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

ewemon posted:

Jeff Anderson posted:

The War On Drugs "Lost In The Dream"

One of my favourite albums of the year Jeff. Hope you both have a very Merry Xmas.

Thanks Ewen and Happily Holiday season to you and Mon

Original vinyl...

No matter what format they bring along, this will always sound mighty good on vinyl.

Merry Xmas everyone!

Caterine MacLellan   "Church Bell Blues"

seasonal, i guess. and sounding great!

have this on vinyl and CD -- playing CD right now...

enjoy

ken

Herbie Hancock: Monster  1980 Release

Francescatti : Paganini Concerto No.1 & Saint-Saens Concerto No.3  1950 recording

Paganini tunes are much easier to like with a lot of exciting twists and turns.

Mitropoulos' orchestra handling of Saint Saens is clearer and more expressive than Ormandy. Comparatively it’s *rougher* and not so suave as newer recording but much more intimate and earth bound. Andante is played direct and straight. There is a sense of uncomplicated honestly. Orchestra is equally expressive without having a hint of saccharine sweetness. It’s all in Francescatti’s subtle inflections which create a human voice out of a fiddle. This sets apart from a good violinist to the great one.

Hall/Oats: Abandoned Luncheonett  1973 Release

Smart lyrics and gorgeous harmonisation+ funky orchestra arrangements. I like this album the best out of their catalogue.

Rubinstein/Heifetz/Piatigorsky: Mendelssohn & Ravel Trio  1950 recording

Coined as 'million dollar trio' back in the day, this *all-star* recording is pretty interesting.

Hallmark Ravel sound is everywhere in A Minor Trio creating his magical world. I am surprised that Rubinstein does not have his usual lyrical Chopin hands but more like putting his foot down firmly. Trying to compete with Heifetz? It feels more like a concerto than a small scale chamber music.

Mendelssohn's D minor Trio is nice enough with very hummable melody line but it is a bit *generic*. sure sounds a bit like Schumann, too.  And as a whole, too flowery for my taste. Love the playful Rubinstein and Heifetz in Scherzo. That's two *pros* working extremely tight together. 

Again Rubinstein’s piano is firm and strong. Piano and fiddle are the two main instruments and poor cello at times can't get the words in.

On CD:-

Trace of Grace

Great album

In my third vinyl age

very good vinyl quality here for this another seasonal one:

enjoy

ken

dav301 posted:

Blimey! Don't hold back Dave.  

XRCD sweetens the sound and liquifies the pace. A 60 years old masterpiece.

Gianluigi Mazzorana posted:

One of my long-time favourite albums.

M 

Jeff Anderson posted:

MDS posted:

Jeff Anderson posted:

Ray LaMontagne "Supernova"

I was very disappointed in the reproduction quality of that album when compared to his previous albums. What do you make of it, Jeff?

Mike 

Hi Mike

I did not care for it initially but continued to go back to it and now enjoy quite a lot.  Definitely different to his previous releases, but that is okay with me.  Nice to see an artist step out of his (and potentially his audience) comfort zone.  I hope he doesn't abandon his past though as those would still be further up my list of preferences.  If you still have it give it at least 5-7 tries if you haven't already.  (BTW, if you are referring to SQ, I am not the one to ask, but I find nothing wrong with it streaming from Spotify)

regards, Jeff A

Thanks for that, Jeff. Perhaps I should give Supernova another go and be patient. It's sometimes worked with other albums that I had not initially taken to.

Mike