This album was used two years ago by TAD to demo there speakers with the help of the producer of the album, who gave a very insightful background on the choices in the recording process and the mixing choices. Obviously the performance of Patricia Barber is also a highlight.
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I donât really do albums anymore but here are four tracks from my âBest of 2025â playlist that is work in progress (approx 8 tracks per month - I aim to have 99 tracks that I have become acquainted or reacquainted with by the end of the year). These are tracks that I particularly enjoy, which I think are well recorded and hopefully some of you enjoy some of them (or indeed the rest of the albums they are drawn from).
In the order of the images below the tracks are
Opera
(Sittin on) The Dock of the Bay - at times the audience are bit over enthusiastic but the recording and singing are superb.
This is a single, Yookie is the artist. Itâs a lot of fun and will get your woofers working.
Moving Away - much better than anything on Convergence, earthy with a tight groove.
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Iâve also heard one of her albums, Nightclub, during a Rega demonstration. If I remember correctly, it sounded very nice, rounded and rich. Voice was warm and very clear too.
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DvoĆĂĄk: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 âFrom the New Worldâ
MĂĄrquez: DanzĂłn No. 2
Estacio: Bootleggerâs Tarantella
Jean-Pascal Hamelin , Youth Orchestra of the Americas
Fidelio Music (Hi-Res)
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Braiding the Stories by Gaahls Wyrd
Really impressed with how well recorded the new Gaahl solo album is. Heaps of dynamic range and a huge soundstage, so expansive that at one point the guitar solo was placed behind my head! A unique feat.
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Lou Reeds Blue Mask is not only a brilliant album but the sound quality is outstanding. Lou was using valve amps /analog gear and unlike others in the early 80s cared about how the album sounded. Lou isnât everyoneâs cup of tea but even critics had admired the craft that went into the album.
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Oh I know this one quite well, Bert. It is indeed stunning. Good choice @BertBird
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If you need something to test out new equipment or check up on your present, I think almost everything from the later ECM catalogue will do the job. Recording and mastering of recordings made for digital are all top notch. Recent Savant and Blue Note recordings are very good too.
A Sub stack article about Chick Corea, had this little nugget of wisdom in its midst.
The more complicated answer to the question of why certain sounds are âdatedâ and others arenât is technological. Analog audio recording, as an art and a craft, reached its peak in the mid to late â70s. Things were already starting to go awry here and there (Example No. 1: the rubber-band bass sound heard on acoustic jazz albums from about 1973 to the early â90s), but in general, albums recorded in the 1970s sound f**** incredible* , and Iâm not just talking about Steely Dan . Even the most replacement-level rock acts â your Foreigner s, your Bad Company s, your also-rans I wonât even bother naming â could dial in guitar and drum sounds that were like being wrapped in a warm blanket of sound.*
But when digital technology came along, engineers more or less had to start over. The new equipment didnât capture sound the same way â it just couldnât. Processing power wasnât up to the task. And synthesizers and drum machines had a gloss and gleam that was great for certain things, but they had none of the subtlety of what had come before. Truly creative spirits were able to make the new machines do amazing things, but there was a whole lot of awkwardness, too, of engineers trying to keep applying methodologies that they didnât realize were obsolete, and musicians trying every new toy that came along without figuring out ways around their limitations. This is why early hair metal records sound like raw ass. Itâs why the whole subgenre of âAOR bands grappling with New Waveâ sucks so hard. The only albums from this era that work are the ones where the artists pushed all the way through and emerged on the other side with something genuinely new: ZZ Top âs Eliminator , Yes âs 90125 . In the realm of jazz, itâs why a lot of albums on the Telarc label have an uncanny valley sheen thatâs completely off-putting to me.
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Many ECM records sound fantastic, clear and so life-like. Unluckily, to my ears at least, there are exceptions like Keith Jarrett - The Köln concert, it doesnât sound good at all. By the way Michael Bishop created some great recordings under the Telarc label (eg. Hiromiâs albums from the Trio Project).
Many of the first ECM albums mastered to CD did not sound good. (see my post above). I think the level of digital is very good now, in the hands of the right people. The loudness wars are a self inflicted wound.
The Koln Concert, was a live concert beset by a whole lot of problems. It nearly did not happen. Maybe a bad recording, but the music is sublime.
