I am going to be treating my headphones to a new amp shortly, I am thinking of a valve setup, infact this sort of thing.

I have a pretty wide range of tastes in music, here is a quick list off the top of my head...

Chris Isakk
Jamiroquai
Joe Bonamassa (recent discovery for me)
American Pop-Rock - Matchbox Twenty, Vertical Horizon, Sister Hazel etc...
Reel Big Fish
Green Day
Depeche Mode
Dance - Not a great listener, but it has to be euphoric

I am putting together a play list of tracks I love, but I would love a few new tracks in there, so my question is which tracks still send a shiver down your spine when you hear them, that you think may fit my play list. I have an open mind, so all suggestions welcomed

Cheers

Cris.

'Gonna Mess You Up Real Bad' by Lesbian Scarecrow is pretty good.

Oooo, this is a good thread. I particularly like your requirements:

Quote:
which tracks still send a shiver down your spine when you hear them

I've been meaining to make a little mix CD of just those types of songs. Songs that are best listened to with giant can-style headphones, in a big comfy chair, in a pitch-black room. Too bad I can't remember any off the top of my head, but I've got them.

For now, I'll just throw out my favorite:

"Praying Ground"
on Scraps at Midnight
by Mark Lanegan

Okay, so I'm a little biased. He's my favorite artist of all time, but this song gets me for some reason, and I love listening to it in the exact manner I described above.

Here's my list of test tracks for bringing up new players etc.:

Orbital, The Naked And The Dead from Halcyon (stereo soundstage)
Art of Noise, Close (To The Edit) from The Best Of (stereo soundstage)
Crystal Method, Busy Child (Uberzone Mix) from the import of Tweekend (bass)
Susan Cadogan, Fever from Cosmosonica (bass, vocals)
Kirsty McGee, Safe Harbour Song from Frost (vocals, shiver-down-spine)
Stone Roses, Made Of Stone from Stone Roses (shiver-down-spine)
Placebo, Pure Morning from Once More With Feeling (rawk)

Peter

According my computer, these are the most listened to tracks I have, so I suppose they're my favorites. So if I was auditioning a new system, I'd probably use them.

No order, other than alphabetical.

Azura - 808 State, Don Solaris
Le Voyage De Penelope - Air ,Moon Safari
Beck Pressure Zone -Beck, Midnite Vultures
A Dream within a Dream - The Beloved, X
Under the Influence - The Chemical Brothers, Surrender
Voyager - Daft Punk, Discovery
Half Step - DJ Food, A Recipe for Disaster
Racing Green - High Contrast, High Society
Pounding - Doves, The Last Broadcast
Disgraceful - Dubstar, Disgraceful
Going out of My Head, Fatboy Slim, Better Living Through Chemistry
Slider - Future Sound of London, ISDN
Supervixen - Garbage, Garbage
Yours for the taking, Gene, Libertine
Black Cherry - Goldfrapp, Black Cherry
Transmission - Joy Division, Substance (Best of)
Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk, Trans-Europe Express
Inspection (Check One) - Leftfield, Leftism
Vision Incision - Low Fidelity Allstars, How to Operate with a Blown Mind
She Makes My Nose Bleed - Mansun, Attack of the Grey Lantern
Group Four - Massive Attack, Mezzanine
Absent Minded Friends - Moloko, Things to Make and Do
Retreat Wicked Man - Monkey Mafia, Shoot the Boss
Sweet Smoke - Mr. Scruff, Trouser Jazz
Freedom Fighters - The Music, Welcome to the North
Jetstream - New Order, Waiting for the Sirens Call
Crystal - New Order, Krafty
Funny Break - Orbital, The Alltogether
Whirlpools End - Paul Weller, Stanley Road
All Mine, Portishead, Portishead
Orange Crush, REM, Green
Exit Music (For A Film) - Radiohead, OK Computer
In Space - Royksopp, Melody AM
Burnt Out Car (Balearico Mix) - St. Etienne, Casino Classics Disc 2
What Difference Does it Make - The Smiths, Singles
The Wild Ones, Suede, Dog Man Star
Young Savage - Ultravox!, The Island Years
Tears in the Rain - Vangelis, Bladerunner OST
Destiny - Zero 7, Simple Things

What headphones are you getting? I have a pair of Sennheiser HD-570's and they work just fine off the headphone output of my amp or my laptop. IMO, you're throwing your money away buying a valve headphone amp, and at that sort of price, i'd be surprised if it was any good. What will you be driving the amp with?

