+1 Factory Girl
Best song for immediate impact when presenting or testing?
I, as most of you, have my regular tunes that I play or listen to when trying out a new system or playing music for friends. My current starter is 'Feels like Rain' by Aaron Neville. It engages me immediately because I love it so, but it is also very well recorded and has a bass voice doing backup which in the right system has a real visceral impact.
I was at an Audio shop recently, listening to my standards, and wanted to show the sales consultant a piece that he might not have heard. I played 'Golden Rust' off the Miles Gurtu album. After about 30 seconds, he pulled out his device and added the song to his favorites. I asked why did he add so quickly, and he said that the opening electronica had a three dimensional stereophonic quality that made a remarkable impression right off the bat. I paraphrase lightly; that was his comment.
What pieces do you play of any genre that have an immediate impact, especially for people listening to a good system for the first time?
I was at an Audio shop recently, listening to my standards, and wanted to show the sales consultant a piece that he might not have heard. I played 'Golden Rust' off the Miles Gurtu album. After about 30 seconds, he pulled out his device and added the song to his favorites. I asked why did he add so quickly, and he said that the opening electronica had a three dimensional stereophonic quality that made a remarkable impression right off the bat. I paraphrase lightly; that was his comment.
What pieces do you play of any genre that have an immediate impact, especially for people listening to a good system for the first time?
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Vinyl: Neil Diamond, Hot (August Night) side 3 "Canta Libre" or "Morningside" Vinyl: Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon) "Time" Vinyl: Herb Alpert't Tijuana Brass (Whipped Cream & Other Delights) any cut CD: Hillbilly Winos (Live from the Living Room) any cut CD: Van Morrison (Avalon Sunset) "These Are The Days" CD: Pink Floyd (Division Bell) "High Hopes" or any other cut CD: Sting (all this time) "Perfect Love", "Moon Over Bourbon Street" CD: Jane Monheit (The Very Best Of) "Hit The Road To Dreamland" CD: Hugh Masekela (hope) "Stimela" (The Coal Train) Anything Sade So many more that I might choose......Jim |
My two cents.. 1. Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” for all the reasons previously cited. This one’s a jazz classic. 2. Jazz at the Pawnshop, vol 1, especially “Limehouse Blues” & “High Life”. Not only terrific jazz but masterfully engineered. The detail, the dynamic range & the imaging will really shine on a good system. I especially like the interplay between the alto sax and the marimbas. My face always hurts after a good listen (too much smiling) 3. A recent find & current fav is Cyndi Lauper’s “At Last”, title track & “Until You Come Back to Me” in particular. Vocals can really show the strengths of a nice system, as well as expose weaknesses. Cyndi’s voice will test your system and please your ears. A two-fer. |
Great thread, OP, got me listening to some old stone-cold classics and adding many new ones to my "must listen to" list. Here's a couple more - Billy Cobham - "Searching for the Right Door/Spectrum" from Spectrum. Great drums on intro and throughout, excellent PRAT qualities. Massive Attack - "Inertia Creeps" from Mezzanine. Lake Street Dive - "Mistakes" from Side Pony. First Aid Kit - "Emmylou" from The Lion's Roar. Morphine - "Dawna/Bueno" from Cure for Pain. And lately I keep returning to the recent Handel's Italian Cantatas performed by Sabine Devieilhe, Lea Desandre, and Emmanuelle Haim. |
The best song, or piece of music, in my opinion, is the one that is a favorite of your guest. It is close to their heart. It has emotional resonance for them. They think they know it so well that they might say that it’s virtually tattooed into their brain. You invite them over, you ask for their favorites, you pick one, throw it on the table, drop the needle and play. And then you watch their eyes as they go from an expression of incredulity to tears. Its worked over a dozen times for me. |
Greetings all. Thanks for playing. I created a public playlist on Qobuz called Cheap & Tawdry. It's about 80% accurate. Some tracks I couldn't find, and I often selected another from the same artist. When a whole album was called out, I picked the first track. The variety of songs is wider than I expected. Some are amazing, many are good to great, others leave me puzzled. As always, de gustibus non disputandum est. Cheers! |
Seems that marking a playlist as public is not sufficient. Here's the link: https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/2104851 |
https://www.amazon.com/Round-Up-Erich-Kunzel/dp/B000FKO40C If your system give wide and deep soundstage, then this CD will impress your guest. My system give holographic image of the first track. Horses are moving around. Thomas |
Here are a few Johnny A-Two Wheel Horse Steely Dan-Royal Scam Dire Straits-6 Blade Knife Jeff Golub-Drop Top Joyce Cooling-Green Impala Jimmy Thackery-Minor Step Steve Hunter-222 W 23rd Mark Lettieri-Everybody Wants To Rule The World Rammstein-Du Hast Megadeth-Symphony Of Destruction Harvey Mandel-Baby Batter The Aristocrats-Bad Asteroid Jethro Tull-Bouree Grinder Switch-Pick'n The Blues Vince Guardali-Linus And Lucy Deadato-Super Strut Bela Fleck And The Flecktones-Sinister Minister Bela Fleck And The Flecktones -Flight Of The Cosmic Hippo Pink Floyd-Various Diff songs Jackson Browne-Sergio Leone Joe Bonamassa-Several His Songs Lee Ritenour-Boss Infected Mushroom-Never Mind |
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I just heard the ATCSCm40 speakers, 'wow' and super 'wow'. The track they played was Sans Saens - Danse Macabre. I know this track well but hearing it through these speakers bought out the full majesty of this music. The speakers have this skill of portraying the actual tone/timbre of the musical instrument. This piece has various instruments playing this lovely sort of demonic/cemetery tune, hearing the violins was exquisite pleasure. Also I could hear each instrument seperately in the orchestra or enjoy the full orchestra at once. The whole experience was like a thrilling ride on the big dipper in a fair ground! |