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The Hi-Fi Den

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Post by Seamus 7/26/2019, 6:12 pm

Hells yeah what a brilliant musician and composer. Mike is always on heavy rotation around our house.
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Post by Seamus 7/26/2019, 6:36 pm

And here is my Friday Selection Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain. Sure what can I say about this album its going to change your soul to listen to music like this. It floats it haunts, it carries you away to what you might think beautiful Spain is all about. It drifts through your mind and opens up rooms you never thought you had. Sit down a while and let it roll in.

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Post by Seamus 8/2/2019, 1:31 pm

Todays vinyl selection is one of the best jazz albums of all time and certainly one of Miles best albums. The playing on this album is sublime. If you are a horn player who thought they were good and you listen to Miles here you might just quit. The level of playing is exceptional. The spacing of the notes the pitch, the tone the silence between is pure genius. Canadian Gil Evans the arranger was a genius in his own right. What a combination.

Listen to this on a sunny afternoon when you want to relax and contemplate whats it's all about. Perfect soundtrack for that.

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Post by Seamus 8/3/2019, 4:44 pm

Tonights selection is Alan Parsons Tales of Mystery and Imagination. A delicious concept album based on the works of Poe. it practically writes itself. Oh when I was young and I discovered Prog Rock concept albums I thought was I was so cool so erudite so in the know. No simple music for this boy. Huge swaths of sound had to have a message a purpose a plot. "are you entertained" I would scream at my brain. Still love this stuff. Of course as was pointed out here 40 year old prog rock ain't so Prog but I would argue in a very circular fashion it may be more Prog now than it ever was.

But sit back dim the lights and listen for the scream of Arthur Brown as he sings The Tell-Tale heart. Sure, the majesty and nonsense of it all.

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Post by ghemrats 8/3/2019, 4:59 pm

You, Sir, are the connoisseur of Quality. I have never known someone whose musical tastes so perfectly mirror my own.

There is hope for the world. What a Face
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Post by Seamus 8/3/2019, 6:48 pm

High praise indeed... Jeff I am now listening to a medley of Larry Carlton playing through all the songs he played on. Love that mans fluid guitar. The Steely Dan catalog is killer. And he plays Miles Davis ... ah life is full of this type of joy.
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Post by Seamus 8/9/2019, 6:29 pm

Tonights selection is the Beatles Abbey Road. The Beatles are always in heavy rotation round my place. Got the boxed set of all the vinyl. Cost an arm and a leg but was worth it. The way the Beatles was supposed to be listened too.

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Post by ghemrats 8/9/2019, 6:37 pm

One of the best albums ever, Seamus. I still have my original vinyl from its day of release. Absolutely fantastic. I didn't think my estimation of you could rise any higher--wrong again.
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Post by Seamus 8/10/2019, 4:34 pm

Tonights selection comes from George Harrison. All Things Must Pass is a marvellous three LP wonder. It comes from a wealth of music that George couldn't get on to Beatles albums because the duelling egos of Lennon and McCartney were sucking up all the Oxygen in the room. Now I love the pair but they were unending pricks to Harrison.

I have long held the opinion that Paul McCartney is a talented prick. In an interview of the Beatles box set he said well John was a hot writer and I was a hot Writer and George was turning into a "nice little writer" quotes around this highlight the sanctimonious nature of those comments. Paul forgetting every second of those sessions were filmed and we can see you being a prick to George. Respect his talent but dear dog in interviews he is a prick to this day.

Now back to this beauty. I mean where to start? My Sweet Lord? Wah-Wah ?(my fave) Isn't it a pity? If not for you? (come on what an amazing song) What is Life? (Spector wall of sound is big behind this) The Almost Hawaiian melody of Behind that locked Door. I could go on for hours about this album. If its not in your collection "dude do you even collect"? Beware of Darkness acoustic version you can hear the Dylan influence on him here. The the electric version of same song. Love the indulgence. Apple Scruffs could have been on a Dylan album. Awaiting on you all sounds very Spector Motown.

