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12 of my favourite albums for sound

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Lots of people have asked me for albums I think sound great – so, here are some that spring instantly to mind. I should say upfront, this isn’t intended to be some kind of “top 12 best sounding albums ever” list, just some from my own collection that I love the sound of, for whatever reason.

If you take a listen, you’ll probably notice some pretty clear recurring themes – suggestions in the comments, please ! I’ve included the Amazon affiliate widget above so you can hear the songs, but if you live in Europe this Spotify playlist will be even better since you can listen to complete songs.

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Chapman Stick – the coolest instrument ever ?

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – if you’re not using Twitter yet, you need to be.

Today @popsong3_0 sent me a link to the fantastic video above. Links like this are what Twitter is all about, for me, and I thought some of you would love to see it, too.

Watching the video reminded me of some of my own favourite Chapman Stick moments – but before that, in case you’re new to this particular instrument, here’s the one and only Tony Levin (surely the world’s coolest bass player ?) introducing it himself:

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David Vorhaus and The White Noise – Electronic music pioneers

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If this video doesn’t make you want to own your own analogue synthesiser, nothing will !

David Vorhaus will forever be part of my own musical history for creating the album “An Electric Storm” as part of legendary band The White Noise – along with Delia Derbyshire, of “Doctor Who Theme” fame. This mad, tuneful collage of tape loops, analogue synths and sound effects was released in 1969, and provides proof, if you needed it, that the Beatles weren’t nearly as cutting edge as they thought they were.

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Pink Floyd – ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ in the recording studio

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Taken from the fantastic DVD “Classic Albums: The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon“, this clip has loads of great things for audio geeks like us to enjoy, including (probably) the first time a band ever played to a tape loop (and how the loop was made), another great example of double-tracking (this time on a guitar solo) and a superb illustration of how quite extreme-sounding delay and reverb (on Gilmour’s vocal) sound great in the context of the whole mix.

The DVD has been in the Production Advice Bookstore since I first set up the site, and is strongly recommended viewing for anyone interested in writing, recording and mixing.

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Imogen Heap – Ellipse | Streaming in full

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Ellipse” by Imogen Heap is released on 24th August – if you’re like me you can’t wait.

Well, you don’t have to – here is the full album, streaming on Soundcloud ! (At the bottom of this post.) And, you can pre-order the CD here.

Why have I posted this ? Firstly because it’s a superb album, secondly because Imogen is an outstanding musician, for whom production is clearly inseparable from the writing process itself. In fact, she’s a perfect example of “21st century DIY punk“. And, she is certainly making the utmost of the possibilities of social media and Web 2.0 for musicians. (More about that in my post Why Musicians Should Be On Twitter)

But if you still need more persuading, check out her v-blog channel on YouTube – 40 or so video diary entries about the entire writing, recording, mixing and production process of Ellipse. (Anyone who plays music on the lighting panels in her studio’s ceiling is cool by me!).

Anyhow that’s enough words, just listen to this:

 

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