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Suddenly, I finally get Sigur Rós^*.

And now I am nearly speechless, in awe at the sheer melancholy beauty all around me as I proceed through each of their recordings.

As an example, check this lovely video of Glósóli, which ends in a way some of my dreams begin.

For other examples, there’s a generous selection of free MP3 tracks at the band’s website.

I’m surprised I took so long to get here, but I’m oh so glad to have arrived.

2007-12-01 update:
Ah! The Heima movie trailer (3:53, from “a film by Sigur Rós”) displays breathtaking Icelandic beauty — her landscape and her people. Jumps off the screen as National Geographic-caliber photography. Check it in the highest resolution you can.

^*Not in existential totality, of course, but enough to really appreciate what they’re doing

I think I first encountered Deva Premal in one of my occasional sweeps of eMusic.com for artists whose descriptions look interesting but whose work I’m not already familiar with. I pick a track here and there for sampling their work at leisure, then go back to buy more of their work as I decide I like them. Deva makes a very good first impression.

So when I saw Deva’s latest CD at the bookstore, Dakshina, I bought it for the sheer joy of discovering her most recent work.

I processed the CD tracks as usual to FLAC, copied to my music player, then lay down to relax and listen closely. From the first note I was engaged. But as soon as Track 4 started — Aad Guray — I felt goosebumps, then awe, until I found myself melting into tears. I told Steph, “I think I’ve just heard the most beautiful thing in my life so far.”

(The first 1:10 of Aad Guray, which provides a very good taste of what I mean, is available at Deva and Miten’s site on the Dakshina page.)

The other tracks come very close to that assessment, too.

S and I were half-watching the televised Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood on PBS Sunday night, and then The Wailin’ Jennys came on.

<heads jerk toward TV>

I sat transfixed, tears flowing at the beauty of these Canadian angels. S said, “I think I’m in love.”

Acoustic folk with magic harmonies … female voices melt me in general, and the Jennys in particular.

Unfortunately they’re not listed at my favorite online music source, eMusic (see below), but they are available at the iTunes Music Store. I bought both 40 Days and Firecracker on impulse, and now can’t stop listening to either album [link to descriptive Amazon listings].

Update: The Jenny whose voice grabs me most, Annabelle Chvostek, has two solo releases available at eMusic. Enjoying now.

Update 2: Links to lovely video of “Beautiful Dawn” and entire audio track of “One Voice” (and more) available at Jericho Beach Music. (The video shows previous Jenny, Cara Luft, whom I’d never seen — only heard — on 40 Days.

2006-08-16 update: Now both 40 Days and Firecracker are available at eMusic! (Which means higher quality encoding and no DRM.)

Woo-hoo, I just stumbled onto Pandora, available in both free and subscription forms:

At Pandora Media … we have a single mission: To help you discover new music you’ll love. …

With Pandora you can explore to your heart’s content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the [Music] Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings — new and old, well known and completely obscure — to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you. …

I don’t know yet if Pandora will work for me, but the idea fits my head like a key in a lock:

We believe in the value of music and have a profound respect for those who create it. We like all kinds of music, from the most obtuse bebop, to the most tripped-out drum n bass, to the simplest catchy pop tune. Our mission is to help YOU connect with the music YOU like.

Excellent marketing. I’m in. (FAQ)

For classical music lovers like me, this is big news:

eMusic has just added Naxos to its collection of classical music labels, which is a little like marrying into the Sears-Roebuck clan — suddenly, whatever you need, you’ve got.

I’ve become quite a fan of eMusic over the past many months. My musical tastes are diversifying as I get older — not even slightly just classical — and hence the more I look, the more I discover off-the-beaten-path gems in eMusic’s diverse catalog. Meanwhile, as in this case, they’re adding more and more on-the-beaten-path selections.

The pricing for eMusic’s hassle-free, non-DRM, reasonably high bitrate MP3s (~180–220 kbps VBR) is hard to beat: roughly 25 cents per track, no matter how long the track is. (Check the eMusic site for current pricing.)

As for classical, I think Naxos is an amazing label, economy pricing and good to great classical recordings. They are in some ways single-handedly reviving the classical music recording scene.

For example, I’m a huge fan of composer Anton Bruckner (as I wrote about last March).

Georg Tintner’s recordings of Bruckner’s symphonies on Naxos are considered among the best anywhere, always acclaimed highly, and now they’re available thru eMusic for, looks like, ~$1 per symphony. (I haven’t checked these out directly, because I already bought the boxed set elsewhere.)

And now behold, the Naxos Bruckner offerings at eMusic.

Woo-hoo! Aural joy in store.

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2005-11-01 update:

Today I learned from an eMusic support rep that on top of what else I like eMusic for, there’s this —

Once you have selected a track from eMusic, you are allowed to re-download it as many times as you like without losing download credits provided that the album is still available through eMusic.

