Well, I was all set to get to reading, and then I went to turn on the CD player (one of those 300 CD players) and realized what a mess the CDs were all in, and that I’d planned on straightening that up this weekend. And it’s now the weekend. So I spent a couple of hours doing that.
These are a subset of the CDs I own, the ones that I feel like I might listen to. The ones that I actually do listen to regularly are not that many out of this list, of course. I’ve got a bunch of vinyl that I bust out every once in a while, but most of it I’ve got on CD. And I don’t care what anyone says, vinyl sounds better. I’m no audiophile, but that’s pretty clear, if you’ve got a recording in both formats, the CDs sound truncated, without the vibrancy that you have in vinyl. Ah, well. And now that I’m so annoyed at the local classical station for having an absolutely unbearable amount of advertising these days, I’m going to have to be beefing up my own classical collection. That’s next on the list.
Anyhow, here’s my newly rearranged and weeded list of CDs in my player. I am currently, at this very moment, at the beginning of the Galaxie 500 set, listening to their On Fire. I recommend them without reservation, and with enthusiasm. They’re old favorites of mine.
Ensemble Organum: Vêpres du Jour de Pâques
Ensemble Organum: Messe de Saint Marcel
Ensemble Organum: Chant de l’Eglise Milanese
Ensemble Organum: Chants de l’Eglise de Rome, Période Byzantine
Ensemble Organum: Chant Mozarabe
Ensemble Organum: Chant Cistercien
Ensemble Organum: Chant Corse
Ensemble Organum: Plain-chant Auxerrois
Ensemble Organum: Chant Parisien
Chanticleer: Mysteria — Gregorian Chants
Chanticleer: Sing We Christmas
Chanticleer: Magnificat
Chanticleer: Our Heart’s Joy
Chanticleer: Tavener’s Lamentations & Praises
Deller Consort: Chant Grégorien
Schola Canticorum…: Solemn Christmas Mass
Sœur Marie Keyrouz: Cantiques de l’Orient
Sœur Marie Keyrouz: Chant Byzantin
Sœur Marie Keyrouz: Chants Sacrés Melchites
Sœur Marie Keyrouz: Chant Traditionnel Maronite
Sœur Marie Keyrouz: Sacred Songs from East . . .
Sœur Marie Keyrouz: . . . and West
Giorgos Koros: Byzantine Hymns
Byzantine Patmos
Monastery of Simonopetra: Psalms
Holy Transfiguration Monastery: Prosomia 1
Holy Transfiguration Monastery: Prosomia 2
Lycourgos Angelopoulos: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Apostolos Hill: Gates of Repentance
Boston Byzantine Choir: Mystical Supper
Boston Byzantine Choir: First Fruits
Arvo Pärt: Te Deum
Moody Bible Institute: Images of Christ
Sir Hubert Parry: Cathedral Music
Magnum Mysterium 1.1
Magnum Mysterium 1.2
Magnum Mysterium 2.1
Magnum Mysterium 2.2
Hilliard Ensemble: Perotin
Gesualdo: Tenebrae 1
Gesualdo: Tenebrae 2
Orlando de Lassus: Missa pro defunctis. Prophetiae Sibyllarum
Orlando de Lassus: Penitential Psalms — Henry’s Eight 1
Orlando de Lassus: Penitential Psalms — Henry’s Eight 2
Handel: Chando Anthems 1
Handel: Chando Anthems 2
Handel: Chando Anthems 3
Handel: Chando Anthems 4
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 3 & 5 (von Karajan)
Debussy: Prélude à l’Aprè-midi d’un Faune
Debussy: Piano Works 1
Debussy: Piano Works 2
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade
Holst: various and St Paul’s Suite
Samuel Barber
Vince Guaraldi: A Boy Named Charlie Brown
Vince Guaraldi: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Keith Jarrett: Bremen
Keith Jarrett: Lausanne
Stan Getz 1
Stan Getz 2
Stan Getz 3
Stan Getz 4
Synaulia: Wind instruments
Synaulia: String instruments
Musique de la Grece Antique
Ancient Egypt
Ambient Egypt
Meditation Music of Egypt
Peter Gabriel: Passion
Peter Gabriel: Passion Sources
Passion of the Christ
Gladiator
More Gladiator
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Mustt Mustt
Philip Glass: Akhenaten 1
Philip Glass: Akhenaten 2
Carl Orff: Carmina Burana
Mawlawiyah Music of the Whirling Dervishes
Music of the Ottoman Empire
Hamza el Din: Eclipse
Hamza el Din: Lily of the Nile
Samir Tahar: Dreams
Dead Can Dance: Dead Can Dance; In the Garden of Arcane Delights
Dead Can Dance: Spleen and Ideal
Dead Can Dance: Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
Dead Can Dance: The Serpent’s Egg
Dead Can Dance: Aion
Dead Can Dance: A Passage in Time
Dead Can Dance: Into the Labyrinth
Dead Can Dance: Spirit Chaser
