Outstanding Demo CD's etc...

adydula · « **Reply #560 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 12:16 am »

Hello All!

Been really busy and have not had time to listen this week, too many yard progects to complete before cold weather comes here in North Carolina.

I got my copy of Peter Gabriels "UP" and what a surprise.

I was not expecting much, but I just spent 1' 06" + listening to the cd all the way thru...

What adjectives to use in describing this one!

Dynamic, Three Dimensional, Ecclectic, All-Encompassing, Sonic Playground, Melodic, Ever Changing...etc..

I thought I had my sub-woofer turned on, it was not!! What a kick drum,,,,no sub needed here with this CD and the SongTowers..

The piano harmonics and overtones on track 10 are to die for!!! (That means its really GOOD)!

You may not like Peter Gabriels style or 'voice' I was never a real fan, but this CD is Demo Quality for sure and I am now a Peter Gabriel fan..

This guy is brilliant on this CD, yes there are parts where I thought where is this going, but if you stick thru the entire 'long' tracks they will amaze you as to the content and what your SongTowers will do with this material.

Its really a great CD and made me sit still for over an hour at LOUD volume levels!!

Cudo's to Peter Gabriel for "UP"

Wonder if any of his other work is as good as this recording?

All the best and hope everyone had a great Thankgsgiving!!

Alex

aa

elee532 · « **Reply #561 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 01:31 am »

Ya know, I just realized that this disc has been in my car since purchasing my SongTower's, so I have yet to listen to it using the them. I will be bringing this inside and giving it a spin next chance I get.

TJC712 · « **Reply #562 on:** 2 Dec 2009, 01:43 pm »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 21 Sep 2009, 04:54 pm

I've been listening to "The Best of Basia" the past couple days.
Sounds like a good candidate for this thread to me, however I've been sick this week and not ready to trust my ears to use as a tool to spend someone else's money just yet.

Can anyone confirm?

Bob

I was just listening to her Time & Tide CD this morning as I was putzing around before leaving... sounded great. Even with some of the late 80's electronica present, what great arrangements and tremendous vocals. Peter White also does some nice guitar work on here. Certainly worthy of a listen. After a few months of tooling around on here, I think that I have a decent grasp of what Alex might consider a good listen (musically and audiophonic-ly). Alex... buy this one... think it will make your list! Another good call, Bob.

TJC712 · « **Reply #563 on:** 3 Dec 2009, 04:29 am »

For those old 60's/70's rockers, I found myself lost tonight listening to Walking In the Wind on Traffic's "When the Eagle Flies" CD. Great tune featuring some wonderful organ sound. Good stuff.

TJC712 · « **Reply #564 on:** 3 Dec 2009, 04:52 am »

Don't recall if anyone here mentioned Jamie Cullum, but found him to be a well recorded, talented guy that I found very pleasant to listen to. Hard to describe... mixed bag of sound stemming from a root in jazz. Reminiscent of a young Harry Connick Jr. with more of a pop sound? Does some modern versions of older standards with his own unique twists. Whatever... I liked it. I listened to his 'twentysomething" CD. Interested in hearing more of his stuff (if there even is any?).

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #565 on:** 3 Dec 2009, 03:39 pm »

Quote from: adydula on 30 Nov 2009, 12:16 am

Cudo's to Peter Gabriel for "UP"

Ordered. aa Thanks for the recommendation.

TJC, Yea we've spoke of Jamie Cullum (way way back). I've given "Thirtysomething" my recommendation. Good stuff. Yes, he does remind me of a young Harry Connick Jr.
As far as Basia is concerned, I've got the "best of" CD and like it very much. I've not heard the Time and Tide disc. Although, the song "Time and Tide" is on the "best of" disc and happens to be one of my favorites of theirs. "Waters of March" is also a great tune.

Bob

TJC712 · « **Reply #566 on:** 4 Dec 2009, 12:31 am »

All of her stuff is very good. Regarding your reference to Waters of March, one of the tracks on Time and Tide is a tribute to Astrud Gilberto (called Astrud). Another good listen is Marc Cohn's first CD by the same name. Very simple but very good; quality recording.

