HDCD encoded Music - Cat Power, Modest Mouse, etc

Recently I upgraded my CD player to a Rotel RCD-02 which reads recognizes HDCD encoded music. In going through my collection I noticed that a few of my CD's were HDCD "equipped" which added a new dimension to listening to some of my favorite recordings.

The following CD's sound great on any system, but especially if you're running a player that takes advantage of the HDCD encoding:

Cat Power - Moon Pix (AMAZING vocals of Chan Marshall are now even more amazing....it will give you goosebumps)

Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West (more clarity but a little harsh IMHO)

Beck - Sea Change (his dreamy downbeat record even more lush with HDCD)

764-HERO - Weekends of Sound (not a huge diff to my ear over 'regular' CD)


That's the only HDCD's in my collection....anybody else care to add to the list ?????

:6:

I only have HDCD via Windows Media Player, and I'm using a digital output from my soundcard so I don't get the decoding unless I connect 'phones directly to the card but . . .

Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
Andrew Bird's Bowl Of Fire - The Swimming Hour
Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers - The Lonesome Sea

to name but a few

. . . all sound pretty good even without the decoding.

Actually I'm a little surprised just how many indie CDs are HDCD and that most don't even make mention of it anywhere on the packaging or booklet.

Thread on Head-Fi -- probably the single most comprehensive list I know of (it's even mentioned on the wiki, and definitely contains more information than hdcd.com's own list).

Yea, both the Cat Power and MM are favorites of mine too. That Wayne Robbins & the Hellsayers that Sloshy mentions is very excellent. I became almost like of a shill for it last year because I thought it was so good, but it is so good. Kind of like Built To Spill with a bit of twang and a little more Crazy Horse. Nice and dynamic recording and mastering, unlike almost all modern releases.

Couple other low flying HDCD releases are the last couple from one of my favorite bands, Willard Grant Conspiracy. Both "Regard the End" and "Let It Roll" are great, with the much bigger nod to "Regard the End", which is actually labelled HDCD. Can't remember if their earlier ones are HDCD, but both of those sound really nice. Don't think the latest "Let It Roll" has been released in the US yet, but the others have.

Another big favorite is "Still" by Sue Garner and Rick Brown from 2000. Very diverse and eclectic mix of trip hop, indie pop/rock, avant-folk, Tortoise-like loopy electro-organica, and maybe even a couple nods to the Fall. Maybe too far reaching at times for their own good, and maybe I like it more than it really deserves, but it's got a charm that really has grown with me over the years. Recorded with some of their friends including Chris Stamey of the DB's, Douglas McCombs of Tortoise, Tara Key and Doug Weiselman in the couple's home studio. Sometimes reminiscent of Yo La Tengo, but then they mix it up and who knows? They even do a pretty cool minimalist cover of John Lennon's "It's So Hard" that's nearly a cappella, with only a plucked bass as accompaniment. Pretty nice and uncompressed sound along with the HDCD encoding.

And if you can dig the thought of surf rock meets post-rock in a guitar drawn, synth enhanced, middle eastern desert, albeit one that might not be on our planet, then "Crashes to Light, Minutes to Its Fall" by Cul de Sac from 1999 might be for you. Brilliant music and one of my favorites of the last few years. Kind of like a merging of the souls of John Fahey and Brian Eno, but these guys will take you on a real magic carpet ride. All instrumental and a very nice recording, with lots of headphone delights too.

Lots more, but those are just a few I like that come to mind.

Here are the only HDCD's that I own...some of them are NOT on many lists out there though...

Bee Gees GREATEST HITS
Better Than Ezra CLOSER and FRICTION BABY
Cars SELF TITLED
Flaming Lips EGO TRIPPING and THE SOFT BULLETIN
Jewel SPIRIT
King Crimson DISCIPLINE
Live SECRET SAMADHI
Meet Joe Black SOUNDTRACK
John Mellencamp BEST THAT I COULD DO
Phantom Planet THE GUEST
Plankeye RELOCATION
Queen GREATEST HITS IMPORT
Radiohead HAIL TO THIEF IMPORT
Kenny Wayne Shepherd LIVE ON and TROUBLE IS..
Sigur Ros ()
Starship Troopers SOUNDTRACK
Ronin SOUNDTRACk
Third Eye Blind BLUE (only the song SLOW MOTION)
Neil Young GREATEST HITS
Depeche Mode FOR THE MASSES

I only have 2 that I know of.....

TOOL - Lateralus
Neil Young - Silver and Gold

Dave Alvin is a favorite performer, and his discs 'Blackjack David' and 'West of the West' are both HDCD.

Here's what I have in HDCD:

Beck-Mutations, Sea Change
The Doors- Legacy
The Flaming Lips-The Soft Bulletin
King Crimson- In the Court of the Crimson King
Roxy Music- Avalon
Willie Nelson- Stars & Guitars
Neil Young- Greatest Hits
Yes- House of Yes (2 Discs)
Van Halen- Van Halen
Joni Mitchell- Hits
The Dave Brubeck Quartet-Time Out
Stephen Stills- Manassis
Stephen Stills- Stephen Stills
Duke Ellington- Blues in Orbit (incredible sound for the time period- highly recommended)
Grateful Dead-Infrared Roses
Emmy Lou Harris- Wrecking Ball
The HorseWhisperer (Score-Thomas Newman)
The Wild West (Music fromThe Essential Western Film Music Collection)
ZZ Top- Rancho Texicano
The Kingston Trio- Platinum Collection
Pink Floyd- The Wall (Part of the David Gilmour on an Island Disc Japanese set)