Gary's Eclectic Taste in Music

es347

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Gary

I'm stunned that I actually have some Infected Mushroom in my library. Whenever I want to demo deep bass to where my house shakes, I use several of their tracks

Steve...you probably need to dehumidify.. :)
 

garylkoh

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A couple of days before the California Audio Show, my sister Carolyn came up to me and said, "Remember Ritchie Blackmore?" Of course! How could I forget Deep Purple's lead guitarist? She thrust an album in my hands and I put it on my turntable.

After I got over the fact that it was folk music, I really enjoyed. Good music and very well recorded. I enjoyed it so much that I brought it to the show and used it as one of my demo albums. I can't call it my latest find - it's my sister's.

Blackmore's Night.jpg
 

Andre Marc

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A couple of days before the California Audio Show, my sister Carolyn came up to me and said, "Remember Ritchie Blackmore?" Of course! How could I forget Deep Purple's lead guitarist? She thrust an album in my hands and I put it on my turntable.

After I got over the fact that it was folk music, I really enjoyed. Good music and very well recorded. I enjoyed it so much that I brought it to the show and used it as one of my demo albums. I can't call it my latest find - it's my sister's.

View attachment 17050

Blackmore is a God.
 

garylkoh

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Contrary to generally-accepted audiophile leanings, I love electronic music. Reviewers, fans and friends know that I frequently demo EDM (electronic dance music) at shows and demos.

Unfortunately, a lot of EDM is lame with the same musical themes repeated over and over, or badly recorded, or just tacky and embarrassing. However, there are some sublime artists out there. There is electronic music I could easily associate with a classical symphony.

Aphex Twin (Richard David James) I regard as one of the best. His music has influenced probably every genre of electronica since he rose to prominence in the early 90's. His first album, Selected Ambient Works '85-92, was called the best album of the 1990's by British youth culture and music magazine FACT. He has been called "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music" by English newspaper The Guardian.

For the past 13 years, James was secluded in the Twilight Zone with a massive amount of of electronic gear. And out of this solitude, disconnected from the hyper-connected modern world he composes what The Washington Post calls a "masterpiece – the kind that get made in seclusion, painstakingly and obsessively".

The new album, Syro, was released today Sept 23, and I have to say that it is *bleep*ing brilliant. Rumours of the album started leaking out in August, and I've been waiting for this with great impatience. A vinyl copy of his last album, Drukqs now regularly sells at over $200 in good condition (not that I would ever sell my copy). I am on the ballot for a copy of the Limited Edition vinyl, but with only 200 copies available, I don't think that I will be so lucky.

Get this! Even if you hate electronic music and only listen to classical, here is inventive genius that transcend genre. In addition to vinyl and CD, it has also been released as a 24-bit WAV file. The vinyl is as clean as the proverbial whistle, and to my ears anyway, is the format to get.

Syro.jpg
 

Ronm1

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I have a couple of the Nights albums
He plays finger style very well. Plus the lady has a fine voice and is a fox.
 

Ronm1

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It is interesting to hear him do these madrigals. Who would have thunk it?
 

garylkoh

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If you like guitar music, get this!! While it is not "reference quality" for an audiophile, for a music lover, this 4 LP set represents some of the best guitar players recorded. Even if you are not a lover of guitar music, get this - and be introduced to some of the best performances ever.

Eric Clapton founded the Crossroads Centre, a drug and alcohol treatment centre located on the island of Antigua after his own rehabilitation from drug and alcohol abuse. Started in 1998, it was almost completely bankrolled by Clapton - his lifetime commitment to help others the way he was helped himself to get over his addiction. He famously sold off his art collection, and even his guitar collection to keep it going. The centre was a commitment towards his own sobriety.

The Crossroads Guitar Festival was started by Clapton to help fund the rehabilitation center. The festival showcases some of the very best guitarists hand-picked by Clapton himself. The first was held in 2004 and every three years. The latest was held in NY Madison Square Garden in 2013. It was the first held indoors, and the first to be released on vinyl.

Even with mastering by Bob Ludwig of Gateway Mastering, and the vinyl cut by Chris Bellman of Bernie Grundman Mastering, I don't think the sound, recorded live, is particularly special. However, as with recordings of the previous three festivals, the music and performance is exemplary of heartfelt, soulful guitar playing.

