Sunday, June 14, 2009

Records

It was a long, painful, epic, multi-climactic Odyssey.
But at long last I have a record player.
And it fits all my OCD'ishly audiophile requirements.

I now have a fantastic (as well as sexily sleek all black European version) Technics direct drive turn table,
properly integrated with my awesome NAD amp and Event monitor speakers.
The audio quality is shockingly amazing.
Not only do you not hear any of the hissing, crackle, and pops associated with record players,
but the sound comes through cleaner, with more warmth, subtlety, and precision than I ever had with CDs.

I decided to re-collect the most essential of my music library in pristine high quality 180 gram records.
But so as to not get out of control as I often do,
I'm limiting myself to the only the most essential of my music library.
And only one album per artist/band.

In making the final cut, I evaluated each choice against the following criteria:

1. Listen to most often
2. Most enjoy listening to
3. Necessary for my emotional well being (most seizure inducing if I want to listen to but don't have )
4. Most benefited by extra audio quality and warmth
5. Best for when I have a lady friend over

And here is the final cut.
Roughly in order and grouped with most important at the top:

Broadcast The noise made by people
Radiohead OK Computer
The National Boxer
The Sundays Reading Writing and Arithmetic
Nick Drake Five Leaves Left
Beatles Abbey Road
Bach/Gould Partitas (or) Goldberg Variations 1981
Joy Division Unknown Pleasures
Brian Eno Here Come the Warm Jets
Kate Bush Hounds of Love
Unwound Repetition (or) Leaves Turn Inside You
Grouper Dragging a Dead Dear up a Hill
Rachel's The Sea and Bells
My Bloody Valentine Loveless

Belle and Sebastian If You're Feeling Sinister
Vince Guaraldi Trio A Charlie Brown Christmas
Sigur Rós ( )
Boards of Canada A Beautiful Place Out in the Country
Brian Jonestown Massacre Methodrone (or) Space Girl and Other Favorites
Vincent Gallo When
Múm Finally We Are No One (or) Summer Make Good
The Sea and Cake Nassau
Low Christmas (or) Long Division
The Smiths Hateful of Hollow

Billy Holiday Blue Billie
Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Françoise Hardy The Yeh-Yeh Girl From Paris
Michael Jackson Thriller
Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde
Brian Wilson Smile
Leonard Cohen Songs of Leonard Cohen
Jeff Buckley Grace
Nina Simone Little Girl Blue
Vashti Bunyan Just Another Diamond Day (or) Lookaftering
The Mamas & The Papas If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
They Might be Giants Flood
Coralie Clément Salle Des Pas Perdues
John Lennon Imagine
Charlotte Gainsbourg 5:55
Polaris Music From the Adventures of Pete & Pete

Even with all this devout organization, my first couple trips to the record store already found me buying multiple records of the same artist, and records not on the list... I'm so weak!
Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:32 AM

    Excellent list.

    One thing I don't understand is this Bach obsession. I guess it would be worse if you had Beethoven on the list, but you should get into Johannes Brahms. If his Hungarian Dance No. 5 won't bring tears to your eyes, I don't know what will.

    And yeah that's pretty weak, although I think there are more important things you could be weak at, so just let all your weakness out on this, you won't regret it.
    I used to be strictly against buying books, mostly because cosy libraries are unbeatable but also because I'm just as weak as you. At some point I decided to just buy the most essential books, by now one fourth of my bedroom floor is covered in books I never knew I needed. It does look pretty though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ArtofAli2:56 AM

    I have to admit his German requiem is the bees knees.
    Hearing it performed live sort of blew my mind.
    But appreciating great composers doesn't have to be mutually exclusive thank god,
    but if I had to choose one, it will likely always be Bach.
    My interests in the others come in go over the years,
    but my feelings for Bach's music have only deepened as I get older.
    He was the first composer to reach me,
    when I was nine and heard toccata and fugue in D minor shudder through my chest
    at maximum volume from my cheap circuit city boom box.
    I've never left him since and probably never will.
    One of my life's goals is to hear his music played in an old European church
    with one of those giant pipe organs built into the architecture.
    I want to experience his music as he intended,
    where the heavy chords shake the pews
    and physically overtake your body and breathing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:41 AM

    Oh that was unexpected. I always assume people who listen to any composers from the baroque/ classic era do so only because they happened to come across some of their works. Usually through ridiculous things like Disney cartoons etc.

    Yes that sounds pretty impressive so I probably won't have to make you convert to Brahmsism.

    It's curious, I heard Brahms for the first time at a school that's also a church. I can really only recommend old European churches. I live between two, and both bells actually harmonise with each other, it's fantastic. However I'm not sure if they would play Bach at any church, it's out of the question that you would have to try to make them play it in Vienna though. I know all of those composers were German but they all came here to Vienna! And they had a very good reason to.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ArtofAli11:37 PM

    you know I've been thinking.
    I was so adamant about validating my appreciation of Bach, I didn't let your point of view really sink in.
    I've always known Brahms was one of the most respected composers,
    and have been told many times by multiple people, that they think I would like his music.
    And after listening to a few compositions, and seeing his German Requiem etc.
    I found in fact I was drawn to his work yet for some reason never really pursued it.

    Rather than grandstanding about Bach, and ignoring your recommendation to listen to Hungarian Dance No. 5
    The more constructive response to your comment would have been to offer we trade music mix's.
    I'll make you a Bach mix and you make me a Brahms mix. What do you say?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous2:12 PM

    Haha, actually it was me who challenged you in a not very constructive manner in the first place.

    I would like that very much. So far I haven't listened to any relevant interpretations of Bach's work so it's probably about time anyway.
    Brahms had this problem with perfectionism, it took him over 14 years to finish his first symphony, so he didn't produce as much as Bach, but I think I can put something respectable together. It will take some while though, and tell me how you'd prefer me to send it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ArtofAli9:44 PM

    Excellent. I'm going to be a all over the place with work and travel for the next three weeks, so certainly no hurry for either of us. I'll just message you through lastfm and upload a rar to my ftp if i finish your mix first, if not, just send me an email and i guess upload your Brahms mix to one of these file upload/sending sites all the cool kids know about, or else some i.m shenanigans may be in order.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Blog Archive