NEW RELEASES: Any Sonic Marvels?

[Ernest Buckley]

Just occurred to me that we are often tend to discuss the negative aspects of music. Especially the horrendous compression/limiting massacres. Or the bad editing...

 

However, are there any records/CDs that have been made in the last 5-10 years that stand out as outstanding sound quality that you can think of?

 

Just looking at this from a perspective of what albums should I get or do I need to listen to to assist me further with my music!

 

Thanks.

[KenElevenShadows]

I kinda like the way the Kings of Leon CDs sound. It sounds like real people playing, and that's pretty cool.

 

Oh, 5-10 years....sheeesh, okay, well, there's a whole list of those things...Radiohead, DJ Cheb i Sabbah, and Innocence Mission "Glow" come to mind.

[Ernest Buckley]

Agree on Radiohead and Innocence Mission, haven`t heard the others though...

 

Here are some for you:

 

Josh Rouse, Under Blue Stars, 1972 and Nashville

Butterfly Boucher

Leona Naess

[KenElevenShadows]

Well, the Kings of Leon probably won't be this amazing technical marvel or such, but I was thinking super recent until I saw that you had posted "5-10 years ago". But that said, while they won't change the world, they're kinduva breath of fresh air, and the recording is pretty good.

 

The Asha Bhosle/Ustad Ali Akbar Khan "Legacy" CD, which is a CD of jaw-droppingly beautiful romantic Indian classical tunes from the 16-th-18th Century, is exquisitely recorded.

 

Ali Akbar Khan and Asha Bhosle, "Legacy: 16th-18th Century Music From India", 1995 AMMP/Triloka

As juiced as Konono No 1 (above review) is, this is easily as tranquil. It features Ali Akbar Khan on sarod and Asha Bhosle on vocals, along with Swapan Chaudhuri on Tabla and Pakawaj. And on this superb disc, Khan and Bhosle, two of the largest legends in music, lend a beautiful sense of lightness, air, and mystery to classic songs from the 16th-18th Century. They both interpret these songs through a mysterious and difficult Indian music tradition known as a bandish, a fixed composition through the medium of which a singer or instrumentalist adds their own voice to a raga. According to the liner notes, only someone deemed worthy and is initiated into the gharana can give form to he bandish. Here, Khan's deft touch on the sarod, as exemplified in so many of his other Carnatic works and recitals, and Bhosle, one of the most legendary vocalist of all time and the most recorded vocalist in the world, produce what is one of the most beautiful Indian collection of songs I've heard recorded. And since I record music, I should mention that it's lovingly recorded and completely supports the beauty of the songs.

 

http://www.elevenshadows.com/reviews/reviews2005.htm

[Ernest Buckley]

The 2 indian CDs sound fantastic.

 

As for the names I mentioned, these are artists doing their own thing, not worried about airplay. Good sounds and their records sound good. Not anything the Smithsonian will want to archive but there is that element of human beings/souls in there making music.

[KenElevenShadows]

It is fantastic. It's just one CD...I guess I made it seem like two because of the cut/paste. It's soooo beautiful....

[Ernest Buckley]

Ken-

Thanks for the suggestion. I received my copy last week and its been in my iPod. Its great to listen to when I take my midnight walk to reflect and get some exercise.

 

If you`re into this type of stuff, check out:

 

http://www.ayurveda.com/images/products/th_audio/th_jaigovinda_tape.jpg

 

This album is more aimed at group chant.

 

Also, Krishna Das is cool. Oddly enough, Rick Rubin produced his last album.

[ryst]

Tom Waits-Mule Variations

[Botch.]

Two that have been tickling my ears lately:

Matt Bianco featuring Basia - her "old" band, reformed, still wonderful chamber jazz and Basia's wonderful multi-tracked vocal harmonies. Love this one!

Mareena McKennitt - something Secrets (I'll have to get the exact title at home tonight). Welsh new age, lots of ethnic instrumentation, gorgeously recorded.

[theblue1]

Call me perverse, but I love the sound of Ry Cooder and Manuel Galban's Mambo Sinuendo album which doesn't need to go out of the way to convince you it's some guys playing live in a room. That said, when the backup singers drop in out of nowhere wrapped up in compression and reverb it reminds me of those old stage Bible presentations where the angels drop in from above the stage on painfully obvious ropes. Still, it's overall an infectuous, spontaneous-sounding album that is mostly well served by it's low-fi naturalism.

 

 

PS... I'd never heard Asha Bhosle before (or, more properly, not known I was hearing her, her voice definitely sounds familiar). I'm listening to the one track under her name on MM On Demand, "Mohuay Jamechhe Aaj." It's nice to hear her microtonal scales without conflicting western instruments jamming things up. (I hate so many of the synths in world pop because they cause people to simplify traditional vocal scales in order to stay 'in tune.')