The New Yorker: 100 Essential Jazz Albums
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:04 pm
Why is that bad? I love all of the Proper Box Sets I've bought.anton wrote: Bad: they include several Proper box sets
Even thought the second half contains many artists that I have no affinity for, I hesitate to dismiss them out of hand.anton wrote:Good: the list is in chronological order so you can safely ignore the second half
Bad: they include several Proper box sets
Ugly: what's an "album" anyway?
All such lists are subject to debate and interpretation, and generally incorporate the musical tastes of the author, not so much an objective, end-all list. My "Essential" list on the Austin Lindy website is RATHER outdated, and needs some revision. But it provides a good starting point, just like this New Yorker list does. As the author acknowledges, "I thought it might be useful to compile a list of a hundred essential jazz albums, more as a guide for the uninitiated than as a source of quarrelling for the collector."Up front, I must disclaim that boiling down the entire genre of [Jazz] music to [100] CDs or records is a ridiculous enterprise, in and of itself. My own collection is several thousand CDs strong, now, and I still find what could end up on an "essential" CD list to add to my collection every week. My own tastes also change constantly. * * * * Nonetheless, this list provides a list of some of the core CDs I consider essential to any burgeoning [Jazz music] collection.
Granted, they are good value for your money (just like Pirate Bay), and they do give you a quick and good overview of an artist's work. But, the tracks are ripped from inferior sources and are then subjected to additional low-pass filtering.GemZombie wrote:Why is that bad? I love all of the Proper Box Sets I've bought.anton wrote: Bad: they include several Proper box sets
Yeah, I actually like some of that music too. But it always irritates me when they lump swing music together with certain modern jazz that has nothing to do with dancing.Eyeball wrote: Even thought the second half contains many artists that I have no affinity for, I hesitate to dismiss them out of hand.
True, but the list seems to only view an album as a "currently purchasable item that gives you the best bang for your buck".Eyeball wrote: An "Album" is the reason why we have CDs today.
In my opinion most of the tracks I have from Proper are good quality, far superior to many other CDs that I have that include some of the same tracks. There may be better, I agree but sounds quality will likely continue to improve from release to release.anton wrote:Granted, they are good value for your money (just like Pirate Bay), and they do give you a quick and good overview of an artist's work. But, the tracks are ripped from inferior sources and are then subjected to additional low-pass filtering.GemZombie wrote:Why is that bad? I love all of the Proper Box Sets I've bought.anton wrote: Bad: they include several Proper box sets
I doubt that there's any original research behind those liner notes. Most likely, they have just ripped the discographies off the same sources as the tracks themselves. In some instances, they have the "right" recording details but the wrong track, e.g. a live recording instead of the studio version.GemZombie wrote: I disagree with your general assessment of Proper. The liner notes themselves are worth the money.