What CD are you listening to right now?

[bigburner]

Robin Trower - "Something's About To Change" (2015)

This new album from Robin Trower is very nice in my opinion. If you want a Gary Moore-like assault then it’s not the album for you but if you appreciate mellow and tasteful guitar then it’s a winner. The tone on his Stratocaster is lovely. I had this CD on constant rotation all afternoon today while I was working at home and it never occurred to me to change it. I’m not sure I’d do the same at a party though. [What party is that Nigel? - Ed.]

Nigel.

[r100gs]

I'm a big Robin Trower fan. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

[Alaric]

Popped in a CD I burned. Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show were calling me this morning. If rock and roll was a marriage of the blues and country , these guys nailed it. Sylvia's Mother , Life Ain't Easy , Queen Of The Silver Dollar , In Love With A Beautiful Woman , etc.. I'm spending the day touring the 70s and my youth. They really were a great band. And so many good songs that never made the radio. Everybody's Making It Big But Me was a valid lament , IMO. And a fun song. Happy Sunday , folks.

[Ovation]

America--Homecoming in MCH SACD. Outstanding MCH mix and equally outstanding sound quality. A rare album I can listen to start to finish without even a slight urge to skip a song.

[JonMarsh]

A blast from the past... one of my favorite old pop albums, remastered version from Howard Jone's own web site in the UK... can't find it in the USA.



This is one of those unexplainable guilty pleasures that I just like to put on and crank up and pretend I'm having an 80's flashback... this version sounds great, too, especially "No one is to blame".

[JonMarsh]

What CD am I spiining now??. I'm spinning THIS ONE!. I am, and have always been a HUGE fan of vocal Jazz. The title to this album is right on the mark! It's full of rhythm and sumptuous percussion. Daria has a serious set of pipes to be sure. Samba, Brazilian, African and Cuba rhythms abound in this piece of work. All I can compare her to would be the musical sound of Carol Welsman, who I love as well.

For us audio snobs, all I can say is this is an Excellent recording in every sense of the word! Vocals are recorded nice, up front and center. Crank this CD up on your excellent audio system and I Guarantee results! There's nothing missing in this album. Lots of background singers, luscious bass and piles of wonderful percussion.

Honorable mention goes to the songs "Under the Moon" and "Feel the Rhythm" (Personal favorite!). This is an Album I typically will spin back to front with no desire to skip tracks (How many CD's can we say that about??!!)

Sounds interesting... will put it on my list to check out! :T

********************

June 25-2015

Oh, BTW, you SHOULD have MENTIONED that Alex Acuna played on this album...



Ordered yesterday evening...

[bigburner]

Don McGlashan - "Lucky Stars" (2015)

This is my favourite new album of 2015 so far.

Don McGlashan is an icon of Kiwi music. I went to see him and his band in concert 2 nights ago. Their first set was the whole "Lucky Stars" album. It was an outstanding concert.

Nigel.

[JonMarsh]

Well, UPS delivered, and now I've got this ripped and am "spinning" the tracks on my Mac Pro...

Well worth it!



From the SF Bay area, too!

[madmac]

Well, UPS delivered, and now I've got this ripped and am "spinning" the tracks on my Mac Pro...

Well worth it!



From the SF Bay area, too!

Good for you Jon !! I hope this album gives you as many hours of enjoyment as is does me !

[madmac]

Hi Jon,

I would also like to hear your impressions on how this CD sounds on your system please?

[JonMarsh]

Hi Jon,

I would also like to hear your impressions on how this CD sounds on your system please?

Quite good, it's not over produced, instruments are in good balance, and most are pretty dang natural sounding...

[JonMarsh]

OK, we need an update for August...



I'm a long time Al Di Meola fan; he and Eric Johnson are two of my most favorite guitarists of all time, along with Steve Morse.

It is a little creepy to me, how on this cover, he seems to be doing his best Robert Downey Jr. imitation... I hope that's not a reflection of parallel personal life tracks!

