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Music Available for your Listening Pleasure We have a extensive collection of Jazz, Rock&Roll, Techno/Dance/Electronica, New Age and classical CDs This is our main CD case. It is one-half of a turn-of-the-last-century bookcase that was ripped out of a mansion in Colorado Springs. The CD and DVD skyscrapers have been disassembled on the basis of numerous requests from Neli. I thought they looked cool myself. It was kind of hard to get to those CDs in the back row, however. :-) We have more LPs in our photograph-unworthy closet. It is easy to forget LPs (and CDs) that are not in easy reach. This is a turn-of-the-century buffet from Austria.
	Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (Hybrid CD/SACD Version) This is a great reissue CD. We all know this music.... or do we? There seems to be more here, more like it sounded to young ears, ears undamaged by digital and solidstate and the travails of life. If you really like this music, and if you can afford it, this CD, by itself, makes the emmLabs CDSD/DCC2 worth its purchase price. Music: *** Sound: ***	Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos no 2 & 3, etc / Janis, Dorati (Living Presence - Hybrid CD/SACD Version) Some of the best piano concertos, ever, in outstanding performances, rendered with a presence and delicacy that is better than anything yet heard on a classical CD to these ears. Music: *** Sound: ***
	Environments 1: Psychologically Ultimate Seashore This is a great break-in CD that consists of an hour or so of the sounds of ocean waves. The problem with many break-in CDs is that you cannot easily sleep to them (not to mention that significant others also may have a hard time with them). Similarly, the problem with many nature sound CDs is that they often either have 'new age' music as accompaniment or they have animal sounds, very loud animal sounds, occurring at random intervals. This CD is totally ocean waves with just a few sea gulls, once in a while, in the distance.	Echoes of Nature - Ocean Waves Similar to Environments 1, this is a break-in CD that can be slept to. Most of the frequencies are covered here, the crashing of the waves does generate some bass, and there are a few birds far off in the distance for the highs - but in general, these are almost pure, albeit natural, white noise.
	Skip Hop & Wobble - Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg, Edgar Meyer Modern bluegrass? Jazz grass? This album is chock full of foot stomping, knee slapping acoustic music recorded in an intimate, you-are-there manner with one of the best masterings out there. [This is still THE most popular CD that we play for people and we have not yet gotten completely tired of it - except perhaps the first track which we played too often at shows]. Music: *** Sound: ***	Decca Legends Amazing performances, amazing recording quality, amazing re-mastering at 24 bits/96 Khz. All of the Decca Legend CDs, historical classical performances culled from the best concerts of the 50s, 60s and 70s, are worth a listen (or 10). At $12 (Amazon if you can find them) or $13 (at iclassics.com - but they often send you a 15% discount coupon with your order). There are a total of 57 titles in this catalog, all re-mastered at 24/96. We've heard about 50 so far - and there is not a 'clunker' in then bunch. Music: ** Sound: ***
	Sketches of Spain - Miles Davis (DSD mastered) All I can say is... Wow. The amount of musical information that is on this CD, that is not on any other CD pressing I am aware of, is nothing short of astonishing. The sound is still somewhat on the forward side and just the tiniest bit bright - but you just have not heard this masterpiece until you have heard this pressing. Of all the other DSD mastered CDs we have tried (12 - 15 so far) this is the most impressive (perhaps because I am much more familiar with this music than that on the other DSDs) but all of the DSDs are really beginning to rival vinyl (at least on the Audio Aero Capitole mk II CD player) in terms of dynamics, inner detail, transparency, etc. And these are standard Redbook CDs, not SACDs. A wee bit on the bright side and somewhat expensive, though. Music: *** Sound: ***	1984 for the Love of Big Brother - Eurythmics These days when it seems like George Orwell's 1984 should have been titled 2004 - this album tells it like it is in oh so sweet tones and tunes. These songs have meaning - and, for me anyway - are only suitable for certain cynical states of mind. But they are beautifully sung, and are up to the high standards set by any of the best Eurythmics albums. [too politically relevant these days and can no longer be considered conspiratorial escapism] Music: *** (if you are in the mood) Sound: **
