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:
Another during workout, usual high quality...
seakayaker posted:Now Playing.........
Danielle Nicole - Cry No More
Streaming on TIDAL...... Going with the mention from EWEMON above and taking 'Cry No More' (released 02/23/19) out for a spin. Listening to the first track I can quote NIGELB and say that this is a real "Belter!" Danielle is one hell of a singer, songwriter and bassist and a great review of this album can be found here. Worth the time to give a listen if you like rock & blues! (.....already dropped into the order queue on the river)
Have a listen to her Trampled Underfoot albums especially Badlands as you might like them
Stevee_S posted:
The Moody Blues
Caravan (Canterbury Set)
Camel (Canterbury Set)
The Alan Parsons Project
Emerson Lake and Palmer
Rick Wakeman ( From Yes)
Barclay James Harvest
The Doors
Ozric Tentacles
This one is for you Filipe. The world of prog music is vast so you will have to go on your own journey of exploration. Tony, Clive, Eoin and others have pointed you in the direction but you will have to find out for yourself because none of our musical tastes are the same, let alone similar. I would point you in the same direction as they have (after Genesis who you seem to like). Above I have added a very bare and basic list of prog bands you might wish to try (they are all classics). If you are new to all this prog stuff then I would recommend starting with all the early albums and work your way forward, many bands changed direction and sound as they matured. I wish you well on your journey.
Finally and not knowing what your musical preferences are, I have put in a couple of non prog rock bands that you might find of interest both of which are IMHO beyond compare in their class The Doors who are a sort of acid and blues rock band who were are the mut's nuts. Cheekily I have added that Ozric Tentacles album, a band so many have ever heard of let alone listened to, they aren't prog rock but as you seem to be on a musical journey here is another one for you.
Cheers
Steve
Hi Steve, Thank you and everyone else for your prog rock suggestions. Family weekend over. Time to reflect on them.
Picking up on the duff remasters to avoid, I wonder whether what you all think about the recent vinyl remastering, or can the originals be bought?
I am beginning to understand that the Genesis sound is very demanding even for good Naim systems. My post about having to turn the volume down playing ...and then there were three...with the newly installed demo 252 now makes sense.
I’m falling in love with ..and then there were three.. the more I play it on the 282 the more I love it. I know I am indirectly praising Phil Collins. However, it’s a start to the journey. It is going to take awhile to get to the destination like my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela planned for October..
Phil
ewemon posted:
Another official recording.
First of the day
Genesis - Foxtrot, vinyl
One of the towering achievements of prog, Genesis rocked hard here, but also managed flights of whimsy, Supper’s Ready is classic prog, 22 minutes of a meandering dream sequence, children’s chorus, great musicianship, a song that sticks in your head and never really leaves.
Joni Mitchell - Hejira, vinyl
My favourite Joni album, and one of my most-loved albums from anyone. Complex jazz-influenced rhythms with a folk style, great musicianship throughout with some incredibly sensitive bass playing from Jaco Pastorious. Lyrics carrying a sense of movement and travel underpinned by flowing music, and themes of the dichotomy between relationships and a demanding career. In other hands it could easily be trite, but this is Joni at the peak of her powers and lyrically it often reaches the heights of genuine poetry. Hard to pick a standout track, but I think the album-closer Refuge of the Roads probably pips the others for me. I got this album in the early ‘80s, still playing the same copy, and it’s given me joy for 35 years.
Wilhelm Kempff, Beethoven Sonatas (Waldstein, Les Adieux and Appassi9nata), 1986 remastered vinyl
I love Kempff in these pieces, he’s lyrical and sensitive enough to see to the heart of the music with wonderful fluidity in his playing, but doesn’t miss any of the Beethoven drive, the 1st movement of the Waldstein has my feet tapping and me close to headbanging as I’m pulled along.
I too, today off work to use up some leave before the end of March, planning to go for a walk on the moors. There was such dense fog that I couldn’t see beyond the trees at the end of my garden, so I didn’t risk it. The fog burnt off about half an hour ago, but I’m now settled in for a day of music.
This is a wonderful album, with more focus on the Kantele (a harp-like instrument) and less singing than her earlier albums. Lovely viola and sax playing too, it’s really quite stunning.
