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randall 
"I like to watch."
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 Posted - 12/20/2006 : 22:49:29
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| I don't care which holiday you celebrate at the end of the year -- or the middle, for that matter. What's your single favorite disk/disc/download/whatever? I'm talking about something album-length. |
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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 12/21/2006 : 00:28:01
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Not fair, I don't have a single favourite. I've bought about 15 new albums in the last month and one of those would have to be my favourite at the moment, as it's all I've listened to in the last month. Most are Scandinavian metal, either Swedish progressive death metal or Norwegian symphonic black metal (for those who want to assign genres). It's a tough call, but if I had to pick an absolute favourite it would be the first on this list, closely followed by the others:-
1) Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
2) Satyricon - Nemesis Divina
2) Opeth - Blackwater Park
2) In Flames - The Jester Race / Black-Ash Inheritance
But if you'd asked me a year ago it would have probably been:-
Orchestra Baobab - Pirate's Choice (Senegalese music)
and a year before that would have been some of EMI's excellent hEMIsphere series of compilations, from these here:-
Celtic Graces - the absolute best of Irish trad
Super Guitar Soukous - Central African deliriously exuberant Soukous
Electric & Acoustic Mali - profoundly emotive Malinese modernised-traditional
and a year before that something different again.
I go through phases when it comes to music, definitely in a metal mood at the moment (as long as it's Scandinavian). But I'm totally looking forward to the local Jazz Festival beginning on January 2nd where Fiona Pears, my favourite virtuoso gypsy violinist will be playing, she's not quite as good as Roby Lakatos (the global master of gypsy violin) but pretty damn close. Her 3rd album is being released and I'll buy it off her in a couple of weeks, and that may well become my favourite for a while. I'm her number one groupie. 
Edit: One I forgot. It's got a festive angle to it, and it's Hayley Westenra's Pure album. I got the 2-disc Xmas edition a couple of years ago, with an extra disc of her Xmas carols. That usually gets brought out this time of year.  Hayley is a Kiwi, started recording at the age of 12, became famous here by the age of 14 with her first album, has sold millions of albums now (is now 18) and is a superstar on the classical circuit. She's got the voice of an angel, truly a one-in-50-million voice.  |
Edited by - Sean on 12/21/2006 03:11:14 |
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lemmycaution
"Long mired in film"
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Posted - 12/21/2006 : 02:08:06
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| No�l--Joan Baez and when there has been a little too much rum in the egg nog, Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift for You. Dig that unctuous outro. |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 12/21/2006 : 03:48:20
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Mine for the past decade or so has been WE THREE KINGS by the Roches. I'm listening to it right now. It encapsulates every one of my emotions re the holidays, and that means it can make me laugh and cry too.
Sean, thank you for the tip on Hayley. |
Edited by - randall on 12/21/2006 03:50:05 |
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ChocolateLady 
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 12/21/2006 : 06:29:51
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I have no favourite holiday albums at all. But if you're asking what's my favourite all-time album - picking just one is just not possible. But here are a few:
Carole King's Tapestry.
Crosy, Stills & Nash's first album.
Joni Mitchell's Blue and Ladies of the Canyon.
Rickie Lee Jones' first album.
Steve Goodman's Steve Goodman.
Jean-Michael Jarre's Oxygen.
Santana's Supernatural.
The original studio version of Evita - this one, no others.
Alan Parson's Turn of a Friendly Card.
Jacqueline duPre's recording which includes the Elgar cello concerto.
George Solti's recording of Beethoven's 4th & 6th, & 9th symphonies.
And if I could find a version where all the singers sound really good (or at least none sound bad), I'd probably pounce on that copy of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte so fast it would make your head spin.
And the list goes on...
(Eclectic enough for you?)
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Edited by - ChocolateLady on 12/21/2006 06:42:18 |
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w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"
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Posted - 12/21/2006 : 08:07:05
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I don't have a particular album for the holidays either, though I usually do play Charlotte Church singing O Holy Night at some point on Christmas Eve.