But today is about this new album, Elysium, which takes an interesting direction- no bass guitar, two drummers, and mixes acoustic guitar and electrics in an enchanting manner on a host of cuts in different styles. If you're an old school Al Di Meola fan, this album is FOR YOU!


Ok now, back to that tangent... Robert Downey Jr. ....

We all love Iron Man, of course, but what's really cool is his totally underground singing career....

He's pretty good, as we know, covering Sting songs in a few TV performances, but this one live WITH Sting is even better... (something tells me they must have some kind of thing going on... what's the current term for that? Bromance?)

[JonMarsh]

Good for you Jon !! I hope this album gives you as many hours of enjoyment as is does me !

Listening to this again today- it's something that makes a good first impression, then grows on me more and more with each listen....

[madmac]

Listening to this again today- it's something that makes a good first impression, then grows on me more and more with each listen....

I'm curious which song(s) is your favorite? Mine is "Feel the rhythm". The beat of this song confounds me as the bass guitar has this alternating tempo with the song. If I try tapping my fingers to this song, I can only do it quickly or I lose the rhythm to it. It's a heck of a fun song!

[JonMarsh]

Well, I've got this on my daily "work" playlist in VOX; I'd say "Feel the Rhythm" is one of the top ones, but surprisingly, I really like the treatment they came up with for "Sunshine of your Love"; and that's surprising, because I don't normally like a heavy rework of something I'm quite familiar with and used to play in High school (in our band). Frankly, this album is a keeper and frequent listener because the tracks are all of a high quality; it's not one or two hits surrounded by dross.

[madmac]

Well, I've got this on my daily "work" playlist in VOX; I'd say "Feel the Rhythm" is one of the top ones, but surprisingly, I really like the treatment they came up with for "Sunshine of your Love"; and that's surprising, because I don't normally like a heavy rework of something I'm quite familiar with and used to play in High school (in our band). Frankly, this album is a keeper and frequent listener because the tracks are all of a high quality; it's not one or two hits surrounded by dross.

Exactly!! This is definitely an album that you can spin cover to cover. She had a helluva' set of musicians and backup singers working with her don't cha' think!!???

[JonMarsh]

:yesnod:

yup!

From A to Z, starting with Alex Acuna... very well produced album, and great band of musicians. :T

[bigburner]

OMC - "How Bizarre" (1996)

OMC was a New Zealand group best known for their 1995 hit song "How Bizarre". OMC stands for Otara Millionaires Club which is a reference to Otara's status as one of the poorest suburbs of our largest city Auckland.

I have been listening to this album this week because author Simon Grigg has just released a new book called “How Bizarre” which recounts the rags-to-riches story of OMC and their charismatic but troubled lead singer Pauly Fuemana. Pauly, who is pictured on the cover below, died in 2010 aged 40.

Anyway… I had forgotten what a fun album it is. In fact I like it more now than I did in 1996. I was a bit of a music snob then and I thought the album was too parochial.

Nigel.

[eljr]

King Crimson
Starless and Bible Black

[Burke Strickland]

Adams: Harmonielehre, Short Ride in a Fast Machine (Hybrid SACD) Michael Tilson Thomas conducting San Francisco Symphony



From the SFS site:

Michael Tilson Thomas, who conducted the work during his first season as SFS Music Director in 1995 and multiple times since, said of the work, “When a new piece is premiered, it can make a stunning impression. But the real story of that piece is what emerges over time. When the SFS first performed Harmonielehre in the mid-80s it was a life changing moment for everybody who heard it. I heard it first on the recording and I was drawn into the piece in so many ways, its enormous power, but also its tenderness and depth of expression. And now, decades later, the piece still stands up."

This selection has dynamic power and system-testing bravura reminiscent of Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 7 (Antarctic Symphony), as well as quieter moments demonstrating the playback system's low level resolving prowess.

In addition to SFS's own site, this title is available from online vendors including Amazon and for paid download on HD Tracks in a choice of formats (AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, WAV), and purchase of the download also includes a pdf of the program notes and photo booklet included with the SACD.