That’s reasonable insurance that you’ll always have access to your purchased music, even if your drive grinds to a permanent halt, which is refreshingly unlike the situation at the iTunes Music Store. (I like the iTMS, but its restrictions make it the last place I buy music instead of the first.)

In order to re-download tracks, please follow these steps:

1. Log in to your eMusic account
2. Click on the Your Profile tab on the homepage
3. Click on the Downloads button
4. Select the Artists, Albums and Tracks you wish to download from the list provided

[entry originally published Wednesday, March 2, 2005 but I’ve kept adding to it throughout the month]

I’m having a grand time returning in mid-life to a profound joy of my youth, classical music, especially symphonies. I had somehow forgotten how soul-uplifting this music is for me.

With Dr. Julius as my emcee to the possibilities once again, I find myself especially drawn to exploring Herr Bruckner und Herr Mahler. Using guidelines from the Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs, reviews at Amazon.com (at links below), and most helpful of all, informed discussion threads at Head-fi.org (Bruckner, Mahler), I’ve started with these purchased recordings.

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Bruckner: The Complete Symphonies (00-9) performed by Georg Tintner and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (Naxos, February 22, 2000)
Notes: Extravagant, I know, but I liked Tintner’s No. 3 so much I bought the whole inexpensive but well-regarded boxed set. Penguin Guide lists set as a key 3-* recording.

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 performed by Otto Klemperer and the New Philharmonia Orchestra (EMI, recorded 1964, remastered release October 7, 2003)
Notes: The sound is close to spectacular. Here I am listening to something recorded during my pre-kindergarten years, and even now as I’ve begun showing early signs of Old Fartitude, I’m being blown away by it.

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 performed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Wiener Philharmoniker) (Teldec, March 7, 2000)
Notes: Penguin Guide lists as a key 3-* recording.

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 performed by Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Decca, July 16, 2002)
Notes: I can’t yet compare to any other performances, but the Adagio (3rd movement) here is one of the more sublime things I’ve ever heard.

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Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” performed by Zubin Mehta, Ileana Cotrubas, Christa Ludwig, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Decca, recorded 1975, rereleased June 13, 2000)

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Mahler: Symphony No. 4 performed by Fritz Reiner, Lisa della Casa, and the Chicago Symphony (RCA, recorded ~1958, rereleased March 7, 2000)

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Mahler: Symphony No. 5 performed by Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker (EMI, November 5, 2002)

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Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde performed by Otto Klemperer, Christa Ludwig, Fritz Wunderlich, and the [Old and] New Philharmonia Orchestra(s) (EMI, recorded 1964–1966, rereleased January 12, 1999)
Notes: Not that long ago when I’d hear music like this, with operatic singers crooning and ululating in German, I’d say, turn that noise off! Now, to my surprise, I can hardly get enough. Maybe it’s the aging process, the deeper understanding of the fleetingness of life on earth (and acceptance of death’s everpresence here) that comes with years, that has my head and heart converging with Mahler’s life trajectory and resonating to it. I still don’t understand much German, yet the words still seem so right.

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received Friday, March 18 …

Bruckner: Symphonie No. 9 performed by Carlo Maria Giulini and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Wiener Philharmonica) (DG, November 14, 1989)
Notes: Ordered because Tyson won me over with

 … it is finally a recording that matches my favorites (Tintner in both). I’m coming to the conclusion that I simply like slow, intensely spiritual, song-like style of Bruckner conducting, which both Giulini and Tintner have in spades.

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received Friday, March 18 …

Mahler: Symphony 9 performed by Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Decca, November 9, 2004)
Notes: Ordered this recording because I’ve seen it praised as an extra high-quality new recording of a work of which Origen writes —

If there is a more beautiful first movement in symphonic history than [Mahler 9], please let me know.

to which Masonjar responded —

[Mahler 9’s 1st movement is] definitely my favorite Mahler movement. That would obviously place it above every movement of any symphony by anyone else (since Mahler is my favorite symphonist), and above any piece of classical music period.

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received Mon, March 21 …

Bruckner: Symphonie No. 8 performed by Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Wiener Philharmonica) (DG, September 13, 1989)
Notes: Widely hailed, acclaimed by the Penguin Guide as

 … the most impressive of them all. The sheer beauty of sound and opulence of texture is awe-inspiring but never draws attention to itself: this is a performance in which beauty and truth go hand and hand.

