Michael Formanek -- the Rub and Spare Change

Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green -- Apex

Myself, I never found time to go to a lot of concerts, but I'm hoping to change that now that I've got time and money. Before I moved to Houston though, I was lucky enough to see Pearl Jam on my last night in the 'Burgh Eddie was really feeling the crowd, and went through 2 bottles of wine and played for about 2 and a half hours.

September 11th I finally get to see Tool

When Country Was King: Before Nashville, Southern California Served As Ground Zero For Honky-Tonk - http://ow.ly/5voKi

These days, I don't listen to much IDM. There's to many micro-genres made by hipsters with laptops, and I can't stand most of it. That said, the poster children for IDM are among my favorite electronic acts. I am of course referring to Boards of Canada.

This is not their best song, but definitely a doozy. The video is pretty keen, too.

As a whole, head-case seems to prefer music made with acoustic instruments vs synthesizers. That said, I've seen BoC and the like appear more than a few times in the What Are You Listening To, Two thread. What are some of your favorite ambient and IDM tracks, H-C?

Old code because I'm busy DJing and don't have time to fix it:

Sup, Heads? My radio show is on the air right now, in Case you wanted to listen.

[url=http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/astonishing_performance_by_a_venezuelan_youth_orchestra_1.html]Gustavo Dudamel leads El Sistema's Teresa Carre

The surround disc was originally released in 2023 (I haven't heard it) - every so often, I like to dive down that audiophile remastering rabbit hole 🐇🕳️ (one commenter mentions listening on a sound bar on page 6): https://www.thesdeshop.com/products/tears-for-fears-the-hurting-limited-edition-sde-exclusive-blu-ray-audio

Comparison: https://magicvinyldigital.net/2024/02/11/tears-for-tears-the-hurting-review-test-vinyl-records-1983-2019-abbey-road-studios-2023-cd-1983-1999-amazon-music-tidal-dolby-atmos-bluray-stereo-5-1-and-dolby-digital-truehd-atmos/

I'll give this a try. You only live once.

Bonus hole - BACCH crosstalk cancellation filter: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/theoretica-applied-physics-bacch-stratosonic-surround-renderer/

https://crooked.com/podcast-series/wind-of-change/

It’s 1990. The Berlin Wall has just come down. The Soviet Union is on the verge of collapse. A heavy metal band from West Germany, the Scorpions, releases a power ballad, “Wind of Change.” The song becomes the soundtrack to the peaceful revolution sweeping Europe — and one of the biggest rock singles ever. According to some fans, it’s the song that ended the Cold War.

Decades later, New Yorker writer Patrick Radden Keefe hears a rumor from a source: the Scorpions didn’t actually write “Wind of Change.” The CIA did...

Overall I'm pretty disappointed, the potential is there with hi-res but like CD it's often limited by how good the recording & mastering was.  I'm curious to hear what you guys think, has  hi-res digital been worth it with the music you listen to?

I could care less about the Hoffman forum diatribes of musical greatness and shit like that.  I frequently read the "What Are You Listening To" thread here and many other threads to see what's out there and get a feel for what many of you truly love in music.  If nothing else, we get a good sense of where you are coming from musically.  I figure a top five list would underscore that, and, hopefully, people find some new music to listen to.

What do my favorite albums have in common?  Melody, energy, dynamics, and catchy as hell riffs/choruses/solos.  I have to have something to hum in my head at all times.  Why do you think I like Grados so much?

1. Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse

My favorite album for a long time.  It is the perfect combination of melody vs. bombast.  The songs flow so well with so many memorable guitar pieces.  This is my island album.

2. Opeth - Still Life

My second favorite album for a long time for the same reasons as MAYH.  These two albums are my favorite Opeth period.

3. Poema Arcanus - Iconoclast

A recent addiction.  There are so many pieces from this album that sound unlike all other bands I have heard before.  Everything here, from the song structure to the vocal delivery, is simply captivating.

4. Riverside - Out Of Myself

I will never hear another progressive rock album I like better.  Ever.  The guitar tone is just so perfect.

5. Moonsorrow - Verisäkeet

Like the other four albums, there are so many parts of this album that are so memorable for me.  The buildup and ending of Karhunkynsi, the chorus of Jotunheim, and the energy of Pimeä are so fun to listen to.

