Latest Music Archive: 03/21/03 - 08/02/03

BlackCat · « **Reply #60 on:** 16 Jun 2003, 02:59 pm »

As you guys probably know, I'm a BIG Roxy Music fan from way back. I had seen that their catalog of older stuff has been remastered, but hadn't seen any of the remastered CD's. Well, in San Francisco last week, I found them at Rasputin. I got copies of
For Your Pleasure
and
Country Life
They also had Stranded, but were missing the fabulous Sirens.
The remastered CD's have that little window over on the jewel case spindle side that says "Remastered" inside, the CD's themselves have stickers on them that say "Remake, Remodel, Remaster", a pun on an old Roxy song.

As for the CD's themselves, I noticed a better sound stage and much cleaner instruments and vocals. Considering For Your Pleasure was released in 1973, it is a considerable improvement. I even heard a sound effect in one of the songs I'd never heard before. I can highly recommend getting the Remastered Roxys, I'll be picking up Stranded and Sirens very soon.

mojoman · « **Reply #61 on:** 16 Jun 2003, 04:38 pm »

Jack Johnson - On and On - Competent followup to Brushfire Fairytales but not quite as good as his first release.

Hitsville, Vol 1 - The Motown Singles - Great 4 cd compilation of many of the Motown hits from the 60s and early 70s. Some really good music found here.

jcoat007 · « **Reply #62 on:** 16 Jun 2003, 08:29 pm »

Today at lunch I picked up "Hail To The Thief" from Radiohead as well as "Thickfreakness" from The Black Keys. Both on Vinyl.

I also picked up "How the West Was One" on DVD.

It was a pretty expensive lunch.

cyounkman · « **Reply #63 on:** 18 Jun 2003, 06:37 pm »

I am trying to pinch pennies, and have been visiting some of the many great used shops in our area.

Massive Attack: 100th Window: More of MA's great sound. Intricate soundscapes, layers everywhere

Messiaen: Catalogue d'oiseaux, Petites Esquisses d'oiseaux : Håkon Austbø : I don't claim to have taken the full measure of this set just yet. This is brilliant pianistic work by Messiaen, evocative in the tradition of 19th-century program pieces, but with an incredibly advanced sense of time and space not dependant on narrative. Austbø is an impressively fluent performer, and his perceptive, declamatory style renders these pieces unusually intelligible and fluid.

Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle : Boulex, Norman, Polgar : A powerful reading of a Bartok's somnolent, blood-stained work; Polgar and Norman both descend to the necessary dramatic depths of Bela Balazs's brooding libretto. Boulez exhorts Chicago to their considerable best.

cyounkman · « **Reply #64 on:** 18 Jun 2003, 07:28 pm »

Quote from: Tyson

Beethoven - Piano Concerto's 1-5 and the Triple Concerto
Performed by Leon Fleisher with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Szell.

I am a big fan of Fleischer's Brahms concertos with the same personnel. Fleischer is a great Brahms pedagogue as well as performer--he comes up to the Toronto Royal Conservatory several times a year for master classes. He teaches this repertoire with a confidence that must come only with experience.

Quote from: Tyson

Bach - Goldberg Variations. Performed by Ton Koopman on harpsichord. I'm still a fan of Bach on piano, but am warming to the harpsichord. I do have to say that they record the harpsichord pretty hot and pretty close, so drop the volume on your preamp a notch or 2.

Like most pianists, I grew up admiring the Goldbergs on the Steinway (particularly Gould). But the piece really speaks on a (well-played) harpsichord. To wit: I was lucky enough to get tickets to Pierre Hantaï's sold-out performance at the Tafelmusik venue near my home. The Trinity-St. Paul's Centre in Toronto is a gorgeous, reverberant acoustic, and our seats were nowhere near the instrument.

This is the way harpsichord should be recorded. As the overtones build up approaching the back of the hall, a sonorous, golden velvet replaces the scratchy burlap of the close-miked studio sound. (This is why I am so in favor of work from this period being recorded in a real venue--so much of it is liturgical, and as such the venue acoustic is implied.)

