Music album reviews/Taylor Swift is angry

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Music album reviews/Taylor Swift is angry

Postby audiostar » Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:45 pm

Starting today, and if time permits, this humble corner will try to review, in magazine format, music albums (LPs of CDs) that it has listened to through the years: albums that you may have right now; or are thinking of owning. I know that that there are existing threads similar to what we want to do, but audiostar will try to have a different take on each review; one that will not only feature the sonic and/ or recording quality of the albums, but also their significance to the way we live today and some other details that are otherwise often glossed over. The review will also be different from those churn out by paid reviewers whom we see on a daily basis in most newspapers. Cheers to our beloved hobby :wink:


The Graceful Ghost

Image


This is definitely a trip worth reliving. Tranquil scenes from a porch of horse-drawn wagons passing through vast prairies amidst wild flowers, just as 1800 America is coming out of its cocoon; a homage to those hardworking pioneer men and women who built the foundation of what we now envy as a great nation.

“The Graceful Ghost,” singer-songwriter Grey DeLisle’s debut vinyl album for Sugar Hill Records, is your only ticket to experience such a heavenly ride. Her voice – like that of a young Dolly Parton’s with a hint of Enya and the sweetness of Alison Krauss – will take you across the white light, to a dreamland where voices seem to come from angels, and the music is poignant and delicate.

The album proves that old songs don’t necessarily have to be old. Grey wrote all but one of the songs for this generation’s fans of American traditional country music. But I’m sure the album will appeal even to those who have not taken that genre seriously. Those of you, who think songwriting is a dying or dead art, listen up! Lazarus has risen!

With husband/producer/guitarist Murry Hammond (of Old 97's), stringed-instrument legend Marvin Etzioni and bassist Sheldon Gomberg, Grey crafts a hollow country soulful music that tugs at the heart.

Yes, Grey’s songs are old because they stir up that 1800s sound – Autoharp and music box figure prominently into the acoustic, all-analogue home-recorded mix. The result is otherworldly and heavy at the same time. Grey, who does voices for TV cartoons, alternately sounds naïve, feminine and powerful in this anthology of ballads and lullabies.

In “Tell Me True,” Grey introduced a novelty by recording her voice reading a Civil War soldier's love letter on a 1949 acetate recording machine. In “Walking In A Line,” Grey narrates a mother’s death with the sweet frailty of Dolly Parton-like moans, her voice like the soft wind caressing the grass, evoking not just a family’s grief but the poverty that consumes it.

Grey’s album is sprinkled with sepia-toned characters roving through her ballads -- an alabaster-shouldered temptress called the “Jewel of Abilene,” worn-out and grimy but loving sharecroppers (“Sharecroppin’ Man”), Confederate soldiers, snoozing babes. They are as real as you and me, but as ethereal as a dream; they tell their stories with an old-fashioned elegance as Grey strums her autoharp with a small coterie musicians of acoustic guitar and stand-up bass, a little vocal harmony, slivers of celesta and harmonium. Arrangements are simple. Genre is fluid, folk, country, gospel and parlor songs. Production, appropriately, is less than immaculate: recorded on analog tools right inside Grey’s living room.

The album brings out quiet but powerful emotions. Its austerity reminds us of an America which talks directly from the heart and without the spin. “The Graceful Ghost” comes at this day and age in a different, almost antiquated way, but is however held fast with sincerity and creativity. I’m giving this album the highest rating of five stars.
Last edited by audiostar on Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby randybarba » Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:54 pm

Nice review val. Nice to find out I have another rresource to turn to when looking for new music to listen to. Thanks for posting this at ws and please do keep 'em coming. :)
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Postby audiostar » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:07 pm

randybarba wrote:Nice review val. Nice to find out I have another rresource to turn to when looking for new music to listen to. Thanks for posting this at ws and please do keep 'em coming. :)


We'll try our best to give WS readers an honest to goodness review :D
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Postby audiostar » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:17 pm

The Artistry of Linda Rosenthal (SACD)

The name of Italian composer Vittorio Monti (1868-1922) may not ring a bell even to some avid classical music fans; but mention Csardas, and one gets an instant recall because the popularity of the music has immortalized its creator.