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received Sun, March 27 …

Birthday monies let me expand this glory by two more Mahlers and expand into Vaughan Williams:

Mahler: Symphony No. 8 performed by Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Decca, recorded 196_, remastered release August 10, 1999)
Notes: 

Mahler: Symphony No. 10 performed by Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker (EMI, June 6, 2000)
Notes: 

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis et al. performed by John Barbirolli and the Allegri String Quartet (EMI, recorded 196_, remastered release March 14, 2000)
Notes: 

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5; Valiant-for-Truth et al. performed by Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra (Chandos, February 9, 1999)
Notes: 

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received Sun, April 4 …

Mahler: Symphony No. 9 performed by Benjamin Zander and the Philharmonia Orchestra (Telarc, February 23, 1999)
Notes: 

Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony performed by Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra (Chandos, May 22, 2001)
Notes: 

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received Wed, April 13 …

Mahler: Symphony No. 3 performed by Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Decca, May 11, 2004)
Notes: This recording’s 23-minute final movement may be the most lyrical and powerful piece of symphonic music I’ve ever experienced. Most of its length is melodic interweavings I fully expect to hear in heaven. Then its finale packs in the tympanic power, is even bombastic perhaps, but it’s bombast that raises waves of goosebumps then melts my heart. I’ve listened about six times now, and each time it’s left me speechless with tears rolling.

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received Mon, May 23 …

Mahler: The Complete Symphonies performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic (Sony, January 30, 2001)
Notes: In one final burst of Mahlerian extravagance I’m listening to Bernstein’s Sony box set, as a result of a weak moment while reading the enthusiasm for it in this thread. One way of looking at it, the one I’m using, is $55 for 12.8 hours of music most of which makes my heart sing is a pretty good deal!

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Listening now — political thoughts out the window; theological thoughts, too, except insofar as these are religious experiences for me. Ahh …

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2005-03-22 update:
Wow, I’ve bought a year’s worth of music in a month. Have I uncovered a wee bit of OCD? But what a joyful obsession it is. And one with a lifelong shelf life, eh? (Plus I can rationalize I’m doing my part to help keep the classical genre a viable market for artists and record labels. :-)

FLAC lossless audio is changing the way I buy music.

read more...

Zemo provides links to, and commentary on, some extraordinary music in a thread at Fix-it.org, How to really listen to music (dated July 15, 2004).

Ooh, ooh, ooh!

Grab the best headphones you’ve got and check out these MP3 samples. May you get as big a happy smile on your face as I do. (Heads up: big MP3 files, average size 6MB.)

This thread introduced me to Chesky Records, an audiophile label from whose catalog most of these sample tracks come. I just ordered several audiophile-quality CDs from Chesky, which I’ll aim to comment on here. (Chesky has a 25% off holiday special going on through December 31, 2004.)

Thanks, Zemo!

I heard an Apocalyptica tune, Drive, on Radio Paradise recently, and liked it so much I just bought the Apocalyptica album Inquisition Symphony from the iTunes Music Store.

Heavy-metal cello is what these guys do — “heavy cello thunder from the darkest depths of Finland” — which makes their sound striking whether you like it or not. Turns out, I like it, even though Metallica has never been my thing; the heaviest metal I usually like is Rush (ever since I first heard 2112 in 1977).

Struck me as I was rockin’ out to Inquisition Symphony on the way home that this is what the spiritual war in the U.S. sounds like. This music captures how my guts are responding to it: not settled, not peaceful, but instead loud, dissonant, raucous, hard hitting.

And yet in the midst of the sonic earthquake that is Apocalyptica there’s a strange beauty, an awesome skillfulness. I wonder if there’s an analogous beauty and skill at work in post-election America, a still small voice speaking into the cacophony of war, dishonor, violence, and lies. My hunch is, against all apparent evidence, there is.

I recently moved into a cube farm at work that would make Dilbert shudder. Feels like I’m sitting in a football-field-sized floor of cubicles — which themselves sit on elevated flooring that makes noise when anyone walks by — in the midst of people who are paid to talk on the phone all day.

For me, this extracubular jibber-jabber leads to Work Not Happening. I had to take steps to keep out the extraneous sounds, for sanity as well as productivity.

Some Googling led to this overview of sound-reduction options, which led me to this enthusiastic review of Etymotic ER-4P “noise isolating earphones,” which I’d never heard of.

Took me two days to go from “no flippin’ way” on seeing the price tag to “shoot, I really need these.” Three days later I had a package in hand from CustomEarsets.com. Staring at the package, I felt like Stuart, who says in the review —

I bought them safe in the knowledge that this was quite possibly the stupidest, most irresponsible purchase I had made in quite some considerable time; but that “Hey what the heck, I hadn’t done anything as unfathomably dumb in quite some time and so it was probably about time I did”. And I can honestly say that they have made a believer out of me. I almost feel religious about them.

Oh man, not only can I not hear anything of the outside world with these things occupying my cranial sanctum, the sound quality is transporting me outside this world. What’s playing on my computer is being darn near hardwired into my brain. Oh! Oh! The bliss of it! (I am an aural person, as you might infer.)

