What are you listening to?

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I have been an avid collector of music on LP and CD for over 30 years. I collect mostly classical (fascinated by historic recordings), jazz, ethnic/world music, some electronic/experimental, and such. I have also played piano for many years, studying with an excellent teacher, but that has gone down the tubes in recent years. I am always interested in expanding my musical horizons, so I am interested to hear what you guys listen to for inspiration these days.

Here is a snippet of my recent listening:

François Couperin Messe pour les couvents, played by Olivier Latry on a glorious, historically appropriate (for this music) pipe organ. Choir is also magnificent: Couperin-Latry

J.S. Bach, Well-tempered Clavier, book I, Pierre Hantai. Incredibly virtuosic and engaging performance by Hantai–possibly the greatest ever recorded on harpsichord. I could not do without the idiosyncratic Russians (Richter, Feinberg), or other earlier recordings on piano and harpsichord (Edwin Fishcher, Helmut Walcha, Ralph Kirkpatrick et al.), but this one may just be my favorite now. Bach - Hantai

Annie Fischer: The Centennial Collection - Franz Schubert, piano Sonata in E-flat D960. I had long known and admired Fischer’s Mozart, but recently became interested in her other recordings. This magnificent, briskly-paced but sensitive reading of Schubert’s great sonata does not disappoint. Looking forward to listening to the rest of the set. Annie Fischer collection

Gioconda De Vito - Her complete recorded masterworks for violin. A great bargain at 20$ for one of my favorite violinists of all time, especially for Brahms, Vitali if not for Bach or Mozart. Unfortunately it is NOT complete and lacks at least one version of the Brahms violin concerto (conducted by Rudolf Schwarz). In any case, she is playing–on many if not all of these tracks-- the “Tuscan” Stradivarius, which the Italian government bought and loaned to her for the princely sum of $50K back in the 1950s. My favorite Stradivarius of them all! Gioconda de Vito set

Crone Music, by Pauline Oliveros: Experimental, avant-garde composer who will blow your mind with the accordion and various effects.
Crone Music

Susanne Abbuehl - April. Unfortunately quite obscure, but she has one of the most beautiful voices I have EVER heard. She is Swiss by birth but spent time studying Indian music with Ravi Shankar. This is high-end chamber jazz, slow paced and introspective with very unusual instrumentations including kalimba, accordion, flugelhorn, clarinets. This is not your usual material either. Songs/lyrics from Sun Ra, Emily Dickinson, and a variety of other lesser-sung sources. AND the greatest version of “Round Midnight” ever!! The Gift, and Compass are also excellent! Susanne Abbuehl

Gabi Hartmann - La femme aux yeux de sel: Very nice new (new to me) vocalist doing French, English, and Spanish pop-jazz. Will look out for more from her in the future. Gabi Hartmann

Continuing - Tyshawn Sorey: Hugely talented percussionist, composer, and arranger, Tyshawn Sorey is nothing short of a genius–just ask the MacArthur foundation. My favorite on here is a stunning arrangement of Angel Eyes. Love Song on the Album Alloy is also stunningly beautiful. Some hints of Morton Feldman in this music. Sorey - Continuing

Eastwind - Masayuki Koga: One of the greatest living shakuhachi artists (A “Living Treasure of Japan”. Masayuki Koga

Karma - Pharoah Sanders: A modern jazz classic. Listen (preferably with a glass of red wine) and be amazed! Pharoah Sanders

There is a ton of other stuff to talk about, but I only have so much time to write.

Lately, I have also been spending a lot of time listening to recordings of rain, ocean waves, and my own collection of wind chimes.

I also listen regularly to KCSM, “The Bay Area’s Jazz Station” I have been a supporter/member for many years. I especially love the evening show “The Jazz Oasis”, which is on M-Sa from 6-9 PM. We visit the Bay Area at least once or twice a year, and it is always a joy to hear it on the actual radio, not a stream…

What are you listening to?

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I talked about this briefly in another thread. My interest in music has been constant over the decades, although it has ebbed and flowed a bit in intensity. I played the violin and piano when I was younger, and I was on stage a fair amount. But I don’t really do much now other than sing in the shower.

I have been interested in almost every genre at some point in my life, but I’m going through an intense phase right now of getting into the more niche world of progressive music. I honestly believe some of the most talented artists work in this space. They are musicians who know they aren’t creating the most accessible music or music that will make them rich, but they make it anyway because they love it and need to express themselves. There is an incredible amount of talent out there, and I really enjoy unearthing gems that hardly anyone has heard of. I’m talking less than 200 monthly listeners on Spotify, although some have started to become quite big.

