[JAnonymous5150]

Yet again I'm on the road in the wee hours of a dark, cold morning, but I'm rockin' out anyways! I've got the Oriolus Szalayis running off the Cayin N8ii. The Szalayis are a killer listen when you want something dynamic and engaging in your ears. They put the DD bass and timbre to good use supporting the planar speed and technical ability which is further enhanced by the BA extension in the treble and it all comes together in a beautiful immersive and cohesive way. I always forget just how sick these IEMs are until I come back to them after some time away.

For music, I have a one two punch of my two favorite albums from The Mars Volta: De-loused in the Crematorium (2003) and The Mars Volta (2022). It's not everyday you run across a band that puts out their best work 20 years apart. Don't get me wrong, some of the material from the intervening years was also pretty good, but it got more and more sketchy as time rolled on. Thinking they had died only for them to come back and drop an absolutely stellar comeback album in 2022 was so sick! Two very different albums, yet both are so distinctly TMV from the first track to the last. They are also the only two TMV albums that come across as complete works rather than a collection of disparate tracks, IMO. If you're one of the handful of folks who haven't checked these albums out, you need to.

To those about to rock, I salute you!

 

[YtseJamer]

Woo WA3 > ZMF Atrium

 

[BobG55]

GH2 w/ G Pads/ SE

This is a great album

 

[treys1]

PC > Modi+ > Loki Mini+ > Vali2++ > 300ohm Beryllium Rosewood Open DIYs

 

[JAnonymous5150]

Switched it up to the best IEMs I own or have heard by a comfortable margin, the MMR Thummims. Still running them off my Cayin N8ii. I'm finally starting to feel a bit tired so this is probably my last pick before my girl puts me down for a nap in the back of the bus...

At the top of my queue currently is Polyphia's 2022 album, Remember That You Will Die. Polyphia just has such a wide ranging repertoire of musical styles in their bag of tricks that even though this album isn't my favorite of theirs, it's still a fun and engaging listen. I could do without the vocals on a couple tracks, but the technical skill and musical prowess makes the listen well worth the occasional eye roll.

 

[rids57]

JRiver MC (PC) > Schiit Modi Multibit > Schiit Asgard 3 > Denon AH-D7200

Death walks Behind You (1970) by Atomic Rooster - This was the fourth album bought by thirteen year old me back in 1970 after Deep Purple In Rock and Zeppelin 2 & 3. It was the only album with this lineup of John Du Cann on guitar and vocals, Vincent Crane Hammond organ, piano and keyboard bass and the excellent Paul Hammond on drums. In August 1970 they went into the studio and created a prog-rock masterpiece, rivalling anything by ELP or Yes, it was prog-rock with a harder edge and was quite simply superb. Sadly Vincent Crane's ego got the better of him and he decided he wanted to change the sound, letting Du Cann and Hammond go - and although they carried on for a few years the magic was gone and they disappeared into obscurity. Still suffering with chest, throat and ears, so I'm listening to very well known music at low levels in short stints - at least it's meant that have spent some quality time with my D7200's and I'm now reminded just how much I love them.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

Still suffering with chest, throat and ears

That's a bummer, bro. I have really been pulling for you to get better and was hoping I'd hear that you woke up feeling aces any day now. Nice that you've got the D7200s as a silver lining though. The best friends always come through for you when things get tough... Turns out the same is true for headphones!

P.S. I've always kinda wished I could sit down with Crane and ask him what he was thinking when he decided to change AR's lineup and direction and if he regretted it during the nosedive that followed. I mean, I get it if a musician gets tired of the music they're playing and wants to try something else, but he didn't really do that. He kept playing music that was very much in the same genre, just inferior and with a lineup that clearly had much less chemistry.

 

[Singaravelan]

That's a bummer, bro. I have really been pulling for you to get better and was hoping I'd hear that you woke up feeling aces any day now. Nice that you've got the D7200s as a silver lining though. The best friends always come through for you when things get tough... Turns out the same is true for headphones!

