Great Recordings, Sonically Speaking - and Why.


I think many of us would accept that artists such as Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, and Dire Straits have consistently put out music that was at least originally recorded to a high technical standard. [I'm not too sure what the loudness wars may have done to subsequent reissues, but even so, the tone and timbre thankfully tends to remain intact.]

However there must be plenty of lesser known recordings out there that could be said to be of a high sonic standard.

One such recording that I like to put on in the background whilst I'm doing other things is a piano recording that features wonderfully lush timbre and some delightful tunes.

This one is The Disney Piano Collection by Hirohashi Makiko and to me it makes a lot of other piano recordings sound a little washed out.
cd318
Audio friends, I've got to wonder, reading the posts in this thread, if any listeners have purchased a record since about 1980! (And I'm 70).
There are countless fabulous recordings produced in the last few years alone, not to mention the '90s, '2000s. To mention just a few artists/labels I know of with consistent great sound who continue to record:

--Malia,
--Porcupine Tree
--Any recent ECM jazz release
--Hiatus Kayote
--The Robert Glasper Experiment
--The XX
--King Krule
--Cécile McLorin Salvant
--The Internet
--Stacey Kent
--Vanessa Hernandez
--The White Birch
--Joan Chamorro
--Xavier Davis
--Anna Maria Jopek
--Any Sono Luminus release
It's endless.

Good question.

Joe Jackson- Blaze of Glory, and most of his live releases
he captures a great sense of space in most of his releases- too often for it to be a fluke

Art Blakey and JM- Ugetsu
live date at Birdland you can hear the musicians interact and move around the stage

Pharoh Sanders- Thembi
title track only for great soundstage and a test of transient response

Miles Davis- 4 and More/ My Funny Valentine
really well captured live date of a band on fire  you are transported back to 1964 if listening through transparent equipment

B52s- self titled
don't laugh   this was recorded live in the studio and is just the basic band without embellishment   natural studio ambiance

Marshall Crenshaw- Field Day 
cleanly recorded power pop/rockabilly   you will get goosebumps listening to 'what time is it'



sumaato,
I am 68 and heard the name porcupine tree but never heard any of the music. The other's you have mentioned, never heard their names before!

ozzy
Pet Shop Boys - Please - LP 180 Gram Parlophone
Joe Jackson - night and Day- LP 180 Gram A & M Universal Music
Lee Ritenour - Six String Theory and Stolen Moments - CDs
Glen Miller - In The Digital Mood - CD ( Made in Japan )