Best Albums of 2014... So Far!
Posted by: Tony2011 on 10 January 2014
Although a little early in the year this one seems to have a good following on the net and on this very forum.
It's on order.
A lot of hype around this album for a while before being released on vinyl. Thanks to Adrian(Lontano) for posting it. Worth checking it out. From first impressions,vinyl, I'll be listening to it a lot this year. 
I think the new Sound Liaison album After Silence qualifies.
After Silence with Trumpet great Andre Heuvelman is a true find.The opening track is setting the mood for the whole album and although the repertoire is very diverse that mood is kept throughout the entire album.
Beautiful lush arrangements and the playing by Heuvelman and consorts is nothing less than spectacular.
Sound stage is big wide and open, with that signature black Sound Liaison background.
For some reason the download Studio Masterfile is 24/88.2 while the other downloads I have from the same company are 24/96, but nevertheless incredible album.
I like Andre Heuvelmans liner notes as well, he seems to be an artist with a clear concept, somebody who dares to follow an idea.
"Sometimes you find what you are not looking for and that is especially true for the music on this album. The music on After Silence crossed my path, by meeting people or visiting places, events taking place or just materializing in my mind, but the one unifying factor for all 11 compositions is that they appeared after a moment of silence.
Silence is the most important part of my music making.
Silence is there, foregoing every first note I play.
Silence being the place for inspiration.
Silence which lets me start each piece of music as a child hearing it for the first time.
Silence keeping me from automatically following the beaten path."...... Andre Heuvelman
interesting album, not sure if it wil hit best of 2014 - but fresh enough for a serious consideration..
I think the new Sound Liaison album After Silence qualifies.
After Silence with Trumpet great Andre Heuvelman is a true find.The opening track is setting the mood for the whole album and although the repertoire is very diverse that mood is kept throughout the entire album.
Beautiful lush arrangements and the playing by Heuvelman and consorts is nothing less than spectacular.
Sound stage is big wide and open, with that signature black Sound Liaison background.
For some reason the download Studio Masterfile is 24/88.2 while the other downloads I have from the same company are 24/96, but nevertheless incredible album.
I like Andre Heuvelmans liner notes as well, he seems to be an artist with a clear concept, somebody who dares to follow an idea.
"Sometimes you find what you are not looking for and that is especially true for the music on this album. The music on After Silence crossed my path, by meeting people or visiting places, events taking place or just materializing in my mind, but the one unifying factor for all 11 compositions is that they appeared after a moment of silence.
Silence is the most important part of my music making.
Silence is there, foregoing every first note I play.
Silence being the place for inspiration.
Silence which lets me start each piece of music as a child hearing it for the first time.
Silence keeping me from automatically following the beaten path."...... Andre Heuvelman
Excellent album, +1
I think the new Sound Liaison album After Silence qualifies.
After Silence with Trumpet great Andre Heuvelman is a true find.The opening track is setting the mood for the whole album and although the repertoire is very diverse that mood is kept throughout the entire album.
Beautiful lush arrangements and the playing by Heuvelman and consorts is nothing less than spectacular.
Sound stage is big wide and open, with that signature black Sound Liaison background.
For some reason the download Studio Masterfile is 24/88.2 while the other downloads I have from the same company are 24/96, but nevertheless incredible album.
I like Andre Heuvelmans liner notes as well, he seems to be an artist with a clear concept, somebody who dares to follow an idea.
"Sometimes you find what you are not looking for and that is especially true for the music on this album. The music on After Silence crossed my path, by meeting people or visiting places, events taking place or just materializing in my mind, but the one unifying factor for all 11 compositions is that they appeared after a moment of silence.
Silence is the most important part of my music making.
Silence is there, foregoing every first note I play.
Silence being the place for inspiration.
Silence which lets me start each piece of music as a child hearing it for the first time.
Silence keeping me from automatically following the beaten path."...... Andre Heuvelman
+ 2
I think the new Sound Liaison album After Silence qualifies.
