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Best music recordings you've ever heard?


UstadKhanAli

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Actually I was pretty impressed by the Bare Naked Ladies Stunt album. It had a certain clarity, depth and layering of sound that I haven't heard for a while (granted the album is from '98).

 

Then for a completely raw approach, Eva Cassidy's "Live at Blues Alley" is haunting and beautiful in it simpleness.

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As far as contemporary albums go it would easily be this -

 

Arve Henriksen - Cartography

 

Absolutely stunning production and quite a beautiful album too boot (even if it's not my usual listening fare) - was introduced to it by a dear friend. Wonderful stuff none the less and here's a little snippet for you to enjoy below.

 

 

This is equal parts haunting and mesmerisingly beautiful - please take the time to listen.

 

oFXQqt84mFw

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Actually I was pretty impressed by the Bare Naked Ladies Stunt album. It had a certain clarity, depth and layering of sound that I haven't heard for a while (granted the album is from '98).


Then for a completely raw approach, Eva Cassidy's "Live at Blues Alley" is haunting and beautiful in it simpleness.

 

 

Main engineer was Susan Rogers, previously engineering for Prince. She was one of my old customers back in the Prince days. She and I designed the 24 track system that Prince used for Purple Rain. I did the wiring and install of the system (in his rehearsal warehouse). Currently she is a professor and according to her, she earned her doctorate degree on the profits she was paid by Bare Naked Ladies.

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Recorded live in the studio by Bob Clearmountain. Clearmoutain, of course, is known for his mixing. But here, he produces and engineers as well. Christian McBride, Joe Sample and Steve Gadd along with Brooke singing and playing guitar. All live. I love this...

 

[video=youtube;U2Pt9jkQmms]

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I have a pretty decent, though aging, stereo. At the end of the vinyl era, I was buying a number of 'audiophile' recordings, a number of which are still among the best sounding recordings I own. I think it's due to the care that was taken, from the recording or transfer to the pressing, to ensure that the results were the best possible. That seems to be much less important these days, though there are exceptions.

 

My list -

 

Vinyl -

 

Telarc

Oscar Peterson (not sure which) you can hear the keys click on the sax, and the foot tapping/seat creaking at the piano.

Stravinsky - Firebird

Moussourgsky - Night on Bald Mountain/Pictures at an Exhibition

1812

 

Mobile Sound Fidelity Labs

Dark Side of the Moon (also on CD)

In the Court of the Crimson King (also on CD) - King Crimson

Days of Future Passed - Moody Blues (has an unmatched silky smoothness)

 

CD -

Jorma Kaukonen - Blue Country Heart (saw a pic of them sitting in a circle in the studio; great recording)

James Taylor - Hourglass (Grammy for engineering)

Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Toward Ecstacy

Stones - Bigger Bang - (much of it has an unfinished rawness like their early 60's work)

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Maybe not technically the "best" sounding record ever (there are dozens of albums that I think are recorded with superb audiophile quality and probably couldn't pick just one or two anyway), but I've always been enamored and mesmerized by the Cowboy Junkies' "Trinity Sessions" album which was recorded with a single microphone at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto.

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Everybody Digs Bill Evans. WAY ahead of its time in capturing Philly Jo Jone's drum kit. This is 1958, but check out the ambient miking. Way cool. Evans' piano in the forefront but not too dry and or in your face like some of those skewed Coltrane recordings (I dig your playing Mr. Coltrane but can you step back a couple feet?). Bass isn't lost in a cavern. Awesome recording. Orrin Keepnews producing...

 

[video=youtube;N3xeX3MqJew]

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It wasn't Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight that changed things to a more ambient style at the time... it was this. Masterminded by Steve Lillywhite. I love the different ambiences. The drums in a stone room. The guitars with some of that room but I think returned in mono then panned off from the close mike. The vocal from bone dry to slap, slap/double, beach boys chamber and everywhere in between. This brought a slew of new sounds that people still use today. Black Sea, 1980.

 

[video=youtube;g3MTBNGAsm8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3MTBNGAsm8&feature=related

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Best music recordings you've ever heard?



Debussy, Preludes Book I Images Book I, Claudio Arrau, Philips


Bruckner Symphony No. 7, Berliner Philharmoniker, RCA Victor Red Seal


Frederico Mompou, impresiones intimas, charmes, Ensayo label

 

 

I have quite a few old RCA Victor Red Seal LP's with classical music on them. I have to say all are quite nice to listen to. Had to be RCA's Bentleys of production.

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Everybody Digs Bill Evans.
WAY
ahead of its time in capturing Philly Jo Jone's drum kit. This is 1958, but check out the ambient miking. Way cool. Evans' piano in the forefront but not too dry and or in your face like some of those skewed Coltrane recordings (I dig your playing Mr. Coltrane but can you step back a couple feet?). Bass isn't lost in a cavern. Awesome recording. Orrin Keepnews producing...

 

 

Wow, that sounds good!!!

 

There's a lot of really great recordings that have been mentioned here, and I'm glad that they're not just limited to rock or pop too.

 

I listened to the Debussy recording that Rudy Einstein mentions, and I could tell that I really liked the recording even though I had a bad quality streaming audio representation of it.

 

A piano recording that I really like is George Winston's "Winter". I just loooove how the piano sounds like that, and was reminded of this recording when Hush mentioned Michael Hedge's "Breakfast In the Field", also on the same label, and a stunning recording of acoustic guitar.

 

And in a similar vein, there's a recording of Hamza El Din, mostly recording of an acoustic instrument called the oud on his album "Eclipse" that I think sounds amazing. The whole release sounds really fantastic.

 

Gubu mentions the Getz/Gilberto recordings of the 50s and 60s, and I'm really glad he did. I would have not thought of that off the top of my head, but now that he mentions it, he's right. Those recordings are truly amazing.

 

These and others I haven't mentioned specifically are fantastic choices in this thread!!

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Best sounding popular album of the past 20 years (to me) is Massive Attack's Mezzanine. In terms of having its own sound and atmosphere, you can put it right up against any of the zillion dollar cocaine-fueled megaproductions from the height of analog. It's 13 years old and still showing up in TV and movie soundtracks (I heard "Angel" on the pilot of Person of Interest this week).

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Best sounding popular album of the past 20 years (to me) is Massive Attack's Mezzanine. In terms of having its own sound and atmosphere, you can put it right up against any of the zillion dollar cocaine-fueled megaproductions from the height of analog. It's 13 years old and still showing up in TV and movie soundtracks (I heard "Angel" on the pilot of Person of Interest this week).

 

:cool:

 

That one does have a very 'deep' soundscape :thu:

 

Seeing as we're allowed to post electronic music, The Contino Sessions by Death in Vegas is a live album of some of their cuts including acoustic and electronic elements and also has a great sound and production.

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Paul Simon - Graceland

Buena Vista Social Club

Getz/Gilberto recordings from the 50's (60's?) - Awesome, considering the technology that they had at the time.

Buena Vista Si...considering the locale and conditions it was originally recorded by Ry Cooder and crew before being refined...yeah, great choice...:thu:

ps

Odessy and the Oracle/Zombies. on Vinyl...great original music, near flawless production...Great Album Cover Artwork...

Best of the best...anything that George Martin produced/engineered with the equally talented Fab Four by his side.

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