TJC712 · « **Reply #567 on:** 4 Dec 2009, 02:34 pm »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 11 Aug 2009, 02:07 am

As far as male vocal (and piano) as concerned, Jamie Cullum is very good. Reminds me of a young Harry Connick Jr.
As far as sound quality is concerned, the album "Twentysomething" is very good from what I recall. But it's been awhile since I've listened to it.
I'm sure you've heard the song, "These are the days". Great stuff.

Bob

Hey Bob. Had a little time this morning and was going thru some of the older posts in this thread (things I meant to buy and forgot about!). I came across this older post from a certain mid-western guy. Damn... busted again! Must've planted a seed in the sub conscientious mind. Anyway... seems we have similar tastes, although I like pretty much any good music. FYI - The sound quality sounds fine on what I listened to. Keep on keepin' on.... Tim

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #568 on:** 4 Dec 2009, 03:11 pm »

How about:

Gene Ammons "Boss Tenor"

Very nice Jazz. Sax, piano, percussion instrumentals. No vocals.
Damn fine tunes indeed.

Bob

oldmp3 · « **Reply #569 on:** 4 Dec 2009, 04:16 pm »

I believe many (most?) of the outstanding CDs listed in this thread offer a relatively large volume dynamic range and do not suffer from the modern afflictions of clipping and compressed dynamics imposed post production to make a "hot" sound.

Of course many, many other factors go into producing a great sounding CD. However, this practice alone drives some of us to simply avoid otherwise good stuff

There is some great information at http://turnmeup.org.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #570 on:** 4 Dec 2009, 04:46 pm »

I registered with that site many months ago. To this date, I've not received an email, notice, contact or communication from them. I thought I was "joining" something when I signed up?

Bob

rodge827 · « **Reply #571 on:** 5 Dec 2009, 02:32 am »

Alex,
ALL Peter Gabriel is good stuff

.
A good disc to get you started would be Shaking The Tree. A pretty good compialation of some earlier stuff. Also any one of his live albums is a must. He was the frontman and major influance for mostly all the early Genesis recordings. After recording The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway in 1975 he struck out on his own and has never looked back. He was and is still one of a few continually progressive and innovative artists today.
Chris

Quote from: adydula on 30 Nov 2009, 12:16 am

Hello All!

Been really busy and have not had time to listen this week, too many yard progects to complete before cold weather comes here in North Carolina.

I got my copy of Peter Gabriels "UP" and what a surprise.

I was not expecting much, but I just spent 1' 06" + listening to the cd all the way thru...

What adjectives to use in describing this one!

Dynamic, Three Dimensional, Ecclectic, All-Encompassing, Sonic Playground, Melodic, Ever Changing...etc..

I thought I had my sub-woofer turned on, it was not!! What a kick drum,,,,no sub needed here with this CD and the SongTowers..

The piano harmonics and overtones on track 10 are to die for!!! (That means its really GOOD)!

You may not like Peter Gabriels style or 'voice' I was never a real fan, but this CD is Demo Quality for sure and I am now a Peter Gabriel fan..

This guy is brilliant on this CD, yes there are parts where I thought where is this going, but if you stick thru the entire 'long' tracks they will amaze you as to the content and what your SongTowers will do with this material.

Its really a great CD and made me sit still for over an hour at LOUD volume levels!!

Cudo's to Peter Gabriel for "UP"

Wonder if any of his other work is as good as this recording?

All the best and hope everyone had a great Thankgsgiving!!

Alex

aa

TJC712 · « **Reply #572 on:** 6 Dec 2009, 01:26 am »

OK, perhaps a little time stamped, but great nonetheless. Just listened to 3 tracks (Masquerade, Affirmation, Lady) from Benson's Breezin'; wonderful. His guitar work and the keybd play by Jorge Dalto are beautiful. I know... very 70's... but sounds great.

TJC712 · « **Reply #573 on:** 6 Dec 2009, 01:39 am »

Shifting gears here a bit... Empty Glass by Peter Townshend is another quality listen. His vocals and the drum/cymbals sound particularly good throughout. Pulled these last two out of the mothballs.

