Vinyl Binge
There’s a hifi store practically next door to The Dreaming. I’ve walked past it dozens of times without noticing it was there.
The owner is more than a little neurotic – sort of the audio-store-owner version of Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons - but he has some very shiny things in there, including lots of vacuum tube gear, lots of turntables, and surprising selection of new vinyl. And not just the classic rock reissues that you can find even in Barnes & Noble these days, but lots of classic jazz, and even new pressings of classical music from the RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence lines. Most of them are 180g or 200g pressings, so not cheap at all. But they sound sooooo gooooood.
Saint-Saens / Symphony No. 3 "Organ"
I’ve had this exact recording on SACD for quite some time, but given its identity as part of the RCA Living Stereo series, I’ve always wanted to hear it in its original consumer release format. It doesn’t disappoint. But then again, it didn’t disappoint on SACD either. I once did a four-way shoot-out of "Kind of Blue", and found that multi-channel SACD beat stereo SACD, which in turn beat LP, which beat CD. Same results here. But any excuse to re-listen to it is a good one; last time I cued it up was off my iPod on a flight to California. This time, it’s sitting in the Comfy Chair in the office, with the subwoofer rattling the floor on the sustained pipe organ notes.
Rachmaninov / Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, de Falla / Nights in the Garden of Spain
The Rhapsody - chunky, with tempos and conductorial choices that seem almost the 180 degree opposite of my favorite version. Very stompy and larger-than-life, but hardly sublime. I suppose I should just suck it up and admit that I’m never going to find a version that can stand up to the Vladimir Ashkenazy recording that I so adore. Le sigh. The B-side, however, proved to be quite a gem, creepy and evocative. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it; it was a series of three pieces evoking wonder, curiosity, and not a little dread as well. No bombast, but lots of tension. The L.A. Philharmonic has a better writeup on it then I do, go see what they have to say about it.
Pearl Jam / Ten - Recent Fancy Schmancy Edition
Yeah, I already have this on 90’s vintage CD and a standard-weight vinyl pressing. But I’m sucker for special edition rereleases and the like, especially when they shine some new insight or appreciation on an old favorite. I like hear in the "Redux" remix; it’s the same music, the same parts, the same performance, but with less studio trickery; Vedder’s vocals and McCready’s guitars no longer trade turns in front of the microphone like a duet; their levels are more evenly matched at all times, and the other band-member’s contributions and harmonies have a chance to shine through. It sounds more like it could be a live album. Not a huge huge change, but my inner nerd insists it’s more than just the difference between "Ocean Grey" and "Military Grey". More like the difference between a studio recording and a live show; the sound-guy sets the levels before the show starts and just leaves the board untouched for the duration of the performance.
John Coltrane / Giant Steps
Y’know, I swear I can hear the Monk here. The center of gravity in my jazz collection is clustered around Miles, Cannonball, and Monk, and this definitely sounds like the latter. Maybe I shouldn’t be too surprised - this is one of the earlier albums to focus on Coltrane’s own compositions, and the man did spend some serious formative time under Thelonious’ wing just two years prior. Like Monk, it seems to demand focused listening; this isn’t chill music or bopping around the house music. So while it was good, very good, it’s also not going to get as much play as it deserves.
Rach Rhapsody: I have a CD reissue of van cliburn’s recording (with the Moscow Phil?) that is pretty good. It is paired (surprise, surprise) with Concerto #2.