Another vote for Punky’s Dilemna. Towards the end it’s almost as if it tries to escape from the fact that it’s a recording.
Sometimes the rhythms in Cecilia, also by Simon and Garfunkel can also break out into a weird hypnotic effect. But this could be dependent upon the version mastering and system dependent.
Similar thing for Marc Cohn’s Lost You in the Canyon.
These effects, when they happen are simply delicious and do more to help escape the feeling that you are listening to a mere recording than almost anything else.
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Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience is pretty awesome in everything really, space effects culminating on "Moon, Turn the Tides... Gently Gently Away". This will blow you away. Hendrix is a genius. 1968.
"Grantchester Meadows" and "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pic" on Ummagumma by Pink Floyd. 1969.
The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd is a sublime album in everything.
Alan Parson was the recording engineer on these Pink Floyd masterpieces.
No wonder he recorded his very own a few years later:
I Robot by The Alan Parsons Project is simply a masterpiece in everything. Surprisingly a certain Canadian reissue is a bit better than the UK original. |
The new mix of Revolution 9 on the 2018 Super Deluxe edition of The Beatles (White Album) is phantasmagoric. Like a series of disembodied tape loops floating around you in space like objects in a whirlpool, just out of reach.
I first heard this from my parents original vinyl pressing of it through a garbage BSR turntable > Sansui 5000A phono input > Dynaco floor sitting monitors in the corners of a 20-foot living room with inch thick brown shag carpeting. It was a muddy, confused mess! Today, on a hyper calibrated system it is a coherent, fantastic collage of sounds!
They really did a phenomenal job on it!
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Try Stevie Ray Vaugn - Tin Pan Alley for imaging. It's crazy wide!!! |
Grantchester Meadows - Ummagumma - Pink Floyd |
Peter Gabriel "Passion" 45rpm/half speed. Lot's of space! Ex SQ.
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I did have a short list of vinyl and digital sonic gems to add however I feel the need to bring more attention to a sonic blockbuster just recently released by Tonian Labs , a percussion recording titled Drums & Bells .
This recording has astonishing realistic dynamics and timbre which in my opinion will directly challenge Any past or present percussion recording done in any format offered ,....any so called HI-Res offering ,.any SACD ,.any Blue Ray from any lable and any vinyl recording done past or present by any recording engineer you choose ,.And the real surprise with Drums & Bells it’s entirely done in 44 /16 . The main stream press are strangly silent about this incredible run of the mill standard CD even Steve Hoffman’s site wouldn’t publish my comments on Tonian Labs , What’s going on ? ,.wink wink
Tony Massian the owner and recording engineer of Tonian Records has a collection of recording microphones valued at over 1/4 million dollars which some he modified to capture the realism of his recording of Drums & Bells ,
This would be the best 20 bucks you have ever spent on your system and of course the better the playback components the more realistic it sounds ,.
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Hello all, I did purchase a few of these and most likely will grab a couple more. One disc that I bought was Jean Michael Jarre Oxegene.... Quite frankly, I didn't care for it, but to those that do Like it, It reminded me very strongly of another album that I have .... Absolute Sound Hearts of Space. Any of you that like One, should like the other. |
The Grass Roots - Let's Live For Today - Not incredible but interesting panning with vocals |
I could only imagine..
I own a few 12" /454rpm single side EPs/?
One is Peter Gabriel, Jackson Browne, Shawn Colvin...
I know... Thanks!
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@slaw -
Supertramp "Brother,, Where You Bound".. (lp)
WOW!! Yep, that one's a winner. Absolutely EXCELLENT sound quality and my favorite Supertramp album by a good margin. There are other Supertramp albums I've enjoyed over the years, but none sounds as good, or is as consistently good across the entire record, as "Brother, Where You Bound". And it's without Roger Hodgson. Maybe that's why it's better, I don't know..... You should hear the 12" 45 of "Cannonball". It's really good. |
Supertramp "Brother,, Where You Bound".. (lp)
WOW!!