The title track All Things Must Pass so refined a song to think some of these songs were rejected by Lennon and McCartney so they could get their often inferior songs on albums. Controversial? listen to this album and you tell me. The Clapton guitar on Art of Dying... yup you died and gone to heaven brother...Plug me in is so jamtastic... you think it was on a delta blues album. I remember Jeep could be on a BB King album. just sublime blues. Harrisons influences and playing styles so diverse. Thanks for the Pepperoni more Blues ala Chuck Berry I can see Chuck duck walking to this .... You listen to the guitar on Out of the Blue very Paul Butterfield influenced these are immense jam sessions pouring over with talent. Listen careful inside you hear strains the guitar style he used on Bulldog. The sax the pure blues vibe with a hint of funk under it.

I can't praise this album enough its gotta be top five on my list of must haves. I listen to this a lot I hear new things every time I listen its so diverse in style so enjoyable to listen. Its loose in places, tight in others like a good pair of jeans should be. I can hear the joy and happiness a artist who is free to pursue his own vision in here anyone else have impressions of this album to share?

Love, love, love this album.....

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Post by ghemrats 8/10/2019, 4:40 pm

Oh for sure, you are dead on, on all counts. I thought I was the only one who could not get enough of "Wah Wah." I bought this vinyl set when it first came out and nearly wore it out. George was an amazing artist, quite unsung. I have his monumental work *I Me Mine* and love that too. Keep up the great listening.
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Post by Seamus 8/10/2019, 4:48 pm

I am listing to it right now. An album that makes you happy. What a time to grow up in. Our house was filled with music morning noon and night. Mom let us play it loud she was happy to have us home instead of out on the streets being punks LOL. My record collection and music collection and all the guitars and instruments and amps I own ....dear lord you could buy a lovely house with the cost of it all. (Years of collecting folks, I already admitted I have a problem) My home now is filled with duelling sounds of my good stuff and the kids not so good new stuff LOL.... they do listen to lots of my stuff as I enforce the good music rule or no food.
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Post by Seamus 8/11/2019, 5:35 pm

Tonights selection at the Irish Hi-Fi Den is what we call an epic. There are some albums that are one off works of genius that are never followed up. Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds fits this category to a Tee. With narration by Richard Burton and synths designed especially for this 70's masterwork. Released in June of 1978 this rock opera took off and never looked back.

My brother and I were kids when we bought this album in 78 more for the Sci-Fi than the music but the music held us we actually wore this album down to a crackling mess and had to replace it.

It has so much going for it. Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues singing Autumn leaves. David Essex famous as a Brit heartthrob singer as the Artillery man. His crazy ideas about digging under ground. And Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy as clergyman Parson Nathanial. Julie Covington as his wife Beth. Spirit of Man, their dialog and song together so brilliant. Julies vocals are so good a highlight.

A delicious album, though get the original 1978 version. There are so many versions of this. Jeff Wayne I am sorry to say was a one hit wonder here and made so many returns to this. I can't take it. The original is brilliant forget the rest.

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Post by Bill_Atkins 8/13/2019, 6:39 pm

As I mentioned in another post, I am catching up on a lot of things and I got blown away by the posts in this thread that I missed.

Quick background: My MIL turned 92 a couple of weeks ago and moved into a residential facility AND willingly gave up her car. We headed north to Illinois and emptied the house. One 30 cubic yard dumpster, multiple trips to Goodwill and gifts to her friends and neighbors did the trick. The house sold for the asking price 3 hours after it was listed last week. No AT&T cell signal at her house so I was literally out of touch for awhile.

Now, on the the important stuff.
War of the Worlds played continuously in my first house after I brought it home. I got so much painting and work done while it was on that my first wife could not complain too much about having to listen to it over and over. And that was in 1978.

When I first put the Alan Parson's Project on the turntable, I turned the sound up and headed to the kitchen to start dinner. There is a track that has a thunderstorm on it and I ran outside to make sure my car windows were up. Was I embarrassed.