Where else could you get one album with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Earl Klugh, John Mayer, The Allman Brothers Band, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', Los Lobos, Jeff Beck AND MORE all together? Where else will you find Keith Urban playing together with John Mayer? Or Taj Mahal jammin' with Keb' Mo'? Or The Allman Brothers joining forces with The Derek Trucks band?

Definitely a must-buy for any music lover. If you're not yet a fan of guitar music, this may make you one. While you are at it, get all the DVDs and make it a weekend's viewing!!

Crossroads 2013.jpg
 

edorr

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If you like guitar music, get this!! While it is not "reference quality" for an audiophile, for a music lover, this 4 LP set represents some of the best guitar players recorded. Even if you are not a lover of guitar music, get this - and be introduced to some of the best performances ever.

Eric Clapton founded the Crossroads Centre, a drug and alcohol treatment centre located on the island of Antigua after his own rehabilitation from drug and alcohol abuse. Started in 1998, it was almost completely bankrolled by Clapton - his lifetime commitment to help others the way he was helped himself to get over his addiction. He famously sold off his art collection, and even his guitar collection to keep it going. The centre was a commitment towards his own sobriety.

The Crossroads Guitar Festival was started by Clapton to help fund the rehabilitation center. The festival showcases some of the very best guitarists hand-picked by Clapton himself. The first was held in 2004 and every three years. The latest was held in NY Madison Square Garden in 2013. It was the first held indoors, and the first to be released on vinyl.

Even with mastering by Bob Ludwig of Gateway Mastering, and the vinyl cut by Chris Bellman of Bernie Grundman Mastering, I don't think the sound, recorded live, is particularly special. However, as with recordings of the previous three festivals, the music and performance is exemplary of heartfelt, soulful guitar playing.

Where else could you get one album with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Earl Klugh, John Mayer, The Allman Brothers Band, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', Los Lobos, Jeff Beck AND MORE all together? Where else will you find Keith Urban playing together with John Mayer? Or Taj Mahal jammin' with Keb' Mo'? Or The Allman Brothers joining forces with The Derek Trucks band?

Definitely a must-buy for any music lover. If you're not yet a fan of guitar music, this may make you one. While you are at it, get all the DVDs and make it a weekend's viewing!!

Gary, conspicuously missing from the lineup is SRV, due to premature death. To fall in love with the guitar and urban blues I would recommend Stevie Ray Vaughan "Live in Montreux (in particular 1985 concert), available on CD and DVD, but not on vinyl I believe. This dude outplayed every single guitarists appearing at the crossroads festival - including saint Eric himself.

http://www.amazon.com/Stevie-Ray-Vaughan-Double-Trouble/dp/B0002SPPSC
 

garylkoh

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Yes - agreed. SEV died prematurely. I should have said best living guitarists...... The Live in Montreux DVD is another fabulous display of guitar exponentry :)

Carlos Santana is also missing, but the line-up is always Eric Clapton's choice.
 

edorr

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Yes - agreed. SEV died prematurely. I should have said best living guitarists...... The Live in Montreux DVD is another fabulous display of guitar exponentry :)

Carlos Santana is also missing, but the line-up is always Eric Clapton's choice.

Santana played on one of the earlier crossroads festivals. I noticed Clapton could not quite keep up did not blend in well on his guest appearance on the Santana set.
 

Johnny Vinyl

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I have too much EC on vinyl already, including some boxsets, so I'll pass on this. I am however waiting for a pricedrop on the Blu-ray version.
 

edorr

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I have too much EC on vinyl already, including some boxsets, so I'll pass on this. I am however waiting for a pricedrop on the Blu-ray version.

Hang on a second. You own solid 5 figures (if not 6) worth of audio gear, the crossroads Blu Ray retails for $22 on amazon, and you are waiting for it's price to drop? What am I missing?
 

Johnny Vinyl

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Hang on a second. You own solid 5 figures (if not 6) worth of audio gear, the crossroads Blu Ray retails for $22 on amazon, and you are waiting for it's price to drop? What am I missing?

