Headphones are nothing without great music. Since reviewing headphones is tedious work, it is utterly important that good music is used during reviews in order to keep sane. And after all, who is interested in how a headphone sounds like while it is playing bad music? On this page some of the best music used during reviews will be posted and commented on. This is a review site for headphones, so don’t consider these listening suggestions reviews, just check them out if you are curious. Anyway – it is useful to know what music reviewers listen to. Happy listening! – Chris
Selva
by Marta del Grandi
Former jazz vocalist del Grandi has shifted to art pop, now singing her own songs in English. Her incredibly beautiful voice is complemented by toned down, yet sophisticated arrangements and excellent production.
Aviaja
by Anders Jormin / Severi Pyysalo
Acoustic bass player Anders and Vibraphonist Severi play together like it was what they were meant to do forever.
Equal Poise
by Simon Nabatov – Mark Dresser – Dominik Mahnig
I like this little album, the musicians playfully improvises, balancing between the melodic and the free, finding the structured and planned for a few moments and then burst into chaos for a little while – before they once again find structure and small melodic moments together.
Filth Pig
by Ministry
Industrial metal band Ministry has a massive sound, but a relatively slow groove, making this album both noisy and meditative. I do especially like Reload and The Fall. Their version of Bob Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay is also definitely worth a listen.
Lebroba
by Andrew Cyrille, Wadada Leo Smith, Bill Frisell
Nice toned down melodic improvisations with a trumpet, a guitar and percussion.
Halcyon Digest
by Deerhunter
Many nice slow songs on this album from alternative/indie rock band Deerhunter. The first song, Earthquake, alone would have kept me from selling my Beyerdynamic T1. It is just marvelous on those headphones, especially with the Cary SLI-80 tube amplifier. Those are the moments that really makes this hobby magical, when the gear and the music together form something bigger than the sum of the parts, so to speak. Great album. The last track, He Would Have Laughed is magical.
Ghil
by Okkyung Lee
Now here is something you might never have heard before. Non melodious noise music generated by one single cellist. Sound is awesome. The sound of sound. It’s fabulous. If you are in the mood.
Genius Loci – The Spirit of a Place – The Arctic
by Thomas Agergaard
Beautiful toned down improvisations inspired by the landscape of Greenland. Songs like Nunatak really transports you to another place, painting a musical landscape I have never heard before.
Songs For The Deaf
Queens Of The Stone Age
If you haven’t yet heard No One Knows on the Hifiman HE6, you have a reason to keep on living. This album is so incredibly tightly played and well produced. Get ready to have your ear wax massaged by the hard hitting, rhythmically super tight and quite noisy alternative rock/metal band from California.
Siamese Dream
by Smashing Pumpkins
This one of my favorite albums of all time and one of the very best from the nineties. Britannica says “…the Smashing Pumpkins created a postpunk blend of progressive rock, grunge, and psychedelia that incorporated the brooding atmospherics of goth rock and the adventurous melodiousness of “dream pop”.. which I find a suitable description of their music.
The Sound of their double track noisy guitars and the bass guitar plays along with the same chords, make them sound so incredibly massive. Cherub Rock, Today , Rocket and Silver Fuck are among my headphone listening favourites, but I have a close relationship with all the songs.
Pisces Iscariot
by Smashing Pumpkins
This is my second favorite Pumpkins album. Not really an album but the collection of songs they didn’t know where to put, but they are great. Noisy tracks like Hello Kitty Kat sounds incredible on headphones, but this album is really full of beautiful songs, like their cover version of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide.
Dummy
by Portishead
One of the best albums of the 90s combines trip up with atmospheric female vocals. If you have not listenef to this in a while, you and your headphones are in for a treat. Again. Make sure you have headphones that can play bass. The first track Sour Times will tickle your eardrums.
Blonde
byFrank Ocean
Often described as Contemporary R&B, this well put together around well produced album is a delight to listen to on headphones. I especially like Nikes and Pink + White.
Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 EP
by Aphex Twin
The British electronic music legend as put together a very entertaining and fascinating album using samples of acoustic instruments, it sounds especially great on headphones. The first track diskhat1 is very nice.
Imagination & the Misfit Kid (All for us)
by Labrinth
Pop, Hip-hop, R&B and Soul blends together in this varied and well produced album. It is however the song All For Us, known from the HBO series Euphoria, that made me put this on the list, it sounds really incredible if you have some headphones that can play deep bass, preferably high quality Hifiman planars like HE6 or a LCD series headphone. The song Mount Everest also is a favourite.
Brasstronaut
by Brasstronaut
This band from Vancouver is a mix of jazz, pop and rock. Make sure you have headphones that can handle the bass, the track Paris sounds incredible with the HE6…
Beethoven: Chamber Music for Winds
by Les Vents Francais
Really beautiful music played by an excellent group of musicians blowing into their wind instruments with conviction and tenderness.
Digging in the Dark
by Jørn Øien Trio
Lots of great impro jazz tracks from this piano Trio. I really dig the percussion, the rhythmically expressive It Should Be Obvious is a real treat for your headphones.
Donder
by Donder
Improvisational modern jazz, mostly calming melodious musicality, sometimes wandering. The beautiful Óskar (feat. Lars Greve) is a treat.
Electrified
by Boris Blank
Great electronica from the former Yello member.
Escape Route sounds especially groovy with good headphones.
Arctic Riff
by Marcin Wasilewski Trio w/Joe Lovano
There are many good melodious albums from Marcin Wasilewski Trio, and I could easily have picked one of the others. Vashkar is in two versions, and together they are of the best tracks on this album, I really love the saxophone play. Fading Sorrow is also really melodious and beautiful.
End Of The World Party (Just In Case)
by Medeski, Martin & Wood
Groovy funky fusion jazz trio that should not be a stranger to anyone interested in jazz. They have a very energetic and unique style, inspired by lots of genres. This is an especially great album. The title track End Of The World Party make my headphones very happy, but there are lots of nice tunes here.
Bergen Open
by Bmx
This is one fabulous modern jazz album. A trumpet, saxophone, electric guitar and percussion delivers improvised musical magic. Sometimes melodic, sometimes drifting, sometimes energetic, sometimes calming and beautiful. Maybe one of my favorite albums in its genre.
Your Turn
by Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog
I can’t really tell you about ceramic dogs, but they sound really good. This is a seriously entertaining album. Avant-garde jazz blues rock or whatever, doing covers. Their version of Dave Brubeck’s take five is really fun.
Wedding Bells
by Cashmere Cat
The DJ and producer delivers a nice little album with the gentle small tunes and the hard hitting drum and bass.
Virtuoso
Joe Pass
One man with a guitar plays like the Jazz Virtuoso he is.
Vidde
Atlanter
Nice alternative rock/pop album with really great guitar playing and great grooves.
Higdon / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos
by Hilary Hahn
Great album. Especially Violin Concerto – 1726 is a great listen, Hilary Hahn is a truly fabolous violinist.
The Mechanical Fair
by Ola Kvernberg and The Trondheim Soloists
Modern jazz and modern classical music blend together with multiple other genres to form highly engaging orchestral composition by Ola Kvernberg. I especially like the track Dualist.
Mitt hjerte alltid vanker
by Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – Håkon Kornstad – Jon Christensen
The bassist, the saksofonist and the percussionist improvises around old psalms in the most beautiful way possible. The track For himmerigs land maa man kjempe, is superb.
jøkleba! / nu jøk?
by Jøkleba
Highly entertaining modern jazz, full of rhythm and groove, but also nice little melodies. Especially the second track Muggen fallskjerm will make your headphones happy like a kid jumping on a trampoline.
“Intimate Letters” Janacek/Martinu: String Quartets
by Emerson string quartet
If you like string quartets you will like this. If you don’t like string quartets, this album will likely make you reconsider.
Floratone
by Floratone
Very Bluesy jazz. Especially the title track and Mississippi Rising has been played a lot on my headphones. I love the bass on this record.
Adrenaline
by Deftones
Hard hitting alternative rock/metal. If you like a Rage Against the Machine you will like this. Especially the intro song Bored keeps fascinating me. And there is always something extra with the double tracked noizy electric guitars on headphones.
Hurry up, We’re Dreaming
by M83
Well produced ambient electronic rock/pop. Lots of fascinating sounds, nice melodies and noisy wall of sound passages. Especially Midnight City fascinates me.
Dark Eyes
by Tomasz Stanko Quintet
The polish trumpet player and his band deliver some truly incredible melodious and rhythmic jazz moments. The Fabulous and enchanting song Terminal 7 will be immediately recognised by anyone who who have seen the TV series Homeland.
Slip
by Quicksand
Post-hardcore band Quicksand make sure your eardrums move. I love the bass, drums, the intense and the energetic vocals and the fuzz guitars.The first track Fazer is an especially great listen.
Lamb
by Lamb
Electronic duo Lamb combines pop like vocals with trip hop, jazz and drum and bass. I really did the song Trans Fatty Acid, great combination of a great groovy rumble and the energetic female vocals. Check out their album What Sound too, many great songs, but my favorite is the instrumental and self-describing Scratch Bass.
Acoustic Movements, Ståle Storløkken & Eirik Hegdal
by Eirik Hegdal and Ståle Storløkken
I have been to so many concerts with keyboardist Ståle. Storløkken. He is often playing in a very characteristic way, almost spastic or erratic, pressing seemingly random keys. But it feels so right so incredibly right. He is one of my favorite musicians. He has played in countless groups, this time he joins saksofonist Eirik Hegdal playing the piano in a duo. Sometimes melodic, tender and gentle, sometimes energetic and eksperimental.
Book Of Velocities
by Jon Balke
I agree with what ECM says: Norwegian pianist Jon Balke’s first-ever solo disc is a remarkable ‘book’ of 19 short pieces, grouped into four chapters and an epilogue, of music composed and improvised, exploring a whole vocabulary of ideas, techniques, rhythms, textures and sound-colours. Resembling no other disc in the solo piano genre, this is another strikingly original release from the instigator of the Magnetic North Orchestra and Batagraf.
Diverted Travels
by Jon Balke and the Magnetic North Orchestra
Mixing improvisational jazz and modern chamber music proves an interesting and engaging listen – full of rhythm and drive, great melodies and fascinating textures.
Vivaldi 4 Seasons
by The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
A playful approach to the geniality of Vivaldi’s classic composition. Enjoy great music by great musicians and have a laugh.
Wandering
by Yosi Horikawa
It’s all about sounds and rhythm. Get ready to have your eardrums massaged.
Khmer
by Nils Petter Molvær
If you care about modern jazz and good sound this Norwegian trumpet player and composer should not be a stranger to you and Khmer is one of his best albums.
Thomas Agergaard + Reed 5
by Thomas Agergaard
The Danish saxophonist delivers some seriously nice melodies when doing some improvisation together with other great musicians. The song Spontanious Compositorius is absolutely fantastic.
Red Sphere
by H-Alpha w/Briggan Krauss, Ikue Mori, Jim Black
This album is far from mainstream. H-alpha presents vibrant contemporary improvised music in all of its glory. Not for people who think music cannot be everything. If you like this check out skirlrecords.com
Voodoo
by The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet
I fell in love with this album when it was played on a loudspeaker rig on a hi-fi Show. I Fell in love with the rig also, it was a fabulous sounding setup from Danish loudspeaker and audio electronics producer Gryphon. Playful, energetic and with great melodies. Superb recording, especially the title track voodoo sounds spectacular. Great three-dimensionality.
1982, Pintura, 1982 + Bj Cole, Cromola, A/B
by 1982
Nils Økland (violin), Sigbjørn Apeland (organ) og Øyvind Skarbø (drums etc)
I have listened to these four albums so much that I mix them together… If you thought jazz trios couldn’t be great if they consisted of an organ, a violin and percussion, you are so wrong. 1982 is truly a magical experience. And even more magical when they add slide guitarist BJ Cole. Their albums or amongst my most listened to since I became an audiophile jazz enthusiast.
Dans les arbres and Canopée
by Dans les arbres
Xavier Charles / Ivar Grydeland / Christian Wallumrød / Ingar Zach
If you thought music had to have melodies, you haven’t heard this is slow paced improvisational group making sounds together. This is music that you only can appreciate if you have great sound quality because the sound of the sounds is what it’s all about. And the underlying pulse. The deeply satisfying calming pulse. This album is so, so fabulous with LCD3.
My Voice
by Olga Konkova
This is really a beautiful album. I love the cajun playing at the beginning, Olga Konkova’s tender piano, the lovely fragile female vocals. It is a slow, jazzy album, with lots of nice percussive elements that really comes to its right with great audio gear.
Bridges and Brothers
by Adam Baldych and Helge Lien Trio
Two fabolous melodious instrumental modern jazz albums. Adam is playing the violin and the great Helge Lien Trio elevates his playing to another level. I love their version of the old classic Teardrop by Portishead
East/West and Further East/Further West
by Bill Frisell
Two great live albums from legendary jazz gitarist Bill Frisell and his band.
Just So Happens
by Gary Peacock and Bill Frisell
Great improvisational jazz from two guys playing acoustic bass and electric guitar.
Affirmation
by Arild Andersen Group w/ Arild Andersen, Gard Nilsen,Helge Lien and Marius Neset.
Legendary bass player Arild Andersen has gathered some of Norway’s best jazz musicians to form a delicious, exciting and playful sounding Quartet.
More to come…
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