George Harrison's All Things Must Pass was the first album that I owned that I dragged friends to my apartment to hear. I remember telling them (perhaps somewhat inebriated) that there was so much more music on these 3 vinyl records to be enjoyed than the local radio stations would ever get to in a year. I converted a few and chased a few away. But damn, did that album open my ears.
Kinda funny when I think back on it as I have a dear friend from high school who introduced Elton John to me in the same manner - only he was sober.

That said, I am loving this thread. I have been introduced to a different Mike Oldfield, an album by Miles Davis that I was not aware existed (no surprise) and other musical pieces that I have missed, been unaware or just plain oblivious to their existence.

Thanks so much and please keep posting and sharing.

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Post by Bill_Atkins 8/13/2019, 6:51 pm

Now I have a question for you music lovers.

Is anyone familiar with Qobuz?

Here's the site:

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/music/streaming/offers

Apparently they have access to the original engineering tapes and you can down load albums or individual songs for a healthy monthly or annual fee.

The CD version and the Studio version are FLAC files and I have to believe that they sound better than Amazon or Apple Music. I am thinking about giving the 30 day free trial a run but before I do, I wanted to see what someone else's experiences have been. Would you recommend the CD version or the Studio version?  $20 and $25 respectively can add up quickly and I do listen to a lot of stuff over my phone so I don't know if I could even tell the difference between the two at my ripe old age.

So any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I may chew on this for a few more days ( I just discovered this site a couple of days ago by accident) and give the free trial a run. I just want to trial it when I have time to give it a good test and that is a problem for the next couple of months.

Let me know what advice and reviews you have.

Thanks,

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Post by Seamus 8/16/2019, 6:42 pm

First tonights musical selection then another post to discuss Bill's posts.

Now if you want music that is so filled with joy and an undercurrent of politics look no further than Fela Kuti and his amazing band Africa 70. This music will have you dancing no matter what you try to do to stop it. His music is so infectious. Fela was put in jail and tortured many times for speaking out against the Nigerian government. So political activist check amazing musician check.

Open and close is a glowing example of Afrobeat and it just takes the cake. The use of hammond B3 and drums and brass is just out of this world. so grab a listen look on youtube and stream it you will be moving with the beat in no time. As you all know the Turbaned one knows how to shake his booty to this type of beat bounce

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Post by Seamus 8/16/2019, 6:51 pm

Bill looked at Qobuz and yes thats a costly streaming service. Couple of things about that. You are streaming the music not downloading unless you pay the 299 per year and you get discounts on the downloads. I would say nix the streams I want to download the flac files and play them as often as I want. Streaming those quality files means you need a network connected receiver so you are playing them through quality sound system. Be useless to stream to computer speakers unless you have say a nice bose setup on your computer. They list DAC's you can buy. Yamaha make a lovely but expensive Network receiver that can handle this quality of streams. For this cost i will be sticking to vinyl played through my nice setup.

Not to say this is not grand but the price per month for streaming is over the top in my book unless you are playing through quality equipment you will never hear the difference over a good CD. Certainly not a 180g vinyl LP played on nice kit.

my 2cents.
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Post by Seamus 8/16/2019, 6:55 pm

Great shares on the music Bill. These are great pieces of music and so evocative. Music is the great memory encoder. It reinforces memory. Every song I play I can remember the first time I heard it or what I was doing (caveat this is GOOD music I cannot remember what I was doing say when a boy band came on the radio. Maybe attempting to crash the car to make it stop) But I am enjoying this thread and my musical journey as I find new vinyl and uncover old friends along the way.

Thanks for sharing...
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Post by Bill_Atkins 8/16/2019, 7:58 pm

Seamus,
Thanks for the feedback on Qobuz. I did finally figure out that I had to drop more money than I wanted to buy the music. So I am not going down that path.

I think I will put this on hold for now and see how excited I am about it in 3 to 4 weeks. Then, if I am really committed, I can d/l the FLAC files. But most likely I will just say the heck with it and put my hard earned dollars towards buying more vinyl and skip Qobuz entirely.

Thanks again for the feedback.

