21ST CENTURY HI-FI GEMS
T hese excellently produced recordings released since the turn of the millennium are stellar tracks to test kit with. Indeed we use them regularly in the What Hi-Fi? test rooms, as beautifully produced tracks to showcase hi-fi equipment’s talents.
RADIOHEAD KID A
Dense, labyrinthine layers of electronics are coupled with acoustic instruments in a lush, dynamic, album that demands a wide and insightful soundstage to make the most of it. The tracks mess with directionality, apply unexpected effects and often overload a soundstage with dense instrumentation and lots of texture, so you will need wide, open kit with excellent separation to appreciate its genius. It’s not the easiest listen, often experimental and avant-garde, but the reasons Kid A might not be a hit at parties are exactly why it is such a good fit for testing out your kit: you will get a chance to hear a wide range of sounds you don’t hear too often.
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM SOUND OF SILVER
Threading that needle between the clean, constructed, digital sound of electronic music and the warm, organic sound of rock, this album is hard to pin down to a genre. Rock, dance or electronica – it’s all of those at the same time in the same tracks. When testing kit, it’s easy to focus on a particular characteristic and find music to test just that, but music with a lot of different sounds and influences that spans genres is just the ticket if you want to be more efficient with your listening.
LORDE MELODRAMA
A lush, varied record packed with punchy, lively pop beats alongside an endless list of fresh ideas and novel sounds and effects. It brings all the familiar electronic sounds, beats, and samples of modern pop music – but don’t let that trick you. Every beat of a Lorde track is unexpected when you hear it and, after you do, it makes perfect sense. The bright, catchy melodies and beats of modern pop music are coupled with the adventurous spirit of darkly modern electronica and dance music, making Melodrama an effective way to hear just how rhythmic, organised and bass-tight your system is.
DRAKE NOTHING WAS THE SAME
A Drake track usually comes packed with a thick, bassy beat with just enough texture to sound interesting with his rapping taking centre stage. This record went in a new direction, bringing an almost endless variety of samples with it. These tracks are punchy and dynamic but there’s also more than enough going on to reward careful listeners on repeat plays. As a hobbyist looking to test some kit, you will appreciate the musical variety on offer. It’s an immaculately produced r
