Guys, From now until 5pm tomorrow, set aside the vinyl and tune in to 88.5FM or www.xpn.org(live stream) to hear the last day of their "Top 885 Songs of All Time Countdown. No where else can you hear segues like Yes-Close to the Edge into Judy Garland-Somewhere Over the Rainbow! Even if you choose not to listen, take a look at the list online, it is truly mind-boggling. Cheers, Spencer |
Mahler: Sym 6, Horenstein/StockholmPO, Nonesuch HB 73029 (yes, I'm a Jascha Horenstein fan, love his Mahler 3d on Unicorn/Nonesuch as well. And then there are his wonderful recordings of Panufnik!) Arturo Delmoni: "Songs my mother taught me" NorthStar DS0004 and John Marks Records JMR One (various works for violin and piano, performed with that limpid beauty of tone that Delmoni so characteristically delivers; dripping romanticism! Wonderfully recorded by the superb recording engineer David Hancock.) Mozart: Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Shumsky (vn), Balsam (pf), ASV ALH 950, 954, 964 (3 volumes), just pulled out random sides to play. Shumsky is hard to beat in these works. . |
Last night with some friends over: Schubert - String Quintet in A "The Trout", Vienna Octet/C.Curzon -pf, Decca SXL 2110 Speakers Corner (Just luscious, with incredible piano contribution by Curzon. One of the great performances and recordings of the Trout Quintet.) Cannonball Adderley - Know What I Mean, Riverside 9433 (45rpm) Analogue Productions reissue (Ridiculously GOOD!) Stravinsky - Firebird Ballet, Dorati, Mercury 45 rpm reissue from Classic Records (My all-time system reference LP) Kodaly - Hary Janos Suite, Kertesz/LSO, Decca SXL 6136 Speakers Corner (Marvelous music, performance and recording. This is out-of-print, so get it now if you want it while it's still available at a few retailers.) Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill Broonzy, Chess LP 1444 Speakers Corner - Outstanding! Ry Cooder - Chicken Skin Music Rickie Lee Jones - Rickie Lee Jones, WarnerBros BSK 3296 Isley and Bacharach: Here I am (ok-it's a cd) (after you left Spence; Dan always brings something unique and special!) |
Today/Tonight (so far): Respighi "Church Windows" (Reference Recordings RR-15 45rpm) Sonny Rollins "Way Out West" (Contemporary S7530) Mickey Hart/Airto "Dafos" (Reference Recordings RR-12 45rpm) Yes "The Yes album" (Atlantic SD 8283) Talking Heads "Stop Making Sense" (Sire 25186-1) I had forgotten how much fun this album is to listen to, and how well recorded it was. |
Playing Now: Stravinsky: “Firebird Ballet,” Stravinsky(cond), Columbia ML 5728 mono – Wow! This old mono LP sure has dynamic impact and clarity. Much better that the stereo “2-eye” copy of this same recording also in my collection. Too bad this copy has some inner groove wear. A classic interpretation of this work by its composer. Coming up: Prokofiev: “Romeo and Juliet, Highlights from the Ballet” Ansermet/L’OrchSuisseRom, London CS 6240 Vaughan Williams: “Sinfonia Antarctica” Previn/LSO, RCA LSC-3066 (Another superb recording by the great Decca recording engineer Kenneth Wilkinson; a great performance to contrast against the Boult/LonPhilO on EMI; may just have to play both performances back-to-back) Rachmaninov: “Etudes-Tableaux” with the incomparable John Ogdon, pf. EMI HQS 1329. . |
Tindersticks - Waiting for the Moon Everything But The Girl - Baby, the Stars Shine Bright David Gilmour - Self-titled Holst - Planets Mehta/LA Phil. (Speakers Corner/Decca) Respighi - Pines of Rome Reiner/CSO RCA orginal nice! Rach3 Janis Dorati/LSO Orig. Merc Living Presence Brahms Concerto #1 Munch/BSO RCA Red Seal dog All your Pink Floyd picks made me dig out David Gilmour. Forgot what a nice album that first solo LP is...Cheers, Spencer |
Pink Floyd: "Ummagumma" in an early EMI/Harvest pressing ("Gigi" cover). Some folks don't care for this album, imo its their loss. Early PF showing a lot of where they were headed over the next several years. Eric Bibb: "Good Stuff" Opus3 LP 19603 - 45rpm 2LPs - A nice bluesy mix, with good instrumentalists backing Bibb's vocal and guitar. Recorded "in the moment," no editing after the fact, no overdubbing, in a natural acoustic environment. All-analogue with minimal processing in that classic Opus3 style of great sonics. http://www.opus3records.com/lp_list.html http://www.redtrumpet.com/software/item.php?item=9936&sid=1075172361 Muddy Waters" "Sings Big Bill Broonzy", Chess LP-1444 Speakers Corner reissue. If you like the blues, Get This! http://www.redtrumpet.com/software/item.php?item=20635&sid=1075172361 . |
Playing now: Pink Floyd: "Wish You Were Here" - Mejames, thanks for the added encouragement... I can't believe how GOOD this early Columbia pressing sounds! I was expecting to find sonic mediocrity, but no way. This pressing sounds really good: clean, open, dynamic. Columbia PC 33453; Deadwax: AL 33453-1A (2A handwritten next to it). The Who: "Who's Next" Hmmm... also better sounding than I was expecting from this MCA label issue (MG7-12888-W3). Makes me wonder what a first pressing Decca pressing would sound like? Just goes to show that increasing the resolution of one's system does NOT make one's ancient well-played LPs sound worse: these never sounded better. Coming up: Suk, String Qt 2, Suk Qt, Supraphon 1111 3370 . |
