I don't mind hearing about it amc, I just think companies like Microsoft should be more equal with all their customers. In any case I only have Windows 7. I get a bit annoyed with a range of companies who only have incentives for those using the latest equipment/system etc, trying to persuade me to upgrade something that works well enough.the iPad I am using to type this is an original iPad, doesn't run a number of apps now as the operating system cannot be upgraded yet it is still an operating iPad, so why change? The term for me is probably 'grumpy old man'!
Well, I'm younger than you, but constant upgrade schemes make me grumpy too. It's such a scam; the upgrades never seem to improve anything, they just slow things down. And the way Windows 7 and 8 unecessarily reconfigured their file navigation system drives me nuts.
This morning I thought: "My daughter will be home on Xmas break next week, maybe I can use her computer to set up an account and get some of this stuff." What have I become?
I am actually a fan of Win7, especially the networking features. Upgrading eliminated quite a few performance bugs on my old XP machine, which is now the "music computer." That, along with some of the squawks about Win8, is why I stayed with Win7 on the new laptop I just bought.
I'm not a big fan of Windows 8, but my wife needed a new laptop a few months back and that was what it came with, so that's what she got. After randomly checking this thread a couple weeks ago, I've downloaded plenty of free/cheap albums, and I'm getting the hang of the operating system. I cleaned up on box sets and deluxe editions for myself, but I've also snagged a bunch of stuff for my eight-year old daughter to put on the iPod she wants for Christmas. She'll have headphones, so I don't have to listen -- everybody wins.
This is stretching the theme just a little but there is a new Kinks anthology at eMu - The Anthology 1964-1971 - not a bargain at all at $42.30, but if you use the booster sale which is on until the 31st to get it half-price as I did, I would call it worth it especially for any Kinks fan. Check the Amazon page to get a better idea of what's in there, stereo, mono, alternate, etc. - since I never had some of the earliest albums, I decided I wanted it in spite of any duplications. @Doofy - that's been there, but that is a good one. Ah, $4.40 - the good old days.
Edit - @Doofy r.e. below, that is a snag. I didn't think to check 7digital since they are not much on my radar these days, but that does follow their pattern in the past.
@Doofy, that's weird. I was driving home from the dentist literally 15 minutes ago musing along the following lines: "Is there anything else I might want to grab while emusic is still there? Hold on, I seem to remember a whIle back someone posted a big Jordi Savall box set that was cheap by some older composer called something like Marain? Maurain? It's not on my SFL but I remember being kind of interested. I wonder if I could find that again..."
Enjoying it very much - 'Early music' has become my main morning listening, somewhere along the line. I had previously bookmarked it as a 'mispriced box set' at 7digital, which is what prompted me to check for the Kinks set
@BigD-Bluez & Doofy... thanks for posting the links to the Kinks box set.... when I saw the link for getting it at emusic yesterday I got to thinking maybe I should rejoin eMu, get a joining credit (of 10 or 20 bucks - not sure as the message indicating how much I would get changes), buy the lowest level plan and then purchase a 50% off booster pack as needed, use up my credits and then cancel (I even poked around the eMu site looking for possible other items that they had that I wouldn't mind getting in order to use up all my credits). Purchased it just now directly from 7Digital (click, click, click and done) and saved myself much angst, worry and stress by not having to navigate and download from the eMusic site and interface with it on so many levels.
Marais is credited with being one of the earliest composers of program music. His work The Bladder-Stone Operation, for viola da gamba and harpsichord, includes composer's annotations such as "The patient is bound with silken cords" and "He screameth." The title has often been interpreted as "The Gall-Bladder Operation," but that surgery was not performed until the late 19th century. Urinary bladder surgery to remove stones was already a medical specialty in Paris in the 17th century.
Why did no one play us that piece in school? It might have made me more interested in classical music. I suspect I am going to think of bladder surgery when I listen to that Jordi Savall collection now.
The recent 4 CD box set (117 tracks) of Vivaldi and Corelli Concertos by Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti, which sounds a lot of fun to my untutored ear from the samples is $37 on MP3 at Amazon and $24 at emusic, $10.99 at 7digital.
ETA, the CD booklet can be viewed here
Well, here's something we don't get to do much anymore. Snake Box by Harvey Mandel, a 3 disc set that is $24.99 over at Amazon, http://www.emusic.com/album/harvey-mandel/snake-box/15721844/. Harvey was a talent and this has five of his albums plus a live set. If you have the albums but not the live stuff the four tracks, some quite long, are at Amazon's listing for Snake Box for $0.99 each so I was jazzed about that. Sundazed has a bunch of "new" releases there too, vintage surf, The Byrds - the Live at Royal Albert Hall album is a good one - so link for them by Most Recent - http://www.emusic.com/browse/album/rock-pop/label:1269200/?sort=newest - and yeah I still can't figure this new thing out.
I just ran across this 7-disk set for $6.49, 411 minutes, 225 tracks. CD version is $32 on Amazon. The reviews I have found so far by people who seem to know Purcell better than I do (not hard) say it is a good recording with strong performances. Allmusic says:
"First-rate players all, the Dutch musicians are wholly up to the challenges of Purcell's music. The one set of Fantasias for strings and two sets of sonatas for strings have the rich, warm ensemble sound and strong approach to tempo that suit the music so well. The soloists in the Sonata for trumpet and the Suite for two violins are easily in the same league as the best-known international players. And Belder, a student of Bob van Asperen, is everything one could want in the suites and miscellaneous pieces for harpsichord: agile, expressive, and always accurate. Recorded in 2006 and 2007, the sound here is bright and clear, yet atmospheric."