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Of Monsters and Men "Beneath the Skin" (lp)
This record has plenty of air and bloom, the music is at times intense while being reined in to a degree.
A good one to check out if not already.
Happy Listening!
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Any of the jazz fusion ECM recordings, or the CTI labels (I'm a vinyl player, you didn't say which format). The MSFL half-speed masters of both Pink Floyd 'wish you were here' and Alan Parsons 'I Robot' are stellar, I have about 20 of these MSFL Lp's and those two stand out. |
...And The Gods Made Love - Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
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I never thought of Oxygene as sonic spectacular, it is plain and simply my all-time fav electronics... But since it got mentioned, let me add another one by Mike Oldfield: "The Songs of a Distant Earth". Over-digitized but with some impressive sound effects! Must-have if you like Oxygene, Rendez-Vous, Zoolook. I forgive some cheeziness to the dude who made Tubular Bells. Correction: I forgive him anything!! |
Roger Waters: Amused to Death
Jean Michel Jarre Oxygen
Paul Simon – Graceland remastered
Illinoisw Jacquette - But a different album, I bought Best of Verve
Spyro Gyra – 20/20 again, bought Very Best of
Will most likely still purchase : Urban Jazz Coalition – Long Street
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@timlub
Which 5???
...and yes, helpful. Thanks. |
I want to thank everyone that chimed in on this, So far I have purchased 5 of these that I didn't already have. I hope it was helpful to others.
Tim |
Pink Floyd UMMAGUMMA Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict.
Mind blowing. |
@bdp24
Among it's credits for lp monitoring include:
ET 2 tonearm
Dynavector 17 D3
Both are some of my long time components. |
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Absolutely, slaw! Once Ry (my favorite living guitarist) heard his first Water Lily recording (which prompted him to ask "Why don't my albums sound this good?"), he was determined to be recorded by Kavi Alexander, the label’s owner and recording engineer. Kavi is imo the absolute best recording engineer working today, and perhaps in the entire history of recorded music. To add to his talents, he also has the best recording equipment in existence, all tubed; his microphone power supplies, mic pre-amps, and analogue recorder’s electronics (designed by Tim deParavicini of EAR-Yoshino). Water Lily LP’s are amongst the handful of best sounding recordings ever made, lacking only the last iota of head-snapping transient response (and resulting "immediacy") found in Direct-to-Disc LP’s. On the other hand, Water Lily recordings have the most true-to-life instrumental timbres I’ve ever heard, unmatched by any D2D LP I’ve heard. The Meeting By The River recording, by the way, earned Kavi a Grammy for engineering the year of it’s release. |
Prefab Sprout - Andromeda Heights - track 7 - between 2:30 and 2:50
you will hear tapping on one of the drums from well behind you and out on the right side, like from a non existent right rear surround speaker.
Apart from that little surprise - every second of the album is superb and sounding good. |
"A Meeting by the River" Ry Cooder/U M Bhatt
Water Lily Acoustics/ 45 rpm /lp
Wow! So natural!
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Talking Heads: "Papa Legba", especially the beginning. Circles completely around behind you several times.
Believe it or not, Madonna's "Lucky Star" was also a surprise. The keyboards are all over the place, then right next to your ears, it's as if you're wearing headphones if dialed in properly - enormous soundstage. (Get it on the "Snatch" film soundtrack if you don't want an entire CD of her material).
This thread is a keeper! Good stuff, kudos all around.
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Another vote for Andreas Vollenweider "White Winds" and "Caverna Magica." Main instrument is electro acoustic harp but also lots of synth, some percussion and effects. Well recorded, very good separation, and ambience if your system allows. WW has occasional use of triangle which I sometimes use to judge tonality, musicality, launch and decay. It should sound right. |
Michael Brook - "Albino Alligator" |
Check out the track "husks and shells" from volcano choir. If I want to listen to something to unwind and only have a few minutes I play that and in 4 minutes I'm transformed. |
The Singing Bowls of Tibet by Alain Presencer. The 3rd cut has a bowl that "loads" the room. Nothing like I've ever heard. Those who have heard it know what I mean. This is one of Arthur Salvatore's Supreme Recordings.
