Entertainment For Lively Minds
Your vinyl recommendations please
Posted by Nick Duvet on 10 February 2011 - 9:05pm.
It is many years since I last put a vinyl LP on a record deck. But having just acquired a turntable I went out yesterday and bought some albums. There's an excellent second hand emporium nearby and with the half hour I had to browse, I picked up the following:
Troubadour - JJ Cale
The Hissing of Summer Lawns - Joni Mitchell
Wind & Wuthering - Genesis
Show Some Emotion - Joan Armatrading
Boston - first album
Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws - Bruce Cockburn
So, vinyl fans, what are the albums that really stand out for you as an audio experience?
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Loadza vinyl
Meet - Danny Wilson
Graceland - Paul Simon
Famous Blue Raincoat - Jennifer Warnes
but for the ultimate vinyl hit ... and readily displaying my Prog roots:
Godbluff - Van der Graaf Generator
I like the range of your taste
VDGG, interesting. And if I see a copy of Pawn Hearts, I might get that too.
VDGG
Barbican
March 27
Indeed!
Beer beforehand?
Here's a handful of my vinyl favourites
Jimmy Reed - any of the Charly albums
The Stooges - Fun House
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St
MC5 - High Time
Neil Young - Zuma
The Fabulous Thunderbirds - 1st LP
Jimi - definitely
I need a new copy of EL. For the way the guitar jumps out on 1983....in a way it just doesn't on the CD
The Blue Nile
'A Walk Across The Rooftops' I can personally attest to the sonic quality of this album on vinyl, and I imagine that 'Aja' by Steely Dan would sound wonderful, come to think of it all of their records would sound terrific.
I had all the Steely Dan records on vinyl
up to Gaucho. ABC Records was the label and the quality of vinyl was pants. Every platter was so lightweight that I remember that my copy of 'Can't Buy a Thrill' kinked at the edge when pulling it off the spindle and I thereafter had to weigh down the tone arm just to overcome the speedbump.
Just check that the reissues you buy are of decent weight.
I'm a big fan of the Dan
I have the 'Citizen Steely Dan' boxset and to be honest the sound quality is damn good. Denny Dias is on record as saying it represents the best reproduction of the original recordings he has heard.
I take your point about the quality of pressings. I well remember how thin some of my vinyl albums were in the 70s.
My 'Dan stuff on vinyl was great.
And sounded a lot better than the original releases on CD. Dreadful mastering. The remastered ones were better but Katy Lied, with all the associated post-Dolby sound gremlins, still sounded better to me on vinyl.
They're still upstairs for when I get my Special Room with a Special Stereo featuring the holy Sondek/Ittok/Troika trinity.
New Boots and Panties
works better on vynyl, you just know it was never meant to be perfect.
Vinyl
Since I've started re-buying vinyl, I've noticed that I really favour certain genres over others. While I'm happy to continue most most types of music on CD, all my vinyl purchases have been soul & r&b, African music and jazz. And I've no idea why.
One exception: if anyone has the Battles album Mirrored on vinyl, I'll pay well.
Nothing better than the warm, deep, rich
sound of those original Blue Note, Verve and old soul LPs.
Especially if it's rainin' outside, baby.
Hefty slabs of ver Dan
Mobile Fidelity brought out relatively heavy weight half-speed mastered versions of both Aja and Katy Lied. They are pressed on virgin (as opposed to recycled) vinyl and the sound from MF albums can be breathtaking. Many of the problems associated with the vinyl experience can be put down to the dire quality of the vinyl used; I believe it was (is?) illegal to use the unrecycled stuff pretty much anywhere other than Japan.
With regard to the Mobile Fidelity pressings, Crime of the Century, Close to the Edge, Court of the Crimson King, Night and Day (Joe Jackson) and particularly Aimee Mann's Lost in Space are all worth getting hold of.
Night and Day
I'd add to Topjukes's recommendation of "Night and Day" to avoid the original (ie non-Mobile Fidelity) UK pressing. Thinnest record I've ever owned, and tinny-sounding to boot.
Most of the above
The Dan, old blues, Hendrix, etc. But two great albums which never made it to CD in good shape were:
Bat out of hell - Meatloaf
Hot Rats - Frank Zappa
Also, if folky is your bag, you can now get "Penguin Eggs" by Nic Jones on vinyl again. A perfect record by a proper cult figure
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Penguin-Eggs-VINYL-Nic-Jones/dp/B00243EYT4
If you stumble across...
any Decca classical LP's with the catalogue number SDD ### they are worth a punt. They are reissues of the sought after and often expensive Decca SXL series and can sometimes be found for a pound or two. The early stereo classical pressings from EMI and Decca still sound astonishing and certain audiophiles will tell you they have yet to be bettered.
Seeing as you've already got one good Joni...
I'd have to recommend 'Hejira'- if you can find it.
Sounds so much better than the CD.
Plus, not insignificantly, it is one of the best records ever made.
it's on the shopping list for sure
as is Don Juan, which was the best sounding of all her 70s records
Yes
lovely
found a good vinyl copy of Hejira
so tick that one off
just invested in a record player
Will collect it on Saturday and will be playing my old vinyl heavy metal albums this weekend. lets see, i'll probably start with Black Sabbath "Heaven and Hell" and maybe give "Rainbow Rising" a spin too.
I've also kept my original Led Zep IV in a plastic cover for 30 years. Almost scared to put it on a turntable in case I'm bewitched by "oh my sweet satan" backwards on Stairway to Heaven.
