Back Again, The Society of Sound and Afro Celts

After a 4,000 plus mile July auto/photo trip from Oregon to/through Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and back, I am ready to return to home bound life and new music listens.

Hoping not to sound like a commercial, I just made a foray into the Society of Sound (sponsored by the highly-reputed audiophile British loudspeaker makers, Bowers & Wilkins (B&W). I had often heard of the Society of Sound as being a source of 16-bit and 24-bit lossless digital music of extremely high quality through blogs, Stereophile, etc., but I have finally got around to starting a three-month trial membership, which lets me download selected samples. If what I downloaded and heard last night is a good indication of what can come of a full subscription (I think it is only about $60/year), I'm pretty much getting right in line.

One of the files I grabbed was a 10-minute piece called Mojave by Afro Celt Sound System (a group I used to hear often on a public radio New Age program whose name escapes me at the moment). Absolutely stunning running through my Xonar Essence sound card into my old Sennheisers. (And today I received a UPS package from John Grado, containing my Grado cans fresh back from repair by Grado Labs, so I have to try that configuration, too.) And I heard just the 16-bit FLAC version, so can't wait to hear a 24-bit version. You can get a little taste of some of Afro Celt's music -- including a lower-fi version of Mojave -- on its MySpace site. Or check them out at the Society of Sound blog. Great stuff. Btw, it appears that the Society of Sound album is a special remix-remastering available nowhere else, at least in this particular compilation.