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AlexTaylor

Likes cake.
I have recently upgraded my hi-fi and am enjoying listening to all my music collection again.
However, I am always looking for new music to listen to and being in my twenties I am not best ever on my music history and could do with some advice.
Can anyone advise me on some quality music or classic albums that I should own to enjoy through my new hi-fi?
 
Holy cow, what a question!

Without knowing anything about your tastes in music, it's hard to know what to recommend.

A few to get you started (in no particular order).

Steely Dan - pretty much anything. Great music and high quality production. My favourite is 'Pretzel Logic'.

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks. Gorgeous.

Joni Mitchell - I love Joni Mitchell. Try 'Blue' or 'The Hissing of Summer Lawns'.

Bob Dylan - Anything up to the mid 70s (and most after that). Try 'Blood on the Tracks' or 'Blonde on Blonde'.

Pink Floyd - Meddle / DOSM / Wish You Were Here (but you've got these already, right?)

Get some Otis Redding into your life. You won't regret it.

More recent albums to try:
Lamchop - Is a woman.

Stone Roses - Stone Roses (OK, not very recent, but fantastic anyway).

Just a few. Hundreds more flitting in and out of my head as I write this.

What do you like? I could suggest some blues, jazz, classical, folk.........

I suspect you might get a few other tips here.........

Cheers

Martin
 
Funnily enough, got two steely dan albums recently (Gaucho and Aja) and those pink floyd albums too.
To make it even more difficult, I like anything, rock, dance, classical, folk, jazz, anything. I am awkward aren't I?
I want stuff that sounds good on a hi-fi, I play instruments myself so I can appreciate musicianship in all it's forms so I am not fussy about genre. (Except for that awful 'garage' music, am I getting old?)
Cheers so far though!
 
Just ordered the Lambchop album from Play.com for £6.99, they have a few of their albums. (I was attracted by the name of the band.)
 
Originally posted by AlexTaylor
I have recently upgraded my hi-fi and am enjoying listening to all my music collection again.
However, I am always looking for new music to listen to and being in my twenties I am not best ever on my music history and could do with some advice.
Can anyone advise me on some quality music or classic albums that I should own to enjoy through my new hi-fi?

Off the top of my head:
Richard & Linda Thompson - End of the Rainbow Compilation - you can probably pick this up quite cheap in the HMV sale. You won't be disappointed, a real life changer (at least it was for me !)

I second the suggestion for Pretzel Logic as your first taste of Steely Dan (as it where). It's probably the most accessible at first listen, and once you're hooked you're in for life.

Probably any Beatles, but at least start with Revolver or The White Album

Led Zep - 1 or Physical Graffitti

XTC - my favourite is Nonsuch, but again they are all good

Hope this has been some use.
Gary
 
Anything starting with 'B' should keep you busy for a few years - Bach, Beehoven, Britten. Broadly speaking anything with one to four players is a good way to start [ and end, with a few exceptions in my case]I have found.

Paul
 
Can anyone advise me on some quality music or classic albums that I should own to enjoy through my new hi-fi?

What bands do you like at the moment? It may help if you list say the last 10 albums you bought and liked, we could then perhaps suggest the bands that probably influenced them.

Tony.
 
Alex, get these:

No Means No - One (punk, power trio, prog, new wave)
Susumu Yokota - Sakura (ambient)
Susumu Yokota - The Boy and the Tree (more adventurous ambient)
Oneness of Juju - African Rhythms (mighty funk)
Fleetwood Mac - Live at the Boston Tea Party Vol.1 (rock, sort of bluesy, adventurous!)
Grover Wahington Jnr - Winelight (smooth jazz/funk)
Masters of Reality - Reality Show (hard rock)
Faze Action - Broad Souls (prog soul)
Scientist - Meets the Space Invaders (dub)

Outstanding examples of their respective genres, and jolly good by any standard. Sound good to excellent too.
 
wow, cheers!

Last few albums I bought were the Steely Dan ones, Pink Floyd DSOM, Animals and Meddle (have had Wish you were here for a few years!), Future Sound of London, Aphex Twin, Fleetwood Mac Rumours Re-mastered, Bob Marley Legend, Belle and Sebastian, loads of classical (I mainly like the impressionists such as Debussy and de Falla and ballet stuff like Tchaikovsky).
 
Some great suggestions have been posted. Try also (slected at random as they come to mind):

Martin Taylor - Spirit of Django
Joe Cocker - Sheffield Steel
Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard
Eagles - One of Those Nights
Clannad - Fuaim or Magical Ring
Alison Krauss & Union Station - New Favourite
Rimsky-Korsakov - Sheherezade (possibly mispelt)
Saint-Saens: Violin Concerto no.3
Satie - Gymnopadies
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
Joe Satriani - Flying in a Blue Dream
Beatles - Abbey Road
Rolling Stones - anything from 68 to 74
Mozart - Requiem
Gershwin - Piano Concerto in F

As I say, an eclectic and random list of things which spring to mind and by no means exhaustive. I deliberately left jazz other than Martin Taylor to those better placed to post

Paul
 
"Daddy why do you spend your time exchanging complete bo**ox with similarly worrying people on your computer in the name of leisure...."

Out of the Mouths of Babes .........
 
If you like Bob Marley, i can recommend both "Bob Marley & the Wailers - Live!", and "Babylon by Bus" two fantastic live albums, Legend is a reasonable "best of" but only really an introduction to BM&W.

And if you like Aphex Twin, search out all his work, especially the Lp's "Richard D. James" and "We care becuase you do" (I'm guessing you probably have the latest opus, "drukqs"?) There are two compilations of his early stuff available too, "Selected Ambient Works 85-92" and "Classics".
And in a similar vein, I can recommend his labelmate Squarepusher. To be honest you can't go wrong with anything on Warp records!:D
Oh and look out for stuff by AFX, another Aphex Twin pseudonym.

