[smial1966]

It's COMPETITION TIME...

Very nice prize of a Massdrop x Grace Design m9XX DAC/Amp - full specifications and review links here: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/grace-design-x-massdrop-m9xx-dac-amp







To enter submit your favourite newly discovered band/singer and their most recent album from 2016/17. Write a brief sentence or two about why you particularly like the group/singer. All albums must be readily available to download (CD quality minimum resolution) via a non-subscription service e.g. Bandcamp or HD Tracks. Any musical genre permissible.

Only three entries per person so choose carefully! Entrants must be UK residents and have a minimum of 10 Head-Fi posts prior to today. I will pick my top 3 choices and put them to a thread vote - obviously you can't vote for your own submission. Entries in by Friday 17th March (20:00 GMT) and the voting will occur over that weekend. Winner announced Sunday 19th March at 20:00 GMT.

 

[Tro95]

 
I see you're taking SE846s to the meet.  Would you like some spare Shure tips for the meet?  I've been sorting out the loft and found a bag full of unused tips.  There's at least three pairs of everything excluding the large olives, which are my usual preference.  There's some tri-flange and even the old harder silicon tips that Shure used to provide with the E2c range.  I'm hoping to come along to the meet, but in case I don't, I can send them to you, if you want them?
 
Send me a PM to work out logistics.

That would be great, thank you! I have quite a few tips (including non-Shure ones) that I will be bringing to the meet, but any extra would be a welcome addition for others to use. Don't worry about posting them, just bring them if you do attend

 

[Takeanidea]

I don't want to win this but i am happy to kick this off. Robert Reed is my newest discovery . Robert , like myself , has never truly grown up. He hankers back to the old days. The man cannot let himself be moved too far away from the mid 1970s specifically Mike Oldfield and his early instrumental albums such as Tubular Bells Ommadawn and Incantations . As some of you may know i am a huge Mike Oldfield fan. Mike Oldfield has innovated his style in line with the fleeting fashions of the record buying public , many of which are cloth eared nincompoops. Most Oldfield fans are long in the tooth , and , like myself are looking forward to the next 50 years of their life. All we want is a rehash of Tubular Bells for chrissakes! Why all this trance and disco? We want mandolins and glockenspiel! He even has vocals on some of his songs! Sacrilege!
Thankfully , Robert Reed feels our pain , our longing , our angst. He has chucked as many flutes , pianos, bagpipes and bells and whistles as you could possibly get away with in this era of Oldfield ignorance. He has done 2 albums , they both pay a slavish homage to MO and of course those bells, THE BELLS!THE BELLS! Rob Reed decided album II needed jazzing up a bit. With extreme reluctance he decided upon getting some drumming in the album. Miraculously he convinced the only drummer Olfieldesque enough to make it work. The results are what we all could only dream of, the ultimate Oldfield comeback , reinvented in the Welsh Mountains given fresh legs but with the same corduroy trousers.That is until , Return to Ommadawn......[VIDEO]https://youtu.be/Uo-nDlzAGhk[/VIDEO]



Ladies and gentlemen I humbly offer you Sanctuary.
[VIDEO]https://youtu.be/Tsvq2Qt-acE[/VIDEO]


https://robertreed.bandcamp.com/album/sanctuary-ii


Andy , a sentence or 2 is impossible for me. Simply impossible. I happily concede defeat at this challenge.

 

[smial1966]

Just bought and downloaded 'Sanctuary II' from Bandcamp. Great start to the competition.

I don't want to win this but i am happy to kick this off. Robert Reed is my newest discovery . Robert , like myself , has never truly grown up. He hankers back to the old days. The man cannot let himself be moved too far away from the mid 1970s specifically Mike Oldfield and his early instrumental albums such as Tubular Bells Ommadawn and Incantations . As some of you may know i am a huge Mike Oldfield fan. Mike Oldfield has innovated his style in line with the fleeting fashions of the record buying public , many of which are cloth eared nincompoops. Most Oldfield fans are long in the tooth , and , like myself are looking forward to the next 50 years of their life. All we want is a rehash of Tubular Bells for chrissakes! Why all this trance and disco? We want mandolins and glockenspiel! He even has vocals on some of his songs! Sacrilege!
Thankfully , Robert Reed feels our pain , our longing , our angst. He has chucked as many flutes , pianos, bagpipes and bells and whistles as you could possibly get away with in this era of Oldfield ignorance. He has done 2 albums , they both pay a slavish homage to MO and of course those bells, THE BELLS!THE BELLS! Rob Reed decided album II needed jazzing up a bit. With extreme reluctance he decided upon getting some drumming in the album. Miraculously he convinced the only drummer Olfieldesque enough to make it work. The results are what we all could only dream of, the ultimate Oldfield comeback , reinvented in the Welsh Mountains given fresh legs but with the same corduroy trousers. Ladies and gentlemen I humbly offer you Sanctuary.
That is until , Return to Ommadawn......


https://robertreed.bandcamp.com/album/sanctuary-ii

Andy , a sentence or 2 is impossible for me. Simply impossible. I happily concede defeat at this challenge.

 

[Takeanidea]

The drumming was a bit underdone Andy but when it kicks in it takes me straight back to 1983, Simon Phillips was the drummer and producer. The drumming had a character and particularly a reverb that is unique. I love Keith Moon's power drumming but my favourite is what was on that Crises album.
Andy I'm so happy you're giving it a try, it's amazing what the Internet can do when it tries

 

[smial1966]

Couldn't agree more Trev, as even though I try to experience different bands and genres, my capacity to discover new music is limited. So I hope that we'll all find fresh inspiration and develop our musical palates via this thread competition.