ETA2, I am exploring baroque at the moment, but the label the above recordings are on has some other troves if you are after quantity, such as Simeon Ten Holt: Complete Multiple Piano Works - 700 minutes of minimalist piano for $5.84. Seriously considering this one actually, despite never having heard of the composer before,
I've got the CD version of that Telemann set and was quite satisfied with it. Think I'll hit that Purcell set - not one of the more usual suspects, so thanks for that. Brilliant Classics is the label that produces those crazy bigger than a bread box 100+ CD box sets which I believe may have been an object of discussion way back. They seem to get pretty good reviews.
I downloaded the Telemann this morning and so far it sounds very good. I had quite a bit from him in a Big Baroque Set and a Little Telemann set from Amazon. iTunes says I have about 13 hours worth, so that ought to hold me for a while.
I'm enjoying the Telemann now. Nice for working to. I like the recording better than the Telemann I have from one of the Bach Guild boxes. Thanks for the Scarlatti link. I have bought about 50 hours of music in the last few days for around $20. My ears need to catch up.
This thread reminds me to mention that 7digital has a couple of Numero Group box sets priced as single albums - Notably including the big Syl Johynson retrospective. Also the Boddie Recording/Cleveland set
I was making a note last week to root around in Segovia some time...Brilliant Classics has a collection not played by him but of guitar music composed for him, The Andres Segovia Archive. 475 minutes for $6.49. Well reviewed.
"While there are arguably better performances of his Vespers, this one by Yevhen Savchuk leading the National Academic Choir of Ukraine "Dumka" is nearly as deep, dark, warm, compassionate, and awesome as the best. And while there are other fine performances of his Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, this one by Valery Polyansky leading the Russian State Symphony Capella is surely the best: the deepest, darkest, warmest, most compassionate, and most awesome ever recorded."
There is even another edition on CD that has better cover art that can be used in place of the cheesy art that comes with it, just to perfect the deal.
@Doofy.... thanks for posting those links. Expanded my musical horizons a teeny-tiny bit (actually more than that). But like paint spilling across the floor.... there it is, whether I may've wanted it there or not.
Comments
Craig
/grumpy middle aged man
I am actually a fan of Win7, especially the networking features. Upgrading eliminated quite a few performance bugs on my old XP machine, which is now the "music computer." That, along with some of the squawks about Win8, is why I stayed with Win7 on the new laptop I just bought.
Very much enjoying Complete Studio Recordings (with Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter & Bobby Timmons) - ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS (5 disks, 372 minutes, $6.49 on emusic) the Art Blakey box set posted above. Decided to take a look at what else the label had - also available at around 300 minutes and under $6.50 each on emusic are the following boxes:
The Complete Jazz Lab Sessions DONALD BYRD AND GIGI GRYCE
The Complete Jazztet Sessions ART FARMER / BENNY GOLSON
Complete Live at the Black Hawk SHELLY MANNE
The Complete Sessions JOHNNY GRIFFIN, EDDIE LOCKJAW DAVIS
This just popped up at eMu (or has it been there all along?) for $4.40
@Doofy - that's been there, but that is a good one. Ah, $4.40 - the good old days.
Edit - @Doofy r.e. below, that is a snag. I didn't think to check 7digital since they are not much on my radar these days, but that does follow their pattern in the past.
$4.99 @ 7Digital ($13.10 at eMusic) (ETA: $11.98 at Amazon)
Why did no one play us that piece in school? It might have made me more interested in classical music. I suspect I am going to think of bladder surgery when I listen to that Jordi Savall collection now.
Date Added: Sep 27, 2011 according to Label page.
The recent 4 CD box set (117 tracks) of Vivaldi and Corelli Concertos by Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti, which sounds a lot of fun to my untutored ear from the samples is $37 on MP3 at Amazon and $24 at emusic, $10.99 at 7digital.
ETA, the CD booklet can be viewed here
Sundazed has a bunch of "new" releases there too, vintage surf, The Byrds - the Live at Royal Albert Hall album is a good one - so link for them by Most Recent - http://www.emusic.com/browse/album/rock-pop/label:1269200/?sort=newest - and yeah I still can't figure this new thing out.
Brilliant Classics is the label that produces those crazy bigger than a bread box 100+ CD box sets which I believe may have been an object of discussion way back. They seem to get pretty good reviews.
Looks like Brilliant Classics has quite a digital presence on Amazon, searched by Label in Advanced Search, and weighing in at 12:13:55 is the Mozart Complete Symphonies by the Mozart Akademie Amsterdam at $8.99. Having a couple of other Complete Symphonies I'll pass, but it shows there's still big game afoot.
http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Akademie-Amsterdam-Jaap-Linden/dp/B00H9D6EU6/ref=sr_1_38?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1427338791&sr=1-38
Bingo! Game, Set, Match! Checkmate!
(you win, but I win too)
[url=http://www.emusic.com/album/govt-mule/dub-side-of-the-mule-deluxe-version/15759281/]