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For those into Game of Thrones there are lots of audio delights. The best one that I recall is I believe season 2 there is a scene with Arya in the woods and just as the quiet scene concludes a crow calls out very loudly. It starts at the far right way up, flies across the room in front of you and then exits about eye level on the left. This was through a two channel system using an Oppo 103D. This crow made me duck my head and I almost jumped out of the way. It was simply uncanny.
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Mono binaural recordings for headphones can be pretty amazing, some of them. |
QSound was an ambience processing technology that produced recordings with very dramatic sound staging/imaging. Roger Waters "Amused to Death" featured some good effects and Madonna's Greatest Hits Collection was even more dramatic. They did a bunch of others before going bust, so I'd hunt them down. The sound was highly variable (often bad) in all other ways, but - if you want imaging - this is your tech.
in more conventional ways, records like "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music" and "The Shaft Soundtrack" (title track) are also good examples - they're both potted to an inch of their lives, so images move around.
Yet a different variation of image processing can be found on Lindsey Buckingham's album "Under the Skin". On some tracks, he moves densely layered overdubs of his voice around the stage ("Show You How") to pretty dramatic effect. Nothing natural at all about this recording, tho. |
Delite - CD "World Clique" - sounds come from all over the room, even adjacent to one ear or the other, if your system is up to it.
+1 on Porcupine Tree, especially "In Absentia". |
+ for Amused To Death, especially the Blue-Ray version. Even better than the already good RB version. |
The first few seconds of Simple on Collective Soul's CD Collective Soul come in above my right ear.
+1 on 10cc |
+ for Andreas Vollenweider White Winds
Also try his
Behind the Gardens- Behind the Wall- Under the Tree |
Ha! Great post! Most have already noted my favorites. And all along I thought I was crazy......Happy New Year one and all! |
Moby Grape, intro to "Omaha"
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dweller,
Frank Zappa - “The Yellow Shark”
Wish someone would release it on vinyl. |
Frank Zappa - The Yellow Shark |
@tablejockey
Kudos on Vangelis and A Vollenweider ( I have lots of both )
A few of my faves are :
Yello - Touch
Yello - Toy
Yello - Zebra
Jon & Vangelis - Friends of Mr Cairo
Osama Kitajima - Beyond the Circle
Cyber Octave - In the Mix
Deep Forest - Music Detected
Andreas Vollenweider - Down to the Moon, White Wind, and Dancing with the Lion
Cirque du Soleil - Mystere ( non live )
Blue Man Group - Audio
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Simon and Garfunkel - Punky’s Dilema |
From my memory, "Crime of the Century" is very good.
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Off the top of my head when this topic arises as it has over the years the single recording that pops into my head for sound effects and multitracked vocals "I'm not in love" by 10 cc. I have a Japanese Shim recording on a sampler and it is quite remarkable. The history of the making of this recording is worth checking out. |
I play my analogue via surround sound
I was surprised to hear on Led Zep 2 Thank You, half way through, random talking out of middle surround right - something that stereo would never have picked out
Makes you wonder if this was by design or laziness and not noticed so left in
There is of course the Beatles theory with Led Zep, that lots are built in that are there for Led Zep's amusement |
@slaw +1!! RR of Symphonic Dances under Eiji Oue, both as HDCD or LP fills the whole house with Music!!! Thru my all-Naim stereo it makes me jump/sing/cry all at once! Truly supernatural recording...
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I was afraid this would happen, Just got off of Fleabay, I've already bought a couple of these, this could get expensive.
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Most tracks on "Welcome Oblivion" by How To Destroy Angels have layers and layers of sound to dig through. |
