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In Reply to: RE: Asylum recommendations are more reliable than Penguin, Gramophone, etc., guides posted by Jay Buridan on December 29, 2016 at 14:19:17
The biases here are not due to advertising revenues or general ass-hatness. HOWEVER, there are biases here nonetheless.There us a bias towards hi-rez streaming and downloads.
There is a bias towards recordings by pretty women.
There is a bias towards warhorse composers and much-recorded repertoire.
There is a bias towards re-issues (esp., remastered re-issues in hi-rez)Are these necessarily *bad* biases? Well, no, not really. As long as one is *aware* of the biases (as Chris pointed out), one can take that into consideration. The problem with most of the reviewing publications is that you know they are industry mouthpieces, but you don't know how much label revenue influences specific reviews.
Still, when the glowing reviews of pretty girls with major label contracts show up in the glossy publications and then turn up here, how does one balance out the biases to make purchasing decisions? And if one simply goes along with the recommendations here without being familiar with other recordings of the same repertoire by other current musicians, is one really able to discern whether the recordings are really all that exemplary?
Okay, most people do not want to buy 10 recordings of the same works. And the real issue is not whether there were biases at play or not. The most important issue, for most lurkers and maybe semi-active posters, is "Is this recording one I'll be happy with?" In other words, not absolutes and ultimates, but "satisficing."
In most cases, I'd say that the recordings recommended on AA are good enough.
Personally, I'd like to see more discussion of less-famous composers who turned out some very fine works that have been lost in the tsunami of new recordings of warhorses.
And although I've voiced some criticisms of modernists, I would actually prefer to see more discussion of modern/contemporary composers. Because just as with Romantic era music, some is worthwhile and some is drek.
And that is enough of my opinion on that topic.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
Edits: 12/30/16Follow Ups:
So much ink has already been spilled concerning titles issued in the mono and stereo analog and early digital era, by people far more insightful and eloquent than most in here. Especially me.
What can one say that can't read elsewhere? Or since it's you offering input, : ), what can *you* say that other's might have missed? Go for it! Balance the conversation.
With regard to one's bias towards hi-res? What does that mean? That one is restricting himself? Recordings from 1925 to present are available in hi-res.
Enter BACH in the search window of QOBUZ and you get a listing of 223,000 tracks, 18,396 albums and 88,000 artists.
OK, some a duplicates, but still...
There is a LOT out there, nobody can hear it all, even though I'm giving it my best effort. ;-)
Endless raps about the 5,000th recording of Beethoven bores hell outta me. But when I posted to bemoan this and ask for recs of 20th/21st cent. music I did get some helpful replies and suggestions. I bought some of those recs and was introduced to some music I might have never known about.
I think Chris is right. Its better to post about new and/or less well known older music yourself. IME your post will generate responses from at least a few people who frequent this joint.
So check out that Max Reger clarinet CD I mentioned. Alan is a great guy and very busy with Orpheus, touring, teaching, etc., but recently gave a recital locally that I was able to attend. I think I pointed you to a wild contemporary concerto he did a while back, but this is pure neo-Brahmsian Romantic.
"There us a bias towards hi-rez streaming and downloads.
There is a bias towards recordings by pretty women.
There is a bias towards warhorse composers and much-recorded repertoire.
There is a bias towards re-issues (esp., remastered re-issues in hi-rez)"
Good points. I do want to point out my views
I do no downloads
A lot of my current streaming is from the Naxos Music Library that streams at 320kbps
Since Tidal and Naxos I have tried to discover music that is not familiar to me
I absolutely hate the whole Babe thing that I find is very disrespectful towards women. Chris knows my views on this
I am sometimes guilty of the remastering game but only when reviews indicate the remastering is something really special
My last recommendation was of an old warhorse (MAhler 9th) but it was a recording I was not aware existed ( Bernstein with the Israel Phiharmonic) or the Bychkov Mahler 3rd which it seems I am about the only person who has heard this landmark performance.
I will continue to try to post new things I come across which is not easy since I have been listening for 70 years
Even with the biases I still hope that inmates will post what they discover and like
Another bias I don't care fore is recommending only music available in surround sound. I still think that the majority of audiophiles don't have surround sound systems.
Alan
For the most part, the downloads are the very same titles that are available on CD and/or SACD. I've found very few titles that are ONLY available as downloads. As I've pointed out however, sometimes the downloads allow one access to a hi-rez version of an album which is not available in hi-rez otherwise. I'd say that, in most cases, it's probably fair to extrapolate what's said about a hi-rez incarnation of a particular recording to a CD-rez incarnation (at least in the classical world).
As for surround sound, it's an important aspect of a recording to me, but, as far as the audio side of things is concerned, it's usually the case that if an album is available in surround, it's also available in 2-channel. The extrapolation of the sonic qualities of the recording might be a bit harder to make and to depend on in going from surround to 2-channel, but I do think it's a general indicator in most instances.
Also, I don't know if you had seen my previous reference to it (buried inside one of the other threads), but I finally DO have the Bychkov Mahler 3rd now. (I got it earlier this year.) I enjoyed it a lot - thanks for recommending it!
My point was that hi-rez streaming seems to be a primary criterion for selecting recordings to recommend, rather than the music/performance. In other words, if a recording is hi-rez (esp streaming), it is more likely to be recommended (or even mentioned) than recordings that are available only as ordinary red book CD or low-rez. Which means that good music/performances that are not available in hi-rez (esp streaming) get overlooked.
Same deal with the pretty girls. If one goes back through the recommendations, one sees lots of recordings by pretty girls recommended (or sometimes not). Whereas there are far fewer recordings by guys recommended (or not mentioned). Are pretty girls better musicians than guys? Well, they are certainly more popular here.
As I said in my OP, the biases here are not critical issues for me, because we know what the biases are and can take them into consideration. It is the biases of industry reviewing sources that are much more suspect, because their biases are often not as apparent.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
Do you have hard numbers to back that up?
ONE of my twelve or thirteen faves for 2016 was by a babe musician.
Regarding hi-rez streaming vs. "music/performance", I'm not among those who feel that a recording has to be ancient in order for the music and performance to excel. Yes, I'm drawn to multi-channel, hi-rez albums these days (personal preference, so what?). At the same time, I'll point out that a couple of my choices for 2016 are reissues of recordings from the late 50's (Paray/Saint-Saens) / early 60's (William Steinberg/Schubert).
It's too bad you (or others who may feel strongly about it) don't have the time to post about these excellent older recordings that are not available in hi-rez. In many (but certainly not all) cases, I'm familiar with these older recordings too. In fact, I'd guess that I'm more familiar with these older recordings than folks who complain about too much hi-rez on this forum are familiar with more modern recordings. Whatever.
I do not mind "babes" cd covers, after all it was their own choices, not the possible buyers, seing Khatia or Yuja perform in sexy clothes surely does not detract of their performances.
They was even more nudity on paintings a few hundreds years back.
To me there is nothing wrong with anything that please the eyes
HNY to all.
.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
I generally try to include pics of the album and/or the artist when I post about a given recording - just for info/interest in case someone DOES become interested. I think Ivan303 does the same thing.
And here to remind Chris that...
They were all 'babes' once upon a time!
So why don't you post more about this?
.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
Somebody slipped some truth, insightfulness and rationality serum into your strawberry soda!
My very best wishes to you and yours for a happy new year. Even if some of it ends up wasted on listening to contemporary music.
.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
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