St Germain’s “Boulevard”. I own this and “Tourist” albums on vinyl; both amazing examples of downtempo deep-house sound. Good pressings too.
I’m still new to vinyl and maybe not the best qualified to say, but I’ll have a go anyway.
I listened to Tears Dry On Their Own as it’s on all three discs. I also listened to the same track on my cd copy of Back To Black.
LP one (Jools Holland) sounds a bit muffled and is inferior to LP’s two and three.
LP two (Jo Whiley Live Lounge) is the most studio like and slickest recording.
LP three (Porchester Hall) is the most live sounding and gives a better sense of the location. For example the echo on the Tomtom drums. This is the better LP for my tastes.
The cd by comparison, Amy’s voice is much clearer than the record, (I’d expect that from a studio recording), but lacks bass and drum depth. (It is this kind of thing that made me go back to vinyl).
I could stream it but it would not be a good comparison as my streamer is a second system in another room. Nova in to tiny very old speakers.
Also worth noting, my LP12 is not the equal of the CD player yet. Mid range compared to top end for its day respectively.
As to the quality of the ‘box set’ itself, it’s well put together. The inner sleeves are card, so I’ve put mine into Mofi sleeves. They won’t go into the card sleeves very well. Also I can’t get the Mofi and card sleeve into the cover together, so I’m storing the card sleeves loosely in the gatefold.
The records are dead quiet. I think I heard one crackle/pop on all six sides put together. LP one has a warp which makes the cartridge rise about 1mm. The other two are pan flat.
As @Bobthebuilder mentioned in post 14907, the whole package is bigger than a normal cover. If you use a backstop in your rack, it will stick out a bit.
All in all I’m really pleased to have this and probably won’t bother with the cd’s very much in future.
PS: looks like I’m listening to Amy Winehouse - At The BBC again. It’s a hard life.
Shakey Graves - Roll The Bones X
Alejandro Rose-Garcia celebrates 10 years of Shakey Graves with the reissue of his debut album with the addition of an album of demos and rarities. Bluesy folk tales with Shakey playing all the instruments as a one man band. Very nice stripped back album.
Thanks Graeme, disc 1 of Jools Holland material seems to concur with what I described as sounding like listening to my telly.
1mm warp? That’s nothing, you’ll be joining the obsessives on the Flat vinyl thread
Cheers
Rag ‘n’ Bone Man - Life By Misadventure
I have always felt that Rag’n’Bone Man’s voice was so strong but often overwhelmed by over-egged, dense instrumentation. Having hoped we could truly hear the quality of his vocals through a more stripped back and reflective approach, we are indeed rewarded with this wonderful album. I have always been of the opinion less is more, and this is way more IMHO.
With my favourite version of Pancho and Lefty.
Dodie - Build A Problem
If, like me, you believe less is more, give this lovely album a whirl.
Cheers to @AndyP for the tip.
For me it’s CDs for classical and some jazz/rock where space ‘between the notes’ and dynamic range is a big thing, Vinyl for all else.
Love his stuff… must check this out. Thanks.
Elton John - Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player, great album from the period it seems he could do no wrong.
David Gray - White Ladder
Joining the David Gray appreciation society with this. A quid from Poundland. Now that’s what I call VFM.
Grateful Dead - Concertgebouw, Amsterdam 10th May 1972. Currently listening to disc 3.
Just so good.