Listening to in Dolby Atmos Streaming, via Tidal/Apple/Amazon

[dapaladi]

kim wilde new album 'closer'

 

[dapaladi]

forth single 'brishstrokes of reunion' from manic street preachers new album 'critical thinking' that will be now released on february 7th, one week later than previously announced.

 

[Franck]

The world of Hans Zimmer part 2

and where is part 1 you may ask…

 

[perzon57]

Good song, good mix, looking forward to the rest of it.

 

[privateuniverse]

Steven Wilson mix.

 

[The Bright Side]

kim wilde new album 'closer'

That album kicks ass. Had no idea Kim Wilde is still on fire like that. Great sound and mix, too.

 

[PurpleMoustache]

Max Richter’s landmark album The Blue Notebooks turns 20 and gets a new expanded reissue and new mix

 

[LennonCobain]

 

[splinter7]

DeLaurentis “Musicalism”.
Out for a couple of weeks
Wow!
Awesome Electronica

 

[Dan T]

The Weeknd’s new album has now been upgraded to Dolby Atmos. For some reason it dropped on Friday in its vanilla form. Will be listening properly to this today, but musically I’m really enjoying it.

 

[olgitnorm]

Just came across this one don’t know if it’s been posted before

 

[atlantasteve]

Ran across this while plowing through “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”.

 

[humprof]

Profile of Weyes Blood (Natalie Mering) by Margaret Talbot in the November 7th issue of The New Yorker:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/11/07/weyes-blood-gives-soft-rock-an-apocalyptic-edge

Just discovered that the credit for the Atmos mix goes to Jorge Elbrecht, who in addition to being a mixing engineer is a producer and songwriter, as well as the guitarist for Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. (Elbrecht also did the Atmos mix for Maggie Rogers's latest.) His bandmate, drummer Kenny Gilmore, is another Atmos mixer; with Ted White and Julia Holter, Gilmore is responsible for Julia Holter's Something in the Room She Moves, one of my top albums of 2024.

 

[humprof]

G - H:
Of the entries with Atmos mixes: Gabriela Ortiz's Revolución Diamantina (with the LA Phil under Gustavo Dudamel) is interesting enough modern/folkloric symphonic music, and it has a fairly adventurous mix (by "classical" standards), though it's probably not an album I'd come back to. Also: since I'm an ageing white guy who rolls his eyes at most of the performance styles & production tropes that young hip-hoppers seem to go for these days, GloRilla's Glorious bored me. (And, if I'm remembering right, its Atmos mix was phoned in.) Beyond those two:

The Hard Quartet's self-titled album doesn’t completely grab me, but it’s a solid Stephen Malkmus joint, so Pavement fans will want to have a listen. Interestingly, it also sports what is effectively a quad mix (with some faint doubling in the front & rear overheads) in an Atmos wrapper.

Similarly, los Hermanos Gutiérrez' Sonido Cósmico is not quite my bag (a little too “tranquil,” as AM describes it, for my tastes), but it has a surprisingly imaginative Atmos mix for what is essentially a duo-guitar album.

And to complete my half-hearted G - H Atmos trilogy, I won't put Hinds' Viva Hinds in steady rotation, but it’s kinda fun, kinda punky-poppy, with a serviceable mix (5.1 with some doubling and reverb in the front heights).

But as usual, the albums from this segment that I will be coming back to are strictly stereo: Galliano's Halfway Somewhere (the return of the acid-jazzer--nice and funky), Glass Beach's Plastic Death (finally, some neo-prog that I truly like!), Helado Negro's Phasor ("soft and subtle electronic pop," says AM, which seems about right), HooksArthur's Hundred Hand Hooks (trippy, off-kilter subterranean hip-hop in a Kool Keith vein), and Hurray for the Riff Raff's The Past Is Still Alive (top-notch Americana).

I - J:
The Atmos titles I can take or leave include new records by Immanuel Wilkins (immensely talented young saxophonist whose music just doesn't land with me), Ivan Cornejo (over-earnest singer-songwriter en Español), Jamie xx (run-of-the-mill EDM), Joy Oladokun (whose last album was fabulous, but this one doesn't measure up), and Julian Lage (lovely set, brilliant guitarist, but even so...). Nothing exciting about any of the mixes, either. Keepers:

Jessica Pratt, Here In the Pitch. I've totally slept on her, even though she’s been around a while and comes from my part of the world. Her sound is '60s retro—but she has more of a Dusty Springfield-Cilla Black vibe (with a touch of Astrud Gilberto) than the “freak-folk” label she’s been saddled with. Only tracks 1 & 3 have an Atmos mix, and the overall production is spare and reverby, so the immersive effects are subtle.

Jihye Lee Orchestra, Infinite Connections. Finally: the contemporary big-band album in Atmos I’ve been waiting for! (Even if it's not by Maria Schneider, Darcy James Argue, or Miho Hazama--although both Argue and his longtime engineer Brian Montgomery worked on this album, and I suspect the excellent Atmos mix is by the latter.)

Julia Holter, Something in the Room She Moves. For me, this is the standout album of this batch. It might not grab you out of the gate, but find a quiet place with no distractions and really listen to it. Spiritually/temperamentally, Holder is a granddaughter of Kate Bush, and the music here is both psychedelic & somatic. She was also personally involved, with Kenny Gilmore & Ted White, in creating the Atmos mix, which is one of the best of the year, IMO. (They've really figured out how to do object placement effectively—to the extent that the mix succeeds in creating “phantom” sides on my 5.1.4 system.)

Stereo albums from this segment of the alphabet that I'll be coming back to: Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly, MESTIZX (cool, new-wavy, experimental electro-pop); Jacken Elswyth, At Fargrounds (lovely, low-key, banjo-driven Appalachian folk tunes by a member of the Shovel Dance Collective); Jamie Baum Septet+, What Times Are These (five-star contemporary chamber-jazz); Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, The Way Out of Easy (mesmerizing jazz-trance from the LA scene); John Hollenbeck and NDR Bigband, Colouring Hockets (more next-gen jazz orchestra!); Joy Guidry, Amen (is it jazz, soul, gospel, ambient...?--whatever it is, it grew on me).

 

[PurpleMoustache]

In the wake of winning Grammys last night and ahead of his Super Bowl performance, Kendrick Lamar’s discography has gotten Atmos mixes (a handful already existed)

https://music.apple.com/us/album/gnx/1781270319

His first two, pre-Major Label albums do not have mixes, but looks like everything else does now

 

[PurpleMoustache]

In the wake of winning Grammys last night and ahead of his Super Bowl performance, Kendrick Lamar’s discography has gotten Atmos mixes (a handful already existed)

https://music.apple.com/us/album/gnx/1781270319

His first two, pre-Major Label albums do not have mixes, but looks like everything else does now

Just sampled a bit of these, sadly not especially discrete. Very much “big stereo” mixes

 

[skherbeck]

I just got an Atmos capable receiver that works with Apple AirPlay… is that good enough to listen to Atmos mixes from Apple Music, or do I need an Apple TV 4K?

 

[Bretho72]

I just got an Atmos capable receiver that works with Apple AirPlay… is that good enough to listen to Atmos mixes from Apple Music, or do I need an Apple TV 4K?

Need an Apple TV, airplay is stereo

 

[alansanchez86]

Just sampled a bit of these, sadly not especially discrete. Very much “big stereo” mixes

that's what I was afraid of...To Pimp A Butterfly had potential...lost opportunity.