This all started because my Sennheiser HD-590's had started cutting out, but it was just the lead so that was a quick and easy fix, so they are staying.

The feed will be my Squeezebox 3 for now, as I have fried my soundcard. I have already started transfering some of my favs to flac.

I thought I would give the valve thing a go, what interests me about the 336i is the ability to easily change the tubes out, the ones used seem pretty cheap with lots of choice. I don't usually buy blind with this sort of thing, but I thought I would put a few CD's together and go and try a few others at my local HiFi shops so I have a reference (read: so if I know if it should go back on eBay )

Thanks for all the great suggestions, lots for me to look up there! Keep em coming...

Cheers

Cris.

Ok, the list that follows consists of some of my most listened to tracks. I thought (since I'm not sure much of what I listen to is too popular outside of specific circles) I'd also give a little blurb about why I like the track or why I think it might be a good candidate for checking out a new system. If you're interested, I'd be more than happy to put together a mix CD / mix ISO for you (since I know some of the stuff can be hard to find).

TRACK: Bu Yaam
ARTIST: Gridlock
ALBUM: Live Traces
WHY: Gridlock always has a fascinating mix of digital noise and warm analog sounds. Not only is it a challenge for a system to get both sides of their sound (the sharp digital and the soft analog), but this piece also has some of the best bass of any of their tracks. My roommate actually couldn't listen to this in my old car, as the bass made him queasy.


TRACK: Mr. Tiddles
ARTIST: Sasha
ALBUM: Airdrawndagger
WHY: A very chill track, Sasha's best IMHO. The pads that come in later in the track are worth waiting for.


TRACK: The Book And The Canal
ARTIST: Calexico
ALBUM: Feast Of Wire
WHY: Not a very long instrumental, but the combination of (almost) honky-tonk piano and cello has to be heard to be believed. It's a heartbreaking track.


TRACK: Love's Secret Domain
ARTIST: Coil
ALBUM: Love's Secret Domain
WHY: The way the audio shifts around in this track, along with all of the little noises fading in and out, make it perfect for checking out a new audio setup of any kind. And come on, how can anyone not just squeal in joy at Coil tipping their hat to the late, great Roy Orbison?


TRACK: Song Of The Dispossessed
ARTIST: Dead Can Dance
ALBUM: Spiritchaser
WHY: I think of everything Dead Can Dance has ever done, Brendan Perry's voice has never sounded better than on this song. The percussion is beautifully clear, as is the guitar, piano, and brass.


TRACK: Caloc
ARTIST: Dryft
ALBUM: The Mytotyc Exyt
WHY: Probably one of my favorite tracks of all time, from anyone. It borders on ambient for the most part, but the pickup later in the track is what keeps me listening to this on a regular basis.


TRACK: Nuclear Winter (Frost Bitten)
ARTIST: Funker Vogt
ALBUM: Always And Forever: Volume 2
WHY: This song just flat out feels cold. Again, a mix of harsh digital and warm analog. The chorus really hits the bottom end with good headphones.


TRACK: Stigmata Part 4
ARTIST: The Legendary Pink Dots
ALBUM: Your Children Placate You From Premature Graves
WHY: This is a really subtle track, with a lot going on in the background. It's also hauntingly beautiful, if you're a fan of Edward Ka-spel's voice (which I am, wholeheartedly).


TRACK: Space Weaver
ARTIST: Lisa Gerrard
ALBUM: The Silver Tree
WHY: Lisa Gerrard (the female vocalist from Dead Can Dance often collaborates with Hans Zimmer on film scores) has done a number of amazing solo albums, but this track took me by surprise, simply because it is so out of character for her. This is what Portishead should have sounded like. (DISCLAIMER: I love Portishead. )


TRACK: THE ENTIRE ALBUM
ARTIST: Lomov
ALBUM: Holzwege
WHY: If you like ambient "music", this is one of the finest examples you're likely to find. Subtle beyond belief, this album has lulled the missus and I to sleep for more nights than I can count. You could listen to this album a thousand times and still not catch everything there is to hear. And best of all, Holzwege (like all of Lomov's albums) is available as a free download from his site!


