Cowboy Junkies - XLNT Quality Recording

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O'Shag

Junior Audioholic
You may want to check out a studio recorded CD by the Cowboy Junkies. Very interesting material. The lead vocalist is akin to a female version of Chris Isaak. I found myself really getting to like this CD not just because of the catchy and unique musical presentation, but also because of the obvious attention paid to how it was recorded, with the highest fidelity.

Cheers

O'Shag
 
dsa220

dsa220

Junior Audioholic
I have been a big fan of the Cowboy Junkies. You are correct in that their recordings have [almost] always been first rate. I think part of this is their recording philosophy, everybody in the studio at the same time. Most of their recordings are basically 'live' in studio performances. I think this is part of their magic.

Margo Timmins has one of those voices that is just magical, at least for me. I could listen to hear sing for hours. Her/their version of 'Sweet Jane' is absolutly mind blowing.
 
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Thanks so much for the recommendation. I've got a $50 gift card to spend at Circuit City - I may just give this a spin.
 
O

O'Shag

Junior Audioholic
DSA220,

Your right Sweet Jane is awesome. This is one of the CDs I use as a reference to check on any changes I make to my system because I find the recording quality so good. In fact I would say its one of the top three CDs of my collection that I regard as best recorded. Given that you are familiar with this level of quality, do you have any suggestions or recommendations of other CDs that offer the same level of fidelity in the recording?

Hawke,

If you can find this one, you should definitely pick it up

Cheers
 
R

radaray58

Audioholic Intern
Sweet Jane is on the Trinity Sessions CD. Danged if mine has gone missing. I'm sure I let someone put it in their car player, and now ??? Definitely one that needs replacing.

The lead singer's voice is haunting. I have 3 of their CD's and like them all equally well. It's a hypnotic sound, but I can play it while driving at night and not feel sleepy at all.
 
dsa220

dsa220

Junior Audioholic
Sweet Jane can be found on The Trinity Sessions and on their Greatest Hit's album. The Trinity Sessions is one of those seminal works that is a must for any music lover to have in his/her collection. My second favorite is an album called OPEN. It was recorded between tour dates on one of their tours and is quite awesome.

O'Shag, I have a few others that I use for evaluation:

Live Recordings at Red Rose Music; Mark Levinson (yes, that Mark Levinson) - Volumes 1&2. Alas, volume 2 is no more, but if you can find it GET IT!!!! This has some of the best recorded small chamber classical and recorded bass that I have ever heard. I am currently listening to this as I write this; it has taken me 15 minutes to get this far! Check out his web site under SACD, he has quite a list of recordings that he has done.

BluesQuest - Various Artist - Audioquest. If you like the blues, this is your SACD/CD. Quite a few of the recordings that were released on the AudioQuest label were quite good. I have several of their albums, cd's and this SACD.

OPUS 3 has some test records/cd's which are quite good, especially TEST RECORD 4, which has a version of HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN by Cyndee Peters which is worth the price of admission. All of the recordings on OPUS 3 are live and they use no compression or equalizers or other devices during the recording and subsequent transfer. I have many albums from this label, and all of the recordings are first rate, especially their jazz recordings. Some of the music is a little strange, as they prefer real period instruments and do not close mike anything. Definately worth picking something up to evaluate.

Just about everything that the label Sheffield Labs put out, especially the Lincoln Mayorga recordings. If you can find original lab recordings as opposed to the re-releases, get them.

There is just so much that I enjoy listening to, it is hard to put it down in words.
 
dsa220

dsa220

Junior Audioholic
By the way, the Cowboy Junkies are an aquired taste, many people I know that have listened to their stuff initially did not like them, but could not get their sound or songs out of their head, and eventually became ardent fans, kind of like John Coltrane or Miles Davis; not sure why you are listining, but knowing you can't stop!

What makes the Trinity Session so interesting was that it was done live in a church using a stereo mike feeding a DAT machine, that's it. On a system with good definition and wide bandwidth, the church environment becomes alive and an intergral part of the recording. This is where so many audio systems fail with this recording, especially in the bass region where things get overbloated and ill defined.

Here is a link that the band put together about this cd:

http://www.cowboyjunkies.com/albums/trinitysession/index2.html

Enjoy!
 
Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
By the way, the Cowboy Junkies are an aquired taste, many people I know that have listened to their stuff initially did not like them, but could not get their sound or songs out of their head, and eventually became ardent fans, kind of like John Coltrane or Miles Davis; not sure why you are listining, but knowing you can't stop!

What makes the Trinity Session so interesting was that it was done live in a church using a stereo mike feeding a DAT machine, that's it. On a system with good definition and wide bandwidth, the church environment becomes alive and an intergral part of the recording. This is where so many audio systems fail with this recording, especially in the bass region where things get overbloated and ill defined.

Here is a link that the band put together about this cd:

http://www.cowboyjunkies.com/albums/trinitysession/index2.html

Enjoy!
I'm reigniting this old thread because I was rummaging around my CD closet and found my old The Trinity Session recording. I used to use it for speaker auditioning and then it got misplaced. Though their web site is still active, the link above doesn't work, but the album is still available new (on Amazon for $8, for example). I played it for the first time in years last night, and what an extraordinary album it is. Made with a single Calrec Ambisonic mic (my all-time favorite brand of mics) direct to DAT in a church in Toronto, it is a remarkable performance recorded remarkably well. For bassaholoics, one interesting aspect of the recording is the kick drum present on almost every track. They don't list the instruments used in detail, but I suspect it includes a 24" kick drum with a felt beater. You feel the drum beats more than hear them, and my RTA software says the primary energy is in the 25-30Hz range. This is a pop album even @TLS Guy and I can love.
 
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Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
Nice find! Thanks. That's the Calrec mic.

That box in front of the bass drum looks like some sort of mechanical subwoofer device. It also looks like a 22" bass drum. My wife occasionally bugs me for one of these, but it won't fit in our BMW X3 with rest of the kit:

 
Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
Are both cds worth buying? Or just trinity?
In my case, I had never heard Cowboy Junkies before, but was so enamored with this CD that I bought all of their other CDs available at the time. I didn't like any of them, and I never played them again. The Trinity Session is special, IMO.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I haven't run across anything by the Cowboy Junkies I don't like and they all sound great.
 
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Thinking to try trinity and greatest hits for now. :). Sweet Jane is a great song. :)
 
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