No picture.	Brent Lewis - Earth Tribe Rhythms. All manner of drums are played in a manner that is tuneful, musical and keeps your foot tapping. Each drum has subtle and not-so-subtle intonations and harmonics that are combined with other drums in such a way that actual melodies are formed. [We got burnt out on this. YMMV]. Music: *** Sound: ***	Pop Pop - Rickie Lee Jones We discovered this CD at CES 2002. OK, we were a little late to the party - but what a nice sounding party it is! Rickie Lee Jones is in fine form as she sings cover and cover. Her rendition of Comin' Back to Me by the Jefferson Airplane is alone worth the price of the CD. Music: ** Sound: ***
	Gypsy Passion - New Flamenco. A sampler of new flamenco music by Narada, this CD contains songs by one or more various artists who all play flamenco guitar. Music: **1/2 Sound: ***	We ordered a number of disks off of Harry Pearson's Super CD List. This one was the 1st to arrive. Similar to Shpongle? - perhaps... but completely different, using a traditional orchestra percussion instruments to create very interesting soundscapes. This will not put you to sleep. [after several years of living with this, this can be considered difficult listening]. Music: ** Sound: ***
	The Persuasions Sing The Beatles. This CD will familiar to anyone who has attended a high-end audio show lately - as it is played by many to show off their system to its best. A'capella singing of the Beatles hits captured by Chesky's 96 kHZ/24-bit recording technology. [Note, after several years, this now feels a little too 'hi-fi' and now has the 'audiophile-approved' stigma associated with it]. Music: **1/2 Sound: ***	Getz and Gilberto. Originally released in March 1964, this collaboration between saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist João Gilberto became the ultimate example of the bossa nova craze. Music: *** Sound: *1/2
	Miles Davis - Pangaea. This album, along with it's sister album, Agharta, are live performances captured during one of the most innovative periods in music, and certainly for Miles Davis. Ignoring the historical value of this music which was a precocious precursor to all the rock, jazz, funk, world-music, space fusion that would follow for the next several decades - these concerts are just plain fun to listen to. This is not your normal Miles Davis fare, consisting instead of a driving funky beat, weeping electric guitars, judiciously applied jazzy synthesizers, and of course Miles' extemporaneous ethereal trumpeting. Other albums from this period in Miles' career are: Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West [LIVE]. Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time, Dark Magus: Live At Carnegie Hall. Some consider Live-Evil, In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew to be part of this genre, but these other albums are somewhat more tied to traditional jazz riffs and not as funky or primitive, perhaps being more innovative and less easy to groove to. Many of these albums are available as DSD Mastered CDs (not recommended for bright systems), which have a better dynamic range than the other releases on CD and have a blacker background, allowing one to hear more of what is happening (of which there is usually a lot). Music: *** Sound: **	Jean Michael Jarre. Jarre has been making electronic music since the mid 70s, using mostly synthesizers with the occasional traditional instrument and voice. His music is rhythmical and fun, sometimes being accused of being more fun than artistically relevant - but sometimes we listeners just want to enjoy music as opposed to being impressed by its strangeness. This fun and 'upbeat' nature of the music sets it apart from other contemporaries such as Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Shadowfax, Roedelius, Moebius, Vangelis, Fripp and Eno (and especially the more adventurous innovators like Klaus Shultz, and, dare we say it, Henry Kaiser). Oxygen and Equinox are his first two commercial releases - and are his most famous. Zoolook and Revolutions are a little more conventional, with a beat and more vocals, and perhaps slightly more avant-garde. Les Chants Magnetiques is somewhat similar to his other CDs, and is probably the least imaginative of his albums (which in general are slightly but significantly different from one another, similar to Neil Young's exploratory approach to music, and also similarly sometimes cause consternation among various of his fans). The live concerts: Concerts in China, Cities in Concert: Houston-Lyon, and Hong Kong are pleasantly different renditions of his previous material. The recording quality is top-notch and sounds great on almost any system. Music: **1/2 Sound: ***

Music Available for your Listening Pleasure We have a extensive collection of Jazz, Rock&Roll, Techno/Dance/Electronica, New Age and classical CDs This is our main CD case. It is one-half of a turn-of-the-last-century bookcase that was ripped out of a mansion in Colorado Springs. The CD and DVD skyscrapers have been disassembled on the basis of numerous requests from Neli. I thought they looked cool myself. It was kind of hard to get to those CDs in the back row, however. :-) We have more LPs in our photograph-unworthy closet. It is easy to forget LPs (and CDs) that are not in easy reach. This is a turn-of-the-century buffet from Austria.
	Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (Hybrid CD/SACD Version) This is a great reissue CD. We all know this music.... or do we? There seems to be more here, more like it sounded to young ears, ears undamaged by digital and solidstate and the travails of life. If you really like this music, and if you can afford it, this CD, by itself, makes the emmLabs CDSD/DCC2 worth its purchase price. Music: *** Sound: ***	Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos no 2 & 3, etc / Janis, Dorati (Living Presence - Hybrid CD/SACD Version) Some of the best piano concertos, ever, in outstanding performances, rendered with a presence and delicacy that is better than anything yet heard on a classical CD to these ears. Music: *** Sound: ***
	Environments 1: Psychologically Ultimate Seashore This is a great break-in CD that consists of an hour or so of the sounds of ocean waves. The problem with many break-in CDs is that you cannot easily sleep to them (not to mention that significant others also may have a hard time with them). Similarly, the problem with many nature sound CDs is that they often either have 'new age' music as accompaniment or they have animal sounds, very loud animal sounds, occurring at random intervals. This CD is totally ocean waves with just a few sea gulls, once in a while, in the distance.	Echoes of Nature - Ocean Waves Similar to Environments 1, this is a break-in CD that can be slept to. Most of the frequencies are covered here, the crashing of the waves does generate some bass, and there are a few birds far off in the distance for the highs - but in general, these are almost pure, albeit natural, white noise.
	Skip Hop & Wobble - Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg, Edgar Meyer Modern bluegrass? Jazz grass? This album is chock full of foot stomping, knee slapping acoustic music recorded in an intimate, you-are-there manner with one of the best masterings out there. [This is still THE most popular CD that we play for people and we have not yet gotten completely tired of it - except perhaps the first track which we played too often at shows]. Music: *** Sound: ***	Decca Legends Amazing performances, amazing recording quality, amazing re-mastering at 24 bits/96 Khz. All of the Decca Legend CDs, historical classical performances culled from the best concerts of the 50s, 60s and 70s, are worth a listen (or 10). At $12 (Amazon if you can find them) or $13 (at iclassics.com - but they often send you a 15% discount coupon with your order). There are a total of 57 titles in this catalog, all re-mastered at 24/96. We've heard about 50 so far - and there is not a 'clunker' in then bunch. Music: ** Sound: ***
	Sketches of Spain - Miles Davis (DSD mastered) All I can say is... Wow. The amount of musical information that is on this CD, that is not on any other CD pressing I am aware of, is nothing short of astonishing. The sound is still somewhat on the forward side and just the tiniest bit bright - but you just have not heard this masterpiece until you have heard this pressing. Of all the other DSD mastered CDs we have tried (12 - 15 so far) this is the most impressive (perhaps because I am much more familiar with this music than that on the other DSDs) but all of the DSDs are really beginning to rival vinyl (at least on the Audio Aero Capitole mk II CD player) in terms of dynamics, inner detail, transparency, etc. And these are standard Redbook CDs, not SACDs. A wee bit on the bright side and somewhat expensive, though. Music: *** Sound: ***	1984 for the Love of Big Brother - Eurythmics These days when it seems like George Orwell's 1984 should have been titled 2004 - this album tells it like it is in oh so sweet tones and tunes. These songs have meaning - and, for me anyway - are only suitable for certain cynical states of mind. But they are beautifully sung, and are up to the high standards set by any of the best Eurythmics albums. [too politically relevant these days and can no longer be considered conspiratorial escapism] Music: *** (if you are in the mood) Sound: **
