November 28th, 2022
Goat's "World Music" Re-Issued A 10th Anniversary Reissue Re-Mastered At Abbey RoadBy: Mark Dawes
The mythology that has been purposefully built up around Goat is sparse but compelling. An anonymous masked voodoo collective playing psychedelic afrobeat-tinged rock, from a village called Korpilombolo in northern Sweden? It’s a nice yarn, and whether it is true or not seems irrelevant when the potency of the music itself blows away the need for a good origin story. (It turns out they actually are from northern Sweden.) If you have seen Goat perform live, you will... Read More
Comments: 0November 28th, 2022
Tracking Angle’s 2022 Holiday Gift Guide Finding gifts for analog obsessives gets hard. This guide simplifies it.By: Tracking Angle
The holiday season is here, and finding good gifts for picky vinyl obsessives can be hard. To provide some suggestions and guidance, we’ve compiled the 2022 Tracking Angle Holiday Gift Guide, selecting some records, gear, and accessories that would make suitable gifts. These products are independently selected by our Michael Fremer and Malachi Lui, and are recommended based on our experiences or personal opinions of each item.
Read More Comments: 0November 27th, 2022
"Thriller" Ala Mobile Fidelity The 40K One-Step Is a Mixed Sonic BagBy: Michael Fremer
Trackingangle's purchased at retail copy of MoFi's "Thriller" arrived just the other day, but editor Michael Fremer was well-prepared for the review, having served as an expert witness in Quincy Jones's lawsuit against the estate of Michael Jackson. He'd spent a lot of time listening to the trio of Q produced Jackson albums.
Read More Comments: 0November 26th, 2022
Nagra Launches Its First Phono Cartridge Manufactured "In House" As Shown in Video TourBy: Michael Fremer
Nagra recently announced the launch of the Nagra Reference MC, its first phono cartridge. Delivery of the first production units is scheduled for December and will be available in both 4 ohm and 6 ohm internal impedance variants outputting respectively, 0.30mV@5cm/S and .45mV@5cm/S.The built in-house cartridge features a ruby cantilever mated to a titanium structure with DLC (diamond like carbon) coating. The Swiss-made stylus is a Gyger S. The double layer coil is... Read More
Comments: 1November 25th, 2022
"Variations" By Andrew Lloyd Webber Records "Off the Beaten Track"By: Mark Ward
We’ve all got that one audiophile or music-loving friend who just can’t get along with classical music. It’s too “serious”, or too “boring”. “There’s too many foreign names and words to remember” or “It’s too elitist”. “There’s no beat…..”Well, this may be the one record to entice that friend to think - and listen - again.How can that be? It definitely doesn’t sound like classical music: there’s drums, synthesizers, guitars and drums. No vocals, it goes on for forty... Read More
Comments: 0November 25th, 2022
Classic Candid Albums Reissued By Exceleration Music Mastered By Bernie GrundmanBy: Joseph W. Washek
In 1960, Cadence Records created and funded a subsidiary, Candid Records so that Nat Hentoff, a writer and non-musician with no music business experience could do the fun stuff and be an Artists & Repertoire director/ jazz record producer. Hentoff (1925-2017), a jazz fan since his early teenage years, had enthusiasm as well as a love for and a deep knowledge of the music. He was a former jazz DJ, a former editor of Downbeat, a former editor of his own jazz... Read More
Comments: 0November 23rd, 2022
A Nondescript Album of ‘Christmas Songs’ The various artists LP ‘Christmas Songs’ lives up to the name, but how good is it?By: Malachi Lui
Last year, when I reviewed the Yen Records holiday LP "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", a reader recommended another Japanese Christmas LP, simply titled 'Christmas Songs.' Released in 2010 by Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Commmons label, 'Christmas Songs' is a various artists LP of then-new recordings mostly of Christmas standards by a diverse range of artists, among them all three members of Yellow Magic Orchestra (albeit on separate tracks).... Read More
Comments: 0November 23rd, 2022
Starting a Jamaican Music Collection—Part 1: Ska Delving into the best of ska music.By: Willie Luncheonette
For a small third world country, Jamaica has produced an impressively large volume of exceptional music that has had an enormous impact on world consciousness. Bob Marley, in my opinion, is the 20th century's most important musical artist. Many Americans might not be aware of reggae's worldwide popularity since it had to compete over the U.S. airwaves with rock, disco and country music, but in major European countries including Spain, Germany, France and... Read More
Comments: 0November 23rd, 2022
Suspended Memories Defines The Essence Of “Musique Nouvelle” In The 90s From the archives: Remember the supergroups? Sure you do!By: Tracking Angle
(This review, written by Glenn Hammett, originally appeared in Issue 7, Spring 1996.)Remember the supergroups? Sure you do! In the late 60s, if a musician had a successful backlog of material, or simply looked the part, he could combine his talent with others of similar rock-royalty status. After months of grooming and preparation, they would announce themselves to the world as the next best thing. Shortly thereafter, egos would flare and they’d break up (usually to... Read More
Comments: 0November 21st, 2022
UHQR “Rastaman Vibration” Gets the Riddim Right! Only around 300 copies remain of this limited to 3500 copies releaseBy: Michael Fremer
By the time “Rastaman Vibration” was released in 1976, Bob Marley had already released seven albums, the first four of which had limited distribution outside of Jamaica. “Catch a Fire,” his first for Island, released in 1973 with the famous Zippo lighter flip up jacket, was a big deal in American reggae-loving outposts like Boston, where the 1972 low budget film “The Harder They Come” starring Jimmy Cliff had been a major sensation running throughout the summer of... Read More
Comments: 0November 20th, 2022
"Revolver" Remix Makes Strong Case For Original Mono Mix says as much in the indispensible hard covered bookBy: Michael Fremer
"Welcome Klaus! Come have a listen", George Martin invited. "You can sit in my chair," he said to Klaus Voorman, bassist, artist and long time friend of The Beatles. This and other excerpts from Voorman's graphic novel birth of an icon REVOLVER tells the story of how and what moved Voorman to draw the now iconic, possibly influenced by Aubrey Beardsley pen and ink black and white cover—visually a polar opposite of Rubber Soul's inviting... Read More
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