Quote from: Tyson

Ravel - Complete Solo Piano music. Performed by Angela Hewitt. I'll get to it when I'm done with the Beethoven

Let me know how it is. I don't know Hewitt's work (although I will tirelessly point out that she is Canadian, as my government requires) but I can recommend a brilliant performance of well- and lesser-known Ravel works by André Laplante. Revelatory playing. In the interest of full disclosure, he is a personal friend, so this is probably very improper. I also like Jean-Yves Thibaudet (who I don’t know—but I can tell you some stories!), who has a complete Ravel set.

jcoat007 · « **Reply #65 on:** 26 Jun 2003, 10:17 pm »

I just picked up:

Jack Johnson Brushfire Fairytales LP 180 Gram

Gene Harris Quartet The Gene Harris Trio Plus One LP 45 RPM

Pierre Boulez Mahler: Symphonie No. 3/ Anne Sophie von Otter, violin Hybrid Multichannel SACD

Charles Munch A Stereo Spectacular - Saint Saens: Symphony No.3 LP 200 Gram

Should arrive in about a week.

nathanm · « **Reply #66 on:** 27 Jun 2003, 03:58 am »

Can't even follow my own advice...I gave the RIAA some more dough.

Vinyl:
Cianide - Divide and Conquer -ehh, not bad, but I'd rather track down "A Descent Into Hell" Pretty cool album artwork on this one though, you can see brush strokes!

Entombed - Left Hand Path. Infamous Swedish death metal. This one's on white vinyl - pretty nifty. I got it mainly to see the rest of the Dan Seagrave artwork bigger than on my cassette.

Dekapitator - We Will Destroy....You Will Obey. Pretty cheesy stuff. Throwback old school deaththrash sound ala Kreator, Possessed, Venom etc. Pretty crappy artwork, but at least it isn't Photoshoppy.

CD
Usurper - Diabolis
Usurper - Twilight Dominion

Uyah - HEY! More old school death metal from Chicago. I would like to see these guys live sometime. I think these guys deserve a Mapleshade-style recording.

mojoman · « **Reply #67 on:** 27 Jun 2003, 01:43 pm »

I saw Ben Harper a couple of weeks ago and just picked up from half.com

Fight for Your Mind
Live From Mars
Burn to Shine
Welcome to the Cruel World

I guess you could say Ben's concert really impressed me.

cjr888 · « **Reply #68 on:** 27 Jun 2003, 03:25 pm »

Listening to...

Grandaddy, Sumday
Mogwai, Happy Songs for Happy People
Bob Marley and the Wailers, Live at the Roxy

Also saw Wilco at Central Park Summer Stage last night. Have no idea how they played in pants and long sleeves. The entire crowd was drenched in sweat from the lovely heat and humidity. Good show though.

JoshK · « **Reply #69 on:** 27 Jun 2003, 04:09 pm »

Latest...

Radiohead - HTTT
Pink Floyd - DSOTM SACD

Tyson · « **Reply #70 on:** 28 Jun 2003, 06:56 am »

Latest:
Complete Gershwin Songbook - Various artists
Tool - Undertow
Joni Mitchell - Blue
White Stripes - White Stripes
Massive Attack - 100th Window
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
Radiohead - OK Computer

cyounkman · « **Reply #71 on:** 2 Jul 2003, 10:37 pm »

Did I mention HTTT? - Good; quite good, I guess, but not nearly so much as the last two.

Debussy Etudes, Mitsuko Uchida: a fucking triumph.

mgalusha · « **Reply #72 on:** 2 Jul 2003, 10:57 pm »

Beethoven - Symphonies 5 & 7. Wiener Philharmoniker Conducted by Carlos Kleiber.

DG recently released this on SACD in both stereo and multi channel. Don't know how the multi channel is but the stereo mix is very nice indeed.

SWG255 · « **Reply #73 on:** 6 Jul 2003, 02:20 am »

Greetings:

I just joined Audio Circle and thought the best way to introduce myself would be to list the latest recordings i've picked up. It's a strange collection, purchased mostly when i got carried away by the recent Sony SACD sale at Elusive Disc. So, the SACDs first:
Terrence Blanchard, Let's Get Lost; Bernstein Conducts Bernstein (I'm always a sucker for West Side Story instrumental presentations); Monk/Straight, No Chaser; Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um; Indigo Girls, Become you; James Taylor, J.T. and October Road; John Denver, Best of... Live (haven't had any of his music in my collection since I gave up vinyl); Willie Nelson, Stardust (I remember the old DCM (I think) LP sounding much better than the "standard" LP); Tony Bennet & K.D. Lang, A Wonderful World (my Mom suggested this, so why not the SACD version?); Jorma Kaukonen, Blue Country Heart; Keb Mo, The Door; Bernard hermann, The Film Scores (I wish I still had the old 7.5 ips reel-to-reel pre-recorded soundtrack to Psycho); and finally a non-Sony, the new haven Brass Quintet, Volume 4 on Red Rose Music, purchased as a curiousity and because i remember being fond of some of Mark Levenson's LPs in the late 70's.

