Cara Dillon, coming home. 
9 Likes
Nanci Griffith, little love affairs. @AlanP, what coincidence, I was playing the same album from SV. Now trying out a Nanci Griffith album I haven’t listened to before. Have a good Easter. 
9 Likes
More live Neil. Some wonderfully loose Harvest era songs. Melancholic, gently uplifting, reflective Neil.
Tuscaloosa.
17 Likes
You too 
1 Like
Rediscovering this album after almost 50 years courtesy of Qobuz. Taking me back to my student days.
9 Likes
NY live, like Dylan & The Dead, is often very special. It’s great when Neil & CH take their studio material to another level. As here.
Odeon Budokan (1976).
18 Likes
Bedtime Tunes:
Seen a few entries for Norah on this thread lately, so thought I’d end my day with some of her mellow tunes😊
21 Likes
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing (10th anniversary re-issue, glow-in-the-dark limited edition)
While I’ve listened to the album off-and-on since its release, I’ve never owned a physical version so picking up this nifty re-issue was a no-brainer for me. And of course it’s still an excellent record, possibly the closest to a Rush tribute album from Steven without actually performing covers as there were times you could here the influence flying out from the grooves.
As for the pressing - what a disappointment. No, the mastering is great, heaps of detail and dynamics with an earthy tone that elevates it over the digital version, but the records themselves were some of the noisiest I’ve ever encountered, and that’s after a full clean. I couldn’t believe the amount of static and hash, a perplexing state of affairs considering the records arrived in poly-lined sleeves. And that’s the rub; despite giving the appearance of anti-static inner-sleeves they proved to be the opposite.
If you pick up this re-issue make sure you transfer them to some good quality after-market poly-sleeves before you give 'em a clean. I wished I did.
11 Likes
20 Likes
Opeth - Blackwater Park (2008 re-issue)
What more can be said about this masterpiece? This is what Opeth were slowly building towards with Morningrise and Still Life but it would be here that the gleaming fangs of death metal would sink with clinical precision into the flank of prog. No doubt in part aided by Porcupine Tree’s own Steven Wilson whose deft hand helped achieve the balance, while also contributing vocals in key moments, most notably the sublime “Bleak,” quite possibly the pinnacle the genre has to offer.
I could go on, but instead I’ll turn to the recording itself, and here, finally, many hi-fi upgrades later I feel like I’m hearing the true potential of this album. Blackwater Park always sounded solid but serviceable with much of its nuance hidden in a dense forest of distortion and frenzy, leaving me engaged but hoping for more. Well, that more has been realised now that my shiny new Rega, Shelter and Esoteric combo have come on song, leaving me with a grin across my face as I let this beast trample my frame under thundering percussion and welding-tool guitar blasts. The pressing itself is remarkably quiet and flat too for a change. Worth seeking out.
6 Likes
Bowie, ChangesNow great set of mostly acoustic versions worth it for Shopping For Girls (TM track) alone.
25 Likes
