What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XI)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 31 December 2014
On the cusp of 2015, we start a new thread...
Anyway, links:
Volume X: https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...-be-interested-vol-x
Volume IX: https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...16#22826037054683416
Volume VIII: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...nt/12970396056050819
Volume VII: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...6878604287751/page/1
Volume VI: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878604097229
Volume V: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878605140495
Volume IV: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878605795042
Volume III: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878607309474
Volume II: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878606245043
Volume I: https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/1566878607464290
Streaming | Deezer Elite
Jeff Beck ~ Jeff Beck Live + (19th May 2015)
Released last week and just a few tracks into listening, its pretty good. Personally I prefer the tracks without the vocals. As a side note Deezer Elite via Sonos connect in 16/44.1 sounds great and has a nice user interface.
I should have perhaps added that track 15 "Tribal" which is just one of two studio recordings is absolutely stonking!! You can have listen on Deezer etc.
Streaming wav...
Streaming | CD FLAC rip
Jeff Beck ~ Performing Live At Ronnie Scotts (2008)
So very good.
Opera Rara's latest in its invaluable series of operas by Donizetti. Probably the longest as well - ten years after Rossini's Guillaume Tell and with Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots only a few years old, the Parisians loved their operas to last a Wagnerian long time. Or perhaps Wagner got the idea here - he is supposed to have been living in Paris when Les Martys was first performed; in any case it would take another twenty years for Tannhäuser to reach Paris.
EJ
New purchase today, triple vinyl. I don't much like anything by Yes after 1973, so for me this is a good album - thus far I prefer it to Yessongs. Better SQ as well I think.
I'm still waiting for my CD copy to be delivered, despite ordering it several weeks ago. I decided I'd try the highlights album first and would buy the 14 CD set depending on the sound quality. I agree the SQ of 'Yessongs' leaves a lot to be desired, but the more recent 'Keys to Ascension' is very good and a live (and studio) Yes album that I'd recommend.
First listen, though I bought it a couple of weeks ago. Early impressions are: this is complex and will take a while to get into. But then what would you expect from Steve Wilson?
+1
I've tried about half a dozen plays so far, but to my ears it still seems rather dull, particularly given the excellence of its immediate predecessor.
Preludes pour piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux (Book 5 & 3), 4 Etudes de rythem.
Gieseking's Appassionata.
He looks so burly but his style is not at all. Elegant and fluid like a butterfly flying around.
This is a '39 NY recording and sounds a tad busy due to lack of clarity but this is a good story telling.
Horowitz's Highly eccentric colourful world.
the temperament flies like a violent thunderstorms. Clean and clear, nothing vague about the contents. Horowitz delivers with a firm determination making sure his intent is understood.The final movement sounds even carelessly done. Many abrupt notes and irregular tempo reminds me of someone who’s in a great hurry and frantic. A huge dynamic contrast. The burst of flared up temper, frustration and anguish. Not the most elegant rendition yet it’s suitable to get the drift of this angry desperate state of mind the composer was in. The emotional intent is certainly felt the greatest.
And that's what a great music and capable interpreter are supposed to do.
Solomon Cutner's Appassionata.
He doesn’t have a dashing style of Horowitz nor clarity in quie passages as Richter. What's missing is the timing and sense of orgnisation. This one is boring to sit through. He's got a few tricks along the way yet it just ends up superficial and I am completely unmoved.
Blink-182. Greatest Hits. On CD from 2005. I was travelling during the past week and listening via cheap in-ear HPs to CDs ripped as MP3s on my notebook PC. The better mastered CDs (e.g., Pink Floyd, Mellencamp, CS&N) sounded decent enough. This one from Blink-182 was of notably poor, compromised quality in the MP3 format. Songs on it were remastered from dynamic ranges as high as 12 down to an average of 6, some as low as 4. Sad stuff.
Qobuz streaming - very nice
Todays plays all AIIF CD rips:-
AC/DC - Back in Black
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Between Here and Gone
Marc Cohn - Marc Cohen
On CD:-
Symphony No. 3
On CD:-
Some of the best recordings are Ry's from this period. Great for natural timbres & dynamics.
Wonderful music of course!
FLAC from NAS Via SC&2Qute.
G
Streaming | Deezer Elite
The Orb ~ Uforb (1922)
"After the sprawling ambient opus that was their debut LP, Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld, The Orb voyaged into new interstellar realms for the follow-up. The languid rippling soundscapes and far-out samples persisted, but Dr Alex Patterson and Thrash introduced uptempo beats to the brew, lending the album a chunkier, less meandering feel which was reflected in its commercial success"....
Streaming | Deezer Elite
The Orb ~ Uforb (1922)
The early mixes 
Great summery pop. Out June 2nd
Streaming | CD FLAC rip
Jean Michel Jarre ~ Oxygène (1976)
I must admit that I was not one of those who was into JMJ and Oxygène back in the day. I have played it again just now and... it still does not do it for me.