I don't know if post-rock floats your boat, but you might like to try offerings from Mogwai, GodSpeedYouBlackEmperor!, A Siver Mt.Zion or Sigur Ros.

Enjoy!
 
See the Dub thread for some more Dub recommendations (obviously!)
Also
Love – “Forever Changes”
Neu – probably “Neu 75” but all are great (I’m surprised Tony L hasn’t already recommended this along with Yeti)
Kraftwerk – anything from “Autobahn” to “Computer World”

White boys with geetars: Television - “Marquee Moon”, Neil Young -“Everyone Knows this is Nowhere”, Sonic Youth – “Daydream Nation”, “Evol”, “Bad Moon Rising” etc, Credence Clearwater Revival – first three or four albums

Jazz – Grover Washington! Try some stuff from the 50s or 60s others here will point you in the right direction (don’t read the “Coletrane Spotting” thread – it might put you off)

If you like Bob Marley check out other Reggae – the Trojan Box sets are a good place to start. Also, how about some original Ska (Trojan box sets again, the “Tighten Up” series or Prince Buster, Lee Perry etc reissues)
 
Out on another limb, if you want some danceable grin inducing fun, try the Zimbabwean maestros The Four Brothers - look out for "Makorokoto". Also for more a considered, bubbling stew, try Thomas Mapfumo's work.
Some of the American country stuff is great, and very well recorded - I don't mean the shmaltzy stuff - try early Steve Earle albums - Guitar Town and Copperhead Road. Lyle Lovett has done some great stuff, as have people like Townes Van Zandt and Robert Earle Keen. Obviously there are also the all time greats - Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.

I second the Richard & Linda Thompson suggestion - not heard that compliation, but it's bound to be a great start.
 
Last few albums I bought were the Steely Dan ones, Pink Floyd DSOM, Animals and Meddle (have had Wish you were here for a few years!), Future Sound of London, Aphex Twin, Fleetwood Mac Rumours Re-mastered, Bob Marley Legend, Belle and Sebastian, loads of classical (I mainly like the impressionists such as Debussy and de Falla and ballet stuff like Tchaikovsky).

I’d personally recommend going backwards in time rather than forwards with Floyd, the 1st three albums are IMHO the best, though a different thing. Piper at the Gates of Dawn is one of the best psychedelic albums ever and Saucerful of Secrets, More and the live part of Ummagumma represent excellent UK space-rock.

As for FSOL ensure you have Lifeforms, it is IMHO their landmark album followed at some distance by ISDN. The Papua New Guinea 12” is obviously essential too. Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works 85-92 remains my favourite, though all his output is worth a listen. Warp label-mates Black Dog Productions and their later off-shoot Plaid are simply wonderful, as are most Warp acts – may be worth trying one of the Warp anniversary compilations to get a handle on this superb label.

To track the influences of FSOL, Aphex Twin etc back to their roots look as ever to Germany, early Tangerine Dream represents the exact crossover point for electronica from its roots in abstract modern classical (Stokhausen, Cage, Subotnik etc) to a more wide and commercial field. The TD albums to start with if you are coming from the Aphex Twin direction are Alpha Centauri, Zeit and Phaedra – they effectively invented ambient house, but get little credit for it! Avoid their later stuff (i.e. post Rubycon), it all went horribly wrong IMHO.

As for reggae I’d recommend jumping head first into 1970s and early 80s dub, look out for anything by The Scientist, Prince Jammy, King Tubby, Lee Perry etc recorded before about 1982.

If you like Belle and Sebastian you have to try Nick Drake – he only made three albums, Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon. All are essential, and definitely get these prior to any of the posthumous compilations of out-takes etc.

Neu – probably “Neu 75” but all are great (I’m surprised Tony L hasn’t already recommended this along with Yeti)

Amon Düül II’s Yeti is quite obviously the best rock album ever made, but it is hard to recommend as I still don’t know which (if any) of the current CDs are legitimate, and whilst I know I’m right it is a bit much to expect people to splash out 40-70 quid on a original vinyl copy! Worth trying some Can or Faust though as both are well reissued. Start at the beginning and work forwards with both.

Tony.
 
I would recommend all the recordings of the Ituri pygmies on Ocora, as well as all the other albums on this label. In addition to those on Inedit, Institute du Monde Arabe and Nonesuch Explorer. One you have those essentials, we can start looking at Smithsonian, Wego, Topic etc :)
 
Thanks for all the advice guys!

I have plenty to keep me going now, just need to find the time to listen to it all and appreciate it.
 
I forgot Morphine's Cure for Pain. That's a classic.

Rock trio with baritone voice, drums, baritone sax and two string bass. Lush, earthy and atmospheric.
 
I can't disagree with what's gone before, a surprising amount of which I've got myself. I must have better taste than I thought! So, when you've bought and enjoyed all of the above, (plus a bigger house)

I'd add:

Miles Davis Kind of Blue
Dave Brubeck Time Out and Time Further Out
Paul Desmond Late Lament
Jennifer Warnes. Famous Blue Raincoat and The Hunter

Dvorak Cello Concerto and the Othello Overture if you can find it
Elgar Cello Concerto
Mozart 40th symphony/23rd and 27th piano concerto's (Ashkenazy for preference)
Crusell Clarinet Concerto
Mozart Clarinet Concerto
Schubert The 'Great' symphony (can't remember the number)

Don't forget all the fabulous R&B stuff from the late 40's through to the 60's. Chess/Atlantic label compilations could be a good place to start for this.

So much more... so little time
Mull
 


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