Eoink posted:
Joni Mitchell - Hejira, vinyl
My favourite Joni album, and one of my most-loved albums from anyone. Complex jazz-influenced rhythms with a folk style, great musicianship throughout with some incredibly sensitive bass playing from Jaco Pastorious. Lyrics carrying a sense of movement and travel underpinned by flowing music, and themes of the dichotomy between relationships and a demanding career. In other hands it could easily be trite, but this is Joni at the peak of her powers and lyrically it often reaches the heights of genuine poetry. Hard to pick a standout track, but I think the album-closer Refuge of the Roads probably pips the others for me. I got this album in the early ‘80s, still playing the same copy, and it’s given me joy for 35 years.
Totally Agree - mine as well.Just love "Song for Sharon " - Joni's on fine Lyrical form on that one and the whole album - Brilliant.
Seeing as its been a Led Zeppelin fest here recently.I thought I would give Robert Plants 2nd Solo album a play.Really enjoying it on Vinyl
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The Hoax - Sound Like This.
Released in 1995, this album from British blues band "The Hoax", sounds surprisingly up to date, yet with hints of Gary Moore and
Peter Green.
I've ordered their live album of the strength of this one, so big thanks to all those hoaxsters out there for this recommendation. 
The Hoax - Unpossible, WAV CD Rip
1st play, CD dropped through the letterbox on Saturday. These guys can play the blues, it’s an instant attention-grabber, strong vocals over an impeccable blues-rock foundation. Nice variation 8n the songs, driving rockers and bluesy soulful numbers. There is some stunning guitar work, I love the lead line on Let It Ride. Definitely a keeper, thanks so much for the introduction Ewan.
Now Playing........
Rachel Beck
Streaming on TIDAL........ A mention from EWEMON yesterday had me place this in the TIDAL queue and taking it out for a spin to start out this Monday morning. A short 25 minute album (released 03/02/18) and she does have a sweet voice.
"Composed between 1860 and 1934, the works on this disc hail from a momentous period in Russian music – from the emergence of a national Russian school of composing advocated by the group called ‘The Mighty Five’ (of which Borodin was a member), to Stalin’s denunciation of Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which was to cause generations of Russian composers to harness their modernist leanings."
Now Playing.......
Agnes Obel - Philharmonics
Streaming on NAS........ Spending a little mellow time with Agnes this morning and she is sounding mighty fine!
The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet, WAV CD rip.
From the mono box set. One of the great rock albums, opening with Sympathy for the Devil, as awesome a song as the Stones ever recorded, moving into the delicate No Expectations, then into an album of hard rockers and reflective almost-ballads, with the lyrics inventing the Stones’s rebel band persona. Mick as good as he’s ever been, Keef leading the band to great heights, pure rock.
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath - WAV CD rip
Another from the mono box set. A patchy album, with some less memorable tracks. The Stones largely in their R&B persona, with nods to wider trends with marimba, dulcimer and such used sensitively. Goin’ Home worked for me today, there are times when an 11 minute blues jam doesn’t quite grab me. Take it or leave it and What to Do are OK, but not great for me. But we have masterpieces in Mother’s Little Helper and Out of Time, and my surprise fave Lady Jane. Under My Thumb is great music as long as I ignore the lyrics, the rhythm section is on fire in this, and on the whole album.
Now Playing......
Badlands - Trampled Under Foot
Streaming on TIDAL........ Going with the recommendation from EWEMON and giving Badlands a spin. Fantastic, the lead singer Danielle Schnebelen and her two brothers made up Trampled Under Foot and broke up in the fall of 2014. That spun off the Danielle Nicole band with a different cast of musicians. Badlands sounds mighty fantastic, Danielle definitely has beautiful/powerful vocals and this album is worth a listen.
Robert Plant - Carry Fire, WAV CD rip
Percy’s 2017 release, lovely to see a musician happy to keep exploring, here a set of excellent songs, experimenting with time signatures on some. Songs range from originals to a cover of Bluebirds over the Mountain, which he first heard on a Ritchie Valens single 60 years ago. The Sensational Space Shifters are a perfect backing group. Without the wonderful Gregg Allman Southern Blood, this'would have been my album of 2017.