As for favorite albums, in no particular order:
I agree with ChocolateLady on the Tapestry. I've listened to it since nearly the time it was first released.
Fiona Apple - When the Pawn
Alanis - Jagged Little Pill (heh, surprise, Whipper!!)
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - So Far
Bob Dylan - Greatest Hits Vol. 1
Beatles - Abbey Road
Fleetwood Mac - The Dance
Eagles - Greatest Hits
Janis Joplin - I Got Them Old Kozmic Blues Again, Mama
- Cheap Thrills
Eric Clapton - Unplugged
Traffic - Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
Yeah, I know it shows my age, and I know I like chick singers mostly. I never said I wasn't an old hippie! |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 12/21/2006 : 08:44:12
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quote:
Originally posted by wildhartlivie
I don't have a particular album for the holidays either, though I usually do play Charlotte Church singing O Holy Night at some point on Christmas Eve.
If that's from the album of her in the Holy Land, then you're also listening to my husband in the chorus!
quote:
As for favorite albums, in no particular order:
I agree with ChocolateLady on the Tapestry. I've listened to it since nearly the time it was first released.
Well, it probably is one of the most perfect albums ever made, so yeah!
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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - So Far
I don't like collections. I'd go for Deja Vu.
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Eric Clapton - Unplugged
YES!!! Put that on my list too!
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Yeah, I know it shows my age, and I know I like chick singers mostly. I never said I wasn't an old hippie!
You do? May I recommend K. T. Tunstall?
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 12/22/2006 : 03:40:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Randall
Sean, thank you for the tip on Hayley.
No problem. Actually, talking about this made me want to listen to Pure last night (both discs including the carols), so I did. If Charlotte Church, Sarah Brightman etc are your thing, then you definitely should check out Hayley. She's been pitch-perfect since the age of 6, and her voice has a crystal purity that has to be heard to be believed. Love it. 
BTW, Pure is the biggest selling album in NZ of all time. So beats anything from U2, Pink Floyd, Metallica etc. And was in the pop charts at No. 1 for 18 weeks. Not to mention that in the UK it was the fastest-selling debut classical album of all time, ahead of Charlotte Church, Pavarotti, Bocelli etc. Yeah.  But if you check her out I suspect you'll see why. |
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turrell
"Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 12/22/2006 : 06:02:19
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My favorite is actually the first version of a Very Special Christmas benfiting the Special Olympics - its now probably 20 years old, but filled with mostly great versions of christmas tunes:
Sting: Gabriel's Message
Madonna: Santa Baby
U2: Baby Please Come Home
Eurythmics: Winter Wonder Land
Whitney Houston: Do You Hear What I Hear
Bob Seger: Little Drummer Boy
Run DMC: Christmas Time in Hollis
Pretenders: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Stevie Nicks: Silent Night
(a few bad versions by Bon Jovi, the Pointer Sisters, Springstein and others)
Somewhat amazing that most of these artists are still enjoying success today with a few exceptions. But this is a great Chritmas album for rocking versions of tradional songs. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 12/22/2006 : 07:09:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
BTW, Pure is the biggest selling album in NZ of all time. So beats anything from U2, Pink Floyd, Metallica etc. And was in the pop charts at No. 1 for 18 weeks. Not to mention that in the UK it was the fastest-selling debut classical album of all time, ahead of Charlotte Church, Pavarotti, Bocelli etc. Yeah. But if you check her out I suspect you'll see why.
Just put that album on the music sampler from Amazon.com. Hm... I can see why she sells well. But... although technically she's got the ear and has a pretty voice (except on Wuthering Heights where she sounds absolutely horrid!), I don't care for the nasal tone she has and how very thin her voice is, especially on the high notes. Not enough depth and far too little character to her voice for me - perhaps it will come with time - she is still very young. Same problem with Church and Emma Shaplain (sp?). Emma came to Israel for a concert with the Israel Philharmonic and my husband sings in their choir. While she was very popular, her problem was that she was a "one-trick pony" - she could sing her concert songs and that was it - there was nothing else she could sing. The conductor asked her if she had more than one encore and she didn't, so he asked if there was anything else she could sing in case the audience wanted it. She tried (only in rehersal) one of Violetta's arias from La Traviata and just couldn't get it right. No problem, since they also found out she's a studio singer - live she just can't hold up her own for a whole concert, and the audience never asked even for her one prepared encore.
