Octave recordings SQ is as good as they come, especially all their DSD256 versions. Digital has come a very long way, sound almost indistinguishable from top end vinyl. Even in my more modestly tweaked system than Donald"s, the Jude Kofie recording is blowing me away with it’s fidelitly and musicality! This is one hell of a recording! Don’t hold back, get the DSD256 version!
Callum, I’m also waiting for the release of the Halle Tomlinson and The KYN album. Any idea when it will land?
Hey Bruce!
Great question. We are working on putting together an all new setup CD that will include those as part of our demos!
Callum
I had to get this album right away because the Squid City Slingers are from Minnesota and that is my state, too. It is a somewhat different genre of music from what typically comes out of the Octave studios and I took an instant liking to it. The three musicians in the group take turns doing lead vocals. Principle instrumentation includes upright bass, fiddle, and guitar also with mandolin and banjo on most tracks. To my ears there are influences of folk, country, Appalachian Americana, and jazz, and very much Bluegrass but fresh and not stuck in the older more traditional vein. Lots of energy and well recorded. It reminds me of the content of another product of the state of Minnesota that was very popular several years ago. the nationally broadcast Prairie Home Companion radio show.
I miss Garrison Keilor (sp?) and Prairie Home Companion.
I have not listened to this Squid City Slingers SACD yet. I am trying to support Octave Records by buying all of their releases on SACD, whether I really like the offering or not.
Hopefully, I will enjoy this one.
Glad you like it…
Cheers,
Scott
You spelled Keillor correctly. I too miss his show - I listened to it almost from its very beginnings. Part of why I identified with it so much is because my parents hailed from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and there are so many cultural commonalities with Minnesota. And Prairie Home Companion did something else brilliantly: to illustrate how no matter where you are in America, there is a lot of small-town in all of us. Case in point was how Keillor was living in New York City for several years, playing to packed houses at Town Hall. But in another PSA Forum topic, someone informed me that there were some pretty true accusations of sexual harassment and nasty workplace issues involving Keillor. It’s sad, but it doesn’t change what I got from the broadcasts.
In a recent Paul’s Post comment, someone said something like they had never heard anything from Octave that would amount to a memorable “musically top-shelf” recording. A few of us responded by telling him that a) we had both heard some great re-playable tracks, but b) that Octave’s agenda, like several other manufacturer-created labels - like Linn or audioquest - are not prioritizing “hits” but sound quality.
But there certainly have been some “memorable” recordings coming from those labels, and I think I just found one from Octave: the new Jason Greenlaw album Vantage Point. Musically, it offers some incredible interaction between players, some great improvisation, great composition and unique interpretations of “cover” songs. I think that Greenlaw is an incredibly melodic guitarist creating some really great musical lines. He walks well this tightrope between “what’s improvised” vs. “what’s written” where sometimes when the pianist or bassist joined him on lines, it was a great surprise.
But it is in the spontaneous interaction melded with the incredible recording quality where I think this recording really shines. Not only is their interplay fun and exciting, the recording puts you right in the same room, in three-dimensions, so you get to really FEEL the interplay. And add to that the incredible dynamics, and you’ve got something really worth listening to several times. The only quibble I had is drums - sometimes they were just mixed too far back, so they felt inconsistent with the tracks where they were more “real” and present. I believe some of this was intentional/creative, but for a jazz recording, consistency is better for a true soundstage.
But overall, a great " memorable top-shelf" recording.