Reviewers and their obsessions ...

estreeter

estreeter

Super Member
I dont know about anyone else, but when I get to the end of a review with Diana Krall being mentioned, I immediately do a victory lap around the block punching the air. Yes, the woman can sing and she has a sulty voice, not to mention the slick production values on most of her albums, but the single-minded obsession with one artist among thousands really grinds my gears.

end rant :D

(fwiw, those who want to hear sultry need to dig out their old Sade albums :thmbsp:)
 
estreeter said:
I dont know about anyone else, but when I get to the end of a review with Diana Krall being mentioned, I immediately do a victory lap around the block punching the air. Yes, the woman can sing and she has a sulty voice, not to mention the slick production values on most of her albums, but the single-minded obsession with hating one artist among thousands really grinds my gears.

end rant :D

(fwiw, those who want to hear sultry need to dig out their old Sade albums :thmbsp:)
Click to expand...

Fixed that for you.
 
I think most reviewers go thru phases in musical selections as we all do, when testing gear. I'm sure everyone here on AK has their personal stash of CDs that they use to test gear with. I'm also pretty sure that Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Wall" would come up ad nauseam if such a question were to be asked much in the same way that many magazine reviewers use Diana Krall's albums. And like you stated, why wouldn't they? The woman is talented and the production values of her albums are very high.

It wasn't that long ago (or was it :D) that albums like Tracy Chapman's debut, Tuck & Patti "Love Warriors", Norah Jones "Come Away With Me", etc.. were written up by many reviewers with each and every review.
 
Norah Jones is another 'hit pick', but I take your point. I prefer Tracy Chapman to all of the above, so I guess it's just me trying to push my own tastes onto others - feet of clay ;)
 
i find it interesting that many reviewers not to mention 'the audiophiles' in general are very much obsessed with female vocal music. and yes the usual recordings include krall, jones etc.
 
Two other artists that were used in almost every issue of Stereophile and TAS for a awhile was Jennifer Warnes' "Famous Blue Raincoat" and "The Hunter" along with Arne Domnérus' "Jazz At The Pawnshop".
 
Probably because the female voice lives in the heart of the midrange and also is a good way to test for sibilance.

davidro said:
i find it interesting that many reviewers not to mention 'the audiophiles' in general are very much obsessed with female vocal music. and yes the usual recordings include krall, jones etc.
Click to expand...
 
Patricia Barber at number 3 of most used by reviewers.

I prefer no vocals in my music usually. But when I do I'm humble so I satisfy for the sexy barefoot hippie Joss Stone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os2Wch10W3k :drool:

How about the manouche jazz queen from ZAZ, Isabelle Geffroy? http://youtu.be/AQ9zeDd0mpg?t=29s If she was an amplifier, she would have been designed by Naim or NAD.

Or Susi Hyldgaard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezlBV4OMAh8

Or Josefine Cronholm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Czky6MRYJM (if you don't listen to this I'll come there and spank you).

Lots of pickings out there.
 
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This is a little off track but it was a bit of a revelation recently when I heard The Look of Love and When I Look in Your Eyes through DCM TimeFrame 600's. The string section which had seemed unneeded and distracting on other speakers, all of the sudden worked in a way that I would never have believed. I began to understand why her music is used to show off high quality, revealing systems - it can sound quite amazing (and I would guess that my modest system is just scratching the surface).
 
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trhee said:
Probably because the female voice lives in the heart of the midrange and also is a good way to test for sibilance.
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Indeed. Furthermore, who doesn't like to listen to sexy female voices? I'm not a huge Krall fan, but Norah? :yes:

And +1 on the Sade. :music:

One lesser-known one that y'all might want to check out is Chie Ayado. For those who can appreciate a "mature" lady once in a while. ;)
 
Pandovski said:
Patricia Barber at number 3 of most used by reviewers.

I prefer no vocals in my music usually. But when I do I'm humble so I satisfy for the sexy barefoot hippie Joss Stone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os2Wch10W3k :drool:

How about the manouche jazz queen from ZAZ, Isabelle Geffroy? http://youtu.be/AQ9zeDd0mpg?t=29s If she was an amplifier, she would have been designed by Naim or NAD.

Or Susi Hyldgaard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezlBV4OMAh8

Or Josefine Cronholm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Czky6MRYJM (if you don't listen to this I'll come there and spank you).

Lots of pickings out there.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Been on the lookout for some new (to me) artists! :thmbsp:
 
Cassandra Wilson is another jazz artist with a husky, sultry voice. Her "Blue Light 'Til Dawn" album is audiophile quality and is used quite often to test gear with.

Carol Kidd is another favorite of mine on the Linn record label.
 
I often read reviews and think "this guy either has really lame taste, or thinks these choices will impress me. Oh, wait! It's both."
 
trhee said:
Cassandra Wilson is another jazz artist with a husky, sultry voice. Her "Blue Light 'Til Dawn" album is audiophile quality and is used quite often to test gear with.
Click to expand...

+1
Her version of Robert Johnson's "Come On In My Kitchen" makes the humidity rise in my listening room!
 
estreeter said:
I dont know about anyone else, but when I get to the end of a review with Diana Krall being mentioned, I immediately do a victory lap around the block punching the air. Yes, the woman can sing and she has a sulty voice, not to mention the slick production values on most of her albums, but the single-minded obsession with one artist among thousands really grinds my gears.

end rant :D

(fwiw, those who want to hear sultry need to dig out their old Sade albums :thmbsp:)
Click to expand...

The poor old reviewer really cannot win in this instance. Use an artist that everyone is familiar with and will have a common frame of reference, and its labelled a tired old pick that obviously is the favourite of audiophiles and other people of dubious moral character and taste.

Pick something else, and he is still a pompous ass for using music that is so obscure that it is not in my collection, and how am I going to know what any piece of gear could sound like since I got no idea what that disc or album really sounds like.

Perhaps they should limit themselves to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Mariah Carey, Dave Gruisen, and Sarah Vaughn.

For what its worth, more classical should be used for reviews, even though I am not a fan of listening to it. A full scale recording of acoustic instruments with known placement and venue signature is a great reference for reviewer and listener. But while I enjoy listeing to some of it, I really do not go out of my way to buy it.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
estreeter said:
Mister Pig, clearly you have never been to a Motorhead gig ;)
Click to expand...

You know I had one Motorhead album when I wa in my twenties, it really was not good at all. I belive it was Another Perfect Day, at least that is what the album cover looked like. Was not good, that's all I can say, Not a fan of Lemmy.

I am kind of an album pig, and not necessarily a band follower. I think a band has only so much good music in it, and I tend to like their realier works rather than the later ones. For metal and idustrial kind of stuff I liked

Metallica Kill Em All and Ride The Lightening
all of Black Sabbath, even Born Again with Ian Gillian
Ministry
NIN Pretty Hate Machine and Downward Spiral
Iron Maiden Killers

There is more, but it would be work to dig it out and remember which artists and bands caught my attention. I still like this kind of stuff, but am woefully out of touch on what cutting edge artists are doing, as I really do not have a good way of keeping track with how segmented the metal and rock and roll genre has become.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
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