Dead Can Dance: Sambatiki
Dead Can Dance 1981–1998 1
Dead Can Dance 1981–1998 2
Dead Can Dance 1981–1998 3
Brendan Perry: Eye of the Hunter
Lisa Gerard: The Mirror Pool
Lisa Gerard and Pieter Bourke: Duality
Lisa Gerard and Patrick Cassidy: Immortal Memory
This Mortal Coil: It’ll End in Tears
This Mortal Coil: Filigree and Shadow
His Name Is Alive: Livonia
David Sylvian: Brilliant Trees
David Sylvian: Alchemy
David Sylvian: Gone to Earth
David Sylvian: Gone to Earth (Instrumental)
David Sylvian: Secrets of the Beehive
David Sylvian: Ember Glance
Cocteau Twins: Lullabies
Cocteau Twins: Peppermint Pig
Cocteau Twins: Sunburst and Snowblind
Cocteau Twins: Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops
Cocteau Twins: Aikea Guinea
Cocteau Twins: Tiny Dynamine
Cocteau Twins: Echoes in a Shallow Bay
Cocteau Twins: Love’s Easy Tears
Cocteau Twins: Iceblink Luck
Cocteau Twins: box set bonus CD
Lonely Is An Eyesore
Throwing Muses: House Tornado; The Fat Skier
Throwing Muses: Counting Backwards
Pixies: Surfer Rosa; Come On, Pilgrim
Clan of Xymox: Clan of Xymox
Clan of Xymox: Medusa
Galaxie 500: On Fire
Galaxie 500: Today
Galaxie 500: This Is Our Music
Mazzy Star: She Hangs Brightly
Mazzy Star: So Tonight That I Might See
Mazzy Star: Among My Swan
Chris Isaak: Wicked Game
Portishead: Dummy
Portishead: Portishead
Portishead: Roseland NYC Live
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man
Goldfrapp: Felt Mountain
Goldfrapp: Seventh Tree
U2: October
U2: The Unforgettable Fire
U2: The Joshua Tree
U2: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
U2: Where the Streets Have No Name
U2: With or Without You
U2: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Peter Gabriel: So
R.E.M.: Green
Talking Heads: Sand in the Vaseline 1
Talking Heads: Sand in the Vaseline 2
Sting: Dream of the Blue Turtles
Björk: Venus As A Boy
Enya: Shepherd Moons
Lorena McKennitt: The Book of Secrets
K. D. Lang: Ingénue
Red, Hot and Blue
Material: Hallucination Engine
Algee’s Party 1
Algee’s Party 2
Algee’s Party 3
The Beatles: Please Please Me
The Beatles: With the Beatles
The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Night
The Beatles: Beatles for Sale
The Beatles: Help!
The Beatles: Rubber Soul
The Beatles: Revolver
The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles: White Album 1
The Beatles: White Album 2
The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (remix)
The Beatles: Abbey Road
The Beatles: Let It Be
The Beatles: Past Masters 1
The Beatles: Past Masters 2
The Beatles: Anthology 2.1
The Beatles: Anthology 2.2
The Beatles: Anthology 3.1
The Beatles: Anthology 3.2
The Mamas and the Papas: Greatest Hits
Simon and Garfunkel: Greatest Hits
Simon and Garfunkel: Collected Works 1
Simon and Garfunkel: Collected Works 2
Simon and Garfunkel: Collected Works 3
Much approval of your collection!
Though my SF has done his best at steering me away from rock & roll music (and certain classical forms!), a few favorites persist; Galaxie 500 were wonderful! Also very cool to note a fellow 4AD junkie 😉
I feel a little odd recommending a rock CD in light of what I have said, and on a blog generally devoted to higher things, but… Luna’s first album (Dean Wareham from Galaxie 500), ‘LunaPark’ is every bit as good as Galaxie, but maybe you already know this. If not, by all means check it out.
As somewhat of a counter-balance, the New Albion (label) recording of Komitas’ (aka Gomidas’) arrangement of the Armenian Divine Liturgy is also spectacular! Very haunting and contrite. And anything by the Monastic Choir of Valaam Monastery- there’s a great collection titled ‘The Athos of North’, featuring an array of different chant styles, including their outstanding rendition of St. Nectarios’ ‘Agni Partheni’!
These last two you will definitely get some mileage out of in the CD changer; The Luna is best kept for a drive on a sunny day!
Praying all is well,
Symeon
Neat! Thanks very much for the tips, Symeon!
I don’t have anything in Armenian right now, so the New Albion Komitas will be a good start, it sounds like. And I’ve heard good things from other folks about the Valaam recordings. It’d be great to have a recording of Agni Partheni!
I’ll check out Luna, too. I haven’t heard it, but a good recommendation goes a long way. Thanks!