What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIV)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 31 December 2017
On the eve of a new year, it's time for a new thread.
Last year's thread can be found here:
Well, ‘pancake day’ is nearly upon us.
G
Eoink posted:
Steely Dan - Aja, new Back to Black vinyl pressing.
Musically, impeccable, I don’t really like soft funky jazz in general, but the Dan were so much better than that great tunes and lyrics, brilliantly played and sung. 1st play of a vinyl edition that arrived recently, very impressed by the SQ.
Streaming from TIDAL with a 555PS on the nDAC, this sounds so much more alive and exciting than before. Maybe the mains is quite at the moment after the Six Nations. Must get the CD.
Anyone understand why Discog might have banned sales of ‘Steely Dan with Walter Becker and Stan Fenton’? I saw it at Oxfam but was not sure about a live concert recording.
Phil
From the superb Ten Year War mega-box, here's the Sabs' hugely influential third album, on purple splatter vinyl. There's a bit of crackle here and there, but nothing one can't live with. SQ is very good - this is a fine remastering IMO. Love the presentation - so this has the embossed "box" sleeve, complete with poster and Vertigo labels and inner bag.
Kevin-W posted:From the superb Ten Year War mega-box, here's the Sabs' hugely influential third album, on purple splatter vinyl. There's a bit of crackle here and there, but nothing one can't live with. SQ is very good - this is a fine remastering IMO. Love the presentation - so this has the embossed "box" sleeve, complete with poster and Vertigo labels and inner bag.
That looks very good. Enjoy!
Filipe posted:Eoink posted:
Steely Dan - Aja, new Back to Black vinyl pressing.
Musically, impeccable, I don’t really like soft funky jazz in general, but the Dan were so much better than that great tunes and lyrics, brilliantly played and sung. 1st play of a vinyl edition that arrived recently, very impressed by the SQ.
Streaming from TIDAL with a 555PS on the nDAC, this sounds so much more alive and exciting than before. Maybe the mains is quite at the moment after the Six Nations. Must get the CD.
Anyone understand why Discog might have banned sales of ‘Steely Dan with Walter Becker and Stan Fenton’? I saw it at Oxfam but was not sure about a live concert recording.
Phil
.... and now Steely Dan - Two Against Nature. Great Soft Funky Jazz.
Phil
Yello - Essentials
(1992)
It might sound daft for what is essentially a 'best of album' but it stands up very well as a really good album in it's own right with much of their great material up to '92, the sound quality is also right up with their early albums (DR 14). A perfect starter album for a Yello novice but also a great album for older hands to quickly play 16 of their (early) best tracks.
Georgy Cattier (1861-1926) studied piano in Berlin with Karl Klindworth (a friend of Richard Wagner) from whom he learned to appreciate Wagner. He became one of the few Russian 'Wagnerite' composers, joining the Wagner society in 1879.
Some fabulous acoustic blues from B.K. Turner
Felt it was time to put on an excellent soul/blues album.
Highly recommended set of swamp blues.
Lizz Wright - The Orchard.
Blues? Soul? Jazz? Gospel? ............. who cares, when the vocals are this good ............... elsewhere, hints of Sarah Vaughan have been
suggested ................ yup, definitely.
Most highly recommended. 
Very many moons ago I had some Rick Wakeman albums on vinyl and I thought it was about time I got some on CD. This is from a box set and is the album I remember most clearly.
Brad Mehldau - The art of the trio vol. 2: live at the Village Vanguard
Allmusic.com:
It takes a certain nerve for a young jazz artist to subtitle an album Live at the Village Vanguard. The title evokes some mighty powerful spirits from the jazz pantheon. John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins. Bill Evans. Joe Henderson. But pianist Brad Mehldau is more than up to this daunting challenge. On this set of standards by the likes of Cole Porter, Thelonious Monk and Henry Mancini, Mehldau exhibits a musical erudition and a technical prowess that belies his youth. Though the obvious comparisons are with Evans and Keith Jarrett, Mehldau has a highly individual style that draws heavily on his classical training. Along with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, he has made a stunning album of exploratory jazz that holds its own with the great "Live at the Village Vanguard" recordings of the past.
MDS posted:
Very many moons ago I had some Rick Wakeman albums on vinyl and I thought it was about time I got some on CD. This is from a box set and is the album I remember most clearly.
Hi Mike, I too got into a lot of Rick Wakeman's solo stuff back in the day, what you're playing now and Journey to the Centre of The Earth being a particular favourite.
Steve
On CD, here's the first (afternoon) show from Madison Square Garden on 10th June '72. The King is in magnificent voice, the band superb and the version of "Polk Salad Annie" rocks!
Like Stevee_S I've been playing some Yes on vinyl this afternoon. Started with the first one - my copy sounds a bit flat, but still I find the music on this album to be quite uplifting.
Cheers
EJ
Stevee_S posted:MDS posted:
Very many moons ago I had some Rick Wakeman albums on vinyl and I thought it was about time I got some on CD. This is from a box set and is the album I remember most clearly.
Hi Mike, I too got into a lot of Rick Wakeman's solo stuff back in the day, what you're playing now and Journey to the Centre of The Earth being a particular favourite.
Steve
Yes, Steve. Journey to the Centre of the Earth is one of the albums in the box set which I'm looking forward to listening to and reminding myself why I bought Wakeman's albums originally.
Mike
Then more Yes on vinyl. This is one of my top three favourite Yes albums - Relayer.
10cc The Original Soundtrack, original vinyl. I recall I received this in a swap, but I can't recall what I swapped for it. Possibly Elephant's Memory.
Pink Floyd - Relics, vinyl, early ‘80s Music For Pleasure pressing!
Brilliant compilation of early Floyd, Syd era psychedelic weirdness, and a few space-rock numbers. Amazingly good SQ from a 35 year old cheapo pressing. I’ve had See Emily Play stuck in my head since yesterday, so playing this in an attempt at exorcism.
(2003)
The Thompson Twins - The Greatest Hits
This compilation brings back happy memories of clubs n'stuff in London when I occasionally used to get back home from overseas in the '80s
Melody Gardot - Live In Europe
Gorgeous. Ahem....the album that is.....the music on the album....oh you know what I mean.
Now what was I saying, got a bit distracted.
Seriously, after the the slight criticism on here I was not expecting too much but, although there are several numbers I know and love on here, because Melody went to the trouble of giving them a rather different arrangement and interpretation, all the tracks sound wonderfully fresh and totally engaging. Off to the big river for a dip, I think.
Oh, and there is that album cover too....
james n posted:I've been digging through my collection and found another album that's not had an outing for quite a while.
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
James, this is an excellent album. I have a few of his other albums and there' s not a dud among them.
Thanks Chunky - yes i've not explored his other work but after really enjoying this album today, i'll be putting that right 