As you might have noticed I listen to a wide range of music. I think the most important thing for me when sitting down in my chair is space. A lot of CDs that you wouldn't think would be your taste take on a completely different life when you hear it on a serious system. My friends come by and say "What, you listen to that?" referring to something besides hard core classic rock. I always smile cause I know from then on they will be looking through my collection pulling out the coolest stuff to play and turning people on to the sound stage. I listen to them telling people that come over "your not going to believe this".

In passing, years ago, I heard Wyclef Jean in Pontiac on a PA system at a rap premiere and wasn't so impressed. I was more into the music we just recorded at the "sound lounge" (a studio I did for Slum). I ran across one of his CDs years later and picked it up for a buck.

Well, I can't believe I went all that time deprived of one of the master minds of modern music. The Carnival is a masterpiece in the realm of hip hop/rap mixing. The blend of engineering and content on this CD has become one of my must have pieces of music. This is not rap, but more a festival of mind blowing events. I'm glued to my chair every time I put it on.



If you have a good system or head phones and want to trip on a different head music experience check this out. But I warn you, you might not be the same.

Are you one of those who kinda like classical but not serious about it? Hearing a big full sound is great but sometimes straight classical can get confusing. I usually keep my classical collection in a different place from my other music cause finding stuff needs an education in classics. About 10 years ago I started getting into soundtracks. Many of them are a mix of classical done with a theatrical pop theme. Most of them have a story line and flow that is different than song after song type of listening. This suits me just find cause I'm more of a LP side or full recording type of listener. Radio style listening is cool but sometimes, most times, I want to go with a mood.

If you hip to where I'm going with this and your into Brain Adams romantic side you might want to pick up



Don Juan Demarco (never seen the movie) has a romantic smoothness and huge sound stage that will keep you relaxed and in love all the way through. When listening I almost feel like I'm walking through towns with romantic themes.

i love that you're keeping this thread going, i will definitely give some of these a listen (albeit through a less than exciting system lol). have you ever listened to the soundtrack to 'meet joe black'? some awesome tracks there.

also,,,, what about some dubstep? i'd be curious how that comes across, try this one if you need a sample:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8C-ZTQJIkU&feature=related

cool tunes!! :)

Meet Joe Black is a great example of moods. I think Thomas Newman is brilliant at spelling subtle emotions.

Plus, I should add that Kama's over the rainbow is my favorite take on that song.

I listened to the link, thanks. You have exotic taste, I like that and will look at the store for this. Even on my computer system I can tell it will be great.

Tonight I felt like writing a review on SRV cause I was doing some rock/blues on my system, but I became distracted. Not that Stevie Ray doesn't deserve every review that can be given but I ran across



I hadn't listened to this in a while and strapped myself in for a ride. I think Kenny was like 20 when he did this. Unbelievable when you think about it. This Cd has everything that an hour of kick butt rockin needs. No he doesn't read music, he plays it. If you like blues/rock and for some reason have passed up this recording do your ears a favor and run out and get a copy. You will hear so many different bands and artists in his seasoning but still roll away feeling like you heard rock for the first time.

As someone who is approaching 53 fast (can't believe it Yikes) I'm trying to keep my mind open to the newer rock as in many ways it is far different from classic rock. I know I talked about a couple of bands that I'm trying to get into but the problem for me is I don't know if I can get into one song after another that in someways sound the same as the song before. Plus I find that a lot of newer engineers go for this flatter digital sound that is missing depth. Maybe the grunge crowd doesn't mind but I do. I have literally bought hundreds of these new recordings and am going through them one at a time. Believe me many of them have made there way back to the record store (Zia Records loves me). Still I know that the hang up on this new music must be more me getting old and not the newer crowd not having talent. The new rocker kids have this sound that is paced at a tempo that I'm starting to get use to a little and at times even find myself attracted to.

There's a recording that Pure did



that has an interesting flow to it and I think if I'm not mistaken I might be getting younger. This CD for me is a keeper and I really like the use of space, speed and instrument choices. If more of todays mod-rock was done like this I could see myself becoming a fan. I even hear a little stones and cooper feel to some of the tracks and that ain't all bad than is it.

Maybe it's not so bad getting old.

oh for shizzle mg!! not older, just more selective, so much music,
not as much time as we once had!!