It's a principle..I won't pay more than $20 for a Blu-ray. It'll come down...it always does.
 

garylkoh

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Toots Theilemans is known as a harmonica player, and session musician on a great many albums. However, he got his break from a single he recorded in the 1950's. It was so popular and got so much airplay on the radio that radio stations, DJs and the record-buying public clamoured for a whole album. But he didn't have a whole album. In that first single, Bluesette, Toots whistled and played the guitar..... at the same time.

This was one of the most enjoyable albums I played. Being stuck in the room all the time, you've got to play music that you can listen to over and over again. This was one album that I frequently flipped over and played the other side too. Like in real life, the whistle can be piercing. Shocking if you are not prepared for it.

Toots.jpg
 

garylkoh

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So, here's this story of two songwriters/singers who were both really burned out with solo careers and writing songs for other people, and singing pop songs and advertising jingles. They were set up on a blind-date by their publishers for a songwriting camp to come up with radio singles for a band which at the time didn't have a name.

Two reluctant, burned-out artists, but at the camp, they clicked. Said John Paul White, "When we started singing together, there was this weird click; it was like there was a dance going where I knew I could lead her but she could lead me, too." And Joy Williams, "In Nashville, it's not uncommon to harmonise with someone but what was strange was that when he started singing it was like I knew where he was going to go before he went there....... meeting John Paul brought this weird feeling of falling in love with music again."

Less than a year later, the band The Civil Wars was formed and performed in Nashville at the French Quarter Cafe, April 7, 2009. Their second live show, April 8 at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia was recorded and released on their website as a free download. The Civil Wars have an energy and chemistry in their live shows that is amazing to watch (check out their YouTube videos) and to listen to. I think that their best albums are "Live at Eddie's Attic" (musically, but sonically there is much wanting) and "Unplugged on VH1" (recorded early 2012 - very much better sonically).

They really took off when their song Poison and Wine was used in its entirety on an episode of Grey's Anatomy in 2009. That exposed them to millions of fans - including Taylor Swift who tweeted announcing that she was setting her needle back on their vinyl record over and over since there’s no repeat button on a record player. And then Adele blogged that they were "by far the BEST live band I have EVER seen".

Their first studio album, Barton Hallow in 2011 won critical acclaim and the Grammy for Best Folk Album. Between their formation in 2009 and their unfortunate break-up in 2014, The Civil Wars won four Grammys!

I think that their live albums are better, and the ones to get though. However, both of these albums are only available on vinyl or mp3. No CD or high-rez downloads.

Civil Wars Unplugged.jpg
Civil Wars Eddie's Attic.jpg
 

garylkoh

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Hands of Silver

Ricardo Ballardo (1921-2014) was one of the world's greatest flamenco guitarists, but no one knows him by that name. He is "Manitas de Plata" - "Hands of Silver". Listening to his playing, sometimes you wonder how two hands and ten fingers could evoke such a maelstrom of sound.

Manitas is a Spanish Gypsy with no formal music training - he has played the guitar since childhood and by sheer absorbtion lives in his music as fish live in the sea. Living in the South of France, he had rejected all recording offers fearing that he would be cheated until this album - by the President of the Connoisseur Society, who was also the musical director of the recording. They wanted to bring Manitas to their studios in New York, but instead ended up shipping three-quarters of a ton of recording equipment to Arles in France..

To allow the engineers and musicians to get acquainted, several evenings of Flamenco music was organized in home-based informal settings. The actual recording was done in a medieval chapel with acoustics about as perfect as one could wish. The session began at 8pm one evening, and lasted until 4am. As the Flamenco is such a spontaneous and improvised artform, the recording engineers invited Gypsies and friends of the performer.

Even though there was enough material from the first session, Manitas himself suggested that he had more to offer, and a second shorter session was conducted the next night. This ended with an unforgettable saeta - it was the last thing recorded because the saeta is so emotionally demanding that after a singer puts his entire heart and soul into it, he is incapable of singing anything else the same night.

The result is this fantastic, fabulous 3 LP boxset, 1965. If you can find it, make sure the boxset comes with its included booklet - it's a fascinating read.

The performances were recorded on 1/2-inch, 2 track at 30ips on Ampex 350-2. Mics were Sony C-37A. The album was recorded entirely in one "take".

Flamenco Guitar.jpg
 

amirm

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So, here's this story of two songwriters/singers who were both really burned out with solo careers and writing songs for other people, and singing pop songs and advertising jingles. They were set up on a blind-date by their publishers for a songwriting camp to come up with radio singles for a band which at the time didn't have a name.