After Silence with Trumpet great Andre Heuvelman is a true find.The opening track is setting the mood for the whole album and although the repertoire is very diverse that mood is kept throughout the entire album.
Beautiful lush arrangements and the playing by Heuvelman and consorts is nothing less than spectacular.
Sound stage is big wide and open, with that signature black Sound Liaison background.
For some reason the download Studio Masterfile is 24/88.2 while the other downloads I have from the same company are 24/96, but nevertheless incredible album.
I like Andre Heuvelmans liner notes as well, he seems to be an artist with a clear concept, somebody who dares to follow an idea.
"Sometimes you find what you are not looking for and that is especially true for the music on this album. The music on After Silence crossed my path, by meeting people or visiting places, events taking place or just materializing in my mind, but the one unifying factor for all 11 compositions is that they appeared after a moment of silence.
Silence is the most important part of my music making.
Silence is there, foregoing every first note I play.
Silence being the place for inspiration.
Silence which lets me start each piece of music as a child hearing it for the first time.
Silence keeping me from automatically following the beaten path."...... Andre Heuvelman
This is well worth a mention here...
Musically far better than thought it would be, and a really nice vinyl pressing too : )
Debs
This is well worth a mention here...
Musically far better than thought it would be, and a really nice vinyl pressing too : )
Debs
Total agree Debs, it is a very good album on all counts including the packaging / artwork. It feels and sounds like a great deal of care has been taken by everyone concerned.
Graham.
I am loving this - not everyone's cup of tea though. Only limited number on vinyl - selling for 4x the ptice now, glad I got one!
Spotify Link
http://open.spotify.com/user/e...jXmlDCdlUcLuSUZGrZxR
I think the new Sound Liaison album After Silence qualifies.
After Silence with Trumpet great Andre Heuvelman is a true find.The opening track is setting the mood for the whole album and although the repertoire is very diverse that mood is kept throughout the entire album.
Beautiful lush arrangements and the playing by Heuvelman and consorts is nothing less than spectacular.
Sound stage is big wide and open, with that signature black Sound Liaison background.
For some reason the download Studio Masterfile is 24/88.2 while the other downloads I have from the same company are 24/96, but nevertheless incredible album.
I like Andre Heuvelmans liner notes as well, he seems to be an artist with a clear concept, somebody who dares to follow an idea.
"Sometimes you find what you are not looking for and that is especially true for the music on this album. The music on After Silence crossed my path, by meeting people or visiting places, events taking place or just materializing in my mind, but the one unifying factor for all 11 compositions is that they appeared after a moment of silence.
Silence is the most important part of my music making.
Silence is there, foregoing every first note I play.
Silence being the place for inspiration.
Silence which lets me start each piece of music as a child hearing it for the first time.
Silence keeping me from automatically following the beaten path."...... Andre Heuvelman
This one is great, one of the very best recent ECM recordings.
Eliane Elias/Marc Johnson; Swept Away
quote:Swept Away sees the top-class quartet of pianist Eliane Elias, double-bassist Marc Johnson, drummer Joey Baron and saxophonist Joe Lovano commune over music that is engaging and sensual, lyrical and swinging. Brazilian-born star Elias previously joined ECM veterans Baron and Lovano on Johnson s 2005 ECM album, Shades of Jade, which reaped praise far and wide. The New York Times enthused over the luminescence created by the close partnership between Elias and Johnson, while The Village Voice said the album was shimmering yet its lusciousness has all sorts of tensile strength. The same words suit Swept Away, which includes a brace of melody-rich Elias compositions, ranging from the easy-flowing title track to the smoky romanticism of Be Is for Butterfly and after-hours vibe of It s Time. Johnsons brightly grooving, Eastern-tinged When the Sun Comes Up is another highlight, and the album closes with Johnson s solo bass treatment of the old American folk song Shenandoah. Swept Away is music of depth that is disarmingly easy to love.
