What are you listening to RIGHT NOW?

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Some of you may know that I recently got "new to me" speakers for the surround sound system in the family room.   I have been enjoying them so much that I have tried when possible to listen to at least one surround mixed album a night after the kids are in bed.   Of course, the variety available in surround sound is paltry compared to the vast wealth of music available in other formats.   So occasionally you listen to something that you may not have otherwise.

This may come as a shock, but I've never listened to a Beck album before.   When he first came out, I was put off by the "Loser" video enough to keep me from really seeking out his work.   Most of his stuff doesn't seem to get airplay (that should have clued me in I suppose) and what did ("Two Turntables and a Microphone", anyone?) was fine but didn't sway me to change course with him.   So tonight I put in the DVD-Audio of "Sea Change" and sat in stunned silence as the beauty of "The Golden Age" swept over me.   How could I have missed this for 15 years?   Then "Paper Tiger" started and I smugly thought to myself "see, this is the kind of lo-fi crap I knew he must be making and I hate it".   Then the orchestrations came in.   All of the sudden it went from Jesus and Mary Chain to Elton John's great albums with Paul Buckmaster writing the charts.   The album never lost me again from that moment.   I felt like I had been transported to another plane.   To my shock, the only thing I could think of that the album recalled was the 70s pop-prog of bands like Supertramp or 10CC (high praise indeed).   All of the great melody of a pop song with all of the virtuosity of prog rock.   I'm still not blown away by his voice, but when the tracks are as wonderful as these, it can be overlooked.

To top it all off, the surround mix was brilliant.   Since I don't know the stereo mix to make a comparison, all I can say is that everything seemed right.   The stuff that should be grounded was, and the atmospheric stuff floated around in a most wonderful fashion.   This one will go right next to "Brothers in Arms" and "Gaucho" as demo material for the home theater.   It sounds that great.   Tonight's listening session was nothing short of glorious.

[schwarcw]

Nice write up on Sea Change.  The vinyl is fantastic as is the multi channel mix.  Now you have to try Morning Phase.  That won a Grammy as Album of the Year.  Some called it "Sea Change 2".  It sounds similar in some ways, yet very original.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I found a DVD-A of Guero "out there".   That'll be next, but I do plan to check that one out.   Anything that could move Yeesus to an apology must be pretty good.   That's one I've been meaning to seek out for a while now.   Too bad it didn't get a 5.1 Blu-Ray.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

The Brothers in Arms mix was so great that I was really looking forward to this one.   Huge disappointment.   It sounds like the stereo CD was run through Dolby Pro-Logic and mastered.   Don't bother.



I was mainly curious to hear Thomas Dolby's wonderful synth work on "Waiting for a Girl" and it didn't disappoint.   All of those fat synth patches all over the room.   That track was made for surround.   What surprised me was that I ended up enjoying much of the album.   It is an aggressive mix and everything sounds great.   I heard a lot of under the mix guitar effects that I never picked up on in the stereo.   Reading the credits I didn't recognize the surround mix engineer, but I did learn that it was Junior Walker who played that killer sax solo on "Urgent".   If you are a Foreigner fan you should probably hear this.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I busted this out tonight.   It was okay.   A bit of a letdown after how great Sea Change was.   I liked the baroque pop harmonies in "Girl".   With regards to the mix I was a bit disappointed that more wasn't happening in the LFE.   As hip-hop inspired as some of that music is, it could have at least given the sub a workout.   It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great.

[EmperorNorton]

Monk's Point from "Monk's Blues   Thelonious Monk  CS 9806

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

This may be a hard sell, but I really think that Sheryl Crow is an under-rated musician.   I know, it's hard to call someone who has sold over 50 million records under-rated, but when I hear conversations of influential musicians, I almost never hear her name, in spite of the fact that she is a great singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.   In the late 90s. nearly every woman on the radio sounded just like her.   That is a Beatle-esque feat.

Globe Sessions is my favorite album of hers.   Biting, sardonic and topical lyrics, great melodies and densely layered arrangements.   The latter attribute made this album well suited to a surround mix.   This isn't audiophile stuff.   Lots of compression and more than a little of the harsh distortion that was in vogue at the time, but it's all in service of the songs.   My only complaint is that none of her other albums ever got a surround mix.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Tonight I sampled some quad offerings.   The first was an official 3 SACD Sony Japan release of Santana Lotus.



Taken from the original quad tapes with seven (IIRC) previously unreleased tracks.   The performances are great but the mix disappointed me a little.   In particular I found the bass to be anemic.   Good clarity though, much better than the vinyl rips that circulated previously.

Then, I moved on to a fan made disc.   The Rolling Stones Brussels Affair is sourced from a "pre-FM" King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcast.   



I assume the source to be a matrixed vinyl rip of the records sent to the radio stations back in the day before satellite distribution.   As such, the quality was better than one might expect.   The archivist left the KBFH intro on the disc but none of the commercials or filler.   Just right into the tunes.   What a great show.   I often prefer the KBFH, Westwood One etc. shows to official ones as they tend to be less futzed with.   The notion of overdubbing a live album has always bothered me in spite of the fact that almost everyone does it.   This is a nice capture of my favorite Stones incarnation.   The full band is spread out over the two front channels, Mick Taylor is largely in the rear left and the horns are largely in the rear right (along with ambiance in the rears).   Great set list too.   Mostly stuff recorded in the Mick Taylor era.   If it only had included "Dead Flowers" it would be nearly perfect.

[Jim Pittsburgh]

good review!   Listen to that CD-4 album yet? lol  Has to be the worst demo album ever! 

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I don't have a quad vinyl set up yet.   Probably won't happen until one of the kids hits the bricks.   I have the hardware, just no place to put it.

[Mongojustpawn]

 The Kinks Great Lost Album, I've owned this LP since the 70's , bought new at NRM in Monroeville I think, can't remember ever listening to it the whole way through. I was more into Black Sabbath and similar ilk.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

The Kinks Great Lost Album, I've owned this LP since the 70's , bought new at NRM in Monroeville I think, can't remember ever listening to it the whole way through. I was more into Black Sabbath and similar ilk.

That album went OOP after Davies sued Reprise.   It was quite collectible before the last Kinks reissue campaign, which saw those tracks issued (properly) as bonus tracks for the various albums from which sessions they came.   Even with the tracks in print, a clean copy of that record will bring $20-$30.

[Mongojustpawn]

I believe it was a bargain bin pick, the corner is nipped off the cover

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Sounds right.   They were probably forced to liquidate all stock after the verdict.

[Mongojustpawn]

and now for something completely different, if I may rip off Monty Python, Stan Getz: Eloquence, cool jazz, IMO