Two reluctant, burned-out artists, but at the camp, they clicked. Said John Paul White, "When we started singing together, there was this weird click; it was like there was a dance going where I knew I could lead her but she could lead me, too." And Joy Williams, "In Nashville, it's not uncommon to harmonise with someone but what was strange was that when he started singing it was like I knew where he was going to go before he went there....... meeting John Paul brought this weird feeling of falling in love with music again."

Less than a year later, the band The Civil Wars was formed and performed in Nashville at the French Quarter Cafe, April 7, 2009. Their second live show, April 8 at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia was recorded and released on their website as a free download. The Civil Wars have an energy and chemistry in their live shows that is amazing to watch (check out their YouTube videos) and to listen to. I think that their best albums are "Live at Eddie's Attic" (musically, but sonically there is much wanting) and "Unplugged on VH1" (recorded early 2012 - very much better sonically).

They really took off when their song Poison and Wine was used in its entirety on an episode of Grey's Anatomy in 2009. That exposed them to millions of fans - including Taylor Swift who tweeted announcing that she was setting her needle back on their vinyl record over and over since there’s no repeat button on a record player. And then Adele blogged that they were "by far the BEST live band I have EVER seen".

Their first studio album, Barton Hallow in 2011 won critical acclaim and the Grammy for Best Folk Album. Between their formation in 2009 and their unfortunate break-up in 2014, The Civil Wars won four Grammys!

I think that their live albums are better, and the ones to get though. However, both of these albums are only available on vinyl or mp3. No CD or high-rez downloads.

View attachment 21445
View attachment 21446
As you know Gary, this band is no longer. But fortunately Joy Williams is recording again and the latest album of hers that I picked up from HD Tracks is wonderful: http://www.hdtracks.com/music/artist/view/id/8057/

And unlike Civil Wars CDs, actually sounds pretty good. The bass is solid and the recording is done by a professional than whoever's cousin they got for the Civil Wars live albums :).
 

Hi-FiGuy

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Allen Toussaint was born in New Orleans, the Birthplace of Jazz, but is better known as a rhythm & blues, rock and soul musician. He wrote a roll of hits and many of his songs got covered by others - Robert Plant, The Rolling Stones, Aaron Neville and Boz Scaggs among others. In the 1970s Glen Campbell took one of his songs to the Number One position on the Pop, Country AND Adult Contemporary charts. In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011.

However, this album is a Jazz album - with jazz standards from Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Django Reinhart, Billy Strayhorn and Jelly Roll Morton. Allen was accompanied by jazz stars such as clarinetist Don Byron, pianist Brad Mehldau, and saxophonist Joshua Redman.

The Bright Mississippi had its genesis during a studio session with music producer Joe Henry - Toussaint was amusing himself between takes by blowing freely through a song by Fats Waller. Henry said, "I was stunned. It was a revelation to hear this music interpreted through Allen's very unique point of view. The song, inherently rhythmic as a composition, was transfigured by a left hand schooled in New Orleans, and by the melodic sensibility of a most particular kind of songwriter."

Recorded in the famous Power Station (now Avatar) Studios, it has a wonderful live, fresh sound. As noted by Toussaint, "This isn’t the kind of assembly line music where somebody put the wheels on here and somebody put the top on there. Everything got done at the same time, so everybody fed on each other, their personality and tonality."

A truly wonderful album - I thought that the CD was great, but I am glad that I took the time to hunt down the vinyl. It is one of those rare albums that distribute the music across four sides at 33 1/3 rpm instead of cramming everything into two. As a result, the pressing and production does justice to the fabulous music and musicianship. However, there is one little mistake - on the vinyl, the labels for side C and side D are on the wrong side!!

Get it on CD. The vinyl is as elusive as the yeti. I have been trying to find a spare copy at a reasonable price - unfortunately the scalpers on Amazon and eBay want as much as $1,300 for a new copy, and $800 for a used one. They used to be easily available for less than $50. I'm not sure what happened over the past couple of years.

View attachment 16650

WOW just WOW! Should have spun this while I was there! Still $1300.00 om scamazon. Or $5 and up on cd. $16 from Nonesuch including a MP3 download.

 
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