To start
I would start with Black Sabbath, the title track from the very first album. Cranked up loud, that has to sound good on vinyl. I'm tempted to go and get it myself...
Paranoid sounds noticeably contained in comparison
I have Led Zep III still, with the dial cover, but not 4, so that goes on the list.
Loving this
Thank you for your recommendations so far. I am really enjoying listening to my new record player thingy. I just played a mint copy of the 1975 Warner Brothers Music Show sampler (it was 59p so I bought two - I wore out the other one). Amazing. I need to get some more Graham Central Station.
Please keep the recommendations coming
There's already been some cracking suggestions here
But don't forget the impulse buy.
When you head to the record shop with a list of must-haves, you should always take a punt on some odd album for some odd reason. It might be an amazing cover, it might be a band you've never heard of, or it might be because it's 1p and you feel sorry for it. Leafing through racks of tiny CDs never gives the same thrill as pullling out an album with stupendously good (or bad) cover art and some bonkers sleevenotes. An unexpected pleasure is always sweeter than an anticipated one.
Turntable
I stil lhave my old Duel turntable up and working and use it regularly, but due to larger house I could do with a second one. Any reccos in the 300 quid budget?
Ta
Shopping for "New", you
Shopping for "New", you won't go too far wrong with Southend-on-Sea's finest - Rega.
The RP1 gets very good feedback. Virtually no features beyond what's needed, and it's a case of lifting the platter off to manually move the drive belt to a different sized pulley to switch from 33 to 45.
Round about £220-£230 or so, but if you wanted to, it's more than capable of holding a much better cartridge than the one that's supplied, and will give a good jump in performance.
-However-
You'll get a lot more tt for that money if you do some "Old", Twang. Vinyl's not a new technology, so look back for when it was the primary medium, and there are loads of very good tts available second hand (pre-loved) that would cost a bomb if they were being made today.
Loads of people are asking me nowadays about what turntables to buy (mostly because I never got rid of mine and I kept an occasional eye on what's going on).
The mag often talks directly or obliquely about vinyl, buying records, the sleeves, the ritual, the artwork in both print and on podcast(Sir Dwight's feature this month being notable), which must tempt people to either give it a go, or dip their toe back in.
Everyone must have noticed that a lot of albums - new albums - are offering vinyl as a purchasing option, so there's interest there.
Maybe they (the mag) could do a one off feature like they used to for iPod stuff back in the early cretaceous period.
At that price
I'd be inclined to have a look at the Project Debut iii turntable. They go for about £280. You will need an amp though.
Yeah, but I've had bad
Yeah, but I've had bad experiences with Pro-jects in the past, poor quality control, and not great sound either, so I didn't mention it.
Nothing but upsides on my Rega experiences.
As always though, YMMV.
Bring out your
dub. Get some dub and reggae going. It's the only way to listen to it in my house.
Max Romeo - War Ina Babylon
King Tubby
Dynamite compliations
Prince Far I
I want to be at home right now soaking it up.
Things that sound great on
Things that sound great on record:-
Bryter Layter - Nick Drake
Dare - Human League (no, really)
First Take - Roberta Flack
Solid Air - John Martyn
The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
The Man Machine - Kraftwerk
Great Thread
When I started getting into music and CDs were pretty new, there were a few albums which were always played to demonstrate the sound quality of CD players (and amp/ speakers of course).
I specifically remember
Famous Blue Raincoat;
the Nightfly;
Gaucho;and
others which other that will come back to me soon.
"Made for CD" is a phrase I heard banded about in hi-fi shops and in friends' houses'who had better set-ups than me.
Funny that albums are now featuring on a vinyl recommendation list.
Reasonable proof of the quality and popularity of the music I think.
Four that spring to mind are:
'The Hunter' - Jennifer Warnes - often used to demonstrate vinyl equipment at hi-fi trade fairs.
The first 'Stealers Wheel' album: listen to "Late Again" and wait for the bass and drums entry in the second verse.
'Keeper Of The Flame' - Delbert McClinton - listen to the hi-hat playing on 'Two More Bottles Of Wine'
'Never Die Young' - James Taylor - great production and Leland Sklar's bass playing is there in all it's simple glory.
lee Sklar
There's an excellent extended interview with Lee Sklar on the Musicast podcast - worth hearing if the West Coast musos are your bag. He talks a lot about the Carole King/James Taylor tour etc.
http://www.insidemusicast.com/
Many thanks, Mr T.
I'll check it out. I've always been a fan of the Sklar/Kunkel combination: deceptively simple, laid back, and rock steady.
Sklar
Can I further the recommendation by suggesting you go back through the archives and also download the two-part interview he did with the same people around 5 years ago? (It's accessible through iTunes. Don't know about anywhere else.)
In fact, just go through and download anybody that takes your fancy. There's some great material in there.
For me
Beck - Sea Change - The MFSL vinyl (as mentioned above) is absolutely outstanding. It's expensive though, sealed ones turn up from time to time on ebay.
Nick Drake - Pink Moon. Available readily. The Island one. Sounds much better than recent 5 Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, although they're pretty good.
Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire De Melody Nelson - reissued fairly recently, but a fantastic sounding record. Thick cardboard, like Elton John talks about in this month's mag.
And, while you're at it, enjoy the sleeves.
Isaac Hayes - Black Moses, with fold out three ft picture of him - has to be seen.
The Wailers - Catch a Fire, the Zippo lighter one.
The Small Faces - Ogden's - Circular fold out
The Faces - Ooh La La - with the old chap with the wobbly mouth