I generally find these "popular classical" singers (Church, Bocelli, Emma and now this Hayley person) to be annoying to listen to. They seem so lifeless and empty - like wind-up music boxes.
(Just one person's opinion.)
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 12/22/2006 : 08:31:21
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
BTW, Pure is the biggest selling album in NZ of all time. So beats anything from U2, Pink Floyd, Metallica etc. And was in the pop charts at No. 1 for 18 weeks. Not to mention that in the UK it was the fastest-selling debut classical album of all time, ahead of Charlotte Church, Pavarotti, Bocelli etc. Yeah. But if you check her out I suspect you'll see why.
Just put that album on the music sampler from Amazon.com. Hm... I can see why she sells well. But... although technically she's got the ear and has a pretty voice (except on Wuthering Heights where she sounds absolutely horrid!)
I agree! I always skip that song. Nobody should mess with Kate's masterpiece. Sacrilege!  quote:
, I don't care for the nasal tone she has and how very thin her voice is, especially on the high notes.
I just checked out the Amazon clips and you're quite right. It sounds dreadful, totally had the stuffing ripped out of it. Amazon do that with all the clips, to save bandwidth, and I'd guess to keep the quality low enough that even short clips aren't worth stealing. I use Amazon samplers as an initial indicator as to whether I might like a style or not, not to assess depth in someone's voice. I would describe her voice as very rich, but I'm not sure what nasal sounds like.  All my favourite music sounds shite on Amazon.quote:
Not enough depth and far too little character to her voice for me - perhaps it will come with time - she is still very young.
Strangely enough this is the way I like it. When singers develop character (vibrato etc, and trying to be clever instead of just singing), it puts me right off.
Anyway, music, like food (and chocolate  ) is very much a personal thing and people like what they like.
Anyway, I'm back in a metal mood and to be honest I prefer the sound of this guy's voice, he's the lead vocalist for Dimmu Borgir, and certainly doesn't lack character. I'd describe his voice as the guttural gurgle made by an incubus being strangled by a succubus... while having limbs amputated with a blowtorch.  I won't give you any links to sound clips, you can track some down if you want. |
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w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"
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Posted - 12/23/2006 : 06:57:00
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
If that's from the album of her in the Holy Land, then you're also listening to my husband in the chorus!
I'm not sure where it's from, I downloaded it from Napster (pre-squashing). As much as I hate to admit it, I heard it on Touched By An Angel a few years back.
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I don't like collections. I'd go for Deja Vu.
I like collections because it keeps me from skipping around to find my favorite songs. Also, So Far was the album that Mr. LaMar, to whom I was once married, had when we were together. Was the first I listened to them (oh gods, how long ago THAT was!!!)
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Eric Clapton - Unplugged
YES!!! Put that on my list too!
Funny story about that CD. When I worked at a state MR/DD developmental center, I had a therapy client who was moderately impaired and also had bipolar disorder. During the times he was manic, the only way I could get him to sit down and relax was to play Eric Unplugged. He would sing along and sometimes even fall asleep. Then he'd go to the team leader and sing "Before you accuse me - CHRIS!!!!!!!!! - take a look at yourself!!!!!!!" I'm not sure she ever forgave me......
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You do? May I recommend K. T. Tunstall?
I just happened across her a couple nights ago through a USA Network treasure hunt. I'm going to order something of hers after the New Year!!!!!! |
Edited by - w22dheartlivie on 12/23/2006 06:59:04 |
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What's Your Favorite Holiday Album?
