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Ask HN: What's the most beautiful song or album you've ever listened to

by metah on 6/11/20, 3:37 AM with 24 comments

• by CSSer on 6/11/20, 3:14 PM

  This might seem like a cliché answer, at least because this is not what I typically listen to on a normal basis, but for an album I'd Pink Floyd's The Wall.

  I think it has a certain degree of universal appeal. It has really aged extraordinarily well. If you are ever given the opportunity to listen to it on an any type of hifi system, do so. You'll find layers of eery texture and masterful use of stero dynamics. As a cherry on top, the album forms a perfect loop.

  As for a song, Aphex Twin's Avril 14th. I love that you can hear the action of the piano in the track. It was recorded with a kind of player piano that makes it sound very mechanical, but it still has a somewhat organic feel to it. It's very quaint yet oddly contemporary.

• by davidajackson on 6/12/20, 4:06 PM

  All of Art Tatum's music

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke2_qob16ls

  Check out this reharmonization/improv on Chopin. The guy was basically blind, hence the insane awareness of where the keys were.

• by DrScump on 6/12/20, 9:50 AM

  Album: The Pat Metheny Group (called the "white album" because of its plain white cover with just the four names of the players). Side one of the LP was just "San Lorenzo" and "Phase Dance". The former still gives me chills, 40 years later.

  Song: Wildflower, by Skylark (fun fact: David Foster was a member). Here[0] is a live version. Here[1] is the background story.

  Honorable mention: Hoptsoi, by the Finnish group Värttinä. OMG, the strings. [2]

  [0] https://youtu.be/2zPWlOXwnGo

  [1] https://www.songfacts.com/facts/skylark/wildflower

  [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXn_J8-q2g

• by infradig on 6/11/20, 11:35 PM

  Here's a few of my faves:

  Bob Dylan (Love Minus Zero/No Limit) https://youtu.be/ufbHfGU7WxA?list=LLlpi7Iw6jy-mv42RGAAiFVA

  Sekret Sekret (New King Jack) https://youtu.be/DyoHMZo7uGA

  Steve Winwood (Can't Find My Way Home) https://youtu.be/eoSn2Y-b6wI

  Traffic (Dear Mr Fantasy) https://youtu.be/pSQ1akE2CcM

  Joe Strummer (Johnny Appleseed) https://youtu.be/4IbMiqIdeME

• by yesenadam on 6/13/20, 9:16 AM

  Mahler - Symphony No. 5 Adagietto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75YmlDR92UQ

  Miles Davis - Flamenco Sketches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3W_alUuFkA

  Those were the two that immediately came to mind, then:

  Barber - Adagio for Strings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKrxPTePXEQ

  Miles - Concierto De Aranjuez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cscpJisU6k

  - In a Silent Way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bdBONxS-Es

  Keith Jarrett - Visions (48 seconds long) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDujecndByY

  - Interlude No. 3 (1 minute 17) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us0EU-yXAlg

  - Sympathy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQLTuyIHAMc

  KJ's American Quartet - Still Life, Still Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiVg5cSug3k

  Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sings R. Strauss' Four Last Songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs0vSC9DUhU

  Most beautiful album is I guess Keith's solo piano Facing You. Doesn't seem to be on youtube at the moment. This is one track from it, Ritooria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVpDWxoFGP4

• by nikivi on 6/11/20, 3:44 AM

  Listening to this now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRIfsFefatg

  Medieval style is rather beautiful.

• by DrScump on 6/12/20, 10:09 AM

  Okay, one more: "Calypso", Suzanne Vega:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhJIZZcNQPA

  Steely Dan's "Home at Last" is another interesting turn on Odysseus.

• by rtcoms on 6/12/20, 1:20 PM

  Time without consequences - Alexi Murdoch

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3QJ4brLYZQ&list=PL04432CD8C...

• by logicslave on 6/11/20, 3:16 PM

  Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Mozart

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy2zDJPIgwc

  My favorite piece of all time. It encapsulates what I want to feel about life

• by knopkop_ on 6/11/20, 9:08 AM

  An Armenian chellist playing Paganini's Variations on a theme from Moses in Egypt.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g00bVs0zBg

• by dvtrn on 6/11/20, 5:22 AM

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huDWAc61Lx4

  One of the only songs where I prefer the live version to original studio

• by tjr on 6/11/20, 4:21 AM

  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yscm61p5eyA

• by el_dev_hell on 6/12/20, 5:05 AM

  My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West

• by fourbytes on 6/11/20, 5:37 PM

  Disintegration - The Cure

• by o4tuna on 6/12/20, 12:32 AM

  George Winston’s Autumn

• by medialucky20 on 6/12/20, 10:56 AM

  I love Mary Bessi voice. I listen to them even today

• by quickthrower2 on 6/13/20, 6:54 AM

  Tubular Bells the original version

• by ioncube on 6/12/20, 4:24 AM

  Robert Miles - Remember Robert Miles

• by ai_ia on 6/11/20, 4:27 PM

  The ballad of Cleopatra by Lumineers.