is sublime on every level. With a sound that recalls ‘DSOTM’ and ‘WYWH’ in terms of clarity and depth and a level of musicianship that so very few attain, ‘Rain’ is a near perfect album that should be compulsory listening for progressive fans. A modern classic, Freedom to glide have created a true masterpiece that mingles beauty with sadness over its 63 gorgeous minutes." - Extracts from a long review by Phil Stiles

Cafe del Mar Vol 7

Madonna Ray of Light

OK.. To beat measly HK weather. They bring back the good memories of the Med and Aegean, especially Symi off the coast Datca a couple of years ago. Where the Sun shines and the sea is aquamarine. On a 55 ft Beneteau. 

This excellent HU from Dr Blues  

Streaming | CD FLAC rip

 Ten Years After~ A Space in Time (1971)