I've also purchased some CDs, Suzanne Vega's Retrospective, because I just caught her live show and was reminded of how much I've enjoyed her music over the years; The Pink martini CD, based on the NPR Morning Edition story and a "Record of the year" mention in Stereophile; and the Fleetwood Mac "Best of" release on Rhino.

Of these, the ones I like best are the ones I bought on a whim, the Jorma Kaukonen, the Terrence Blanchard and the Willie nelson. I haven't listened to the Monk and Mingus discs yet, but i don't expect to be surprised about them either.

I'm looking forward to music discussions here, both for performance and sound quality.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #74 on:** 6 Jul 2003, 05:16 am »

Mingus-" Ah Um", great piece of music !

Reminds me to dig that out for a replay-its been a while.

jqp · « **Reply #75 on:** 9 Jul 2003, 05:10 am »

penultimate purchase -

Norman Blake Flower from the Fields od Alabama

purchased tonight -

Steely Dan Everything Must Go and The Royal Scam (remastered)

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #76 on:** 9 Jul 2003, 11:28 am »

we's got us some book learnin' ain't we???

Brad V · « **Reply #77 on:** 15 Jul 2003, 08:32 pm »

Hi,

Here's my latest find, at today's trip to a thrift store. All of the following are in Near Mint condition and there are tons more Rock albums left.
Phil Collins – Hello I Must Be Going
Dire Straits – Communique
Dire Straits – Extended Dance”EP”lay
Earth, Wind & Fire – All’n All
Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive
Genesis – A Trick of the Tail
Hall & Oates – Along the Red Ledge
Jethro Tull – War Child
Jethro Tull - The Best of Jethro Tull – M.U.
Jethro Tull – The Best of Jethro Tull Vol II Repeat
Jethro Tull – Minstrel in the Gallery
Jethro Tull – A Passion Play
Jethro Tull – Storm Watch
Jethro Tull – Too Old to Rock’N Roll Too Young To Die!
Journey – Evolution
Journey - Departure
Queen – The Game
Queen - Jazz
Steely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill
James Taylor
Yes – 90125
Yes – The Yes Album

Have a great day,

Brad

jcoat007 · « **Reply #78 on:** 16 Jul 2003, 01:46 am »

The wife is out of town. I just picked up the following today, all on CD:

AC/DC - Back in Black (Remastered)
Bad Co - Bad Co
Evanescence - Fallen
Jack Johnson - On and On
Placebo - Sleeping with Ghosts
Audioslave - Audioslave
Electric Six - Fire

And for a totally different mood I picked up:
Diana Krall - All For You
Diana Krall - Live In Paris

I already had the Audioslave on vinyl, but I get feedback when I turn up the wick on my vinyl rig. I just played the whole thing on CD at some pretty extreme levels and I have to say that I am quit happy my wife (and kids) are out of town.

Anyone catch Radiohead on HBO last night? Free concert which is now saved on my TIVO.

Tyson · « **Reply #79 on:** 16 Jul 2003, 02:22 am »

Got on CD from the Complete Beethoven Edition from Deutsche Gramophon:

The complete symphonies (5 cd's) conducted by Herbert von Karajan

I'm happy I got this set, as it's one of the "must have" sets, but honestly I still prefer Gardiner and his period instruments and greater precision. The more I hear Karajan, the less I revere his work

The Complete Violin Sonata's performed by Kremer and Argerich (4 cd's)

Interesting stuff, especially Argerich's part. Unfortunately Kremer makes one more aware of his technique and show-off approach, distracting from the musical message. I prefer Ashkenazy and Perlman

The Complete Piano Sonata's performed by Wilhlem Kempff (10 cd's)

THE great beethoven Cycle of the previous generation. Warm, lyrical playing, really good stuff!