Ascend Acoustics Official Music Recommendation Thread

[qwknuf6]

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make sure to check out the last track all the way to the end

Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth and Porcupine Trees Steven Wilson , Get the Bluray ,very nice

[sludgeogre]

make sure to check out the last track all the way to the end

Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth and Porcupine Trees Steven Wilson , Get the Bluray ,very nice

Love this album. I bought the pre-sale pack, but it was before the Blu Ray came out, wish I had that now. I have a signed copy of the album cover and it's amazing to see the signatures of two of my favorite musicians on one beautiful piece of art.

[qwknuf6]

Love this album. I bought the pre-sale pack, but it was before the Blu Ray came out, wish I had that now. I have a signed copy of the album cover and it's amazing to see the signatures of two of my favorite musicians on one beautiful piece of art.

I am off the see Steven Wilson in Kansas City and Dallas TX in November , cant wait !

[davef]

I am off the see Steven Wilson in Kansas City and Dallas TX in November , cant wait !

Fantastic show! Saw him last year, he played some Porcupine Tree as well as a ton of his solo work.

[qwknuf6]

Fantastic show! Saw him last year, he played some Porcupine Tree as well as a ton of his solo work.

I have seen Steven at couple of shows in Chicago , Steven is what music should be about ,what an amazing show !

[sludgeogre]

Fantastic show! Saw him last year, he played some Porcupine Tree as well as a ton of his solo work.

I've yet to see his solo stuff, but I saw Porcupine Tree play with Opeth on a tour in 2003, and I had never heard of Porcupine Tree! It was an eye opening, incredible show. I also got to see Porcupine Tree play at a small-ish venue where only about 50 people showed up, but we were all super fans and everyone was going crazy between songs, so the band was super jazzed on it and they played yet another incredible set. Two of the best musical experiences I've ever had. Really need to see him again, but I rarely ever go to shows anymore now that I have such a great home theater system, heh.

[kyzersoze98]

A few things to note. First, the Bon Iver album noted above received a number of Grammy nominations, hopefully widening the audience.

Second, the previous Bon Iver album ("For Emma, Forever Ago") is also wonderful, but it's quite different, especially for this forum's users. It's less experimental, still with beautiful melodies, but most importantly here it's not nearly so well recorded. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver actually recorded most of it alone in a cabin in the woods over the course of a winter. The recent album I listen to because it's lovely and sounds fantastic; the previous one because it's beautiful despite not sounding fantastic.

Third, the new album from Tinariwen, "Tassili", also Grammy-nominated, is worth a shot if you're open to something different. You can google them to read the backstory, but my point here is that this is another record that sounds great on great speakers. It was literally recorded in a tent in the desert, but obviously by pros. The songs are mostly acoustic guitar, simple percussion and vocals in the language of the Tuareg. There is space all over this record. The music is ofter referred to as "desert blues," but it has a bit more bounce than blues. It's my favorite record of the year.

What a pleasant surprise that tinariwen album sounds incredible. I just purchased it on amazon thank you.

Both:
Melody Gardot- my one and only thrill
George jones-cold hard truth

Will be purchased next thank you all for the recommendations.

[Brannigan]

I've been let down by the quality on most cd's, even my favorites. if you want to hear really fantastic recordings check out kexp on youtube. they bring in a lot of great bands and record them playing a short set in optimal conditions with great equipment and a very skilled tech to set it all up. it ends up sounding better than the album most of the time. some of the best sounds that have ever come out of my raal towers were from kexp sessions. here's a couple that i've been enjoying lately that show off the towers and the ribbons nicely.

ty segall and the muggers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKmMf50IvHg
chelsea wolf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhOYAQ5xJLE
failure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jIhx_DZ2Vk

[chomdh]

I've been let down by the quality on most cd's, even my favorites. if you want to hear really fantastic recordings check out kexp on youtube. they bring in a lot of great bands and record them playing a short set in optimal conditions with great equipment and a very skilled tech to set it all up. it ends up sounding better than the album most of the time. some of the best sounds that have ever come out of my raal towers were from kexp sessions. here's a couple that i've been enjoying lately that show off the towers and the ribbons nicely.

ty segall and the muggers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKmMf50IvHg
chelsea wolf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhOYAQ5xJLE
failure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jIhx_DZ2Vk

Can't wait to check these out. Any other really good kexp sessions that you recommend?

[sludgeogre]

Can't wait to check these out. Any other really good kexp sessions that you recommend?

SO MANY. KEXP is one of the wonders of the world. What's really insane is that even with all of the compression going on with YouTube, the dynamics are still better than mastered CD's. The techs at KEXP are REALLY good. They just let it sound natural they way it should be. Mastering engineers should be forced to watch all of the KEXP performances while audiophiles stare at them disapprovingly. GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, RECORDING INDUSTRY! Steven Wilson is one of the few people that does flat mastering, as he can get things right in mixing. That's why his albums sound so good, similar to KEXP. If only I could get full FLAC files of KEXP sessions.

Poke LaFarge and the South City Three
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo1O...pLUx7L01arhqhQ

Charles Bradley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaA0...pLUx7L01arhqhQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbn4tTt9624

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5eVHCQ4ogQ

Rodrigo Y Gabriela
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV2ixprDrK8

St Paul and the Broken Bones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WShHR_mnrjU

The Tallest Man on Earth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MavDRwy2Ml4

and for all the metalheads out there, The Body & Thou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLtiLqPApco