'Tis the season to resurrect the holiday music thread....
Last year one of my favorite Christmas finds were: Berl Ives, "Holly Jolly Christmas" and Aimee Mann, "Another Drifter in the Snow". This year I went with Shack's advice and picked up The Carpenters, "Christmas Portrait".
Stan
Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
'Tis the season to resurrect the holiday music thread....
Last year one of my favorite Christmas finds were: Berl Ives, "Holly Jolly Christmas" and Aimee Mann, "Another Drifter in the Snow". This year I went with Shack's advice and picked up The Carpenters, "Christmas Portrait".
More later, Tour... Vox Copuli Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
since I've been guilty of much thread pollution on this topic already... might as well pollute some more :-)
The preferred mode of holiday reproduction at my house - decades' worth of solstice vinyl dubbed to VHS HiFi Audio tape!
Actual, unretouched photo of a December dubbing session from a few years back. The side-load Zenith VCR was a Stereo Discounters' "HiFi show and sale" buy ca. 1986 - still going strong. This one was designed to be used for both audio and video recording (i.e., it has variable record level, peak hold display rec level meters, headphone monitor jack and output level... stuff like that). I've actually used it for live recording (with reel to reel in parallel for a "safety" copy) with good results.
I used to do a lot of transfers to a Panasonic H-fi VHS in the mid/late 80's. Excellent sound, minimal background hiss. because of the head speed/high tape speed; freq response and S/N were very, very good. I also did party mixes via CD, and hi-fi VHS--it did a great job of giving the CD music a more analog sound.
90-plus dB dynamic range (even at "LP" speed - 6 hours of high-quality audio on a cheap T-120 tape!). No NR needed, as the audio is recorded as an FM signal (and the hiss and most other noise on the tape is AM). Beta HiFi (the originator) and VHS HiFi were the last great analog recording formats to be developed. :-)
The only real drawback is the potential for occasional dropouts - esp. at low tape speeds. Using very high quality tape helps considerably. We have 20-plus year old tapes that still sound excellent.
It's not all traditional tunes, but I really like The Jethro Tull Christmas Album and Jingle all the Way from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. If you want something harder, check out Gary Hoey's Christmas stuff (Ho Ho Hoey).
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, now that is one I gotta hear. The lyrics are pretty interesting.
The Carpenter's Christmas Portrait is truly worth having. It puts me in mind of a Christmas musical. "Little Alter Boy" touches my heart. Is/was there a high-res version of this album available?
Stan
Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
OK -- I went diggin' around for a "holiday music" thread and found this one
Untouched by human -- umm -- bytes since 2012.
Why dare you disturb its slumber? I hear you ask.
Back in September, Mrs. H & I attended an open house to visit the new studios of Vermont Public Radio (VPR) in Colchester, VT. One of the unexpected bonuses of that visit was a 'freebie' pile of CDs that their music library was getting rid of
I picked up a few (imagine that?!) -- one of them was a "holiday" themed album called Enchanted Winter by one Jillian LaDage. As it happens, we have a proscription at our house against playing "holiday music" out of season. Well, the "holiday season" is here, and I am just now listening to this disc.
It consists of Celtic-style takes on some well known (and unknown, at least to me) winter/Christmas music, and I'd opine (so far) that it's pretty darned good (if, of course, one likes that sort of thing). Think Loreena Mckennit, that sort of stuff. I don't know if any of y'all are fans of such, but it's a guilty pleasure for me, so I thought it worthy of mention.
Found it on YT, too, if you'd care to give a listen
Comments
(Sounds of Marky scurrying to the living room to find it)
The one I have is A Canadian Brass Christmas
Thanks for the link, "Christmas Time is Here" (both the instrumental and vocal) is my very favorite christmas song ever!
I also like "Baby it's Cold Outside" by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan, and "Let it Snow" by Boyz II Men
CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.
-Drew Carey
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
-Unknown
My DVD Collection
Last year one of my favorite Christmas finds were: Berl Ives, "Holly Jolly Christmas" and Aimee Mann, "Another Drifter in the Snow". This year I went with Shack's advice and picked up The Carpenters, "Christmas Portrait".
Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade), Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7; Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
I am a fan of #8 and #9 which I would have #1 and #2
The reflected sound of everything
Kenny G Wishes
Nat King Cole Christmas Song
Bing Crosby White Christmas
Also have a soft spot for this 1992 Telarc release, by none other than the co-writer of The Christmas Song...
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
The preferred mode of holiday reproduction at my house - decades' worth of solstice vinyl dubbed to VHS HiFi Audio tape!
Actual, unretouched photo of a December dubbing session from a few years back. The side-load Zenith VCR was a Stereo Discounters' "HiFi show and sale" buy ca. 1986 - still going strong. This one was designed to be used for both audio and video recording (i.e., it has variable record level, peak hold display rec level meters, headphone monitor jack and output level... stuff like that). I've actually used it for live recording (with reel to reel in parallel for a "safety" copy) with good results.
The only real drawback is the potential for occasional dropouts - esp. at low tape speeds. Using very high quality tape helps considerably. We have 20-plus year old tapes that still sound excellent.
Check it: http://www.amazon.com/Wintersong-Sarah-Mclachlan/dp/B000HBKCDC/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1
Yeah it is pretty good - the medley The First Noel/Mary Had a Little Baby thereupon is stunning in all respects; a favorite latter-day holiday track.
5.1: HDMI Bitstream>Denon AVR-1910>polkaudio RTE55, CS350-LS, RT3, HSU STF-2, Visio M55-F0
group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.
-Drew Carey
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
-Unknown
My DVD Collection
The Carpenter's Christmas Portrait is truly worth having. It puts me in mind of a Christmas musical. "Little Alter Boy" touches my heart. Is/was there a high-res version of this album available?
Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade), Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7; Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
5.1: HDMI Bitstream>Denon AVR-1910>polkaudio RTE55, CS350-LS, RT3, HSU STF-2, Visio M55-F0
Untouched by human -- umm -- bytes since 2012.
Why dare you disturb its slumber? I hear you ask.
Back in September, Mrs. H & I attended an open house to visit the new studios of Vermont Public Radio (VPR) in Colchester, VT. One of the unexpected bonuses of that visit was a 'freebie' pile of CDs that their music library was getting rid of
I picked up a few (imagine that?!) -- one of them was a "holiday" themed album called Enchanted Winter by one Jillian LaDage. As it happens, we have a proscription at our house against playing "holiday music" out of season. Well, the "holiday season" is here, and I am just now listening to this disc.
It consists of Celtic-style takes on some well known (and unknown, at least to me) winter/Christmas music, and I'd opine (so far) that it's pretty darned good (if, of course, one likes that sort of thing). Think Loreena Mckennit, that sort of stuff. I don't know if any of y'all are fans of such, but it's a guilty pleasure for me, so I thought it worthy of mention.
Found it on YT, too, if you'd care to give a listen
Moody and atmospheric as all get out, it is.
Happy Holidays, y'all!
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Eye is uhmembah dat!
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Caety's favorite Christmas album. I just happen to like near everything he puts out, so...