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:
Playing on Vinyl on Pressure Point Records 1979 - Great Dub Reggae album By Prince Far I - Perfect for a warm evening
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2012 - Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man on limited edition white vinyl...
The Beautiful South - Solid Bronze Great Hits, WAV CD rip
For me Paul Heaton is one of the classic quirky English singer-songwriters. With the Beautiful South he allied his voice to female singers who blended perfectly with him, added catchy tunes to smart lyrics, and produced some of my favourite songs. This album always makes me smile with pleasure (and sing tunelessly along if there are no witnesses.)
I seem to playing this and The Orchard quite a lot lately. I'm clearly going to have to get more of Ms Wright's albums 
1971 - vinyl - UK first pressing...
Earlier this evening...
Last one before sleeping...
Slim68 posted:Bert Schurink posted:Songs like perfect life are so great.....I am enjoying this album every-time I hear it. Absolutely recommended for everybody who doesn't know it yet...
Roger Waters, Radio Kaos has just finished, so I think I will join you Bert.
Love this album. Had a great couple of hours a few days ago at appropriate volume when family were out - new Steven Wilson 24 bit Marillion Brave followed by Hand Cannot Erase. They seemed very connected and not just by Steven Wilson....also love Radio KAOS. Wembley Arena show of the album tour back in 1987 was very good.
Now Playing......
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Streaming on NAS...... Looking for a little earthquake with Tori, cranked the volume and NDX w/4.6 & SN2 is sounding fantastic! First track 'Crucify'........WOW!
Gianluigi Mazzorana posted:ewemon posted:
A couple of official live gig recordings of Mandolin Orange. Never been released.
Great! Thanks Ewemon!
Also listening to some new material from them.
Eagles. On The Border. On original vinyl from 1974. The band's departure from producer Glyn Johns' country pop sound and movement into mainstream rock with producer Bill Szymczyk. Very good album with a great funk and groove to the title track.
Eagles. One Of These Nights. On original vinyl from 1975. The band's breakthrough album and last with Bernie Leadon who would be replaced by Barnstormer Joe Walsh. "Lyin' Eyes" remains for me both the quintessential Eagles song and epitomizes the mid- 70's California rock sound.
Bert Schurink posted:
Listening to it again reminded me again how special this is...
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Ballade No. 1 [11:31]
Nocturnes Op. 9 Nos. 1 and 2 [10:44]
Scherzo No. 1 [10:35]
Two Nocturnes Op. 27 [12:03]
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor [27:24]
Two Nocturnes Op. Posth. [7:17]
Lars Vogt (piano)
rec. March 2013, Deutschlandfunk Kammermusicsaal, Cologne, Germany
C-AVI MUSIC 8553267 [79:35]
Vogt declares his artistic independence with the very first track, a long, slow take on Ballade No. 1 with dramatic pauses and an incredibly soft touch. Even in the introduction Vogt shows a willingness to “split” the rhythms of the left and right hands by the tiniest of gaps. This is the kind of performance admirers will praise for its abundant poetry and sensitivity, while doubters wonder if it’s too studied. The lightness of touch is something which separates Vogt from Wilde: Wilde’s album, recorded just after the death of his wife Jane, has a heavy tread, and a strong air of gloom. This disc feels more fragile, more precious. Vogt programs six of the twenty-one nocturnes, and he excels in the genre. No. 21, in C sharp minor, long my favourite, is also one of Vogt’s favourite encores, so he has had plenty of time to prepare this crystalline interpretation.
The Sonata No. 2 gets a slow, poetic account. Again, it’s not as eccentric as David Wilde’s, especially not in the funeral march, which Vogt takes with a much softer tread but eccentric it most definitely is. The two oddest touches are the feather-light finale, just not cold enough, and the first movement’s development section, which slows down to a crawl and quiets down to a murmur.
The recorded sound is excellent, and the booklet has a long interview with Vogt. His view of Chopin is interesting and compelling and he sells it well but is it too much of a good thing? Should you really play the Second Sonata’s outer movements the same way you play the nocturnes? Lars Vogt has the courage to try new things, which means we get to debate his choices without once being bored by them.
Brian Reinhart
Meat Loaf. Bat Out Of Hell (1977). On HDCD from 2001. For me it might be the most emotionally charged rock album I've heard. Among the best selling albums, yet seems to have become a relic.
Playing on Compact Disc on Naxos Records.