And yes, I agree. Music is a great memory encoder. More so, albeit  slightly, than the first time I read a really good book. There are books and stories that can take me back to where I was and how I could not let the book out of my hands. Say for example, the Foundation Trilogy. And yes, it is three books...Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes  

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Post by Seamus 8/24/2019, 6:30 pm

Tonights selection comes from my good friend Robert Seger better know to you as Bob Seger. Ah the memories up on fire lake. Or down on main street. Bob is just a story teller. I love this era of singer/songwriter. They write a slice of memory a point in time. I grew up in those small towns. When we left Ireland we arrived in 1970's Canada. In most ways like the America Bob sings about. You listen to Bob you are transported to those care free days when we thought the weight of the world was upon us. We couldn't know we were living the best life. The hot summer nights down on main street. Riding our bikes down to the A&W, Mom and Dad waiting at home the bustle of life going on unfettered from the life that was yet to come. Comic books and soda sitting, bikes on the grass, me reading Superman my brother Batman and Daredevil. Then cars and Motorbikes that sweet freedom of your first car. All these feelings, these stories all captured perfectly by Bob. I never tire of him.

This selection is a radio only promo that came in a big box of LP's I bought for 5€ all came with stands and info for the radio DJ to announce on the radio. Rare as hens teeth and the luck of things you can sometimes find when you're not even trying.

Grab a Bob Seger album put it on close your eyes and remember what is was like to be only worried about what comic you might buy or what new LP. No bills to pay, no work no real worries.

Come with me as we Turn the Page.....

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Post by Seamus 8/31/2019, 11:06 am

Todays vinyl pick is an old friend found again in crate search of old vinyl at the charity shop. America's debut album. But the 1972 reissue that had "Horse With No Name" included. Other gems like "I Need You" stand out. The harmonies and acoustic guitars make this folk rock a gem. I have a lot more America on vinyl but nice to find this reissue gem.

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Post by ghemrats 8/31/2019, 12:55 pm

Bob Seger is a hometown hero around here, Seamus. I remember quite vividly sitting in the front yard of our small first apartment a little past our honeymoon, listening to Bob performing at my old high school stadium a mile down the road.  He was as clear as though we were in the stands.

That was in Bay City, Michigan in late August, 1978. He was in his prime, and the audience went wild.  I think I'm going to Katmandu just to live that day all over again.

Until then, here's what's on my turntable today, fresh from Amazon.


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Post by Seamus 8/31/2019, 5:14 pm

Big fan of Sheryl Crow. I like story tellers. Like Bob Seger who tells slices of life. Sheryl is a super talent and great at live concerts. Duets looks good. Big fan of St. Vincent so interested to hear that. Of course Willy and Kris are gold. And Johnny even after death he is doing duets thats talent.
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Post by Seamus 9/21/2019, 11:13 am

So I meant to post this after I heard that Ric Ocasek died but got busy and it got put aside. So here in all its glory is tonights hot wax spinning on the deck at the manor. The Cars 1978 self titled debut album that basically is hit after hit. I was in high school the hair was high the attitude crisp... the world was ours for the taking. Ric and that quirky voice the synth driven sound with punchy guitar.

Absolute fave track "Moving in Stereo" it's an anthem of the era. You cannot play this track without remembering the birth of MTV and the cars and their avant-garde videos in heavy rotation.

In my constant wonder about life and as I grow older I think life is the good times between the losses. So grab onto all the good you can as life is voracious its coming for all of us.

I love this album its a shame it was called to duty tonight because one of its creators passed on. Sigh.......

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Here they are live before all the fame look hold. 1979 in England for Rock the College. They sound so good live.



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Post by ghemrats 9/21/2019, 2:02 pm

Amen. Ho ho ho it's magic.
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Post by Seamus 10/4/2019, 1:28 pm

Tonights vinyl selection is the breakthrough to mainstream album from Blondie. Evolving from their punk roots into more mainstream pop and of course the explosion of fame and pressure that puts on them. Band went through lineup changes members were angry and the music rolled on.

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