Ear Candy: Most startling recordings.


OK, we all respect great musical talent and muscianship, but sometimes you put in a CD and you get one of those startling zany recordings that make you smile it is so strange. Some of Neil Young's stuff is kind of like that. Alot of Pink Floyd is like this. Sounds racing across the sounds stage, shifting mike position in mid recording. What are your favorite "ear candy" recordings?
issabre
Momentary Lapse of Reason 1a/1a DMM masterdisk release(smokes MFSL)
Bill Connors/Jan Garbarek/Gary Peacock/Jack Dejonette on ECM vinyl
Pat Metheny "American Garage" on Geffen vinyl
Billy Eckstine sings with Benny Carter on Verve vinyl
Nina Hagen Unbehagen on japanese Epic vinyl
Ashkenazy plays Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3 on Super Analogue vinyl (Japan)
David Sylvian Secrets of the Bee Hive on Virgin vinyl
Dead Can Dance Anastasis SACD
Police Synchronicity vinyl with female breast on cover
Ry Cooder Jazz on german vinyl
But I love to do that Ebm!:)

I just must recommend one of the best albums I've heard..
Tord Gustavsen Trio "Being there"
If you are just so slightly into jazz.. this is beautiful..
something of it's own!
For the audiophile its wonderful!
They throws up a great deep soundstage with great details and beautiful
3D layers on a quiet background!
Don't remember where it was recorded, but it sounds like they are in a castle or a chatedral or something like that!
One of my favorites... maybe THE favorite!
But I love to do that Ebm!:)

I just must recommend one of the best albums I've heard..
Tord Gustavsen Trio "Being there"
If you are just so slightly into jazz.. this is beautiful..
something of it's own!
For the audiophile its wonderful!
They throws up a great deep soundstage with great details and beautiful
3D layers on a quiet background!
Don't remember where it was recorded, but it sounds like they are in a castle or a chatedral or something like that!
One of my favorites... maybe THE favorite!
Thanks for reviving this thread.

Black Dub - Black Dub
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
Paradise Cafe, Barry Manilow...ok, I'll wait while the laughing subsides.
On first listening, it's a group of well done songs, and if you like Barry, great singing.
Then, after listening, I started to notice that the cuts sounded as if they were done in a venue such as a 'real' paradise cafe. A brick wall behind the performers, the kind of room that so many Jazz clubs seem to have.
Then, (no acohol was involved) I listened more intently, and with variations on that theme I know I heard the venue.
So if you like, Sassy Sarah, Mel Torme, Jerry Mulligan, Mundel Lowe, and too many other greats to mention, grab a copy--hours of listening fun--almost a musical 'time machine'. The genius of this album was probably never appreciated because it was Barry.
You won't regret the purchase.

Good Listening,
Larry
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

Keith Jarrett - Spheres (solo improvisations on a pipe organ)

Les Paul & Mary Ford - I just have their greatest hits and Lovers' Luau on vinyl. Total ear candy and WAY ahead of its time.

Talking Heads - Remain In Light - A mind-bending recording you can dance to.

Classic dub (Lee "Scratch" Perry, King Tubby, etc...) also gets me every time. Those guys made the most amazing sounds with some really basic equipment.
HDCD's if you haven't heard them

Persuasive Percussion - the original Enoch Light Varese Vintage CD. Terry Snyder and the All Stars. It's full of surprises and variety of instruments on nearly all 18 tracks.

Beatle's DVD-A "LOVE" is so clean it's startling.
Here's a few on CD
Music from the Hearts of the Masters-Jack Dejohnette and Foday Musa Suso
Reinhard Flatishler and Mega Drums-Layers of Time
Master of Chinese Percussion-Yim Hok-man (K2HD)
Startling dynamic ear candy
Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan
Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
White Album - The Beatles
REFERENCE RECORDINGS ! Fantastic sound. Crown Imperial gives me goose bumps nearly every listen.
Anything on Reference Recordings! I got the bug for wind orchestra music through their recordings of the Dallas Wind Ensemble.

8^(
Pops:
Bob Dylan "Time out of Mind"

byegolly:
Still the best - "The Freewheeling Bob Dylan"
Agree with Dead Can Dance, and last night Michael Bubble was performing personnaly "Fever" in our living room
Dead Can Dance has been mentioned, another Australian group, Paradise Motel is also worth looking up. Haunting vocals, Hammond organ and strings on Derwent River Star (from "Flight Paths") are a favorite test of extension, control and resolution.

on "Deadicated", the Indigo Girls cover of Uncle Johns Band is gorgeous. A good cd to go auditioning with, all pretty good recordings with Elvis Costello, Dr John, Suzanne Vega, Cowboy Junkies, Spearhead, Los Lobos, Midnight Oil, Janes Addiction.
What still gets me is Pink Floyd's Ummagumma. Grantchester Meadows and Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict. Hold on to your hats!
Radiohead Amnesiac. Will reduce most speakers to wimps with more curveballs than a drunken pitcher.
Hans Theesink Sounds of the Southland is excellent as are the two latest recordings by Ray Bonneville, Roll it Down and his newest Goin' by feel
Agree, the Venus 24 bit cd's are extraordinary, as are the MPS, both of which are available through Red Trumpet. Some of the best redbook sound I've heard.
If your a jazz person than try to find some of the Venus 24 bit CD's of folks like Archie Shepp and a whole slew of other artists.These digital recordings are also pressed into vinyl and are superb.They show the potential of the red book standard.Also Mappleshade recordings.Get Clifford Jordan "Live at Ethyl's"It's spooky-like you are there hearing everything!
Lost Highway soundtrack (sounds HUGE), Delirium Kharma (layers upon layers of eastern influenced trance), Anything by Ottmar Liebert (contains elements that are almost subliminal), and Steve Vai's Ultrazone (extremely well recorded weirdness).
Try "Sao Paulo Confessions," by Suba on Six Degrees. Great system workout--Brazilian jazz fusion, funk dance, for lack of a better description. Excellent recording. Also, anything by Yello, the Swiss pair who made their name in the 80s. Their stuff is some of the most listenable techno that was ever cut. Again, excellent recordings, technically.
KLAATU/ KLAATU, fun album. Well recorded with some interesting effects for its time. TG
Bob Schneider's Lonelyland-a few throwaways, but many excellent tunes, as unique as songwriters get. '2002' is poignant.
Brook Williams-Little Lion an incredible recording.Jennifer Knapp(I think)I'm not sure of the title(I'm at work)she has an awesome voice,and its well recorded.(be careful its Christian Rock,but you wouldn't know it)
One of my recent purchase : White blood cells by the white stripes. Great classic rock sound, lyrics, singing and recording for an indy label- for 8.99$ at Tower? a steal
I should have come into this thread earlier. I have a nomination that (probably) few of you have even heard, but an absolute piece of art musically and recording wise.

The release was in 1976, by bassist Charlie Haden, who recorded eight duets with musicians whom he admired titled "Closeness Duets," on A&M Horizon.

The recordings feature Charlie Haden with Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman, Alice Coltrane and Paul Motian. The cut titled "OC" is stunning, and has an unbelievable piano and string bass portion that stuns me every time I listen to it. My copy is on LP, but I believe it is available on CD as well. The quality of the CD is an unknown to me.
I just recently heard Trent Reznor's remix of Curve's 'Missing Link'. I am guessing some phase alterations were implemented because it sounds like there is a third and fourth speaker 15' to either side of you. The sound is not encompassing per se; there is a large spatial break between the simultaneously occurring sounds. Because of my musical tastes, I have heard some strange 'candy', but this one is the king. It's like someone is standing in front of you, talking, and at the same time, whispering in your ear (but from a far).
lou reed's blue mask may not be startling, but it is truly amazing. i listen to the german lp, or the japanese cd. the soundstage, two guitars, an amazing bass, and drums are swirling all around you. this is lou's best.
Soundtrack to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (try tracks 4 and 9). Amazing stuff.
John.

Big Star - #1 Record/Radio City

Both of these are excellent records in their own right. They were packaged together on one CD, which I believe is still in print and constititutes, in my opinion, an embarrassment of riches. Weird, melodic, whimsical, poignant, and sonically beautiful, this record continues to delight and amaze me every time I play it. Although Big Star is often credited with founding power pop, I find that their catalog is impossible to categorize. Their third and final studio album, Sister Lovers, is also startling.

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LISTEN UP!!! Must try Sting "Soul Cages" track 1 and 7 and 9- actually they are all pretty darn good!! Recorded well...Q Sound also. This one is a little different from other Sting CD's...his Dad had just died and he was brooding a bit.
OK- Try this- make sure you have 20 minutes of NO interuptions....turn the lights low...asume the sweet spot position...a little more gain (volume) than usual...Start with Track 1, enjoy, move to #7...and get lost in that one....then immediately click to Track 9, hang tight, and wait for the last few seconds...it may be startling!
Go get it and let me know what you think!!!
A recording that I keep coming back to is the Charlie Watts Jim Keltner Project. A collection of out of hand percussion, along with acoustic and electronic instrumentation that combines jazz, techno, and African rhythms into a wild and thoroughly enjoyable body of music. Not every piece is great, but all are interesting and a few are simply outstanding.
- Vincent Cortois,Translucide (Enja 9380 2) Shockingly realistic cello attack, lots of subtle decay as well. The occasional guitar feedback and loop effects are gritty, but delicate and obviously very carefully put together. The trombone flatulence and tuba work provide some pretty arresting sonic contrasts w/ out ever getting real chaotic.