Congratulations, Dlwask! The night should turn out well for listening. Around here, we're gravitating towards a chamber music evening, but "The Wall," "Who's Next" and "Night at the Opera" all stand beckoning in the wings. If the recently acquired copy of "Ummagumma" were cleaned, I know where I'd be heading. Hmmm..., maybe a short cleaning session is in order! Nope, significant other is headed to bed early so chamber music it will be. Coming up: Malcolm Arnold's "Fantasies" for various instruments, Hyperion series of LPs (great stuff; often lots of fun) Alwyn, String Quartets, Qt of London, Chandos ABRD 1063 (nice performance! but a digital LP with that nasty digital edge on the strings) Crumb, Sonata for Cello, Helmerson -vc, BIS LP65 Hindemith, Sonata for Cello, Helmerson -vc, BIS LP65 (Frans Helmerson is a marvelous cellist who is vastly underappreciated in the U.S. His recordings for BIS in the late '70s are uniformly superb: LP-5, 25, 26, 28, 35, 64. His recordings with BIS continue to date. www.cellist.nl/database/showcellist.asp?id=67) ...{"What? You're a classical music lover and you don't collect BIS recordings?!? ...For shame! You're missing some marvelous recordings.} Bach, Suites for solo cello, Mercury Speakers Corner reissue (just one or two at a time) Villa-Lobos, Various Pieces for Guitar, Mats Bergstrom -gui, Proprius PROP 9521 (one of those ocassional digital recordings that sound superb! two mikes and a DAT recorder, 1989.) That should make for a satisfying evening! . |
Hello Rushton,Yes the M.O.FI./Rounder recording of So Long So Wrong is really something to behold...Perhaps you can weigh in on this,and any one eles...I was blissfully ignorant on what was achieved with monolithic recordings...What a huge mistake.My mono L.P.collection needs to grow for me to purchase a mono cartridge,so I can experience these jems at their very best...Disregarding mono recordings because they are mono...You truly are missing out... |
Varese: "Offrandes/Octandre/Integrales/Ecuatorial," Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Arthur Weisberg (cond), Nonesuch 71269. (Another great recording from the Aubort/Nickrenz team. If you enjoy 20th century music with more "avant-garde" flair and you haven't explored the music of Edgar Varese, don't miss this LP as an opportunity! Also, don't overlook the many other outstanding LPs from the Nonesuch Contempary Music series of recordings. The soprano on the "Offrandes" is the superb Jan DeGaetani: anything she has recorded is well worth exploring, but her remarkable work with contemporay music is particularly compelling.) "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook," Verve MGV 4001/2, Speakers Corner reissue. Great work by Speakers Corner once again. Sonny Rollins: "Saxophone Colossus," Prestige P-7079 Analogue Productions reissue. . |
I got a recommendation yesterday from the owner of Diamond Groove... I was in his store picking up an order,we were talking music...Chad pulled out an album of Alison Krauss and Union Station ,So Long So Wrong and asked me if I have heard this...I knew of the group, I have not listened to them...The release is a two L.P.set from Mo.Fi.2-276 180g,Chad looked me dead in eye and said... you have to check this out...Number one...I really enjoy their music ,what a great band!...The recording...My GOD...I hope Mo.Fi.continue this [surpreme] quality.In the past they were hit and mis...more mis then hit...Check it out... |
1: Warren Zevon Asylum 7E-1060 2: Yes, Close to the Edge Atlantic SD-19133 3: Elton John, Captain Fantastic MCA 2142 MCA (734) 4: Joni Mitchell, Hejira Asylum 7E-1087 5: Stan Getz, Focus Verve VE-1-25-28 6: Eddie Harris, Electrifying EH 4MWB 4M106 7: Kingston Trio Capitol T-996 8: Frank Zappa, Apostrophe Discreet DSK-2289 9: Pink Floyd, WYWH (HSM) Columbia HBL-43453 |
Ray, glad you like Home Again; the a capella "Pretty Saro" cut is a particular favorite of mine on this LP. When I first heard this LP, I'd recently watched the film "Songcatcher" (a fictionalized account of the real work of collecting traditional songs in Appalachia in the early 1900's) which included a rendition of this song. When I heard Doc Watson sing Pretty Saro, his rendition really grabbed me. . |
Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 1, Talich Qt, Supraphon Shostakovich, Pf Quintet, Talich Qt, Supraphon Respighi, Ancient Airs & Dances, Suites 1-3, Marriner/LAChmO, EMI ... Delightful performances above! Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (I could become convinced this was his best album, if it weren't for the fact that I like so many others!) Ray, I see you got the Doc Watson. What do you think? . |