TJC712 · « **Reply #574 on:** 7 Dec 2009, 01:20 am »

Quote from: rodge827 on 5 Dec 2009, 02:32 am

Alex,
ALL Peter Gabriel is good stuff .
A good disc to get you started would be Shaking The Tree. A pretty good compialation of some earlier stuff. Also any one of his live albums is a must. He was the frontman and major influance for mostly all the early Genesis recordings. After recording The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway in 1975 he struck out on his own and has never looked back. He was and is still one of a few continually progressive and innovative artists today.
Chris
Quote from: adydula on 30 Nov 2009, 12:16 am
Hello All!

Been really busy and have not had time to listen this week, too many yard progects to complete before cold weather comes here in North Carolina.

I got my copy of Peter Gabriels "UP" and what a surprise.

I was not expecting much, but I just spent 1' 06" + listening to the cd all the way thru...

What adjectives to use in describing this one!

Dynamic, Three Dimensional, Ecclectic, All-Encompassing, Sonic Playground, Melodic, Ever Changing...etc..

I thought I had my sub-woofer turned on, it was not!! What a kick drum,,,,no sub needed here with this CD and the SongTowers..

The piano harmonics and overtones on track 10 are to die for!!! (That means its really GOOD)!

You may not like Peter Gabriels style or 'voice' I was never a real fan, but this CD is Demo Quality for sure and I am now a Peter Gabriel fan..

This guy is brilliant on this CD, yes there are parts where I thought where is this going, but if you stick thru the entire 'long' tracks they will amaze you as to the content and what your SongTowers will do with this material.

Its really a great CD and made me sit still for over an hour at LOUD volume levels!!

Cudo's to Peter Gabriel for "UP"

Wonder if any of his other work is as good as this recording?

All the best and hope everyone had a great Thankgsgiving!!

Alex

aa

Mercy Street a favorite on my ST's

adydula · « **Reply #575 on:** 7 Dec 2009, 07:14 pm »

Hey Everyone!!

Thanks for the new recommendations!

I will try Shake the Tree and some Jamie Cullum selections.

Oldmp3: Yes we look for recording that have wide dynamic range....clarity, the way the artists are recorded and mixed...fantastic imaging, etc...

A lot of the recommendations exhibit these qualities for sure...

One of the things we also think of is the method of presentation.....methodical, deliberate presentations by the best in their fields.

This can be over a wide varied selection of music types...jazz, rock, pop, female, male and all the rest.

Just when I think there are no more really great cds to listen to you guys and gals come up with new ones!!

Hope all had a great Thanksgiving!!

All the best

Alex
aa

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #576 on:** 8 Dec 2009, 08:54 pm »

Peter Gabriel "Up" arrived today.
What's been said is very true, the recording is very high quality, and would make for a good demo disc. The bass is THERE. Very nice, ultra tactile. Super cool. Good "food" for a system that likes lower frequencies.
However, this is some truly weird music. I won't be listening to this while driving, and I won't be demoing it to people who aren't "audio" folks. If you play this for an unsuspecting, innocent person who has never been in your room, nor has been "subjected" to audiophile grade music, then you're going to earn yourself some unflattering looks form your guests.

I can hear it now....."What the Hell is THAT"?

Overall, worth the $9 I paid for it. No regrets.
Bob

TJC712 · « **Reply #577 on:** 9 Dec 2009, 12:37 am »

Just listened to Dave Brubeck's All The Things We Are CD... Great sound.

TJC712 · « **Reply #578 on:** 9 Dec 2009, 01:18 am »

If you appreciate the Coltrane/Hartman collaboration, you'll really enjoy Kurt Elling's live recording from Lincoln Center: Dedicated to You. Some great tunes, arrangements, vocals, strings, solos... buy it. You'll think you are there.

adydula · « **Reply #579 on:** 9 Dec 2009, 01:37 am »

Hey Bob!

Yes I did use the word "ecclectic" in my description and I have to say it can be a little wierd and off the main stream but its kind of neat...and yes its an audiophile cd for sure.

Its nothing like any of the jazz masters stuff etc..

I was really amazed at how well the SongTowers played the bass notes with this cd...I checked several times to make sure the sub-woofer was indeed OFF!!

Now what the "hell" is that ????

All the best
Alex

aa