P.S. I've always kinda wished I could sit down with Crane and ask him what he was thinking when he decided to change AR's lineup and direction and if he regretted it during the nosedive that followed. I mean, I get it if a musician gets tired of the music they're playing and wants to try something else, but he didn't really do that. He kept playing music that was very much in the same genre, just inferior and with a lineup that clearly had much less chemistry.

was reading this the other day: https://theafterword.co.uk/vincent-crane/. and get well soon @rids57

 

[Singaravelan]

Yet again I'm on the road in the wee hours of a dark, cold morning, but I'm rockin' out anyways! I've got the Oriolus Szalayis running off the Cayin N8ii. The Szalayis are a killer listen when you want something dynamic and engaging in your ears. They put the DD bass and timbre to good use supporting the planar speed and technical ability which is further enhanced by the BA extension in the treble and it all comes together in a beautiful immersive and cohesive way. I always forget just how sick these IEMs are until I come back to them after some time away.

For music, I have a one two punch of my two favorite albums from The Mars Volta: De-loused in the Crematorium (2003) and The Mars Volta (2022). It's not everyday you run across a band that puts out their best work 20 years apart. Don't get me wrong, some of the material from the intervening years was also pretty good, but it got more and more sketchy as time rolled on. Thinking they had died only for them to come back and drop an absolutely stellar comeback album in 2022 was so sick! Two very different albums, yet both are so distinctly TMV from the first track to the last. They are also the only two TMV albums that come across as complete works rather than a collection of disparate tracks, IMO. If you're one of the handful of folks who haven't checked these albums out, you need to.

To those about to rock, I salute you!

excellent! I also heard their this year's acoustic reworking of the 2022 album. Did you dig that or too strange?!

 

[rids57]

was reading this the other day: https://theafterword.co.uk/vincent-crane/. and get well soon @rids57

What a fantastic read, that comment/article by Colin H basically laid it all bare. He sacked Du Cann (Hammond left with him) because he wanted AR to be a soul band.
Basically Vincent Crane was a control freak and an extreme manic depressive and just couldn't handle the pressure.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

excellent! I also heard their this year's acoustic reworking of the 2022 album. Did you dig that or too strange?!

I actually dug it quite a bit. I tend to enjoy it when musicians do something different. It has moments where I thought they weren't 100% successful in what they did and the music got a little bit incoherent as a result, but I thought the majority of what I heard was pretty cool. I'd love to sit in on a recording sesh with those guys. How'd you like it?

P.S. Thanks for the article link! An interesting read for sure.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

What a fantastic read, that comment/article by Colin H basically laid it all bare. He sacked Du Cann (Hammond left with him) because he wanted AR to be a soul band.
Basically Vincent Crane was a control freak and an extreme manic depressive and just couldn't handle the pressure.

Hey! I'm a manic depressive too. Though we prefer to be called Bipolar Type 1 these days. I'm not gonna let him play the manic card as an excuse for tanking one of the best prog outfits of the time to try to start a soul band. I mean, just start another band ***!

 

[rids57]

Hey! I'm a manic depressive too. Though we prefer to be called Bipolar Type 1 these days. I'm not gonna let him play the manic card as an excuse for tanking one of the best prog outfits of the time to try to start a soul band. I mean, just start another band ***!

It was more the control freak aspect that led him to sack Du Cann, I don't think his Bipolar problem had anything to do with it. It was however why he swallowed 400 Anadin tablets and took life's big exit ramp.

 

[Singaravelan]

I actually dug it quite a bit. I tend to enjoy it when musicians do something different. It has moments where I thought they weren't 100% successful in what they did and the music got a little bit incoherent as a result, but I thought the majority of what I heard was pretty cool. I'd love to sit in on a recording sesh with those guys. How'd you like it?

P.S. Thanks for the article link! An interesting read for sure.

Oh oops, hope my post didn't come across as a long time follower of that band. I only heard em - and loved - only after your recco. Finished the two albums 2 decades apart and then saw one from this year. I quite relished that one too. Heard a few of them back to back again - as in one from previous year and one from this. Basically this afternoon been spent with them, courtesy you and enjoyable one at that. Thanks! Would definitely like being in a session to see how the creativity branches out in the moment. Cheers!

 

[Luckyleo]

Roon/Qobuz = Yggy + GS2 = Espressivio (OTL) = GS3000

Who knew??

Leo