Like now, I’m listening to Loreena McKennitt as presented in streaming Hearts of Space program #469, The Book of Secrets. Loreena is singing like an angel inside my head. Heaven must be a little like this.

(I listened to Hearts of Space radio broadcasts back in the 1980s, and then lost track when my local public radio station stopped carrying it. Now I find all Hearts of Space programs back to 1984 are online as streaming Real audio available by subscription. It’s a glorious rediscovery, as is my renewed friendship with the new-and-improved Live365 Internet radio wonderland.)

The very best listening bionicry appears to be Ultimate Ears’ UE-5c™ “personal monitors,” reviewed here. Going to an audiologist for custom-molded earpieces, as you must do to procure these, seems like a near-ultimate luxury to me. Maybe someday.

2004-04-14 update: The primary reason I bought these earbuds from CustomEarsets.com (aka Radio Partner) was to keep open the inexpensive option of custom earpieces that are For My Ears Only. That seemed like one of the most luxurious aspects of the top-of-the-line UE-5c™ personal monitors.

In the case of this custom earset, however, no audiologist required (as nice as that would be). You pack your own ears with a self-mixed slippery casting material supplied by Radio Partner, let it harden, remove, then send the resulting earcasts to them. About three weeks later you receive your personalized earset. Carefully twist the ER-4P sound barrels into the earset pieces according to instructions, and you’re set.

My custom earset arrived yesterday. The earset pieces are fleshy and odd-looking, but sure enough they fit my ears perfectly. The ER-4P sound seems to me as high quality as with the supplied white plastic flange tips but wearing this custom earset seems noticeably more comfortable.

These block external sounds almost but not quite as completely as the white tips, which is an advantage to me: people were coming into my cubicle and moving their mouths randomly, seemed to me, until I’d get an earbud extracted from my head enough to hear them. Now I can make out what they’re saying without the theatrics (theirs and mine).

After I’ve used these custom earpieces for a while, I’ll note whether I’m as pleased with them as I’ve been without them. Regardless, I’m elated at having discovered more soul-stirring music in the last six weeks (via Hearts of Space) than I’ve found in the last six years. I had forgotten how music — especially well-reproduced music — feeds my soul.

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2004-07-02 update:
Another make that looks good is Future Sonics ear monitors, but I haven’t investigated yet.

2004-11-18 update:
As long as I’m daydreaming about high-end canalphones, lindrone writes convincingly about the Sensaphonics ProPhonic 2X-S relative to the Etymotic ER-4 and Shure E5c and the Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pro, complete with numerous photos. Thanks, lindrone.

2004-11-21 update:
Tyson makes an excellent point that’s crucial for best listening results, a subtle point that’s taken me 9+ months to realize (duh). Even though he’s talking about Sensaphonics 2X-Softs, this applies to Ety ER-4Ps as well:

Comfort and sound quality can definitely be affected by how you insert them and seal them. I find that there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. The wrong way is to simply twist them in and leave them like that. If I do that, I find there is a sort of “suction” feel, almost like a vacuum was created in my ear. This is pretty uncomfortable to me over time, and I also notice that it has the effect of dulling the high frequency quite a bit. I find that once I have them inserted, if I pull up and back on my ear lobe, it breaks the seal momentarily, allowing the pressure to be “equalized” in my ear, so that I don’t have a suction sensation. When I release my earlobe it re-seals without that suction feeling and the comfort and sound quality are greatly improved.

Thanks, Tyson.

2005-12-27 overdue custom earpiece update:
A year ago I took a deep breath and sprung for the Sensaphonics [ProPhonic] Soft 2X and have had one foot in heaven since. Upon procuring the audiologist-made earmolds, as was necessary for the Sensas, then using the resulting Sensa earpieces for the past year, I realize my original custom earpieces pictured above aren’t even close. If I were looking for custom earpieces for Etymotics again, I’d investigate the Sensaphonics custom sleeves.]

2007-08-23 update: I notice some recent dissatisfaction on Head-fi.org with the current state of this Sensa custom IEM model; assertion is manufacturer changed audio drivers. I think mine are the previous drivers (last in for repair for self-inflicted damage in May 2006). So I still have one foot in heaven.

However, next time the opportunity presents itself to get a new set of custom IEMs, besides shopping around for current state of the market, I’m going to an audiologist the IEM manufacturer specifically recommends, as my Sensas’ custom fit is close-close-close but not perfect. (Granted, their well-used silicon has aged as has my aging noggin, either or both of which could account for the slight perfection shortfall.)

The generalized bottom line remains that paying extra for improved earphones is extraordinarily worthwhile for sonic joy. The market appears to evolve constantly, no surprise, so homework will probably always be required for optimum ROI.