I should preface by saying that I LOVE Motown.
My Soul playlist was numbering around 140 and has the big pop hits (Four Tops, Temptations, Supremes, etc.). However I have heard them all a million times and was looking for something fresh, to me.
I was watching Baby Driver the other night (which was better than I expected). The music was awesome. I love hearing old soul music that I don’t know. It was time to get on it. I bought an album on iTunes called The Soul of Detroit. Stupid cheap. Like $6.00 for 55 songs. Some of the sound quality isn’t great, but they are all circa 1959 to 1963. I don’t think 60 year old minor hits are ever going to sound great. I am loving the music though. Even with the famous bands, it is before they hit big. Pretty cool. Huge bang for the buck.
Ordered a few things from Amazon and added Soul Early Classics, a 3 CD set. I ripped it last night but haven’t listened to it yet. There will be some duplication with the big pop hits that I will have to clean up, but lots of new stuff and a pretty good price (about $15.00).
Now my Soul playlist will number about 250. Shuffle should now bring a nice mix of songs I know every word to and songs I have never heard before! This will be my “go-to” playlist, outside of new stuff, for a while.
Now off to check iTunes for new releases as it’s Friday.
This week has been finishing burn in/ break in of my new headphone rig (Schiit Yggdrasil, SPL Phonitor X, Norne Silverguard 3, Meze Empyrean) @Torq thank you for your help with this, dont think I could be happier with my setup. With the new rig has come the reference tracks to see how good everything is sounding.
ELO- Face the Music, Out of the Blue. I forgot how much i enjoy ELO and with the seperation betwen each instrument in the complex parts im hearing (maybe experiencing is a better word) aspects of these songs ive never heard before.
Muddy Waters- Folk Singer. Acoustic Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy… need i say more
Miles Davis- A kind of Blue. As always is a joy to listen to. The presentation of this though has been different than I’ve heard it. with everything sounding very authentic and life like. I dont recall hearing the reverb from Miles trumpet before, nor with as much warmth and detail as this time around.
Daft Punk- Random Access Memories. This is one of those albums that is fantastic for just listening but also one ive been listening to this week while gaming. Putting Qobuz on exclusive mode and running RAM while playing has been a ton of fun.
Pink Floyd- Money. This track has some of the best stereo seperation/ complex passages ive ever heard. Creates a very awe inspiring feeling.
The Wall- it may not be the most Hifi album to test new setups with but it is my tradition to listen to the wall in its entirety with all new setups. Had a brisket in the smoker with a glass of bourbon and a smile on my face. Cant say there were things in this I hadn’t heard before (I’ve listened to this album many many times in single sittings) but it was the best I’ve ever heard it.
It’s been a very fun week with the new system and have very much enjoyed hearing tracks I’ve always enjoyed with new detail/ presentation.
Starting to get more experienced in the new job, so I’ve been able to listen to a bit more music while working. I didn’t want to take my full setup to work: [Raspberry Pi transport + Allo DAC] -> Loxjie P20 -> HD6XX. I’m assembling an IEM chi-fi setup that’s easily replaceable in the event of loss or theft for the work setup. So far I have the TIN Audio T3’s but of course am on the lookout for an inexpensive small USB DAC/Amp (under $100). Looking hard at the Fiio E10k currently.
Anyways, I’ve been enjoying some Daft Punk quite a bit this past week. I don’t know how I didn’t get into this album until 2 years after it was released, but I’m hooked. It’s my favorite album from Daft Punk, and in my opinion an excellent recording on CD.
I just realized the post i thought i was replying to (below) was from Jan of ‘17 @prfallon69
“I have never been able to get into metal myself. Though perhaps I have never given it a real go. With regards to jazz I really like listening to it, though I am no expert. Heck, I know next to nothing about it only that I like to hear it.”’
I apologize as I’m sure my random blirb about metal here made zero sense.
I like the vinyl that I originally purchased, the 1972 Columbia. I have it on CD and they’ve clearly messed with it. Added brightness, but I’m not near the collection so I can’t say more.
The Discogs link above shows how many times it’s been released.
That’s a good point. I do have a few different versions of this album. I was comparing to the same album version I normally listen to.
I’ll have to see which version sounds the best though, thanks for the info!
As is - not particularly uncommonly - for me, I wound up buying up the entire (available, digital) discography for one of my favorite artists.
This last week was “Madonna”.
Somehow I had missed out on a number of her primary albums (I pretty much have it all on CD and vinyl, where issued), a couple of tours, and some remixes. In fact maybe HALF of her issued albums were absent from my collection …
Her latest studio album, “Madame X”, and the intro track “Medelín”, is … well … striking.
SR1a-explorees should definitely give it a spin. And if you have a Vérité, give it a second, back-to-back, spin … remarkable, on both fronts!
Robin of Sherwood was one of those very imaginative series I enjoyed in my childhood, incredible adaptation of the novel to the point I was disappointed with the book when read it.
Provably won’t have the same “effect” today, but you can listen to the beautiful soundtrack by Clannad.
Alex Rosson got us to listen to these yesterday and it’s mesmerizing. The guy worked on the soundtrack for Red Dead Redemption 2 as well fo you gamers out there.
“Firebird “ is actually my favorite Stravinsky’s work, but I know “Rite of Spring” is superior ( if that’s the right way to say it) , you should take a moment for that one too.
I think there is not orchestral composer in the last 80 years without being influenced in some way from Stravinsky.
I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but Madonna’s “Madame X” currently rates as my favorite album so far this year. Assuming, at least, that you listen to it as an album (that’s my normal mode of listening).
In addition to a rich tapestry of musical, lyrical, tonal and production adventure, amid subtle shifting of styles (even within a coherent, overarching idiom), and perhaps a bit more challenging in overall theme than much of her earlier work (“Rebel Heart” did sort of pave the way for some of this though …), there are some interesting low-level effects at work here. And the album as a whole is an intriguing, if subtle, narrative, and more of a treat because of it.
I was hooked by the end of track two … but it just gets more involved and intricate and compelling the further in you go.
It reminds me of the albums-as-a-considered-whole approach going back to pre-digital days, when the track-ordering involved a lot of thinking and structure and was a deliberate part of the whole experience vs. the more playlist/random-or-single-track listening modalities prevalent today.
Oh, and the 24/88.2 version is notably more dramatic than the 16/44.1 version … though even the Redbook version has better-than-typical production values (and a better dynamic range than any recent album of similar genre at 9 vs. the more common 4 or 5).
