"Fever Dream" by Iron & Wine
This song doesn’t rise or fall. It just appears, quietly, closely, and stays there. A minimal, intimate production completely sure of itself.
2000s
"Back to Black" by Amy Winehouse - Vinyl LP
There’s no substitute for Back to Black on wax. The voice. That band. A room that's a bottle of lightning.
The Roughest Place I've Ever Been
"Tin Pan Alley (AKA Roughest Place in Town)" by Steve Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble sets a standard for dynamic range and soundstage in recorded Blues music.
O, Sinners, Let's Go Down
"Down To The River To Pray" from the motion picture soundtrack of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a deceptively simple trip into hifi-gang-vocal heaven. Let your mids shine.
I Got What I Got All Despite You
The Raconteurs are chomping at the bit with a bluesy-rock freakout: Salute Your Solution. If you want to put a hi-fi system's dynamics to the test, you'd be hard pressed to do better.
Looking Through a Broken Diamond
On Paper Tiger, Beck casts his postmodern sonic mania aside in exchange for clear-minded melancholia you can both hear and feel.
You Must Have Been Out Your Mind
The Pot from TOOL's "10,000 Days" album is a monstrous song with gobs of tiny details worth listening to.