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

Klyde posted:

Stevee_S posted:

A + 3 | Tidal

(2016)

Markus Reuter's band playing contemporary prog rock and giving more than a nod to King Crimson

Looks very interesting Stevee, I'll give this one a spin on Tidal later.

I hope you will enjoy it Klyde. 

Tried "Stick Men, Prog Noir", not for me, enough tuneful music elsewhere.

Now for something more in my bailiwick, an earlier prompt, on Spotify:-

Bronx boy (now Londoner) plays Bach!  Beautiful recording from 2000 in DSD on a single-layer SACD...

Refreshing jazz quartet: Guitar, Sax, Drums and Bass. Jazz music with rock elements.

Black Sabbath, WAV CD Rip

2015 re-master I think and it sounds great.

Via Spotify, maybe a little too country for me, but well sung and enjoyable album:-

Alison Krauss - Windy City

Followed by, CD rip:-

Robert Cray - Strong Persuader

Evanescence, Fallen WAV Cd Rip.

Their best album imo.

Slim68 posted:

Evanescence, Fallen WAV Cd Rip.

Their best album imo.

Their best I agree, super album. 

YellowJackets

On CD:-

Sheryl Crow - 100 Miles From Memphis

On CD:-

Paul McCartney - Flowers In The Dirt

A + 3 | WAV

(1969 | 1989 remaster)

Why? Because its a landmark classic and all time favourite album.

Three of the Quartet albums from 78-80 released on CD for the first time recently in a box set from ECM. Although I’ve been listening to Abercrombie for many moons, I somehow never heard these three albums. All compositions by Abercrombie or Beirach. Highly recommended!

On vinyl...

On original vinyl...

A + 3 | WAV

(1983)

Because I haven't listened to this one for a while and you can never really go wrong with a Yello album, can you? 

Talking Heads - True Stories.

As above, you can't really go wrong with these guys either. 

The topic about Robert Cray inspired me to play this one, which has been a while.

Philip Glass | Piano Works:  Víkingur Ólafsson (piano)

Full disclosure: This is the first disc of Philip Glass that I own.  For whatever reason, in my 40 or 50  years of collecting music and playing the piano our paths have not crossed.  Yes, I knew of Philip Glass but that is as far as it went.  

Today, I wonder what else in this world is worth discovering but either through willful ignorance or just by lack of opportunity that I have yet to be touched by it?

Some of the pieces on this disc of mostly études appeal to me.  Just as opposites tend to attract this is music that might fill a void in my almost exclusive classical piano diet.  Ranging from dreamy through hypnotic there is something magical that takes over.  What seems repetitive at first can become like a trip through the cosmos.  In this atmosphere, one can float far away, without the inconvenience of gravity, into it with never any urge to return.

Another reason this music effects me is that it tends to confirm in me a belief that is growing stronger in me year by year as I get older.  I personally do not believe anymore that music (well, the music I listen to) is meant to be experienced in a large venue with many people.  Sure, this is something we tend to do occasionally just because society tends to make us believe this normal but ideally, it should should be played by yourself while in quite solitude in the wee hours of the night or early morning.  Occasionally, when one or two like minds come together it can be a wonderful experience to share a musical listening experience but this is the exception rather than the rule.

Much of this music for me tends to lead me to believe that it is actually music very suitable for a one on one experience; one soul, your instrument and the possibilities are endless.

So out of this is a new task this week to try to pick up the complete score to the études of maybe a few other things of Philip Glass.

Regarding the recording, I think that DGG has done a satisfactory job with this recording.  My preference in this music calls for a piano that is darker and non-percussive sounding.  Actually, equal parts of the responsibility in the outcome fall to the player and I think Ólafsson has done quite well here.  I wouldn't want to label this "new age" and the like but I would highly recommend this album.

The bottom line is that from time to time it is nice to listen to something like this - especially if you are a reflective person.  I know that when I listen to Bach or Beethoven or Brahms etc. it tends to cause me to think more in concrete terms.  Yes, there is the emotion as well but I have difficulty thinking about anything else than the wonderful logic and equations and puzzles that we attempt to solve that these composers have presented us.  Glass on the other hand is music that is very abstract.  In fact, listening to it encourages you to think about nothing while in fact being lost in it.  In both cases, I think music is therapy applied.  While I may be sitting on a bench connecting with my instrument maybe this is no different than lying on the proverbial couch in the head doctor's office?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y4pIYV6yh0

dave marshall posted:

Talking Heads - True Stories.

As above, you can't really go wrong with these guys either. 

Do you ever find that one thing just leads naturally to another?

So, this ................. which, IMHO, can't be bettered.

Talking Heads - Little Creatures.

A + 3 | WAV

(1958)

Playing Burning Hell from this recently acquired (4 CD 8 Album) box-set. I have to say it sounds fantastic, crystal clear and seems to have been sympathetically and very well remastered indeed. I've just run the Audirvana Dynamic Range checker over it and the album comes out with a DR of 15/16 which is right up there with the best. This box set looks like being a wee gem and bargain. 

From the usual place here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Class...ords=john+lee+hooker

* Update, I am only 8 tracks into this first album of the set and I have to say its one of the finest CD (rips) I have, wow it sounds superb.