[pageman99]

I've spent thousands, many, many thousands of dollars on equipment over my lifetime.

I've spent countless hours reading/researching/contributing to forums like this.

We all know it's about the music.

Which song would you spend $500 for, right now, that makes it all worthwhile?

For me, and I would have never believed it, it's "Diamonds and Rust" by Joan Baez. It's the perfect nexus of equipment (WMA lossless, Pico, and Edition 9's), voice (Baez has no equal when recorded right, or listened to live), engineering (a perfect recording for my equipment), and emotion (love gained, lost, refused, resulting in a stronger Joan), and perception (we mustn't forget our brains are part of the equation).

And emotion is what it's all about.

Eveything is pure. Baez' voice. Her emotions/interpretation/words. The instrtuments, which simply disappear. The reproduction equipment, which also simply disappear.

I can't listen to this song just once. It's like an endless loop. I keep hitting repeat. I simply can't help myself, it's so powerful.

OK. A few rules, if you wish to participate.

List the song, artist and album if you can.

List your equipment.

And tell us to the best of your ability, what this song means/does to you.

With luck, we'll all think about this for a while before blithely listing what enamors us at the moment. With luck, we'll learn new music outside of our favorite genres/habits. Maybe even find an entry into totally new music we would have never considered.

 

[Duggeh]

If I had t pay up in order to be able to listen to it at my convenience again or never hear it again if I didn't pay (and I assume that is what you mean).

Then the only song I can think of is Amarok. But if you go by albums I'd add several to the list.

Amarok is of course a cheat answer. But as an Oldfieldian I feel justified in it. Its the whole album, that one track by Oldfield. And its arguably the greatest piece of glorious progressive madness there is.

And honestly. I wouldn't care about the playback equipment.

 

[pageman99]

Duggeh, as usual, a serious, thoughtful answer. Thank you.

Are you sure, you're still a student? Yes, of course you are, as you've many a reference to single malt in your posts.

Sad to say, I've no Oldfield. I'll soon rectify that.

Are there no others willing to put brain to the test?

 

[GlendaleViper]

After careful thought, it's a tie between Procol Harum's "Whaling Stories", as captured live and with orchestral accompaniment from their album Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and The Kinks' "Two Sisters" from Something Else.

Like Duggeh, I could care less what they're played back on, but if it's through headphones, my RS-1s will most definitely be in the mix.

As far as emotional response, they couldn't be more diametrically opposed. Procol's epic starts with an uneasy weariness, with tension and mutiny afoot. It swells into a crescendo, culminating in a violent, churning finale that borders on cacophony. It makes the hair on my neck stand on end each and every time. I get images not only of a stormy sea, but something more sinister just beneath the waves. By the end, you're left with a sense of calm after the storm, but shaken - as though gripping whatever flotsam remains. I don't know what it is, but there's just something about a sea shanty that really speaks to me. I never could figure out how this track managed to find a place on their album "Home" over it's predecessor, "A Salty Dog".

Two Sisters is a tender reflection on jealousy, priorities, life and happiness. The delicate subject matter is driven home with the use of harpsichord as the main instrument, but it's the lyrics themselves that really get me on this one. I listen to the song regularly to keep my mind focused - I demand a simple life for myself, but I'm not immune to the lure of material wealth. The poignancy of the quaint story is enough at times to draw tears across a smiling face. It's a two minute meditation and that alone makes this song priceless.

Incidentally, I was tempted to put Pictures at an Exhibition as interpreted by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, but I figured it would be cheating - even moreso than Amarok.

 

[Punnisher]

I'd lay down $500 in a heartbeat for John Williams- The Return of the Jedi (cd 2)- Victory Celebration/End Title.

This song is one of my all time favorites, it starts out mellow yet uplifting, with incredible detail that tickles your ears. It then explodes into one of the most satisfying and exciting melodies I can imagine, very typical of John Williams.

If I could only own one song, I'd pick this one.

Though this assumes that I wasn't getting the full effect from the song, and I think I am.

 

[Akathisia]

One song ever? I'd like to say Rachmininoff's "Symphonic Dances", but right now I feel that "Cassandra Gemini" by The Mars Volta would be the one. It's the track that really made me listen with headphones and get lost in the music for the first time... I guess my first eargasm. Plus, it's 36 minutes long, so at least it isn't $500 for 3 and a half minutes

Equipment doesn't matter.

 

[kydsid]

Well I'll start with my equipment. SR225's, MiniBox e+ and iMod. Now I wish I could listen to my electrostatic speakers.

As for the song my hippie mom has forever made me a Pink Floyd fanatic. Guess thats what you get when growing up in a crib listening to DSOTM, Wall, etc.


So one song? Comfortably Numb - The Wall This song just stirs every emotion in my body and brings out the best memories with my mother, made all the stronger after her death last year. When I hear this song I can identify with the singers position and lets me remember those happy days of my youth.