SRV, saw him live, so so glad i had that opportunity, he will
always be amazing. kenny wayne shepherd, a favorite. keep
stirring my memories, reminds me to.... rewind!!

i'll be back with something...
exotic...
i am sure :)

If there was a defining moment for me in the music biz it would have to be working with David Bowie. I love being a designer but deep inside I'm a designer because I'm such a huge fan of the folks that have brought us music. The first DB LP I ever got was Ziggy and I think it is still my favorite even though that whole period from Ziggy Sane Pinups and Dogs is something that really all fits together. I became a little bro to Mick Ronson (guitar God) which got me into the crowd but then meeting up with several engineers got me in a position to work with an interesting bunch of music animals who during the 70's and early 80's were all seeming to be going through interesting times in their lives. Kind of a spiritual awakening for many of them. Even though "Natch" (my music nickname) wasn't around during the Ziggy time Mick (because I was such a Ziggy fan) called me "Little Spider". I now tell a white lie to people who don't know I was too young that I was one of the "Spiders From Mars". Well an honorary spider is close in my book.

the 40 anniversary is now out

Been kinda M.I.A. working on a cool studio/show room in San Diego, but during my trips back and forth I keep thinking of music that I want to talk about on this thread. Must be a hundred or so on my brain but there is only so much time in the day. Driving back from Diego a couple of weeks ago we were dead tired and I could see that Ruggie (chief wood worker) was not going to be any good behind the wheel so I strapped my blurry eyes to the road and gave it my best. I'm not going to say is was the safest trip but we made it back to Vegas in 2 pieces.

While driving the music was blasting of course to keep me awake and as you road warriors know it doesn't take long for our minds to drift into dream land. My drive found me thinking about a time I worked on a cool studio getting it ready for a recording by Crosby/Loggins so I thought LOL. The engineer said "come over tonight while I work on Crosby Loggins". I can remember being excited cause I love these guys, but when I got there it wasn't Crosby and Loggins working on music, it was indeed Crosby Loggins (Kenny's Son) playing and singing. It was a let down in my mind but only until I heard a few bars into the music and I was glued for the rest of the session. This guy was great! He had all the sensitivities of his dad and all the other guys he spent time with from the old school of rock. Very Jackson Browne and Michael McDonald-ish.

Crosby came out with a recording produced by a guy who did Dave Matthews and John Mayer to name a few and when I got my copy of



it has been a main stay in my collection ever since.

I miss my preteens...........

I remember listening to Jackson Browne n James Taylor berfore anyone had heard of them.

Listenin to the outlaw X on Am transistor on saturday nights at midnight....the only time I could pick it up.

Heard ZZ Top the first time when I was about 9 on the X.
Listenin to The Wolfman howlin.........

By the time I was 20 I was listening to stuff most people never heard of.....had a very eclectic collection of Vinyl!!!!

I like this Thread Bro.....keep it up!!!!

Thanks Ghost. It makes me very happy that folks are getting into this.

It's a ton of fun to sit 20 feet away from the music as I write about it. The day time is cool here at TuneVilla but it's the night time I enjoy the most. Getting the lighting right, having a candle burning adding it's scent and letting the Vibe of the music fill the air. Sometimes it blows my mind that I get to live during the age of stereo. The age right before mine was reel to reel machines and before that the Victrola. Hard to imagine pre-Victrola times for me as I look at my CD collection. If I wasn't so lazy I guess I would have tapes and vinyl but I'm willing to let that maintenance thing limit itself to CD. Much easier to deal with. The Computer age is here too but I still listen to more CD for my taste being able to squeeze more sound out of them. I will graduate to a hard drive only when the right tweaks are done I guess but that is still some time away quality wise. In the meantime knowing that I am in the last phase of music covers being something you can touch, and having cases to store your music in sitting in their shelving is pretty cool.

I also like the idea of the Long Play vs song by song approach and hope in tomorrow land this concept will never go away. For myself I like to think of a recording as being several songs making a feeling for an hour or so and not having to jump ship in my mind every 5 minutes. The random play idea is cool but I tired of the changing moods being so rapid sometimes. With concert venues I don't mind cause the night always has it's own meaning like a LP and in my own private listening chair I love to float away in my hour head trip concert. Of course it never ends at an hour and a lot of the fun is finding the next CD to listen to after having your mind tweaked for that long.

Most of us today think in music LP concept terms that I just talked about and that's fine by me. We talk about how #2 is different from Houses of the Holy and think of what the artist was laying down during that period of creation. A 6 to 14 song painting if you will. A unique and wonderful invention that plays a part in every listeners head. One of these paintings I can not live without was done during a creative time in TV when "Dunes" David Lynch did "Twin Peaks". Not only were there concepts given birth to on TV but the behind the lines music masterpieces that were being made are some of the tripiest stuff ever done. I was introduced to David and Julee Cruise long before I ever laid my eyes on the TV show. Floating Into The Night is one of my favorite recordings. It's kind of a female version of Pink Floyd in some respects. Where Floyd gives us "Us and Them" Julee gives us "Floating". Julee's soft whispers are nothing shy of mesmerising and the sound stage is huge, breath taking and timely.



