great thread, got some good advice on some new music to buy: a few lesser known or obscure cd's from my collection.
rachel yamagata - happenstance, i think this is her only cd, released several years ago, track 3 was a hit single on 92.3 in indy, bit of rock, bit of blues, several very good ballads, powerful vocalist. track 3 just rocks, track 5 is a heartbroken ballad. my only criticism is when is the next cd coming out? probably the most purchased disc by my friends after hearing it, virtually regardless of music preferences.
dave brubeck, time out has already been listed & is always worthy of recognition, but a few more obscure brubeck titles: jazz at the college of the pacific I & II, not the best recording quality but quality early brubeck, even better is live at oberlin college in sacd. also recommend live at concord sacd
sarah mclaughlan - accoustic, just 5-6 songs, sarah a piano & a guitar.
bodean's - best of the bodean's, several great classics on here, track 2 is a personal fav both at home & in the car
death cab for cutie - not a huge fan of their earlier work, but do recommend the jonathan byrd ep, transatlanticism & plans - the timing & pace of track 2, tracks 9 & 10 are also favs. the directions dvd is videos done by independent filmmakers for i think all of the songs on plans, sound quality is not on par with the cd (dvd is dolby digital) but an interesting dvd.
U2/Vertigo Live DVD - unfortunately not also released on cd, great sound quality for a concert dvd with multiple audio options (stereo pcm, dolby digital & DTS for surround), but a great concert. if your fan of how to dismantle an atomic bomb this is a must.
judith owen/here- great voice, great recording, great jazz singer, but listening all the way through can be a bit depressing as alot of the songs deal w/ lost love.
van cliburn/tchaikovsky piano concerto #1/rachmaninoff piano concerto #2, hybrid sacd - one of the greats for classical piano
k's choice/greatest hits - the big single about 10 years ago was "i'm not an addict" which just throbs, rest of cd has a bit of filler but also some gems, including several small venue live recordings, track 5 comes to mind which are very well recorded. one of my long term reference cd's for evaluating components.
sting/all this time - jazz/blues arrangments of classic police & sting hits w/ an ensemble cast of great musicians (chris botti, christian mcbride), fields of gold has a fantastic bassline
christina aquilera/back to basics - recommendation is only for track 17 - nasty naughty boy, i'm not a fan of her's, i respect her voice but not her music. however she does a breathy, smokey jazz version of this song that just does it...
uber obscure - blu martini mix - blu year's eve 2006 - a remix disc of 33songs done by a talented local dj, everything from aha take on me to led zepplin, beyonce, diddy, jefferson airplane. the remixes are exceptional, never thought i could listen to much less like a justin timberlake song, recording quality is exceptional (have not talked to the dj but owner of blu martini confirmed my suspicion that these were recorded off LP) & a body, whomp & an embarrassingly get up and dance quality (i have zero business dancing, it's not pretty) the likes of which i have found in other tracks, but not for the majority of a cd, particularly one consisting of 33 songs (although some songs are not the full length album version).
