Give me your top 20 vinyl records to have - Page 4

Distillers, isn't that Mrs. Homme's band?

Brody Dalle.

Mmmmm.....

Good to see Delius get recommended; his short works can be special. (Heartbreakingly beautiful.)

I have the re-mastered Beecham Conducts Delius 4 CD set (among others). It's kinda pricy (even more so considering that I never listen to the CD with singing) but, the strings are incredible and I especially like the Fennimore & Gerda and Irmelin pieces.

I take it that you think both the recording and performance of this Hickox CD are good? I might have to pick one up since it has a couple pieces that I'm lacking.

... sounds intriguing, recommended for the classical music-vein ignorant?

Yeah, I think short works can be good starters. Symphonies can be certainly be wonderful, but, most post-Baroque symphonies require a lot of time to experience. (You really need to listen to the whole thing in one, straight through, sitting and that kind of leisure time is hard to come by. Plus, even if you have time for a symphony, why use a whole hour to hear just one work one time when you're trying to learn what you like?) Plus, truly recognizing the extent of greatness in a symphony may actually require some knowledge. (Probably more than I have.)

That said, quickly; off the top of my head, I think I’d recommend some of the following to get your feet wet:

Bach – Brandenburg Concertos

Mozart – Any of his later Piano Concertos will really show you why some say that the difference between a good composer and a great composer can be heard in their slow movements. They also show how cool context is - While the slow movement may sound good by itself, its always way better when its been set up by the first movement. No. 21, the one that’s come to be known as the Elvira Madigan, is a good one but so are others.

Vaughn Williams – The Lark Ascending, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus" If it was the phrase “Heartbreakingly beautiful” that got your attention, well, here ya go! – I have the Neville Marriner / Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Iona Brown violin on Lark Ascending) CD. Performance wise its grrrrreat! The recording quality gets good reviews too but I think it could be better. It’s still THE one to get IMO because of Iona Brown’s “Lark”.

I could go on and on (And probably will later!) but a couple of quick tips:

• There’s a reason why the Baroque and Classical periods are so popular!
• If you can find reviews, pay particular attention to “recording quality”. You and I probably can't really tell who performs best (usually anyway) but, the recording quality can be obvious and bad recording quality can ruin your enjoyment.
• In Baroque, definitely give “authentic style”, “original instruments”, or whatever terms their using now, a shot. Gut strings may not be as smooth as steel strings but they can be just wonderful and more excitng. Some might tell you gut is too strident (and sometimes it can be) but IMO it’s the way to go in Baroque. – Actually, this will be easy because the “authentic style” has pretty much taken over. Reviews can be helpful in choosing which “authentic” groups to try.
  

Um, well... I think they are good and they are available. If you can get your hands on the Norman del Mar, and Bournemouth Sinfonietta version on Chandos, you'll have the best I've heard. The recording is supurb (sonority is key here) and the performances / interpretations are 'Heartbreakingly Beautiful'.

As for the Lark Ascending. Yes, I have Brown / ASMF both on original release vinyl and remastered CD. Great versions, but horribly mic'ed. Brown is barely audible in many parts. For a brilliantly recorded (and well played) version try the Zina Schiff - Israel Phil. digital recording. A pretty good Tallis Fantasia on that disc... but no Dives

shane

I agree with TheWind on the Brandenburg's as a great set of pieces for the Classical Noobie. Also correct on getting a version with original instruments and an academic interpretation. While I cut my Bach teeth on the N. Marriner version (as well as a horrible Von Karajan waste) I don't necessarily recommend it. Good choices include T. Pinnock & N. Harnoncourt. R. Eggar has been getting reviews, but some of what I've heard well, it's not what I like (#4 mvt. 3 is just wrong ).

Heck try Beethoven's 9th symphony - Solti conducting . (I recently got the Haitink SACD, and it's ok).

Biber, Schmeltzer, Rosenmuller, Telemann there is so much to go for and listen to, that a list would require another thread. Maybe you should start one.

Something that might rock your world could be Rite of Spring by Stravinsky. Parts of his Firebird Ballet (Complete orig.) are so achingly beautiful they bring tears to my eyes.

But I tend towards the Baroque or earlier in my day-day listening.

I gotta go. Enough ranting about this for now.

Cheers

shane

This is kind of funny now in hindsight, isn't it? Now that vinyl is outselling CD.

In fact, vinyl is even more relevant since the primary music source now is low-resolution digital download (or should I say "theft").

However, to be fair, that is comparing apples to oranges. MP3 is clearly an inferior source to analog vinyl. This would not be so true if music were served up on state-of-the-art hi-res DVD-Audio.

Anyway, mastering is another factor that makes this an apples to oranges comparison. Some of the finest current mastering and remastering is happening with vinyl. So often you don't really have a choice.

On to the good sounding vinyl. I would not go off looking specifically for Mobile Fidelity. There are many more high end mastering using master tapes, blah blah blah, that are as good or better.

DCC version of Queen Night at the Opera is very good. It was never recorded that great to begin with, but this is the best I've heard. I've read that the DVD-Audio is even better, but I haven't heard it.

Neil Young at Massey Hall is a very good acoustic recording.

Cowboy Junkies Trinity Session is very good, especially on the Classic 45 RPM.

So many of the Classic Records turn out to be good. I would start with those. Ella Fitzgerald - Let No Man Write My Epitath was on the other day.

Interesting to note is the loudness factor being built in to many digital recordings. In an attempt to catch listeners' attention, there's a trend to make recordings louder and louder. This is because when 2 songs are heard back to back, the one that's louder has a tendency to be preferred. This is OK from a S/N perspective, but with the "clean" sound of digital to begin with, this isn't really necessary. The end result is massive dynamic compression, ruining the impact of the sound. What makes music "loud" is the dynamic range - the differences between loud and soft. If it's all "loud", then it loses all impact. This was illustrated somewhere on the web to dramatic effect with Metallica's Death Magnetic album. The sound wave is a joke on CD - basically flatlined, which is pretty much how it sounds.

On vinyl, this problem is corrected. Not because of any inherent superiority of vinyl over CD, but simply because it was mastered better.

ill name off the first records that come to mind in which i seem to play over and over...

Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Muddy Waters - Folk Singer
Gomez - In Our Gun
Beatles - Abbey Road
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Willie Nelson - Stardust
Holst - The Planets
Chick Corea and Gary Burton in concert
BRUBECK/MULLIGAN/DESMOND
Jazz at the Pawnshop
Pink Floyd DSOTM
Pink Floyd Meddle

In no particular order: Some Girls/ The Rolling Stones. Abbey Road/ The Beatles. Shaft Soundtrack/ Isaac Hayes. Gaucho/ Steely Dan. Nextdoor Land/ Soft Boys. Give Em Enough Rope/ The Clash. Disintegration/ The Cure. Getz/Gilberto by Getz/Gilberto. Wave or Tide/ Antonio Carlos Jobim. Aftermath/ The Rolling Stones. Rubber Soul/ The Beatles. Way Out west/ Sonny Rollins. Smack Up/ Art Pepper. Armed Forces/ Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Cannonball's Bossa Nova/ Cannonball Adderley. Easy Does It/ Frank Sinatra. Superfly Soundtrack/ Curtis Mayfield. Electric Ladyland/ Jimi Hendrix Experience.

there is something wrong with you. This is meant for discussion of records, sharing of best pressings, amazing recordings. And you are constantly in the way of that.

Move on.

I recently purchased Aja from MoFi, and was not impressed. My 1979 original 180gm German pressing is better.

Moondance Van Morrison
Will the Circle Be Unbroken : Recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band w/an all star cast of country & bluegrass musicans and singers. The whole session was recorded on analog tape at 30IPS. The sound is incredible.
Coleman Hawkins:The Hawk Flies High.
Les McCann & Eddie Harris Swiss Movement:Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland.

Source?

(In no particular order)

1 Dead Boys~Young, Loud, And Snotty
2 Iron Maiden~Killers
3 Ramones~(self titled)
4 Ramones~Road To Ruin
5 Reatards~Teenage Hate
6 KISS~Dressed To Kill
7 KISS~Rock And Roll Over
8 David Bowie~Ziggy Stardust
9 Rocket From The Crypt~Scream, Dracula, Scream
10 Cheap Trick~Heaven Tonight
11 The Kinks~Give The People What They Want
12 Talking Heads~Little Creatures
13 Metallica~Ride The Lightning
14 Black Sabbath~Heaven And Hell
15 AC/DC~Powerage
16 Misfits~Walk Among Us
17 Oblivians~Popular Favorites
18 Aerosmith~Rocks
19 The Cramps~Songs The Lord Taught Us
20.The Germs~GI

Well these are the records that i would keep in a small collection:

1. The Dream Syndicate- Days of Wine and Roses
2. Velvet Underground- Velvet Underground and Nico
3. Rolling Stone- Some Girls
4. Jesus and Mary Chain- Psychocandy
5. Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited
6. Buffy Sainte-Marie- Moonshoot
7. Tommy James and The Shondells- 26 Greatest Hits
8. Neil Young- Decades
9. Beach Boys- Surfin' USA
10. T-REX- The Slider
11. Tom Petty- Damn the Torpedoes
12. The Dream Syndicate- Down There [EP]
13. Warren Zevon- Excitable Boy
14. MC5- Kick Out the Jams
15. Echo and the Bunnymen- Song to Learn & Sing
16. Donovan- Greatest Hits
17. Pavement- Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
18. Bay City Rollers- Dedication
19. Iggy and the Stooges- Raw Power
20. Jefferson Airplane- Surrealistic Pillow


also check out my band:

The Electric Healing Sound

facebook.com/theelectrichealingsound
ehsofficial.bandcamp.com

In no particular order and leaving out the bands listed in your first post, which would have most definitely made it on this list.
Kind of all over the place with genre, but this should cover a pretty broad range of needs:


The Lumineers - Lumineers : Roots revival band from Denver. Great, reverb-filled acoustic sound. Story telling lyrics
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues : Modern acoustic folk band. 2nd album, well produced
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Tender Prey : Excellent and creepy. Includes one of their biggest, "The Mercy Seat". Up Jumped the Devil is one of my favorite songs of all time
Bon Iver - Bon Iver : Hard to describe in short form. Eerily beautiful sound. Worth looking up
Muddy Waters - Folk Singer : Waters acoustic 3 piece studio session. My favorite blues recording
Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast : Can't say much about this, just the best metal album ever!
10 Years After - Space in Time : An often passed-over rock band from the early 70's. "I'd Love to Change the World" is a great song and should be in every collection
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine :Their first LP release and still Reznor's best. Biting and loud.
Nirvana - Bleach : The recent double LP is a great collection including early live performances
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures : Droning and depressing, in them moods sometimes, worth having around
Charlie Parker - Very Best of the Bird : Good mix of some of his high points, includes studio and live sets, double LP
Hank Williams III - Straight to Hell : Bringing back good ol' fashioned rebel country, just like his name-sake
Cake - Fashion Nugget : Alt/Rock masterpiece. Every song is memorable. Exceedingly clever songwriting.
Chuck Ragan - Covering Ground : Alt/Country hero. Former singer of punk band Hot Water Music, now a 3 piece doing heartfelt ramblin songs
Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man : Heavy on synth compared to his previous work, but that voice is perfect. "Everybody Knows", "I'm Your Man" and "Tower of Song" are standouts
Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours : No record collection can be called worth it's salt without this one. Exceptional concept album of loneliness.
Deep Sea Diver - History Speaks : Seattle Indy Rock act. No major label, but easy to find online.Grungy and Pop at once, NWO is the winner on this one.
Elvis Costello - My Aim is True : One of my favorite albums. Starts strong with "Welcome to the Working Week" and keeps the pace beautifully through punk-inspired blasters to ballad-y tracks like "Alison"
Huey Lewis and the News - Sports : Pop/Rock radio bait. Still great though. "I Want a New Drug" is just such a fun song.
Segovia - On Stage : Gifted classical guitarist live performance, expertly recorded.

Here you go...
1) The Roxy London WC2 – Various Bands
2) Wire – Pink Flag
3) Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
4) Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady
5) Germs – MIA
6) The Stogges - Raw Power
7) Destroy all Monsters – s/t
8) Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks
9) Stiff Little Fingers – Inflammable Material
10) X-Ray Spex – Germfree Adolescents
11) Generation X - s/t
12) The Dickies – Incredible shrinking Dickies
13) Screamers – Demos 1977
14) MC5 – High Time
15)Lou Reed – Rock N’ Roll Animal
16) Tubes – What do You want from Life
17) Bikini Kill - s/t
18) Pixes – Surfer Rosa
19) Black Sabbath – Paranoid
20) Gary Numan – Living Ornaments 79/80

I guess I can't resist adding some of my favorites:
1. The Cars - Candy-O
2. Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac (45)
3. Modern Jazz Quartet - Last Concert
4. Dave Brubeck - Time Out
5. The Eagles - Hotel California
6. Rolling Stones - Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)
7. John Coltrane - Blue Train
8. Crosby, Stills, Nash - First Album
9. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper
10. The Who - Who's Next

Have Bang & Olufson or (B&O). and we use it frequently. Lets open up your vinyl and give it a twirl.