Anyway, I’ll just list a few of the artists I’ve been listening to recently, and as you’ll see, they’re from all over the world:

Lucid Planet (Australia)
Jonathan Hultén (Sweden)
Anciients (Canada)
Others By No One (United States)
Iotunn (Denmark, Faroe Islands)
JUUR (Estonia)
VOLA (Sweden, Denmark)
Soul Doubt (Italy)
MEER (Norway)
Omnerod (Belgium)
Phideaux (United States)
Devin Townsend (Canada)
TodoMal (Spain)
Lazuli (France)
The Ocean (Germany)
Universal Totem Orchestra (Italy)
Jargon (Greece)
Wobbler (Norway)
Vulkan (Sweden)
Lunatic Soul (Poland)
Ciccada (Greece)
A Formal Horse (UK)
The Dear Hunter (United States)

I could go on… :slight_smile:
The genres span from folk to art rock to brutal metal, but they are all classed as progressive. I’d be interested if anyone on this forum has heard of any of them.

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Here are a few things that I assume are well off the beaten path for most of you:

Aesop Rock - Spirit World Field Guide - a concept album about traveling the spirit world from the emcee with densest flow you’ll ever hear. Even though I’ve been listening to him for over 25 years, it still takes me at least ten listens to get around his albums.

Buck 65 - Talking Honkey Blues - when someone says “country hiphop” you probably think of BubbaSparx, but this is much better.

Dark Time Sunshine - ANX - feel like this is the last decade of my life.

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There is a tiny shop near to us called the Birnam Reader (They have a Facepalm page, which I won’t link to).

Not only do they sell books, and serve coffee and cake, but he also has a stock of CDs, which he is selling off. I have recently bought a 6 CD set of Monteverdi madrigals, Bryn Terfiel singing Schubert songs, Gregorian chant and Le Banquet du Voeu from Ensemble GiIles Binchois, Ave Maris Stella sung by Estampie, and Visions from the Book by Sequentia, and Tippett’s Child of Our Time. Total cost was £34.

At the moment, the Perth Festival of the Arts is on. Last night we went to see Puccini’s Suor Angelica in Perth Cathedral. It isn’t an opera that I have seen live before, the story is a bit like Madame Butterfly, but with nuns.

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From my distant youth, I hadn’t realised that Martin Carthy was still about. At 84, he is releasing a new album.

He has taught a number of singers, Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel amongst others, Scarborough Fair, but still reckons he hasn’t quite got it right as yet.

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I guess I can’t talk you into listening to K-Pop music. That has become my go to music.

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I still prefer very old “classic rock”. Today, I was listening to Donovan, Steppenwolf, and The Animals, among others.

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Miles Davis.

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I find my listening taste quite unconventional, and for most people a lot of my favourite songs would be absolutely unbearable :laughing: … Like even I consider some songs to be ear-rape and that’s already something lol.
I’ll give you a tour of what’s been in my headphones lately though… if you happen to like/recognize anything, please let me know!

Last December I came back to listening to EDM (electronic dance music), especially on Monstercat (I had a hiatus in regular music listening, just a few pop/rock songs here and there). I basically rediscovered a lot of my all-time favourites. Most of what I listen to is between 2012 and 2016, so a bit old for electronic music.

Let’s start with dubstep. According to last.fm, about 22% of my music should be this genre. I should technically refer to this as brostep, but oh well, I like to call it this way cause it’s a more recognized word. Some of my favourite on Monstercat is Au5 - Snowblind – I like how it starts nice and chill, but later starts giving hints about what’s gonna happen next:

My absolute favourite song so far that I consider to be dubstep as well is Crywolf & Skrux - Tides. Everything about the song from lyrics, the drop, vocal chops, mood and artwork combined hits just right for me:

Speaking of Skrux, who absolutely dominates my playlist by numbers (57 liked songs at the time of writing) I can’t forget to mention of my first songs that I ever listened to from him – Hidden feat. Mona Moua: (melodic dubstep, you may like this one actually)

Back to heavy stuff… Rogue, Stonebank & Slippy - Unity I used to really dislike, especially the third drop at 2:39. It’s a mix of several subgenres, basically corresponding to the contributing artists. Now I like it quite a lot:

I will also mention a genre called moombahcore, which is a sort of descendant of reggaeton and EDM. It honestly sounds like a made up word lol, but I like the style, especially 2012s songs. The genre is pretty much dead, no one really makes this anymore… well, here’s Tut Tut Child - Dance to It:

And to wrap it up, something of a completely different mood, yet still my favourite is Hyper Potions - Shooting Star: (I actually had to double check it’s not a remix of Owl City, his voice sounds so similar :laughing:)

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Still my heroes from the 60s and 70s (e.g. Who, King Crimson,…), independend (e.g. Qntal, Spiritualized,…) and Metal (e.g. Saint Vitus, Godflesh,…)
But in the last 20 years I moved more to classical music: symphonies, requiems and string quartets. And polyphony from ars nova to renaissance. My discovery of the year: Perotin (a CD from The Hilliard Ensemble 1989). It’s so wonderful… :relieved:

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I’ve been really enjoying the new single from Wednesday.