The drumming was a bit underdone Andy but when it kicks in it takes me straight back to 1983, Simon Phillips was the drummer and producer. The drumming had a character and particularly a reverb that is unique. I love Keith Moon's power drumming but my favourite is what was on that Crises album.
Andy I'm so happy you're giving it a try, it's amazing what the Internet can do when it tries

 

[glassmonkey]

It's hard to pick just one. Do I choose Andy Shauf - The Party or Your Friend - Gumption? Both are excellent, but Andy got more plays from me.

The Party is a lushly arranged sparingly sung/spoke album from 10 different perspectives over 10 songs telling the story of a singular night. The content has excellent sparkle (too much on piano on several tracks) while having a layered emotional and musical presentation that is absolutely captivating.

I've posted about the album on audioprimate.blog, and you can find the album on Bandcamp for $7, which is quite reasonable.

 

[pedalhead]

"The Party" is excellent, great choice @glassmonkey
 
My recommendation is a brand new album from Hurray for the Riff Raff, called The Navigator.  It's quite a genre-bender from an American artist of Puerto Rican descent, addressing the political state of the USA in these turbulent times. At various times her voice reminds me of Patti Smith, Fiona Apple and Margo Timmins. Arrangements often very creative, and despite some compression in the mastering, parts of it are a superb test of imaging on my speaker system.
 
Favourite tracks: "The Navigator", "Pa'lante" and "Finale". Definitely worth listening through as a whole album.
 
 

 

[pedalhead]

This isn't my official entry (as we're only allowed one), The rules have changed (thanks Andy!), so this is my second submission ....I wanted to share this absolutely gorgeous EP from Peter Broderick, called "Grunewald". Perfect late night music
 

 
 
 

 

[glassmonkey]

  This isn't my official entry (as we're only allowed one), but as we're talking about great new music, I wanted to share this absolutely gorgeous EP from Peter Broderick, called "Grunewald". Perfect late night music
 

 
 

You are the King of late night music, Mark. Mark has fantastic taste, but he likes to chill out a bit more than me normally. I'll certainly be listening to this tomorrow at work. I don't need to be alert for that at all.

 

[Jackpot77]

It's COMPETITION TIME...

Very nice prize of a Massdrop x Grace Design m9XX DAC/Amp - full specifications and review links here: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/grace-design-x-massdrop-m9xx-dac-amp







To enter submit your favourite newly discovered band/singer and their most recent album from 2016/17. Write a brief sentence or two about why you particularly like the group/singer. All albums must be readily available to download (CD quality minimum resolution) via a non-subscription service e.g. Bandcamp or HD Tracks. Any musical genre permissible.

Only one entry per person so choose carefully! Entrants must be UK residents and have a minimum of 10 Head-Fi posts prior to today. I will pick my top 3 choices and put them to a thread vote - obviously you can't vote for your own submission. Entries in by Friday 17th March (20:00 GMT) and the voting will occur over that weekend. Winner announced Sunday 19th March at 20:00 GMT.

Artist: Walking On Cars
Album: Everything This Way
Sample track: https://youtu.be/w5h4yJ-BpL4
Qobuz link: http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/everything-this-way-walking-on-cars/0060254764577

These guys are a recent discovery for me - great piano work, distinctive vocals and and overall sound like a cross between Snow Patrol (if someone had convinced them to stop being so damn miserable all the time) and Coldplay (if someone had confined them to just lighten up). Great synth and sub bass undertones to the more traditional rock based arrangements as well (tracks 1, 4 and 5 are personal favourites). Add a singer with a memorable twang to his voice to make them unmistakable and it all adds up to a record that I was expecting to dismiss without a second thought
as not my sort of thing but which hasn't left rotation on my drive to work each day for at least a month.

 

[smial1966]

COMPETITION UPDATE...
 
As folks are submitting such excellent entries into the competition and I'm keen to discover more new bands/singers, I've revised the entry terms so that participants can now make three entries each. Obviously if you've already entered then you now have two more attempts left. 
 
Keep entering!

   

 

[Jackpot77]

Second entry:

Artist: Foy Vance
Album: The Wild Swan
Sample tracks:

Burden - https://youtu.be/U9OYW4JBWXI

Coco - https://youtu.be/Il1CIIdtOAE

He has been around for years, but is a very unprolific artist. This album is hands down my most played of 2016, with a fantastic minimalist recording that captures a lot of the smaller room sounds and just focuses on the acoustic/funk/county rhythms and his amazing voice. Seem this guy live a few times and every time has been different. This guy should be huge (please ignore the hipster moustache).

 

[MayorDomino]

Band: The Claypool Lennon Delirium

Album: Monolith Of Phobos

 
This Album reminds me of the music my brother would play to me when i was a kid to try and get me into music,
And with a Lennon on Vocals and Claypool on Bass you cant go far wrong.They played all the instruments on the album between them which is cool.

 

 

 
 
 
http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/monolith-of-phobos-the-claypool-lennon-delirium/5414939939242?player_type=flash#item 

 

[pedalhead]

My next suggestion is the latest album by King Creosote - "Astronaut Meets Appleman" . 
 

 
I reckon this is my new favourite from Kenny Anderson aka King Creosote. I was lucky enough to see him play the whole album live a few weeks back, brilliant and entertaining performer. The album contains some creative & excellent arrangements, his usual folksy Scottish vocals, and best of all...bagpipes!  Don't let that put you off, just listen to my favourite track on the album (and indeed my favourite track of 2016 outright!), "Melin Wynt"....
 
 

 
Other favourite tracks from the album...
 

 
(Couldn't find the album version on Youtube, but this is an excellent live performance)...