This last week:

Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile (previously damaged)

Kaki King - Legs to Make Us Longer

Kaki King - Everybody Loves You

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

https://www.headphonesty.com/2025/04/audiophile-albums-show-off-systems/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJbiBxleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHdIaG5CVJ_7HV1XInkWg-Wcl3bi5eLqEwY5TvbZI40UW4lJ_Eqj6sLgZDg_aem_6BZ_zHeMd1xzv_520xfiqQ

Shirley Bassey: Good, Bad but Beautiful 

The group is set to member approval, so once you apply any current member will be able to accept you.

last.fm basically tracks what you listen to after you download the plugin for foobar2000, Winamp or iTunes. It then creates a weekly listened to top artists, and overall top artists.

If you apply to the group the fastest way to get accepted- reply to this thread.

  This is a bit like ...ca 2001 Microsoft buying mp3.com, but worse.  It's like Yum! Brands buying Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  I do not understand it, but I really don't like the sound of it.

IDIOT PRAYER: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace 

This is a thread idea I've had for ages. In the age of the brick wall, so many remastered releases sonically inferior to previous releases. Such sins are particularly egregious in the world of classic rock, but the phenomenon plagues nearly every genre. The remaster of Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works: 85-92 managed to wreck what was already a very lo-fi endeavor to start.

Right now I'm trying to figure out what is the best Led Zeppelin set. I bought the original 4CD boxed set way back in 1990. In fact, it was the first CD purchase I ever made. I never did pickup the following 2CD set that had the remainder of the catalog not on the first set. I have listened to and enjoyed the Led Zep boxed set for two decades now. In that time there have been quite a few remasters that have followed.

10 CD Complete Studio Recordings (1993)

12 CD SHM set (2008)

This insane and semi-official 5LP and 3CD set (2010)

Discounting that last one, it seems for remasters there's a battle between the 1993 and 2008 sets. I did some digging and as one might expect, a number of audio snobs prefer the original 1980s CD versions. Most of the original CD releases were done by Barry Diament, who is very well respected in the industry and a staunch opponent against the loudness war. So.... any head-casers have experience with either the 10 or 12 CD sets, and maybe had a chance to compare them to the Diament versions?

https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/22/22295273/spotify-hifi-announced-lossless-streaming-hd-quality

https://newsroom.spotify.com/2021-02-22/five-things-to-know-about-spotify-hifi/

from: https://newsroom.spotify.com/stream-on/

For my part, here are five to get us started.

1) Ahmad Jamal: Chamber Music of the New Jazz

This is a phenomenal recording, showing really thoughtful playing by Jamal.  I'm particularly fond of the rhythmic tapping and string plucking he employs throughout, making use of parts of the piano you're not supposed to play.  This is from an era of jazz I don't prefer, but it sounds to me far ahead of its time.  Roon says I've listened to it 78 times, and I don't doubt it.  While writing my masters thesis I would listen to this album every day.  That was pre-Roon, so those plays aren't even counted.  I never tire of it.

2) Talking Heads: Remain in Light

This is for my boy TMoney.  Being a millennial, I was first exposed to David Byrne via his solo career.  "Sure sounds like the guy on Psycho Killer", I think I said.  Working my way back through the catalog I was absolutely floored by this album.  Some of my favorites off Stop Making Sense were on here, and to me it represents a turning point for the musical landscape that would lead to a lot of things I enjoy.

3)  Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Will the Circle be Unbroken?

I inherited my Dad's turntable and his record collection when I turned ten.  He didn't die or anything, he just didn't listen to records.  I sure as shit did, but didn't want to listen to all the stuff I'd heard on repeat the last ten years of my life, so I went to record shops and thrift stores and picked up things with interesting covers that I could afford on a very finite allowance.  This album was the heaviest thing I could get for $0.25, which represented a real value.  It was also the first bluegrass/old time album I ever heard, and it was an absolute revelation to me.

4)  Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel III (Melt)

I'm cheating a little here, as my favorite Peter Gabriel album is "So", but that came out in 1986 and as such is disqualified.  Obviously there are some phenomenal songs on here, notably "Games Without Frontiers" and "Biko", but this was also the first album to use gated reverb on drums, ushering in a sound no one would get sick of for ten years.  I constantly tell my wife and daughter "this is a Peter Gabriel household", and we wear it on our sleeve like it will get us martyred by the IRA.  I don't know if the Collins/Gabriel divide of opinion exists in real life, but if it does we are ready.

5)  Frank Zappa:  Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch

This was another gem from my father's record collection, but one I actively avoided for years.  It was the weirdest thing I ever heard, and I thought it might be irreparably damaged.  The only song I could even remotely latch on to was "Valley Girl", but I played it dozens of times until I got the courage to ask my Dad what that even meant.  The explanation went similarly over my head.