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What are you listening to? Part III

Listening to Claudio Arrau's performances of some Chopin etudes... having implicitly dissed them in a thread elsewhere, via stating a preference for recordings by Ashkenazy and Gavrilov. Figure I owe the Arrau another listen after quite awhile having the Gavrilov in a playlist on the main panel of my iTunes library.

I do think I prefer the Ashkenazy and Gavrilov overall, but if I discount for the age of the Arrau recording (1957, monaural) and so the quality of sound, there are some etudes where I like Arrau for the clean articulation even at speed... it's "all there" and accounted for without seeming mechanical. And his thought shines through in use of pedal without eclipsing intended harmonies. I wish he had re-recorded more of his earlier discography!
 
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LizKat said:
Keith Jarrett, the Bremen and Lausanne concerts of 1973. In total, 120 minutes of improvisation out there on a stage. When I listen to this again I always end up thinking all manner of great things are still possible. I get that same feeling when I listen to his performance (on a harpsichord) of Bach's French Suites, which I like for their slower take than more Europeans offer today.

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As some on here may know, I really like Soler's Fandango (and have several versions of it on different CDs).

And, I find myself in complete agreement with you - while the rapid version is electrifying, I have come to realise that I far prefer the slower recordings.
 
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I’m listening to an inner argument.

“Log in remotely and get to work.”
“Naw, have another coffee.”
“Really, get busy. You have lots to do.”
“No matter how much you do, they’ll always be more. How about a poached egg?”

Edit: okay the one sitting on my left shoulder has won. Time to ‘turn to’.
 
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Gutwrench said:
I’m listening to an inner argument.

“Log in remotely and get to work.”
“Naw, have another coffee.”
“Really, get busy. You have lots to do.”
“No matter how much you do, they’ll always be more. How about a poached egg?”

Edit: okay the one sitting on my left shoulder has won. Time to ‘turn to’.
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How about poached egg and coffee?

Yes, I like my cheeses for breakfast, and indeed classic bacon and egg, but, is there a nicer breakfast on the planet than poached egg served with fresh, filter coffee (with perhaps some freshly squeezed orange juice)?
 
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D.T. said:
Outstanding recommendation thanks (side note: The Hold Steady have been on recent rotation on this end :) Good stuff)
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You are welcome. Lots of good artists out there that we often don't hear about. I am quite pleased with Spotify's Discovery Weekly and Release Radar. Much better in my opinion in introducing me to good stuff that Apple Music is. I only subscribe to AM as well as Spotify as I have hundreds of albums in my iTunes library and Spotify seems to be more focussed on playlists. But I would like to drop one of the subscriptions. I will make a decision once I decide if I will be getting an Android phone to replace my iPhone SE down the road.
 
Quite a bit of music in the office today as it was dead.
73663306-13D3-4475-AAFC-1129386C9FF7.jpeg
 
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Apple fanboy said:
What’s not to like?
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Not a thing! :) I just forget to refresh my list of "featured" playlists now in the side panel of my iTunes library now and then, including those with tracks of The Killers. Your post reminded me to fish them out and I thank you. I like some of Brandon Flower's other efforts, I have to round that up as well.

Some picks off Maroon 5... Nada Surf... it's a perfect summer day here and I'm on a roll now hunting through old playlists for neglected favorites.
 
LizKat said:
Not a thing! :) I just forget to refresh my list of "featured" playlists now in the side panel of my iTunes library now and then, including those with tracks of The Killers. Your post reminded me to fish them out and I thank you. I like some of Brandon Flower's other efforts, I have to round that up as well.

Some picks off Maroon 5... Nada Surf... it's a perfect summer day here and I'm on a roll now hunting through old playlists for neglected favorites.
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Neglected favourites are often best discovered with the shuffle all function. That or the radio on the way to work.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Neglected favourites are often best discovered with the shuffle all function. That or the radio on the way to work.
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I sometimes do that with particular iOS devices I've loaded up with assorted "nonclassical" tracks. Somehow I have never been able to tolerate the idea of listening to shuffled music where some Andante movement from a Bach Suite suddenly pops in after a Paul Butterfield Blues track.