 

[dgbiker1]

You're going to make my head explode!

I think I have to look at the songs that influenced me profoundly since I would never spend any money on music/equipment if some songs hadn't sucked me into the hobby. The song that's been the most influential overall would be "Another brick in the wall pt.1", it's the song I heard as a kid that got me into music (I loved Pink Floyd as a 5 year old

). I have fond memories of hanging out with the parents in the basement listening to Floyd, Genesis, and Zeppelin on vinyl. I also remember jumping up and down trying to make the record skip- I was a brat.

Equally influential would be Thievery Corporation's Lebanese Blonde. I got the Mirror Conspiracy album right when it came out, and that song probably influenced my tastes more than any other I've heard. The blend of cultures and genres continues to amaze me to this day. It is the song that broadened my interests from more mainstream music to trying to get my hands on every funky recording I can.

But at the end of the day, the one song that has probably resulted in me spending untold amounts of money tweaking and upgrading equipment is Massive Attack's Angel. It pushes every limit- soundstage, highs, mids, and especially lows- and damn it's a good song. I've spent well over $500 because of that song.

As far as a favorite song that I would spend $500 to hear, that's a tougher answer. It would probably be something from Sigur Ros' catalog. A full song is impossible to choose (probably something off Heima, Vaka, Gitardjamm, Popplagid, or Hoppipola). In the end, I might have to choose Svo Hljott for the sole reason that 3:06-3:30 is the absolute epitome of human musical achievement- and that's a FACT

 

[Akathisia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgbiker1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif In the end, I might have to choose Svo Hljott for the sole reason that 3:06-3:30 is the absolute epitome of human musical achievement- and that's a FACT

Consider my interest piqued!

 

[pageman99]

I've hundreds of gigabytes of lossless and 5 of 7 replies list music I've never heard. Wonderful!

Off to bed. Can't wait for tomorrow to learn more of what really stirs the soul for others.

 

[dgbiker1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akathisia /img/forum/go_quote.gif Consider my interest piqued!

There's just something about that passage that gets me

When the string section comes in and blends absolutely perfectly with the singer's voice so that the two are indistinguishable, it gives me chills every time.

 

[John E Woven]

Mayhem's Deathcrush. Not so much because it's a great album, or even a good one. I think it's an absolutely terrible album, with terrible recording quality (typical of early black metal). It's more of a legend than anything. It's so bad, I love it.

Technics 1200, old ass sears amp and a pair of yamaha bookcase speakers, OR an ipod 5g 30gb with a pair of JVC HA-FX55. Just what I have now, waiting for them sr225's.

 

[wower]

I'll try to keep it short. My words run away with me when I talk about music.

I think I would pay $500 dollars for the Scherzo (Allegro molto) of Beethoven's Cello Sonata #3. I have the Philips reissue with Richter and Rostropovich. The recording is a bit old and grainy but the playing is very good. I'm would listen to it at night, darken room, maybe before I go out. The melody is haunting and very rythmic but the composition is simple so one has to stop to appreciate how moving it is. I would be playing this through my yammy/ad2000 combo that has been on all day and is really warmed up.

 

[Duggeh]

I had a little think about things again. And came up with a couple more choices for this horrible scenario.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - East Hastings

It is for me. Their scariest, most intense, most remarkable, emotively enguaging single song. And yes, while it tips the scales at 18 minutes. It's not an entire album cheat like Amarok was. I do not think that I ever fail to get a physical/emotional response when I listen to it. Its just so monstrously powerful. I don't think I've ever managed to sit through it entirely from start to end with my eyes closed. I really do get utter heebie jeebie fear. Its a truly glorious piece of work. And if you still think that I'm pinching pennies with these long songs. I could maybe cope with just the Sad Mafioso drag from the song.

Jean-Michel Jarre - Ethicolour 1

Again, we have yet to work our way down to something resembling a normal (ignoring the what is normal question) length of song. Ethicolour 1 clocks in at about 12 minutes.

While lacking the utter raw resonant power of East Hastings, Ethicolor nevertheless is another song which stirs me. It doesn't elicit any really charged response like the fear. But it do find myself with it floating on soundscape. There are a few songs (when cut from their albums) which manage this with me, but they are few. Normally the whole album experience is needed for me to detach. I can for example, manage it with Oxygene or Chronologie (other Jarre albums) but not with any one track from those albums. Ethicolour 1, from Zoolook, is a glorious multilayered rainbow of samples and sounds. The electronic music equivalent of an explosion in a paint factory for me it is Jarres best blend in one song of his sweeping sound and his busy sound.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Tough call, I can never make one such decision. How much I value a song is determined by my life at that point in time, my mood, my thoughts, my feelings, my ears being clean or not, the weather, etc etc. Hence there can never be ONE song that I can say will get my 500 bucks.