or this one with another ECM pianist Wolfert Brederode;
The 9 pieces of music were performed live in the studio in front of a select audience.The musicians were placed in front of a stereo pair of microphones with additional spot microphones on each instrument. The musicians were playing without headphones, the reason being that we believe that when we get the musicians to play together in the same room, without headphones, it creates a number of musical and technical benefits:
As they are not ''separated'' by the headphones, the musicians, in order to hear each other are forced to create a natural and musical balance, a balance which is then easily captured by the main stereo pair of microphones. Because of the natural and musical balance the need for compression to control levels is no longer necessary. Since everybody is in the same room, the boxed sound which is so common in many modern recordings is absent and the sound of the room helps ''glue'' the sound of the recording.
This is well worth a mention here...
Musically far better than thought it would be, and a really nice vinyl pressing too : )
Debs
Cracking album, Wilko is an inspiration. His BBC radio interview on the "Mastertapes" series is well worth searching out.
The 9 pieces of music were performed live in the studio in front of a select audience.The musicians were placed in front of a stereo pair of microphones with additional spot microphones on each instrument. The musicians were playing without headphones, the reason being that we believe that when we get the musicians to play together in the same room, without headphones, it creates a number of musical and technical benefits:
As they are not ''separated'' by the headphones, the musicians, in order to hear each other are forced to create a natural and musical balance, a balance which is then easily captured by the main stereo pair of microphones. Because of the natural and musical balance the need for compression to control levels is no longer necessary. Since everybody is in the same room, the boxed sound which is so common in many modern recordings is absent and the sound of the room helps ''glue'' the sound of the recording.
I like the Old Man and the Sea album as well. Of my latest albums this is by far the best sounding. And what a fantastic performance, the music going from tune to tune in a completely natural flow, like in a suite. Actually a more precise title should be The Old Man and the Sea Suite.I think it will be a tough act to follow.
These could be my top three pick so far this year:
The contrast between Cherry's pop years and what she does now is pretty striking. She must be the only artist in history to have recorded with Stock, Aitken and Waterman and a free jazz ensemble – unless of course tapes emerge of Big Fun jamming with Peter Brötzmann's Clarinet Project – but there's a sense that it represents less a wild left turn than a return to her roots. She began her career on the radical post-punk fringes, singing with the Slits, the New Age Steppers and anarchic jazz-funk band Rip Rig and Panic. That may be one of the reasons Blank Project largely works so well.
What distinguishes the Truckers’ 12th album from the rest of their excellent recent pack is two-fold: 1) The band came out firing hot, the batch of lean rock songs presented in their visceral, unadorned rawness, and 2) More than ever before, this is a Cooley album, with six of his compositions shaping the overall tone of the record.
Spoon's soul is theirs alone. It's not James Brown's soul, and though Daniel was raised Christian in conservative small-town Texas, it's not God's soul, either. It's not exactly classic rock, not quite post-punk. It's not the soul of indie idealists blindly conflating modesty and virtue. Instead, this band is about capturing the unknown—those "finer feelings," as Daniel once put it—and simply letting it float.
The main reason why I revived this thread however really was that I would like read more tips of the good records released this year (in addition what have mentioned already) - so if you have any please share!
This is one of mine.
This old guy just gets better & better and long may it continue.
How could I forget this one - perhaps the best of them all...
Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
There’s always been a sense that Ellison was stretching for a new musical vernacular, one that would continue the lineage of free jazz (he is the great-nephew of Alice Coltrane). This album suggests he might have found it. As each song merges into the next, as one style succeeds another, the sensation is that of being in a dream. - The Guardian
There has been a ton of great music this year, but the unity of this album takes the cake for me. It is the most fresh sounding album I've heard in a long time while being consistently surprising from beginning to end. A masterwork.
This is in my top three best releases of 2014.
Another favourite 2014 release of mine.
Some nice guitar work on this by David Gilmour.
Also love this 2014 mono vinyl set.