Both guy and gal will have their needs met with this recording as there is a perfect blend of male and female mood poured into the seductive production. It's a mix of New Age/Floydish/Pop that takes on it's own life.

enjoy

I started listening to Roxy Music back in the day of "for your pleasure". Bryan's voice is one of the most unique in the business and if you've followed him at all you will become familar with one of the most artsy artist in rock. At 66 he shows no sign of slowing down. Isn't it great that we grew up in the days of rock!

This is a sample of the range of stuff that he did through the middle of his career.



If you don't get into his goods at least listen to him do "jealous man".

Ever try to pick out the best LP of a band, or entertainer? Not always the easiest thing, and sometimes I think it is where we are at in our own heads and how much we get lost in the music we are listening to at the time. This week I had another short trip and couldn't wait to get home. When I got here though I was greeted with wet weather that totally screwed up my plans. I depend on dry weather to voice products (audio stuff of course) and because most of these toys are effected greatly by humidity I enjoy the dry conditions here. Oh well, there's lots of other work I can do and the good part about that is it puts me inside near my systems, and boy do I have them jammin!

Last night I started listening to Zeppelin and here I am still trying to figure out which recording is their best LOL. Foolish man, this is an impossibility. Every time I put the next one on I'm in Led land and get totally caught up in the crazy world tour they send your head on. Well while my mind is engaged in this futile frivolous exercise I invite you to listen to one of their greats.

Led Zeppelin "Houses of the Holy"

Bruce Springsteen is more than a great artist, he changed the tide of pop rock in the mid 70's with one of the greatest lps ever made. Born To Run took everyone by surprise and gave us a completely different look at rock & Roll that didn't exist before. It was perhaps rock & rolls glory days in many ways with all the new fresh talent heading in several directions but some how it still felt unified in some way. Production for one had reached a level of accomplishment as it had a decade of stereo under it's belt. This gave birth to telling stories in music differently than in the past. The 60's were the years of experimenting and the 70's brought home the age of wrapping the music and mood around the story. Born To Run was one of the greatest of all the story lps. So great that we fixated on the magic for years as if the page was closed in some way. Now that is the sign of a truely great piece of rock. I enjoyed Bruce's work for ever after that but some how missed something that I needed to revisit. I completely let Born To Run over shadow his next piece of work done 2 1/2 years later. Born and Darkness are linked in a way that for me brings the story home and it's hard for me to only listen to one without the other.



Clarence, I miss you like crazy!

"Put me on an island and give me 10 pieces of music to listen to for the rest of my life." We've heard this before and think to ourselves we would go nuts with that small of choice. I know I would, but there's a bright side to this. One of my choices would be Nirvana Lounge from Claude Challe. His selections take me to an island without leaving my listening chair.

Not hard to find, but expensive as "H" I recommend if you ever see this in your travels to a used CD shop jump on it. It will open you up to a new universe of listening pleasure.



Soundstage and percussion on these 2 cds are out of this world and done with some of the best tonal balance in the biz.

you don't have to ask me twice! :)~ and yes, you embarked on a
impossible quest, but... what do they say about the journey?


keep up the awesomeness of this whole thread mg!

So here's what happened. I had my copy of Autobahn damaged, but I had Kraftwerk "The Mix" which has 9 minutes of Autobahn on it and thought this would be fine. Well a producer/musician friend of mine sent me a piece of music that he wanted me to hear that kicked my mind into Autobahn mode. As soon as I got done listening to his cd I wanted to put on Kraftwerk to make some mental notes about the differences. You'd have to have a weird mind like me to totally understand this but I compare studio techniques and voicing to help engineers sometimes make decisions on production. I won't bore you with this part but it's fun doing recording voicing for me both during and after production. Anyway, a couple days before I did this I spotted a copy of Autobahn at Zia Records (my hangout) but didn't grab it (that inner voice got ignored). I ran over there about 11pm the other night and someone had hid the cd. It wasn't bought it was hiding somewhere. Ever since I have been in music madness. I'm refusing to buy a copy from Amazon for some strange reason thinking I will walk in tonight and find it. I want you to know I'm blowing off a concert to do this, but my quest must be validated.

So tonight's quest, find Autobahn amoung the countless cds at my cd shop. I'm heading in to the shower now to get ready for my big night out. Wish me luck.

Haha you look like Kevin Costner in that pic


I've listened to kraftwerk before. Are you familiar with the show that use to air on MTV called AMP?

Poor Kevin LOL. He has my sympathy.

Saw your edit. AMP, the early morning crowd, techno-pop right?