Maybe it's just me. I do know some musicians who play games with each other putting an iPod filled with nothing but "serious" music on it into shuffle all mode and then see who can be first to identify whatever's playing.. As a parlor game, fun. As listening on the way to work or while working, my own reaction would be negative.
 
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LizKat said:
I sometimes do that with particular iOS devices I've loaded up with assorted "nonclassical" tracks. Somehow I have never been able to tolerate the idea of listening to shuffled music where some Andante movement from a Bach Suite suddenly pops in after a Paul Butterfield Blues track.

Maybe it's just me. I do know some musicians who play games with each other putting an iPod filled with nothing but "serious" music on it into shuffle all mode and then see who can be first to identify whatever's playing.. As a parlor game, fun. As listening on the way to work or while working, my own reaction would be negative.
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As I share my iTunes library with my wife (and used to my daughter) I rarely listen to the shuffle option these days as I don't like it when their stuff pops up.
 
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Heh, a few different times over the early times of my owning this place while still working downstate, I shared this abode with another person. While it wasn't a formal arrangement that they'd be mostly gone while I was here on weekends, that's often how it worked out. We didn't have any rules about how to leave things for each other that would be other than just courteous... and neither one of us apparently figured it was a big deal to leave the CDs of our choice in the system, as long as the cases were nearby.

Right, so once in awhile I was startled by firing up the stereo when I got here, dropping a disc of my choice into an empty slot... then later discovering that whatever came after that was... completely not my idea of a listen for that evening. :rolleyes:

I never got around to asking that house-sharers leave the rack empty when i was headed up here, but I have to say a couple times it crossed my mind. Then I realized if I did that, it would only be courteous to do the same and I was far too lazy to want to add that to my check-out list of chores when I had to head back to the city. So I left myself open to rude surprises for years on end!
 
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LizKat said:
Heh, a few different times over the early times of my owning this place while still working downstate, I shared this abode with another person. While it wasn't a formal arrangement that they'd be mostly gone while I was here on weekends, that's often how it worked out. We didn't have any rules about how to leave things for each other that would be other than just courteous... and neither one of us apparently figured it was a big deal to leave the CDs of our choice in the system, as long as the cases were nearby.

Right, so once in awhile I was startled by firing up the stereo when I got here, dropping a disc of my choice into an empty slot... then later discovering that whatever came after that was... completely not my idea of a listen for that evening. :rolleyes:

I never got around to asking that house-sharers leave the rack empty when i was headed up here, but I have to say a couple times it crossed my mind. Then I realized if I did that, it would only be courteous to do the same and I was far too lazy to want to add that to my check-out list of chores when I had to head back to the city. So I left myself open to rude surprises for years on end!
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CD's in the HI-FI takes me back. I always ended up with the wrong disk in the wrong case.
 
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LizKat said:
I sometimes do that with particular iOS devices I've loaded up with assorted "nonclassical" tracks. Somehow I have never been able to tolerate the idea of listening to shuffled music where some Andante movement from a Bach Suite suddenly pops in after a Paul Butterfield Blues track.

Maybe it's just me. I do know some musicians who play games with each other putting an iPod filled with nothing but "serious" music on it into shuffle all mode and then see who can be first to identify whatever's playing.. As a parlor game, fun. As listening on the way to work or while working, my own reaction would be negative.
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Never much cared for shuffle - even on a CD, let alone a playlist or an entire collection - for that precise reason.

When I am in a mood for Bach, that is what I listen to; if choosing to depart from the classical or Baroque lounge, I might wander into paying a visit to the music of Philip Glass, or someone such as Ludovico Einaudi later that same night, but it wouldn't be a night for funk, or jazz, or trad, for example.
 
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I'd be too tempted to temporarily steal someone's iPod or similar and put heavy metal music on it, interspersed between classical music or whatever they preferred. Seeing them jump a few feet off of their chair would be a sight to see.
 
Zenithal said:
I'd be too tempted to temporarily steal someone's iPod or similar and put heavy metal music on it, interspersed between classical music or whatever they preferred. Seeing them jump a few feet off of their chair would be a sight to see.
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And why would you waste your time and energy (and waste their time and wreck their enjoyment) in order to do something as silly as that? Not to mention irresponsible and tasteless, and frankly, puerile.
 
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