July 10, 2023

Lonnie Mack, Albert Collins, Ray Buchanan (Live at Carnegie Hall, 1985) throwing down some Taj Mahal

Masterful blues right here folks

July 9, 2023

chris cain - i believe i got off cheap (studio-2022) some more dirty blues from a long-time ace

July 9, 2023

lonnie mack w/stevie ray vaughn - oreo cookie blues (live-1986) low down dirty blues right here!

Can't believe I've never seen this before ... This one's for you Sarge

A coupla masters, putting it down!

July 8, 2023

Friday songs to partake to, lean back, crank it up, and indulge in great production/soundscapes

when played on a dialed-in stereo system/listening position or nice set of headphones

I'm talking about songs where the production of the song gives it a unique feel, with great imaging and multi-dimensional soundstage, with a sense of height, width and (hopefully at least some) depth. Bonus points where sounds seem to come from well outside to the left-right of the physical speakers.

OR ... just incredible fidelity and recording quality is also acceptable, even if not particularly unique

Feel free to add your picks!

My reference listening rig:
Source: Spotify Premium on PC (yeah I know, MP3 compression, not optimal, but I love being able to dial up anything, and really it sounds pretty friggin good), pass-through digital via TOSLINK (Optical)
Pre-Amp: Anthem AVM-30 (circa 2003, PCM Stereo Mode, this unit has an amazing DAC) @ 96000MHz/24bit
Amp: OG 1990's Adcom GFA-555 (200W RMS/Channel at 8 Ohms)
Speakers: Polk LSi 15's (w/amazingly smooth-sounding ring tweeters, I LOVE these speakers @ used prices, VERY hard to beat!)
Subwoofer: Paradigm Defiance 15 (900W RMS) with ARM calibration.
Listening position: Top of an 8 foot triangle, ears just slightly above tweeter height

3 Favorite Examples that aren't old standards. I'll leave it to others to share all the Pink Floyd and such (which of course I also love) that they'd like :

3. The Flaming Lips - In the Morning of the Musicians (2001 - from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, produced by Dave Fridmann).

Why I love: while the sense of depth is subtle at best, the height and width of the soundstage is something to behold. Instruments come from outside the speakers, and you can clearly hear a layering of heights where some instruments/sounds are above your head (if the acoustic in the left channel doesn't sound above your head, your system is broken lol), and some at your waist level. It's just a very cool production. Fridmann has always relied a little too much on the 'slightly distorted drum sound' as his trademark, but it's a small thing to me.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/track/4ou3f7jaB41isbJkt6CF2b?si=6d271e94df8e4d05

2. Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien (1997 - from OK Computer, produced by Nigel Godrich).

Why I love: Compared to the Lips song, recording quality is better (betting it's digital rather than tape), drums are crisp here, and I love the effects. From the production side what I REALLY love about this one is the WIDTH of the soundstage, the placement of some instruments seems far to the left and right of your physical speakers, and it's really pretty cool. Just about any song I could've picked from this record, though. Godrich's work is just incredible on OK Computer. And Ed and Jonny are guitar gods

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/track/2CVV8PtUYYsux8XOzWkCP0?si=54e0b8433f594b9e



1. Destroyer - Poor In Love (2011 - from Kaputt, produced by I can't really tell from credits lol).

Why I love: For absolute, sheer ear candy, this one is really hard to beat. Production is phenomenal-sounding in every regard. Has great height, width, sounds moving side to side in trippy ways, etc. And the song is just freaking cool. Then again every song on this record sounds phenomenal. A highly recommended work.

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/track/7LJn9rmki2eFKad2aRAJV0?si=3a7e6a94f65f4322

July 7, 2023

peter frampton band - isn't it a pity (studio-2021) album of instrumental covers, this one of George

Just came across this one (thanks Spotify) and it's really pretty fantastic tunes to chill by, it's called "Frampton Forgets The Words".

It's all instrumental covers from artists like Sly Stone, George Harrison (this song), Roxy Music, Lenny Kravitz, Radiohead, and Velvet Revolver, to name a few, where Peter plays the melodies with his indelible lead guitar work.

Video was 2021 so pandemic era, it shows him getting his 2nd shot, etc.

Check it out!

July 7, 2023

Songs that we think of as 1 song even though they're 2, due to radio formatting, feel free to add!

There's certain couplets of 2 songs that, over time, our brains have come to think of them as a single song, because we always (or at least a vast majority of the time) hear them one after the other on AOR radio. I.E. if you hear the first one start, you know you're also hearing the 2nd one

Here's my top 5, feel free to add more to the list!

5) Yes - Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)
4) Pink Floyd - Brain Damage/Eclipse
3) Journey - Feeling That Way/Anytime
2) Pink Floyd - The Happiest Days of Our Lives/Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2
1) Queen - We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions

June 30, 2023

some songs/musical performances just wreck me, everytime ... and this is one!

Okay I probably posted it a year or so back, but nothing wrong with coming back round again for something great, right?

This is so good, I promise you aren't wasting your time watching

June 24, 2023

Bit of a lost Rolling Stones classic IMHO from their oft-maligned 1976 release Black And Blue

At the time they were 'rehearsing' guitarists to replace Mick Taylor, and they ran through a lot of notable players. Check the Wiki for the record if interested. Rory Gallagher, Jeff Beck and Peter Frampton even joined a session or two. Obvs they settled on Ronnie Wood.

Anyways, this is a pretty badass tune from the album.

Happy Friday DUMA

June 22, 2023

justin johnson - seven nation army (live in studio) done in delta blues style and kickass!

June 21, 2023

kinda the lgtbq+ version of stevie nicks - incredible 2020 homage - katie pruitt - expectations

I really didn't think you could rip off Dreams in such an excellent way ... check it, you'll love it!