No picture.	Brent Lewis - Earth Tribe Rhythms. All manner of drums are played in a manner that is tuneful, musical and keeps your foot tapping. Each drum has subtle and not-so-subtle intonations and harmonics that are combined with other drums in such a way that actual melodies are formed. [We got burnt out on this. YMMV]. Music: *** Sound: ***	Pop Pop - Rickie Lee Jones We discovered this CD at CES 2002. OK, we were a little late to the party - but what a nice sounding party it is! Rickie Lee Jones is in fine form as she sings cover and cover. Her rendition of Comin' Back to Me by the Jefferson Airplane is alone worth the price of the CD. Music: ** Sound: ***
	Gypsy Passion - New Flamenco. A sampler of new flamenco music by Narada, this CD contains songs by one or more various artists who all play flamenco guitar. Music: **1/2 Sound: ***	We ordered a number of disks off of Harry Pearson's Super CD List. This one was the 1st to arrive. Similar to Shpongle? - perhaps... but completely different, using a traditional orchestra percussion instruments to create very interesting soundscapes. This will not put you to sleep. [after several years of living with this, this can be considered difficult listening]. Music: ** Sound: ***
	The Persuasions Sing The Beatles. This CD will familiar to anyone who has attended a high-end audio show lately - as it is played by many to show off their system to its best. A'capella singing of the Beatles hits captured by Chesky's 96 kHZ/24-bit recording technology. [Note, after several years, this now feels a little too 'hi-fi' and now has the 'audiophile-approved' stigma associated with it]. Music: **1/2 Sound: ***	Getz and Gilberto. Originally released in March 1964, this collaboration between saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist João Gilberto became the ultimate example of the bossa nova craze. Music: *** Sound: *1/2
	Miles Davis - Pangaea. This album, along with it's sister album, Agharta, are live performances captured during one of the most innovative periods in music, and certainly for Miles Davis. Ignoring the historical value of this music which was a precocious precursor to all the rock, jazz, funk, world-music, space fusion that would follow for the next several decades - these concerts are just plain fun to listen to. This is not your normal Miles Davis fare, consisting instead of a driving funky beat, weeping electric guitars, judiciously applied jazzy synthesizers, and of course Miles' extemporaneous ethereal trumpeting. Other albums from this period in Miles' career are: Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West [LIVE]. Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time, Dark Magus: Live At Carnegie Hall. Some consider Live-Evil, In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew to be part of this genre, but these other albums are somewhat more tied to traditional jazz riffs and not as funky or primitive, perhaps being more innovative and less easy to groove to. Many of these albums are available as DSD Mastered CDs (not recommended for bright systems), which have a better dynamic range than the other releases on CD and have a blacker background, allowing one to hear more of what is happening (of which there is usually a lot). Music: *** Sound: **	Jean Michael Jarre. Jarre has been making electronic music since the mid 70s, using mostly synthesizers with the occasional traditional instrument and voice. His music is rhythmical and fun, sometimes being accused of being more fun than artistically relevant - but sometimes we listeners just want to enjoy music as opposed to being impressed by its strangeness. This fun and 'upbeat' nature of the music sets it apart from other contemporaries such as Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Shadowfax, Roedelius, Moebius, Vangelis, Fripp and Eno (and especially the more adventurous innovators like Klaus Shultz, and, dare we say it, Henry Kaiser). Oxygen and Equinox are his first two commercial releases - and are his most famous. Zoolook and Revolutions are a little more conventional, with a beat and more vocals, and perhaps slightly more avant-garde. Les Chants Magnetiques is somewhat similar to his other CDs, and is probably the least imaginative of his albums (which in general are slightly but significantly different from one another, similar to Neil Young's exploratory approach to music, and also similarly sometimes cause consternation among various of his fans). The live concerts: Concerts in China, Cities in Concert: Houston-Lyon, and Hong Kong are pleasantly different renditions of his previous material. The recording quality is top-notch and sounds great on almost any system. Music: **1/2 Sound: ***