Very highly recommended.

Burke

(PS -- I have no association with the online vendors selling this album except as a paying customer. Most places we live, you can't just walk into a store and buy it.)

[wkhanna]

Best Chet I have yet experienced, both audio quality & performance-wise.

a FLAC needle drop at 96k

[madmac]

Best Chet I have yet experienced, both audio quality & performance-wise.

a FLAC needle drop at 96k

NICE !! That's gotta' be good !!

[Ovation]

Kurt Rosenwinkel--Heartcore

Definitely on the more experimental side of jazz, but some great stuff.

[wkhanna]

Link

Looks interesting......enough so that I just ordered it.
thanks!

[Ovation]

Enjoy. He was also part of a young "all-star" jazz set with Joshua Redman (son of Dewey Redman), Brad Meldau, Larry Grenadier and Ali Jackson back in 2004. I was at the concert. A magical evening.

[wkhanna]

I have all of Joshua's stuff.:T

[JonMarsh]

I'm not listening to this CD... because I don't have it

But I do have the NAIM 24/192 FLAC download, and it's very, very good.




A CD version of this is also available from a number of sources, but needless to say, the 24/192 version is like listening to the master tape.

If you like latin flavored female jazz vocals, with a very accomplished bass player, this just might be your cup of tea.

[r100gs]

These guys just keep cranking out good stuff.

[bigburner]

The Velvet Underground - "The Velvet Underground" (1969)

It's been ages since I last listened to this and I had forgotten what a great album it is. That's a young Lou Reed second from the right.

Nigel.

[wkhanna]

There is some quintessential Hammond B3 work on this one.
But of more significant note for me is the last track (#11) The Bronx, which feature Lou Reed on vocals.

This was his last appearance in the recording studio, he passed a V short time after the session.

[Ovation]

Finally able to sneak in some classical music on the main rig--Mozart Violin sonatas, 1781 Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr on MCH SACD. Sadly at "background volume level" as I'm (supposed to be) reading a book for my minor field, which I'll get back to in a moment. Still a rare treat to listen to music with my best gear these days.

[madmac]

Jewel - Picking up the pieces

Picked this one up at my local library the other day. After listening to Jewel's other album "Spirit" and thoroughly enjoying it, I decided to give this one a listen. Nowadays, I tend to first listen to new stuff in the car. Don't know why but I guess the first thing I want to do in most cases is hear the songs while driving to decide up front if I like the material before spinning it on my good equipment.

The first thing that grabbed me about this album was the sound quality. This album is bar none one of the best recordings I've heard pressed to CD in a long time!! I couldn't believe how good it sounded in the car and immediately wanted to hear it on my home system. I had dreams about it being recorded in HDCD as her album "Spirit" was.......but alas that's not the case. However, It sounded utterly fabulous on my home system. Really fabulous actually!!

Now on to the material.

Now, Jewel is older now and has, I suppose 'come of age'. Most of the reviews on Amazon are good for this album proving that she has a legion of fans, but I myself cannot get my head around this album. It's full of angst and sadness.......hence the title "Picking up the pieces". This is probably due to her recent breakup with her husband (boyfriend). She screams, hollers......mumbles....and talks her way through parts of many of the songs. All of the songs are not very 'catchy' and I'm a big fan of rhythm and catchyness! Words and meaning are ok for me but musically, there HAS to be something to move me for me to buy into an album. There is nothing musically to chew on here with this album sadly. Too bad because the audio is SO DAMN GOOD !! :T

Honorable mention = "Nicotine love"

Audio = 9.5/ 10 stars (Fabulous recording!)
Content = 2/10 stars.......sorry !

[madmac]

Just a quick addition to this review. I dove into the notes inside the CD and this woman is hurting bad. She goes on to say in the notes:

"I am newly separated from my husband. Shocking. Would have lost the ranch on that bet"

"This is the best and worst time of my life. It is death. A tragedy. A sad a fiery end to a dream I desperately wanted. The loss of innocence for my son and god how this breaks my heart"

So there it is folks. There have been millions of songs written about the heartache of breakup's. There are a lot of words put to music in this album. It's just too bad that it fails musically for me.