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I guess I oversimplified my answer, I read your interesting post. I can only agree, digital is pretty good right now and so enjoyable. The right people are always vital to get the best out of an album project indeed. There are also nice recordings from Concord and Shanachie.
About The Köln concert I was only referring to the recording quality, the music is another thing.
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Most of the jazz JVC XRCD reissues are well worth considering. Particularly Sonny Rollins Way Out West and Carmen Lundy
Others of note are Belafonte at Carnegie Hall and the Weavers Reunion at Carnegie hall vinyl for me, the test of a great system is the ability to transport you into Carnegie Hall and recreate the volume of the hall Also the album captures the movements of Belafonte across the stage and the interaction with his musicians along with his audience interaction.
Lastly, try and locate Harry Pearsonâs list of best recordings, he did for the Absolute Sound in the magazineâs early years. Most are special and of audiophile quality.
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A few albums come immediately to mind in terms of excellent recording quality as well as great albums:
Roger Watersâ Amused to death, both original CD release 1992 and the 2015 24 bit 96kHz download. Stunning sound quality, and holophonics give an eerie effect on one track with a war veteran speaking - and sounding as if he is sitting right next to you! For many years this has been an album of choice for me auditioning things.
Vvaldi in London - Chasing the Dragon 2024 live recording of several Vivaldi concertos, 24bit 192kHz .wav version download converted to flac with dBPoweramp. Prompted by @JonathanGâs posting of his experience at the actual recording session.
Bellezza Crudel collection of Vivaldi cantatas from 2L records, 2008. 24bit 192 KHz download. I stumbled across the 2L label so e years ago, when they offered a variety of music sample sets at different resolutions derived purely by downsampling from the same high quality master, for evaluation purposes. Sadly they donât seem to be available anymore, but the recording are excellent quality, characterised by good ambience.
Porcupine Treeâs Fear of a blank planet , 2007, 24 bit 44kHz download. Hard to choose which PT album as they all seem to have been recorded very well, so this purely because I like it and tge ritle is good!
Finally (for now), this one came to mind as I was about to end:
And just remembered this one, original vinyl was pretty good as I recall, now I have the a 24bit 96kHz 50th anniversary release (2019), which is excellent. It is a good example of how good recordings could be 56 years ago, and is alandmark album in many ways.
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Yuja Wang - The Berlin Recital (DG 24-96). One reviewer claims loud passages get strident but I do not hear that, just great all around - YMMV.
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Good thread!!
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I know itâs a clichĂ© and weâve listened to it to death, but:
I was fitting a KC62 into my system last week, and this is what I grabbed. I wanted to hear the opening punch of Black Cow to hear how taught the bass was, and just kept listening and listening.
Thought to myself âfor all the hype and boring audio listening room sessions, this is still a fantastic sounding album.'â
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Fwiw, here are some of the ones I use to demo hifi (and I enjoy at the same time):
Steely Dan: Aja and Gaucho
Patricia Barber: Nightclub, but most of her stuff
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong: Ella & Louis
Brian Bromberg: Wood, Downright Upright
Charles Mingus: Ah Um (I use Goodbye Pork Pie Hat from there)
Quincy Jones and Sammy Nestico Orchestra: Basie & Beyond (Joy of cooking track specially)
Sergio Mendes: Brasileiro
Rickie Lee Jones: Last chance Texaco (from her debut) and Showbiz kids
Hugh Masekela: Stimela (from the live album Hope)
Jerome Sabbagh: Heart
Duke Ellington: Masterpieces, Blues in Orbit, Jazz Party in Stereo
ok, lots more but these come to mind right now 
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I find the music bland .. and Iâve tried quite a few of her CDs (high res downloads actually).
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Another one where I find the quality of the recording to be extremely good:
Summer Wind in particular gives a great sense of space around the instruments and really good imaging
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Iâm glad Hiromi is signed with Telarc, her musicality and extraordinary technique on piano/keyboard truly showed through the quality of the recordings.
Jazz wise I really recommend Pat Metheney & his group, any album from (nonsuch label).
Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea live
Any album recorded with Hilary Hahn, I used to think Dueitch Grammaphon use too much close mic on violin , but her Paganini sounds so syrupy. Just amazing.
Pop/rock: Feist raw sound
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