- Jackie King, Moon Magic (Indigo Moon FF7001 2) Takes a bunch of standards (all w/ the word moon in the title) and somehow manages to keep any of them from sounding cliched. Incredibly vibrant Tal Farlow like sound (all instrumental). Great bass playing too. Not macaroni and powdered cheese and even Kenny G's mom would probably like it.

- Some of you guys gotta check out Glen Moore, Nude Ascending Bass (Intuition 3192 2). The adrenaline jolts you'll get from some of the bowed bass work will make you fear for your speakers well being. It's musically great too some parts will definitely playback in your head and give you something to chew on when your not in front of your stereo.
This thread seems to have veered off course, from zany sounds to good sounds, so I'm gong to mention a cd that is startling in a different way, Rodney Crowell's "The Houston Kid."

I cant write the music, but imagine not being able to get this little ditty out of your head, imagine walking around singing this to yourself (sung by a man): "Turning tricks on Sunset - Twenty bucks a pop - Some out of town old businessman or an undercover cop - I'm living with the virus flowing way down in my veins - Oh, I wish it would rain - I know you've heard my story - Or seen me on the street - Just another cracker gigolo - Dressed up like trick or treat . . ."

Or the next song, about a twin whose brother comes home to die: "I used to cast my judgments like a net - All those California gay boys deserve just what they get - Little did I know there would come a day - When my words would come back screaming like a debt I have to pay - Lean on me I'll be strong you're almost free it won't be long - Wandering boy"

I have never been particularly sympathetic to the sort of characters depicted in these lyrics, but am absolutely stunned by the emotional impact these songs and the whole cd have had on me. I've played it more than any other album or cd I have in the last few months. (The other songs do not have gay characters, just abusive drunken fathers, suffering mothers and kids growing up.)

Paul
Jacintha's two CDs on SACD are just amazing. Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" is also one of my very favored.
Try Jacitha "Here's to Ben" on FIM label (also Autumn Leaves by Jacintha on FIM). Superb--the best recording ever!! Also "Amused to Death" Roger Waters and Allison Krauss "Forget About It" Also all Burmester test discs.
Thanks for the info. I think (but am by no means sure) that it is the gigue fugue in which you can hear the image move during the recording. I wish to heck I could remember where I got the scuttlebutt on that recording. I know it had something to do with the fact that Fox was pretty old and sick at the time and was running out of steam on the retakes. Apparently, somebody quietly picked up a mike stand and moved it some distance while he was playing. Takes a pretty good system to hear it but I'm sure you can find it if you want to invest the time. You can't miss the wrong note in the pedal in the Widor.

Will (feeling wistful for vinyl)
bishopwill: the lp is called "virgil fox-the fox touch, volume two". it was released in 1977 by crystal clear records. i'm lookin' at a m/m copy of this disc as i type. haven't heard it in a while. think i'll crank up the compressor and get my analog rig goin' tonite. -cfb
I no longer have the vinyl nor can I remember the label but it was a direct-to-disc recording by Virgil Fox. On one of the tracks you can actually hear the engineer move one of the microphones while Fox is playing. There are also a couple of police sirens and an odd pedal note that was later revealed to be a garbage truck moving a dumpster outside the cathedral in Atlanta.

You can also hear an incredible blooper when he stomped(yes, Fox stomped) the wrong pedal in the Widor Toccata.

Will
One of my most recent discoveries is the Persuaions singing Frank Zappa. I don't have it as yet but what I've heard is beautifully strange!
He messes around in the studio quite a bit, from making recordings sound like they are being played on a Gramaphone to simply great recordings like the bluegrass cuts with the Del McCrory (s.p.?) Band. Wish I could afford to hear the title cut off Transcendental Blues on a big rig with Dunlavy SC VI's or the like. Anyone heard this track played on such a system?
1. Shelly Manne & Jack Marshall - "Sounds Unheard Of"
Acoustic guitar and percussion on Analogue Productions vinyl.

2. Mikey Hart - "Dafos" (whole CD/LP)
Unreal percussion and sounds. Eerie kind of stuff. So far outside the speakers it's in your neighbors yard. Especially when he/they start using non-drums to make percussion sounds in the right side of the soundtsage. Banging metal pipes and stuff. A whole lot of fun.

3. Dianne Schuur - "Somewhere over the Rainbow". From her "Music in Me" CD. Breathtaking acapella, center stage, brings a smile to my face and goosebumps every time it's played. First cut I placed on my test CD. Ear candy in a different way.

4. Isley Brothers 12" "Eighth Wonder of the World". Talk about sounds all over the place. Especially the jamaican influenced dub mix. Un-freaking real percussion and Ernie Isley on guitar moving all over the place all the time.