They’re part of the young Asheville, NC scene. The second guitar player / backup vocalist is MJ Lenderman, who I posted in another thread. The pedal steel player plays with him as well. They all play a big mix of alt-country, indie, grungy 90s nostalgia, and more.

Last fall I went to Asheville for my cousin’s wedding and stayed in a big AirBnB with my mom and aunt and cousins. My mom and aunt said one of their Uber drivers mentioned that the building next to us was some music recording studio. I looked it up, and sure enough it was Drop of Sun studios where this and a bunch of other music I like was recorded. Pretty neat!

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Highly recommend the recording of Leonin and Perotin by Tonus Peregrinus - Music of Notre Dame. Leonin, Perotin - Music of Notre Dame

Also any of the recordings by The Huelgas Ensemble of early choral music, especially the disk Utopia Triumphans. Huelgas Ensemble

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I enjoy a range classical, jazz, blues and rock like a lot of aging boomers. I still turn to my college stalwarts like The Who and The Rolling Stones but John Hiatt, Bill Kirchen and a local named Tom Principato get a lot of air play right now.

But I had a reunion of sorts this month when Dire Straits released its 40th anniversary of its Brothers In Arms CD. Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler were my go-to choice for a long time. The music seemed to resonate with my ups and downs through the '80s and '90s and I enjoyed how Knopfler’s playing evolved with time.

The reunion was a 2 CD recording of their 1985 concert in San Antonio, Texas that was packaged with the studio re-release. I had recorded that same show off the air during the King Biscuit Flower Power program. It featured extended versions of my favorite DS songs and represented the band at its best before the grind got to them.

The tape was stolen along with my car stereo one night. I would have gladly given up the unit if I could have had the tape back. And sadly, none of the bands other concert releases captured the vibe of that tape. But now I have it back and in a professionally mastered format.

So that gets a lot of my time as well.

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The new Rivers of Nihil album just released. For fans of blast beats, death metal, bass grooves, proggy guitar solos, and sax on the beach.

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It’s always a mix, but in no order (and by no means complete) some assorted songs and / or albums:

  • Porcupine Tree – Anesthetize, Harridan, Rat’s Return
  • King Crimson – Fracture, FraKctured, Sartori in Tangier
  • Allan Holdsworth – Atavachrom
  • Steve Morse / Dixie Dregs – I’m Freaking Out, Vitamin Q
  • Isao Tomita – Canon of the Three Stars
  • Steve Roach – Sigh of Ages
  • Giles Reaves – Wunjo
  • JS Bach – BWV 565 (Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor), BWV 538 (Dorian Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor), BWV 542 (Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor) *
  • The Watch – Vacuum
  • Return to Forever – Romantic Warrior
  • Steve Hackett – Spectral Mornings, Bay of Kings
  • Eddie Jobson / Zinc – The Green Album
  • UK – UK
  • Gamalon – Aerial View
  • Fleetwood Mac – Sands of Time, Bare Trees, Miles Away
  • Gentle Giant – Anything pre-1979 more or less
  • Mike Oldfield – Discovery
  • Phil Keaggy – Mostly his electric 1080s albums
  • Robin Trower – Live
  • Pink Floyd – Animals (their best!)
  • Jethro Tull – Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses, Stormwatch
  • Hiromi
  • Shostakovich – 11th Symphony

* I agree with what Sing said in his interview with Rick Beato: “Compared to Bach we all suck.”

I have several really mixed up playlists… :slight_smile:

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Listen to a variety of music from new age to classical/orchestrated to jazz (and sometimes classic rock/80s and 90s rock). A few years back, I discovered Schiller (Christopher Von Deylen) and am listening to one of his releases right now (just chilling). :slight_smile:

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Someone remembers Gentle Giant (very underrated) :clap:

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In my way did I use you, do you think I really abused you
On reflection now it doesn’t matter
How can you say I made you need me more than anyone else
Who can say it now it’s finished over

It’s my act, it’s my calling, I explained exactly the falling
Different ways of life can never even
Be the same when you saw me, could you always take me the same way
As I came and went I tried to remember you

Still you stay
Tied in your way
Changing times
Watching the signs

How

Could you see in me
What you thought about
All you want me to be

Now

On reflection why should have I changed my ways for you

All around, all around
All around, all around
All around, all around
All around, all around

By Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman, Gary Green, Kerry Minnear & John “Pugwash” Weathers – 1975

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Amazing song!

Have you heard the album Surrender of Silence? Big fan of that one

Yep, one of my faves too. Although Thick as a Brick is still one of the best prog albums ever made.

Can’t remember if it was the 11th or 9th, but I played this when I was a violinist for the Cheshire County Youth Orchestra. His symphonies are some of my favourites. So stirring…

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