TRACK: Gymonpedie No. 3
ARTIST: Margaret Leng Tan
ALBUM: The Art Of The Toy Piano
WHY: This is one of the creepiest tracks I own. Margaret Leng Tan is a classically trained pianist who has an obsession with toy pianos. The tones tend to be pretty sharp, so it takes a decent pair of headphones to reproduce it faithfully without making it feel like an icepick in your skull. The track would be beautiful on a normal piano, but with the toy piano, it's somehow sad and spooky.


TRACK: I Put A Spell On You
ARTIST: Nina Simone
ALBUM: I Put A Spell On You
WHY: One of my friends has a habit of referring to trance and techno as "Baby Makin' Music". She's flat out wrong. This is Baby Makin' Music. Those strings with Nina's voice... turn off the lights, close your eyes, slip the headphones on... <shiver> Wow. Just...wow. I think she may have been the most amazing vocalist ever.


TRACK: Extremis
ARTIST: Hal
ALBUM: Extremis (SINGLE)
WHY: Gillian Anderson not so much singing as sighing in your ears. Need I say more?


TRACK: The Burning Hand
ARTIST: This Morn' Omina
ALBUM: 7 Years Of Famine
WHY: I have no idea what type of music to call This Morn' Omina. There are hints of Goa Trance, but it's nowhere near as simple as that. This particular track has a great rhythm with a ton of interesting percussion. There's also something like a digeridoo in there, but like everything else about the band, it's only like a digeridoo. Definitely worth a listen, and it really pulls you in with a good pair of headphones.


TRACK: Harrowdown Hill
ARTIST: Thom Yorke
ALBUM: The Eraser
WHY: My favorite track from Thom's solo album. No particular reason to use it for testing, but I highly recommend listening to it as often as possible.

So, for what it's worth, there you have it.

Some artists/tracks:

VAST
Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko [Version 3.0]
Death Cab For Cutie
The Crystal Method
Goldfrapp

It's surprising, but Smashmouth has good production on their tracks that make it worth listening to on a good setup.

I also like Alessandro Safina, he's pop/opera, and more traditional voices like Andrea Bocelli.

Can't believe I missed these two off my original list...

Mark Knopfler - Just about anything
Alison Krauss - Any track from her Live album, amazing!

Cheers

Cris.

Oh, I remembered one of mine. I actually only got into Superdrag recently, but they're a great pop band. Check out the title track off of In the Valley of Dying Stars. I love the chorus (the "can you hear the sound" part, specifically).

I won't even try to make a list in light of what's already been posted. But definitely check out some track from Bjork's album Medula. The (almost) only instrument is the human voice. Since I've heard that the voice is one of the hardest sounds to record and reproduce, that may give a good test. "Where Is The Line" and "Oceania" are good tracks.

I know I'm showing my age, but if I wanted to test out a set of 'phones, I'd reach for Led Zep. 2!

And I second your Dead Can Dance and Lisa Gerrard. I've bookmarked the thread to look into these recommended recordings at a later time. Good stuff.

Oldie but goodie...
Janis Joplin's 'Sommertime'...sends a chill down my spine every time...

I found a really lovely track the other day, called "When You Live Life Alone" off of the self titled solo record by Sarah Shannon. I don't know if anyone here listened to Velocity Girl, but she was the lead singer. It's a really nice album.

Well it's here! Posted Friday and here already.

First thing I have learnt is that valve amps get better as they go, the first impression wasn't that good, but now I have a few hours on it it's sounding much better. There was a slight humm in the back ground and it sounded quite harsh, which wasn't what I expected, I had guessed that the sound would be too "warm" to start of with the detail coming in later, but it's the opposite!

Current Track : Chicane - Halcyon

Best Track So Far: Buddy Holly - From The Master Tapes - True Loves Ways. Can't really explain how different it sounds, it's just like he is really here in my room, the bass is much softer and overall the sound is more mellow, but the vocal is right there in 3D!

I'll take a picture later when I can be bothered to get up and get the camera

Cheers

Cris.

Once warmed up it's gone, and I don't think I have ever heard something with so little background hiss at full volume. I'm quite impressed.

But I tell you what, I'm gunna have to turn down the radiator in here, it doesn't half wack out some heat!

Cheers

Cris.

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