[TEK]

Thanks Dan.
New artist for me, I'll skipping the "Picking up the pieces" and start out with "Spirit" instead to see what this is about.

[Srixon]

Jeffry P. Ross - My Pleasure

[madmac]

Hey TEK.......spin it in HDCD if you have the decoding ability !! The presentation is quite nice and the deep bass is palpable !

[wkhanna]

Brad Mehldau - 10 years solo

[Hdale85]

Lil' Dicky - Professional Rapper



Certainly not critical listening, but if any of you are interested in hip hop he's got a bit of a different style. A lot of his stuff is funny and meant jokingly and such. Quite good as well, although I know not the normal sort of thing posted here haha. I listen to all kinds of music though.

This guy started out on Youtube and I believe signed with Snoop Dog not long ago.

[wkhanna]

Andra Day

Cheers to the Fall




listened to this for the first time yesterday morning on the porch with my morning tea.

came across it by accident, it is in my library on my server, came on automatically as the Yo-Yo Ma i had spinning reached its end.

lucky for you guys , another critic summed it up better than i will using far fewer words than i ever would.......:

"Day's voice has "Eartha Kitt's unflappable confidence, Amy Winehouse's effortless grasp of classic jazz, Billie Holiday's access to raw emotion and Adele's range and pop sensibility."

nominated for a Grammy this year, rightfully so, imho...

[bigburner]

Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate (2016)

I was thrilled to see that this fine album was rated #2 in American Songwriter’s Top 50 Albums Of 2016.

Nigel.

[bigburner]

There is some quintessential Hammond B3 work on this one.
But of more significant note for me is the last track (#11) The Bronx, which feature Lou Reed on vocals.

This was his last appearance in the recording studio, he passed a V short time after the session.

Yes, a lovely album Bill.

If you have 18 minutes to spare I can thoroughly recommend this video recorded at NPR in 2011. Booker T is a lovely talented man and it really shows in this recording.

Are you sure that he's no longer with us?

Nigel.

[wkhanna]

i was referring to the passing of Lou Reed, who made his last studio appearance during the making of this album.

Booker T. is still with us.

[madmac]

Review of "Quiet Nights - Matt Dusk and Florence K

It's not often I would write a scathing review of an album but here goes............

Matt Dusk's voice just rubs me the wrong way! He sounds something like Frank Sinatra or Micheal Buble with a bad nasal infection or something like that. As soon as he starts singing, my eardrums are/get rubbed the wrong way. I really like Florence K's voice but the two of them together sound like a band saw cutting into cheap plywood (ok......that's a little rough but hey!!??) I SAID it was scathing right??!!

The performances on this album are 'phoned' in and the lyrics are obviously being read as they sing the songs. They are not 'feeling' the music. It's possible that they were not even together in the studio when they recorded this.......that's how 'phoned' in it sounds.

I've been spinning this in the car because I would not even be able to imagine how Matt's voice would destroy my eardrums on my main system. It just comes across as so fake!

Yet somehow, I find myself strangely listening to it.......I dunno why??!!! I really like Florence's voice and I can listen to her parts and try to ignore Matt's parts. The two of them together DON'T work at all in my opinion.

The cover of Hall and Oats "Kiss on my list" is the high point on this album solely for Florance K's performance of it and her voice.

4/10 stars for a telephoned performance.

[wkhanna]

i would not get within ten meters of that album based solely on the cheezey, campy looking cover....

apparently it is boding of its contents......:W

[madmac]

i would not get within ten meters of that album based solely on the cheezey, campy looking cover....

apparently it is boding of its contents......:W

To be safe Bill........don't even touch it with aaaaa........sing it with me..........."with aaaaaaa......thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!!!"

Seriously though.......I rented it for free from my local library so no financial hit there.