Csardas is actually a Hungarian word which means country inn. It also denotes a Hungarian folk dance performed on Sunday afternoons by Hungarian lasses before appreciative townsfolk at country inns.

Csardas, the music, is among the 10 selections in the album, The “Artistry of (violinist) Linda Rosenthal”. The album title is, for me, an understatement. Linda -- ably assisted by equally talented pianist Lisa Bergman -- not only bares her art here, but her heart and soul as well. Linda leaves you breathless from the time this FIM Records’ SACD fires off from your audio system up to the last harmonic of the final selection. Her music comes alive … gracefully galloping, sliding, tap dancing and sashaying with every note that her violin brings. Her rendition of Csardas (Track 2) is an excellent tribute to Monti’s genius. Her juxtaposition of fast and slow music glues you to your seat and makes you anxious to hear what surprises may come next.

If you’ve seen the movie Fiddler on the Roof, you can reminisce its cinematic glory with Linda’s rendition of the Fiddler’s medley (Track 4) which features Sunrise, Sunset, and If I were a Rich Man, among others. Here, one can picture Linda’s superb spiccato (one of the most difficult violin strokes), ricochet bowing and artificial harmonic portamenti at their very best. -- Four Star
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Postby Superman » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:21 pm

Val, from Phil. Star writer to album reviewer...what else can i say, my friend? :D This is indeed very helpful...PLUS we can discover new CDs/LPs here...MORE, MORE, MORE! :D :D :D
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Postby audiostar » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:24 pm

Superman wrote:Val, from Phil. Star writer to album reviewer...what else can i say, my friend? :D This is indeed very helpful...PLUS we can discover new CDs/LPs here...MORE, MORE, MORE! :D :D :D


Anything for the hobby Supes :D
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Postby randybarba » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:31 pm

Thanks again for another review val. BTW, how do you pronounce csardas? Char-das? K-sardas?
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Postby audiostar » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:35 pm

randybarba wrote:Thanks again for another review val. BTW, how do you pronounce csardas? Char-das? K-sardas?


Zardas :wink:
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Postby claromusico » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:44 pm

Sir Val, hola from Spain. Nice reviews, as usual :wink: It is said that 'Jazz At The Pawn Shop' is the best jazz recording of the century :) it would be nice if you could give us your take on that :)
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Postby pigdog » Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:31 pm

interesting choice of music, i was very much taken by the music from the mid 19th century just around the US Civil war some great examples from Ken Burn's Documentary called Civil War very evocative music and at some point almost like a lament. your discription of the music is very much what we would called roots music. interestingly i find plenty of similarities with this type of music with the ones i heard in ireland a few years back i would suggest going for the soundtrack of Stanley Kubricks film : Barry Lyndon as a follow up to this album
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Postby audiostar » Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:34 pm

claromusico wrote:Sir Val, hola from Spain. Nice reviews, as usual :wink: It is said that 'Jazz At The Pawn Shop' is the best jazz recording of the century :) it would be nice if you could give us your take on that :)


I'll try to listen to it again Andrew and compare it with other jazz classics :wink:

BTW thanks for the gift, it came just in time despite the Holiday rush. UPS confirmed that my gift for you reached the Spanish shores, sorry for the delay :oops:
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Postby audiostar » Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:38 pm

pigdog wrote:interesting choice of music, i was very much taken by the music from the mid 19th century just around the US Civil war some great examples from Ken Burn's Documentary called Civil War very evocative music and at some point almost like a lament. your discription of the music is very much what we would called roots music. interestingly i find plenty of similarities with this type of music with the ones i heard in ireland a few years back i would suggest going for the soundtrack of Stanley Kubricks film : Barry Lyndon as a follow up to this album


We'll do Chester :) Thanks for your suggestion :wink:
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Postby audiostar » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:47 pm

“… and his mother called him Bill” (LP)

This tune only takes more than three minutes of listening pleasure, but all that is jazz is there -- in its full glory. “Lotus Blossom” is just one of the 12 tracks that commemorate the genius of the late Billy Strayhorn in RCA Victor re-issue of the vinyl album, “…and his mother called him Bill.”

The album gives audiophiles more than they wish for; a double treat indeed because no other than “The Duke” himself and his orchestra interpreted Strayhorn’s compositions. Yes, the equally brilliant Duke Ellington, Bill’s long-time collaborator, gives the latter a well-deserved tribute in this particular album. Bill’s death on May 31, 1967, which abruptly ended one of the most rewarding musical partnerships in 20th century music, devastated Duke no end. During that sad May morning, to take the edge off his own anguish, the grieving Duke wrote a moving eulogy for Bill. He revealed much later that he actually omitted six words from it because he felt “it would have been too much at the time.” The words were: “…and his mother called him Bill.”

“Lotus Blossom” (Track 12) was completed at the end of the recording session when the musicians were getting ready to leave. No one noticed then that the microphone was still on and the tape was ready to roll when Duke sat down at the piano. An eerie silence engulfed the studio as the feeling came through. “That is what he most liked to hear me play,” Duke said later.

Jazz at its finest is what audiophiles will experience from this album. The playful and swinging “Snibor” (Track 1) is a 1949 composition written for a publisher friend whose name the title spells backwards. “Boo Daa” (Track 2) is melodiously fun as it is written with dances in mind. Listen as soloist Clark Terry skillfully plays with his flugelhorn and plunger mute. “Blood Count” (Track 3) was a masterpiece Bill wrote and arranged from his hospital bed and was sent quickly in time for a Carnegie Hall concert in 1967. It was to be his last. Written in a minor key, it was a poignant piece – a premonition of his tragic end. “Blood Count” was the most melodically touching piece ever to come out of his pen and was ably blown from the heart by Johnny Hodges, for whom Billy always wrote so felicitously.

The album mirrors what Bill’s greatest virtue was: honesty. In the eulogy Duke wrote for Bill: “...His listening-hearing self was totally intolerant of his writing-playing self when, or if, any compromise was expected, or considered expedient. Condescension did not exist in the mind of Billy Strayhorn.”

Too bad Bill and Duke did not live long enough to witness how the generation of today still venerates their music. A re-issue of this album could not have come at a better time. Audiophiles believe that we are, at this particular time of music history, at the age of analog renaissance. This is an age where music lovers are rediscovering the geniuses of musicians such Bill and Duke.

By the time of their passing, they were considered amongst the world’s greatest composers and musicians. Duke was honored by the French government with the highest recognition it could give to an artist, the Legion of Honor Award, while the US government bestowed upon him the highest civil honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Duke’s music was universal, enjoyed by both royalty and the common people. By the end of his 50-year career, he had played over 20,000 performances worldwide. While Ellington was The Duke, Strayhorn always enjoyed being his mother’s Bill. - FOUR STAR
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Postby audiostar » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:53 am

“Jazz at the Pawnshop” (half speed LP)

You’re suddenly thrown back into the past as you look for a good night out. You have probably acclimatized yourself in the new surroundings and have spent a few hours searching for an ideal club. Suddenly as you make a turn while navigating this neon-lit side street, you’re drawn into this cozy night spot. The ceiling is about four meters high, and a stage in the right hand corner is visible from the entrance. The place is so small that it can only accommodate a grand piano and a small band.

As you gingerly make your way inside, you’re overcome by the smell of cigarette, pan fried sausages and grilled beef. The smell of foamy beer morphs with the scent of sour wine and various perfumes steaming out of the bar’s regular habitués. Then you see familiar, welcoming faces, their raised goblets spewing tiny flickers of light.

For a few seconds, you’re overwhelmed by the thought that you may have been transported to Rick Blaine’s Café Americain, the fictional bar/cafe from the hit 1940s movie Casablanca. But as you pan your eyes around the bar, you realize from the calendar posted on the right wall that this is December 6, 1976, and you are actually inside Stampen, a jazz club in Gamla Stan in Stockholm, Sweden. Lucky you! Because right then and there, Gert Palmerantz is getting his gear ready for a recording session which, unbeknownst to him, will become a cult recording among audiophiles and be regarded as the best jazz recording of all time. Stampen is a haven of Swedish jazz. It thrives in an atmosphere of malodorous of beer on one hand, and creativity, medieval history and ancient resonance on the other.

The club, which got its name from a pawnbroker’s shop that used to be in that block, opened in 1968. The album, aptly named Jazz at the Pawnshop in its vinyl format, was one of the best selling jazz albums of its time. To date, its musical artistry and sonic excellence remain sans rival.

Audiophiles from around the world must have owned one vinyl and maybe one CD of this excellent album. But with the dawning of the latest direct stream recording (DSD) of the super audio CD (SACD) format, its re-creation using the latest mastering technology of the extended resolution CD (XRCD) and high definition CD (HDCD), Jazz at the Pawnshop has sprung out of its unparalleled musical magnificence!

The musicians

Arne Domnerus (alto sax clarinet), Bengt Hallberg (piano), Lars Estrand (vibraphone) Georg Riedel (bass) and Egil Johansen (drums) combine their musical talents to bring us jazz classics such as Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” (Track 5, Vol. 2), Gershwin’s “Lady Be Good” (Track 1, Vol. 2), Louis Armstrong’s “Struttin With Some Barbecue” (Track 5, Vol. 1).

With this half speed pressing, delicate music appearance and excellent details are reproduced with superior clarity. You can hear every slight chime of glass, conversations and background noises without losing the spectacle of the music.

As soon as I fired up Jazz at the Pawnshop in my audio system, a re-creation of a conspicuous sound field with a good blend of body, imaging and detail, engulfed my listening room. On Duke Ellington-Hodges’ “Jeep’s Blues” (Track 6 Vol. 1), the horns came alive, and I felt as though I was right there in Stampen enjoying every minute of it. The rest of the tracks: awesome - FIVE STAR
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Postby Jon Agner » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:58 am

Val,

keep those reviews coming in. I got me interested on Billy Strayhorn :D

Cheers.
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Postby audiostar » Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:47 am

‘Pet Sounds' (LP)

They were born amidst warm drums echoing in the horizon. It was 1961, and the mighty United States of America has just launched an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by sending around 1,500 Cuban exiles in the Bahia de Chochinos (Bay of Pigs).

Their story began in Hawthorne, California, when brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson formed a band with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine which they would later call The Beach Boys.

By the time they hit the Billboard chart with the song “Surfin’” a year later, the world was once again teetering in the brink of war. Time stood still for 14 days as the US and Russia faced eyeball-to-eyeball, with the former threatening war if the latter would not dismantle its missile system planted at the heart of Cuba. The Russian blinked, and the good times rolled.

The war backdrop would somehow shadow the world in this particular decade. It was the height of the Cold War, and the world’s two superpowers were engaged in a drawn-out “watch-and-wait game.” This uneasy peace and chilled calm would give birth to fear and anxiety that would also dictate the evolution of American music: from the cocky, fun-loving beat of rock and roll when Russia bowed down to the US wishes in the Cuban Missile Crisis to the mellow and poetic lyrics and melodies when thousands of American soldiers started dying at the Vietnam war much later. The hippie revolution, as they called it, advocated making peace and stopping war.

Also at that time, American music was busy fending off another form of invasion, the beaching in of British pop music stars such the Beatles and the Rolling Stones at the shore of America’s musical heartland. Now, you must have already pictured why the 60s is often referred to as “the golden age of music.”

But The Beach Boys are a class act. They started out as Kenny and the Cadets, and then Carl and the Passions, and finally The Pendletones. They would soon parlay a catalog of songs about surfing, fast cars, and girls. This laid the ground for them to be known as the world’s best-ever story of triumph. But it was their ability to generate the legend of American freedom and dreams of adolescence, and their success at speaking about fears of what lay after adolescence that made them an American musical institution.

Their early material was mainly about California youth lifestyle (“All Summer Long”, “Fun, Fun, Fun”) cars (“Little Deuce Coupe”) and of course surfing (“Surfin’ U.S.A.”, “Surfin’ Safari,”), among others.

Underneath their bright and accessible musical style lay remarkably sophisticated musical ideas. At about this time, Brian was swiftly developing into a melodist, arranger and producer of world-renowned stature. Their early hits made them major pop stars in America and the world, challenged only by the appearance in 1964 of The Beatles who proved to be their chief creative rivals.

The Beach Boys have dozens of top-forty hits, many of them best-sellers and four US No.1 singles. They were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. A remarkable yardstick of their staying power is that between 1961 and 1981, they were only off the charts for only two years, 1972 and 1979.

The Beach Boys underwent many dramatic changes in both their musical style and personal relationships, framed by Brian’s mental and drug-induced illnesses, the deaths of Dennis (suspected suicide in 1983) and Carl (of cancer in 1998), and lingering legal battles among its remaining members. They continue to tour until today, but sadly only with a fraction of the original members.

A couple of the band’s album brought me back to those glory days. Among The Beach Boy’s popular tunes which I listened to so far, are: “Surfin’,” “Surfin’ USA,” “Surfer Girl,” “Fun, Fun,” “I Get Around,” “California Girls,” “Help Me Rhonda,” “Barbara Ann,” “Good Vibrations,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Rock and Roll Music” and “Kokomo.”

Their hit “Good Vibrations” was voted “Number One Song of the Century” by Rolling Stone Magazine, which also installed the album, “Pet Sounds” in No. 2 position in its 2003 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” - THREE STARS
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Postby Superman » Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:59 am

Galing! Pet Sounds IMHO is a must have...buti na lang may re-issue available... :D

Excited na ako sa "toot" :D :D :D :D :D Ssssshhhhhhh! :D
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Postby qguy » Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:48 pm

pwede mag suggest.. one Album per thread.. I can imagine it would be difficult to shift through the reviews and comments when this thread has over 100 replies
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Postby audiostar » Tue Jan 08, 2008 1:09 pm

qguy wrote:pwede mag suggest.. one Album per thread.. I can imagine it would be difficult to shift through the reviews and comments when this thread has over 100 replies


Sure, we'll do something about it :wink:
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Postby jadis » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:19 pm

audiostar wrote:“Jazz at the Pawnshop” (half speed LP)
For a few seconds, you’re overwhelmed by the thought that you may have been transported to Rick Blaine’s Café Americain, the fictional bar/cafe from the hit 1940s movie Casablanca...


That is the key word - TRANSPORTED! Not many recorded albums can make us think of this word when describing the musical experience. The inherent style of Swedish playing jazz music may not be all too palatable to mainstream American jazz fans but what propelled this album to almost a cult status is simply because it transports you to the venue of the event. And what more thrill needs an audio experience be?


With this half speed pressing, delicate music appearance and excellent details are reproduced with superior clarity. You can hear every slight chime of glass, conversations and background noises without losing the spectacle of the music.

As soon as I fired up Jazz at the Pawnshop in my audio system, a re-creation of a conspicuous sound field with a good blend of body, imaging and detail, engulfed my listening room. On Duke Ellington-Hodges’ “Jeep’s Blues” (Track 6 Vol. 1), the horns came alive, and I felt as though I was right there in Stampen enjoying every minute of it. The rest of the tracks: awesome - FIVE STAR


Amazing clarity. That is my first impression of this half speed pressing. It is akin to cleaning your muggy eyeglasses (for those who wear one, like me :lol: ) and seeing a clearer view of everything. The original pressing by Proprius is not what we would term an audiophile recording. It is something like the old Columbia's or Decca's. They were plain jane recordings, but superb 'plain janes'. This half speed was licensed by Proprius to be remastered at JVC in Japan by Stan Ricker, and extends the sound quality of the original even further, in terms of clarity, separation of instruments and palpable imaging. It is very much akin to what CBS did with their half speed mastered LPs and the Japanese version which is the DM or Digital Mastering series, an altogether different technique but with similar astounding results.
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