What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 01 January 2017
2017 has arrived today, so time to start this thread afresh.
Last year's thread can be found here;
Bach - Brandenburg Concertos by Rinaldo Alessandrini
Yet another version of the great Brandenburg concertos. There are so many!
This one I find really good. First of all the sound quality is excellent. The instruments really sparkle in this recording. I noticed this right from the start. Secondly, the execution of the pieces is very good. The pace is a bit on the fast side, but is has some kind of 'swing' (I don't know a better word for it) which makes it a joy to listen to it.
Jeroen20 posted:Bach - Brandenburg Concertos by Rinaldo Alessandrini
Yet another version of the great Brandenburg concertos. There are so many!
This one I find really good. First of all the sound quality is excellent. The instruments really sparkle in this recording. I noticed this right from the start. Secondly, the execution of the pieces is very good. The pace is a bit on the fast side, but is has some kind of 'swing' (I don't know a better word for it) which makes it a joy to listen to it.
Just to add to your findings and agree that the Naïve label do make recordings of really good sound quality.
CD - Pschent 2004 [compilation]
And a 1st class compilation of interesting jazzy style orientated sounds it is too,
very highly recommended : )
Debs
naim_nymph posted:
LP - Columbia 2003 reissue : )
The crows are back trying to build a twig nest in my chimney, they tried it last year without success.
I dunno if its me lighting the fire, or the music that puts 'em off.
Hey there, all you middle men
Throw away your fancy clothes
And while you're out there sittin' on a fence
So get off your ass and come down here
Cause rock 'n' roll ain't no riddle man
To me it makes good, good sense
Good sense, let's go...~ < > ~
If only there were a certain bird of prey circling overhead to scare them off!
Some may say this is a boring or predictable choice, but that's only because we all know it so well. It just fits my mood perfectly right now. Mine is a CBS copy from early 80s, still mint vinyl. Sounding wonderful.
Just bought this after an article in newspaper at weekend. Super album that really shows your hifi's capabilities. Music in the style of tubular bells. 
Always good to have a new recording of Medtner 2, an underappreciated but great work - Hamelin holds it together and that makes him top tier. In Rach 3 Hamelin distinguishes himself with a rather introverted, considered performance with some astonishing fingerwork. He doesn't quite nail the ebb and flow like Ashkenazy, but it's a highly rewarding performance that I've listened to for several times in the past weeks, and it doesn't start to wear out. The recording is very good, and benefits from being played back at rather high volume.
Cheers
EJ
Jeroen20 posted:Haim Ronen posted:Thanks for posting this one (and the others by François Couturier) Haim.
This is a new artist for me. I really like his music and it's on my shopping list.
Regards,
Jeroen.
Jeroen,
If I may, another exquisite album with Couturier (not in the lead) which I think is a must:
...had never explored him so much, but amazing...
Manze/Helsingborg Symphony: Brahms Symphony No.3
This sunny and cheerful *HIP* style Brahms isn't working for me. Manze does not give the music space to breath. Quick bursting attacks and break neck speed on the final movement adds some excitement but the problem is all the section and notes are too hurried not enough contrasts. Lacking majesty and density.
This relatively new vinyl issue is quiet and well-balanced. It's a pity that performance isn't as good as this pressing.
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters. Streamed CD rip.
Just getting started at the cola face and the second coffee goes well with a little Herbie.
Bert Schurink posted:
Hi Hélène, are you going to play something or just sit down and show the world how wonderful you are?
Haim Ronen posted:
I have this one, but I haven't played it for some time. I had to buy it for the title. It was hidden in the jazz file of a now closed shop.
I will play it today, it will sooth my difficult moods of the last weeks. Although I am not properly sad and not a woman.
I've listened to this album several times (CD rip), but I can't quite warm to it. Not their best.
Specifically the album with Milt Jackson - 'Bags & Trane'.
On vinyl. Because I wanted to hear that lengthy, unreleased version of "Little Star of Bethlehem" again:
A + 3 | WAV
(1969 | 2009 Stereo remaster)
Because the ear worm has been playing the ghosts of these tunes in my head this morning, they need exorcising!
Review
At the fag end of the 60s, the Beatles produced Abbey Road, their last smoke and mirrors triumph, a musical truce that papered over cracks between the group which were, by now, unfathomably deep. It was to be a marvellous set-piece finale for the group that had defined the decade.
Although large sections of the material had been left over from as far back as their Indian sojourn in the spring of 1968, the overall sound and feel was that of a coherent and logical work, which played to every one of the foursome's considerable strengths.
John Lennon would frequently dismiss the album after its release, but Abbey Road contains three of his very finest works: Come Together, I Want You (She's So Heavy), and Because. George Harrison established himself as an individual talent of some note with the beautiful Something and the ever-lovely Here Comes the Sun, and even Ringo Starr continued to set fair his light entertainer course with Octopus's Garden.
However – the deplorable Maxwell's Silver Hammer aside – Abbey Road is primarily a triumph for Paul McCartney, preserving The Beatles' legacy on their less-than-fond farewell. Apart from being fairly low-key on the album's first side, his piecing together of their 'long medley' from leftovers and doodles on the reverse is possibly his greatest sustained achievement, culminating in every member of the group soloing on The End. Although this side is responsible for myriad crimes later committed in its name (think the worst of 10cc, ELO, Alan Parsons Project), it is a mature and intelligent coda to the single most important act British music produced.
The Beatles’ work was done. They'd come to symbolise the 60s, taken youth culture to the world, and ultimately collapsed under the responsibility, the weight they had to carry. Abbey Road is the soundtrack to it all. -- Daryl Easlea
Early '80s reissue vinyl. Because you can never have too much Can:
