I'd be surprised if this thread hasnt already happened. If it has here, sorry
I was just thinking what a great place too get turned on to some new tunes. I find that since radio in Dallas insults my intelligence, most of the new music I find out about is from friends and co-workers.
Anyway I've been thinking about doing this for a week or so and couldnt come up with a good format in my head, so I'll just wing it.
FAVORITE NEWER CDs
1. Bozz Skaggs "DIG" FAVORITE TRACK: #8 King of El Paso
released? 2002 0r 2003
this cd is found under the genre of rock but is a very bluesy
2.Beck "SEA CHANGE" FAVORITE TRACK: #5 Lost Cause
released 2002 newish to me
the whole cd is good but can get kinda whiney
OLDER FAVORITES
1. Nickel Creek "NICKEL CREEK" FAVORITE TRACK(S) #2 The Lighthouse's Tale and #3 Out Of The Woods
released 2000
This cd is all blue grass but you dont have to like blue grass to LOVE this cd.
2.Coldplay "PARACHUTES" FAVORITE TRACK(S) all
OLDEST FAVORITES
1.Taj Mahals "GREATEST HITS'
2.Keb Mo "JUST LIKE YOU"
3.John Lee Hooker "BEST OF FRIENDS"
4.J.J. Cale "THE VERY BEST OF"
5.Dire Straits "DIRESTRAITS"
ALL TIME FAVORITES
1. Anything Pink Floyd
2. Anything Robert Johnson
3. Anything Lightin Hopkins

You can hear snippits of any of these cds on the iTunes music store, or any other online music store probably.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITES????
TURN ME ON TO SOME NEW TUNES!!!!!!

Okay Brady, the Dallas station that I sometimes listen to that won't insult your intelligence is WRR on 101.1. Some tunes that should really turn you on are found in Holst's Planets with Mehta conducting the LA Philharmonic on Decca Eloquence 467 418. It's now in stock for about $8 at the Borders in Dallas at Spanish Village and on Preston, and also at the one in Mesquite. There's a whole world of great music out there waiting for you.

I've been wanting to get that Keb Mo SACD.

I would recommend these guys:

Jack Johnson- Brushfire Fairy Tales, ON and On.

Ben Harper- Fight for your Mind, Burn to Shine

Ben Kweller- Sha Sha, On My Way

Mason Jennings- Self-titled, Use Your Voice

Donavan Frankenreiter- Self-titled.

Josh Ritter- I forget the name of the CD, but it sounds pretty good from the BN samples. This will probably be my next purchase.

All of these guys are fans of each other and are awesome. I would recommend going to your local Barnes and Noble to try out these CD's on their server.

I'd recomend Narciso Yepes, Guitarra espanola, 5 cd set.
and Ayub Ogada, En Mana KUOYO, from africa.

Matt
Thanks! I have most of what you listed, with the exception of Donavan Frankenreiter and Josh Ritter.
I found Josh Ritter on iTunes and really liked the snippets I heard(reminded me of a folksy David Gray)
Couldnt find Donaovan Frankenreiter (what a mouth full)
I have everything Keb Mo has ever done and you cant go wrong with any of it , in my opinion.
If you ever get a chance to see him in concert, you'll love it.
I saw him at Bass Hall in Ft Worth doing an acoustic set and he was fantastic.
John-
I tuned in 101.1 and they were palying a piece that I played french horn on in high school. It was the first time I had heard it since then.
Makes me want to go out and buy a horn.
Thanks
Bray

No problem bray, always glad to spread the word on great musicians. Just don't spread the word too much, I don't want these guys turning mainstream...

Stuff that is awesome on my M60s:
David Sanborn - Songs from th night before (much better recording than other Sanborns I have).
Chet Atkins - Greatest hits
Chet Atkins & Mark Knopfler - (don't remember the title).
Skatalites - Balls of Fire
Shaggy - Hotshot
Bach - Concerto for 3 harpsicords in D minor. BWV 1063. (Particularly the Allegro; is that a well known masterpiece, John, or just something I like?)
Ottmar Liebert - Summer Flamenco
Arturo Sandoval - Trumpet Evolution (contains samples from many music genres and thus doesn't flow like an album should, but it still is awesome).
Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band - Dirty Pool
Junior Wells - Everybody's Gettin' Some

All of the above are particularly nice recordings as well as being good musically. The Bach came from a 3 cd set of harpsichord concerti, so you would have to really like the harpsichord to get that particular recording.
Cheers.

Mark
I'm going to get Narciso Yepes tomorrow. Thanks!!
Someone you may try is Pablo Ortiz . The one cd of his I have is called Andanzas. I picked it up when I was in Costa Rica, but so far havent been able to find him online.
Bray

P.S. I already feel like a kid in a candy store.

Hehe the only problem with these threads is I'd like ppl to sorta classify what type of music said musican is.

I'll add some electronic goodies to the list:

Apoptygma Berzerk
Armin Van Buuren (DJ)
Paul Oakenfold (DJ)
PPK
...so much more if anyone is into this genre

Mark, the triple harpsichord concertos are very highly regarded by baroque enthusiasts, especially those who're also harpsichord enthusiasts. And if three ain't enough, there's the quadruple, BMV 1065.

Probably a good idea to add the genre.
But who knows, we may find a genre we didnt even know we liked.
Bray

bray-

you think you got no radio stations in dallas?? try coming to san angelo for a weekend.. you will be ready to kill yourself. OK, here are some selections(with genre)

Los Lonely Boys-tejano/blues/rock.. these guys are one of the hottest tejano-fusion bands out there right now.. highly recommend.

jason mraz- acoustic/harmonies.. i dont know what genre this is?? the guy can sing and play awesome.. similar to jack johnson but better, i think..

allison krause & the union station- bluegrass.. their 2 disc live cd is awesome.. and its avail in sacd if you have those capabilities. great live recording.

joss stone- sexy blues.. this is a 17 yr old girl from australia.. i feel sinful just listening to her.. has a voice well beyond her years.

probot- metal/rock experiement.. this is a project album from dave groehl(nirvana, foo fighters, queens of the stone age).. anyway, dave plays drums and guitar with a large variety of other guitar players and lead singers.. if you were a fan of 80's speed metal, then this is the album for you.. guest singers include lemmy from motorhead, king diamond from merciful fate, and mike dean of C.O.C.

thats just a few.. hope you try some..

bigjohn

If u like Blues
Mighty Sam McClain
" Keep on Movin"
" SledgeHammer Soul an Downhome Blues "
" Soul Survivor ( Best Of ) "
They are recorded on the Audioquest label so they are recorded very well

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up their bigjohn. I forgot Jason Mraz on my list and he is great, but lets not get carried away here. He is not better than Jack Johnson (although you are entitled to your own opinion).

Dammit! Those stupid icons didn't work. wink

player8-

i have had the pleasure of seeing both of them live, and that has a lot to do with my recommendation.. its one thing for an artist to sound good in the studio, its totally different if they can do it live on stage.. the jason mraz show was much better than jack johnson to me. not that jack was bad, just jason was better. plus, the guy is extremely musically talented.. during his concert he played the guitar, the bass, the banjo, the harmonica, the drums, and the piano.. i have a lot of respect for that..so, that is why i feel the way i do..

and yes, i am entitled to my own opinion.. so are you

bigjohn

How do you do the icons?

it wont make your system shine but the new- velvet revolver cd- rocks...ron

go here to learn how to do faces..

basically, you just have to put[ ] around your face type.. example.. frown, put inbetween [fr-wn], makes ..or tongue, [t-ngue] makes .. smile [sm-le] gets

easy!! later..

bigjohn

Here's a more obscure, eclectic list, that deserves to be heard:

Travis - Re-Offender
Jet - Cold Heart Bitch
Neil Finn - Try Whistling This
Wilco - I am trying to break your heart
Wallflowers - 3 Marlenas
Rosanne Cash - Western Wall
Radiohead - A Punch-Up At A Wedding
Neko Case - Deep Red Bells
Lyle Lovett - Bosque County Romance
Kronos Quartet - Piazzolla- Four, for Tango
Jayhawks - Madman
Franz Ferdinand - 40ft
Coldplay - Spies
Badly Drawn Boy - Silent Sigh
Chris Rea - Texas (Great Road Song)
John Hiatt - Perfectly Good Guitar
Patty Larkin - Pablo Neruda
Sarah Harmer - Basement Apartment

Enough for now

Do you have the Jet CD? I like the one song on the radio but am not planning on getting the CD based on that without hearing some more first.

bigjohn
Sounds like you and I have alot of the same music. The Allison Krause should have made my list, but there were just to many (favorites) to put down. Its the only sacd I own, however I dont have a sacd player.How do you like your Pioneer563A???
Is it a multi disc player?
Also, If you dont have that Nickel Creek cd in my list I really think you would love it. Allison Krause produced it. They are young bluegrass group that have been playing together since they were 6 or 7 years old.
bray

I got it a couple of weeks ago. It is definitely worth buying, there isn't a weak moment on the album. My only criticism is that they don't really know who they want to be when they grow up. One minute they are the Stones, then they are the Eagles, then Aerosmith, then they are The Beatles. At any rate, they are young and they sure sound like they are having fun. I'll bet they are great live. Highly recommended.

Thanks bray and bigjohn, just went and listened to Allison Krause samples at BMG. Very nice, I'm going to go check out Nickel Creek next. I used to listen to a bit of bluegrass on TV, but had no idea who anybody was.

Wifey heard me playing the samples and yelled out, "Who's that? I like THAT (implying she doesn't like all the other stuff I listen to)."

Oh yeah, more CDs:
Norman Brown - After the Storm (or something like that)
Loreena McKennitt - Book of Secrets (I reckon you would call it "New Age" but it has a deeply historic feel to me).

About Loreena, my then-friend/now wife turned me on to her when I was a sophomore in college. I was living with Ken (kcarlile) at the time and mostly listening to rock and metal. When we started listening to Loreena McKennitt, it threw a bunch of people for a loop.

I really like her richly textured, medieval, and worldly sound. She has a hauntingly beautiful voice, too. I have three of her CDs and all are great.

I would add ACDC to that list tinfoilhat. Some of the guitar licks sound very similar to them. But, the album is good.

jr

FYI You can do the icons with : (, , : ) (minus the spaces in between the chars) = , ,

- D

It can get really irritating if listened to on repeat though. We were breaking camp at the last SCA event we were at (Society for Creative Anachronism), and some bozo decided that it must be midieval music (hey, it's Celtic-oid!) so everyone in the camp must want to listen to the same freakin' song on repeat for 2 hours while packing their cars in the hot sun. Or maybe I'm just thin skinned...

Anyway, yeah, it's great stuff. I always enjoyed throwing people for a loop by loading the CDP with Metallica, NIN, Bela Fleck, Loreena, and Copland or something.

Anywho...
I recommend Bela Fleck - Perpetual Motion
It's a beautiful CD. classical music played extremely well on non traditional instruments (eg banjo, mandolin)

bigjohn, bray,
BMG only has Alison Krause live. How is that disc? I'm generally not a big fan of live recordings.

The Wherehouse had the disc you recommended for $18! I'll wait for it to go on sale or turn up used somewhere. Forgot about Nickel Creek. Did get a Dolly Parton Greatest Hits type disc, though - the wife was pretty happy with that one.

BigWill, that Alison Krauss CD is THE ONE to get. I have only heard the dual-layer SACD, but the CD layer is still a fantastic recording. It's one of the best sounding live CDs I've ever heard.

BigWill
I have both cds. Allison Krause "New Favorite" is the sacd I have and is probably my favorite of the two. The live one "Allison Krause+Union Station Live is also a great cd, and I'm usually not crazy about live cds either.
I saw an interview with Allison (on Austin City Limits I think) and they asked her why she had never done a live recording before
and she said " because we have to tune our instruments too often"
Anyway, I would recomend either, but I think "New Favorite" is my favorite.
Bray

Thanks bray and pmb, maybe I'll grab that live cd after all. BTW, bray is that your new signature or a message just for me?

New sig and a good rule to live by.

P.S.
Also the only bumber sticker I've found worthy of putting on my truck.

Yeah Dallas radio is pretty lame. I was in Chicago last weekend listening to my favorite radio station there , WXRT & they talked about their being the #1 station on AOL for Broadband radio. I don't know much about how to get AOL broadband radio, or how to get it thru my stereo, but it would be worth it to get some tasty tunes into DFW. XRT has a really diverse format - basically great (sometimes obscure) tunes from blues, jazz, rock, alt rock, folk genres. On one station you get some of my favorites - Lyle Lovett, Wilco, REM, Pat Metheny, John Prine, John Martyn, Stones, Van Morrison, Richard Thompson, Bruce Cockburn, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, and the list goes on. Would like to hear if anyone has experience w/AOL broadband radio ?

Two new discs that I suggest:

Los Lonely Boys (self titled)
Jamie Cullum - twentysomethng

Curtis
Thanks for the post.
Los Lonely Boys are killer!!!!!!
Someone turned me on to them about a month ago. I'm not surprised that they keep coming up on this thread.
I pulled Jamie Cullum up on iTunes, and really liked it, another one I'll have to get.
I'm almost sorry I started this thread, it has already cost me around $100.00 getting a bunch of GREAT music.
Bray

What I really like shopping for CD's nowadays is the ability to hear the disc before you buy it.

My local Barnes and Noble is killer. Not the greatest prices, but walk up to any of the listening stations, scan the disc you have in your hand, and you can hear clips from every track....it is great.

What did you buy, bray?

bray and bigwill-

been gone since friday, trying to catch up.. i would definitely suggest the allison krause 'live' cd.. it is avail in both regular cd, or sacd.. great recording, plus it is a 2 disc set, so lots of music to listen to.

bray, as far as my sacd(pioneer 563a) player.. i definitely like it. i know there have been some on this forum that have had probs with theirs, but i think that is a random thing with ANY electronic device.. but overall, when looking at 'bang for buck', i think you would be hard pressed to get a better deal.. are there better sacd players out there?? of course.. but can you find as good a player for $150, no way..

bigjohn

Quick update - Eloquence series CDs are on sale at JandR.com at about $6 each

Are you ignoring women? You have to add something for them - they need it most

David, thanks for the tip. Checking the site, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the sale price was actually $4.99. There are some outstanding buys in their list , including my favorite Planets . I'd also mention the Debussy, Rachmaninoff Concertos and Strauss Waltzes discs in particular. Anyone looking to start or expand their collection at very low cost might want to take advantage of this.

John, if you're not too busy, could you highlight a few more that I might like?
And these are likely to be good recordings, right?

Mark, besides the really outstanding Planets that I like best of the four that I have(and the other dozen or so that I've heard)and linked in the previous reply, the Debussy/Ravel collection, the Rachmaninoff 1&3 , the Rachmaninoff 2&4 , and Strauss Waltzes are ones I have and think that you'd enjoy. Preferences in performance differ, of course, but these compare with any and are sensational bargains at that price. Some if the others are also worthwhile if you'd care to try even more. I recall that about a year ago you were asking about Carmina Burana and the Dorati isn't one of my top favorites, but it's certainly worth the price.

Thanks, John, I ordered all of those discs you recommended.
I felt a little hesitant about the DeBussy and The Planets discs. I remember those DeBussy works as being interminably slow and quiet (but I was much younger then ) and I don't remember ever hearing The Planets.
I left the Carmina Burana off again. Maybe you can just burn O Fortuna for me and mail it out here? JK

Who was it that turned me on to Joss Stone?????
Holy sheep $h1t batman!!!! SHE IS FANTASTIC!
Thanks
Bray

LOVE Joss Stone. Can't wait till she has her own album. Last I heard Lenny Kravitz has her pegged for his album.

BTW, she's from the UK not Australia. I think much of the credit goes to the producers. ?uestlove from the Roots is an AWESOME producer and it helps that she gets to sing w/ Angie Stone. Those 2 people are, in my opinion, some of the best to come out of the Philly neo-soul scene.

Mark, the Planets disc is terrific and my top choice out of that list. The Debussy is rather quiet for the most part, but it's pretty music. Maybe I shouldn't have made such a lukewarm comment on the Dorati Carmina Burana; although it's not one of my 3-4 top favorites(out of maybe 20 that I've heard)it's good and since you still don't have one I think you should add it to your order if you can still do so.

John, I last heard DeBussy as a 19 year old college student who thought everything had to rock.

Considering the classical that I listen to now - mainly the Bach harpsichord concerti and Handel's Concerto Grosso No's 1,2,9,10 - I think the quieter music will probably be up my alley. I took Wagner out of the megachanger to make room for "Kids Classical Favorites" or something like that. Gettin' old, I guess.

Thanks for your help. I'll let you know how much play time these new discs are getting.

Art of Noise - The Seduction of Claude Debussy

I've totally loved the Art of Noise since I was a kid (they've been around since the very early 80s). This album is a very weird yet interesting look into the classic composer with a slightly newish electronic/smooth feel.

Big - quality is quite descent, I boght Holst, Chopin ( Argerich ) and after hearing those ordered whole bunch

I have a Chopin - don't care for it much. Occasionally beautiful piano melodies with long flurries of chaotic piano riffs. Seemed written for piano players rather than listeners.

You must have been listening to some Etudes, which Chopin composed as exercises. If that is the case, then your hunch is correct.

WOOHOO!! Thanks guys for all the classical recommendations. Since I've had my Axioms, I've slowly been trying to find a good list of classical cd's to try out. It's not like I haven't heard any of them before, but I just need to find the good recordings. Particularly, I know Rach(can't ever remember how to spell his name)'s concertos 1 - 3. I'd also like to find a few SACD's. I was listening to Porcupine Tree last week and the last track on In Absentia (Collapse the Light into Earth) has a huge string part that you can close your eyes and think you're in an huge concert hall; it's truly amazing. So I would like to see if there are a few classical recordings that have the same effect.

For the purpose of this thread, here's my list of good cd's. It's a mix of the styles I listen to so sorry if it's "out there".

Classical and Soundtracks:

Ray Sharp - Exaudio http://www.raysharp.com
Shine
Gatacca
K-Pax
Lord of the Rings

Jazz:

Scholohofo - OH!
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot
Jacques Loussier Trio - Baroque Favorites

Progressive Rock and others:

Nickel Creek (can't say enough about these kids)
Chroma Key
- Dead Air for Radios
- You Go Now
O.S.I. - Office of Strategic Influence
Transatlantic
- SMPTE
- Bridge Across Forever
Spock's Beard
- V
- Snow
Opeth - Damnation
Porcupine Tree
- In Absentia (DVD-A)
- Lightbulb Sun
- Stupid Dream
- Coma Divine (live)
Neal Morse
- Neal Morse
- Testimony
Iona
- Journey Into the Mourn
- Heaven's Bright Sun (live)
Pain of Salvation
- The Perfect Element
- 12:5
Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory

That should be enough "new" stuff for you guys.

The best thing I can reccomend is Jurassic 5. This is a six member hip-hop group. My friend turned me onto them and since then i've found a whole new world of music, in particular, the label "Quannum Projects" www.quannum.com. Jurassic 5 and everyone in the Quannum crew, are a great example of how rap doesn't have to be about gangstas, pimps and big cars. This stuff is really thoughtful and delivered excellently. Highly reccomend you check them out even if you don't like rap. Also Joyo Velarde, part of the Quannum crew, but she's more of a soul singer. Her song "people like me" is a good example.

Jason, I'm not familiar with In Absentia, so I'm not sure which type of effect you found so attractive. If some of the performers were actually placed discretely in the surround channels, there's almost no classical DVD-As/SACDs that do that. If on the other hand you were referring to the ambience of reflected sound that comes from the sides and back in a concert hall being reproduced from the surround speakers, yes that's what you get, but the effect is rather subtle. In fact it isn't greatly different from using DPLII(or your NAD's own process)to extract the ambience from regular CDs(to the extent that the mix contains it)and steer it to the surrounds. Of course, spacial qualities aside, you've noticed that I'm happy to make classical suggestions to help those wanting to explore.

Anybody else buy CDs based on another member's recommendation? I picked up 5 of the classical cds JohnK recommended and I'll grab an Alison Krause, Joss Stone, and possibly Nickel Back (sp?) soon.

The classical recommendations were very good, John. Thank you. I normally buy "whatever" - whatever's cheapest, whatever's newest, whatever's got the prettiest cover - when it comes to classical.

The only one that was probably a mistake was the DeBussy. The lack of an easily recognizable melody makes it more difficult to appreciate. And it has long quiet periods punctuated by some REALLY, REALLY loud crescendos. Makes everybody jump (not good with a 10 mo old). I've only played it once, during dinner - and had it turned up so we could hear it - when it practically blew over the high chair. On the plus side, it is a great recording.

The Rachmaninov Concertos 1&3 is a fantastic disc: well recorded, beautiful romantic music with great melodies. It sometimes has strong Russian flavor, but I get the feeling that I am listening to something timeless and special there. The wife likes it a lot. 2&4 I haven't listened to all the way through yet, but it doesn't seem to have the appeal of #1, in particular.

The Strauss Waltzes CD is probably the worst recording of the 5, but it is still very good. No glaring problems, just a little tape hiss at times. The baby seems to really enjoy the Blue Danube Waltz.

The Holst CD is great. Very dramatic. Excellent recording. "Mars" is very powerful, but the "Jupiter" segment is my favorite at the moment. Reminds me at times of Copeland (whom I don't really like) and at times of Ravel's "Bolero". Like the Racmaninov disc above, it has some inexplicable "perfect" quality about it that makes me think, "It don't get any better than this."

The end of BigWill's Hillbilly Classical Review.

Whever I hear Bolero, I feel sorry for the snare player. The sheet music for the snare consists of only a couple bars, repeated ad nauseum. I like the piece, and all, but anybody's wrists would be worn out by that.

Mark, glad that you(and the baby)are enjoying the music. Yes, since the Strauss Waltzes and Polkas were recorded over 40 years ago there sometimes is a bit of tape hiss, but Willi can sure conduct that stuff and I have several more of his Strauss CDs.

That Holst Planets with Mehta is typically my first suggestion to someone who isn't familiar with classical music, since it's about as sure-fire a CD as I know of.

Peter, you may misunderstand the recording technique used in Bolero. The drummer just plays for a couple of seconds and leaves, then when they do the mix they recycle it a few hundred times.

bigwill-if its that bluegrass band you are speaking of, its nickel creek, not nickel back.. nickel back is a heavy rock band.. they are not horrible, but certainly not blue grass!!

just thought i would clarify before you went and blew $20 bucks!

bigjohn

I bought several that were mentioned here, but the one that really stands out is Joss Stone. Wow what a great sexy voice. If she were in her 30s or even late 20s I would probably be her #1 stalker : ), but being almost 40 I guess its probably not a good idea.
Bray

That's right, bigjohn! Nickel Creek not effin' Nickel Back - they blow. BMG didn't have Nickel Creek available for sampling so it looks like I'm going to buy based on y'all's word alone. I'll send you the bill if they blow, too. JK

Hey Mark,

Amazon will let you listen to snippets. Click on any album, scroll down the page, and you'll find a track list where you can listen on Windows Media Player, or Real Player.

If you're already aware of this, NEVERMIND!

Mark
Be sure and get their 1st cd (self titled). I like the 2nd one, but the 1st one is far better.
Bray
P.S. If you dont LOVE it , you can send me the bill.
Bray