In Heavy Rotation
October 2nd, 2025
"The Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman Announces Time Traveler Recordings a multiple genre venture that begins with reissues from the Muse Records catalog By: Michael Fremer"The Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman best known for his worldwide vault discovery jazz issues on Resonance, Elemental and other labels, just announced a new venture: Time Traveler Recordings —a wide ranging program of reissues and newly discovered recordings that will cross over beyond jazz to other musical genres. For starters though Feldman is reissuing, in association with Craft Recordings, titles from the long dormant Muse Records catalog. The "Master... Read More
Comments: 3October 2nd, 2025
Parlophone Finally Finishes Ruining David Bowie’s Catalog Mastering (PART 2) The botched 'I Can't Give Everything Away' box set plus two others By: Malachi LuiNow for part two of our David Bowie vinyl guide aka “how Parlophone botched most of their current remaster series” (part one here). Before we dive in, I’ve read all the comments about part one and have a couple things to address:Yes, the '70s albums inherently aren’t the most dynamic mixes, nor would I want them to be. Yes, Bowie and Visconti (when applicable) often went for a thick, processed sound, and they achieved that on the originals. That’s what Bowie... Read More
Comments: 21October 2nd, 2025
The Monkees "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD." First Ever Sourced From Original Master Tape Rhino High Fidelity Limited edition By: Tracking Angle(October 2, 2025 - Los Angeles, CA) Rhino revisits The Monkees’ most sonically adventurous studio album with two new editions of Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. On October 3, the album will receive its first-ever vinyl pressing from the original analog stereo master reels as part of the Rhino High Fidelity series. Alongside the High Fidelity pressing, returns in an expansive 4CD/7-inch Super Deluxe Edition featuring previously unreleased recordings, new... Read More
Comments: 6October 1st, 2025
Cécile McLorin Salvant's "Oh Snap" (!!) Our greatest singer gets funky By: Fred KaplanBack in 2016, while interviewing her for a New Yorker profile, I asked Cécile McLorin Salvant, who was 28 years old and just emerging as the era’s greatest jazz singer, whether she might cover contemporary pop tunes. The question made her wince. “There are some new songs that I really like,” she replied, “but I never think, ‘Maybe I’ll sing this song.’ I don’t care whether what I do is modern or of our time. I want to sing songs that have this timeless quality… I love... Read More
Comments: 0October 1st, 2025
Intervention Records to Release Sun Record Classic "Dance Album of Carl Perkins" Cut AAA 180g, 45rpm mono cut from original analog tapes for first time in decades! By: Tracking Angle(Press release): 10/1/2025 Intervention Records is proud to announce the first vinyl release in its Intervention Sun Records Hi-Fi Series, Carl Perkins' groundbreaking rockabilly classic, 1957's Dance Album of Carl Perkins.This December 2025 premium vinyl release commemorates the 70th anniversary of Sun's Sam Philips recording Carl Perkins' smash "Blue Suede Shoes," which was released as a single on New Year's Day 1956. Dance Album... Read More
Comments: 4September 30th, 2025
The Lamb STILL Lies Down on Broadway Rael’s story gets retold for its 50th anniversary By: Dylan PegginBy 1974, Genesis was on its way from being lauded an underground cult favorite to an entity with commercial potential within the English progressive rock scene. Selling England By The Pound peaked at No. 3 in the UK album charts, and it spawned their first minor hit, “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).” In a concert setting, frontman Peter Gabriel became the group’s central figure, captivating audiences with an abundance of costumes and headdresses that elaborated... Read More
Comments: 8September 29th, 2025
REL Acoustics Celebrates 35 Years With New S Serie Subwoofers & HQ Event I attended and learned a lot from the team By: Michael FremerCelebrating 35 years in the subwoofer business this year was a major landmark for REL Acoustics. On September 23rd, 2025 the company launched a completely new and "reimagined" Serie S line featuring four new models: the 212 Black Label, Carbon Special Black Label, S/850 and S/550. REL also held a September 17th and 18th event at its Berkeley CA headquarters, inviting journalists from traditional print magazines and websites as well as a group of "brand... Read More
Comments: 3September 27th, 2025
Decoding the Dawn of Modern Music - The Original Source Offers Fresh Illumination of Karajan and the BPO's Groundbreaking Survey of the Second Viennese School - PART 3 The Karajan Effect By: Mark Ward
In Part 3 of my detailed survey of these groundbreaking recordings, I examine the unique qualities Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra brought to these still benchmark accounts of this challenging repertoire. I also offer a detailed review of each record, and suggestions for further exploration of the Second Viennese School - on vinyl, CD, SACD and in a fine new biography of Schoenberg. (Part 1 of this series of articles presented an account of Schoenberg's development of atonality and serialism, and Part 2 examined the history of recordings of this repertoire prior to the original release of Karajan's set in 1974).
Read More Comments: 33September 26th, 2025
Tears For Fears "Songs From The Big Chair" 40th Anniversary Issue Editions Due Nov. 14th press release includes no mastering or pressing credits (grade: F) By: Tracking AngleTears For Fears' multi-platinum-selling second album, Songs From The Big Chair, will be reissued in multiple formats on November 14, marking its 40th anniversary and celebrating its enduring impact. Originally released on February 25, 1985, Songs From The Big Chair became a global sensation, topping the US charts and spawning five hit singles: “Mothers Talk,” “Shout,” “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” “Head Over Heels,” and “I Believe.” The album captured a... Read More
Comments: 9September 26th, 2025
The Rolling Stones Announce a Super Deluxe Reissue of !976 Classic "Black and Blue" SuperDeluxe Box Set Due Nov. 14, 2025 By: Tracking AngleSeptember 24, 2025 - Nearly five decades after its original release, The Rolling Stones are set to celebrate their groundbreaking 1976 album Black and Blue with a definitive Super Deluxe Box Set, arriving globally on November 14, 2025 from Interscope/UMe. Originally released in April, 1976 Black and Blue marked a bold new chapter for the band and now returns in a stunning, remixed and expanded package across multiple formats.Available as a 5LP vinyl box set and a 4CD... Read More
Comments: 6September 25th, 2025
Jazz Patterns.........Joe Henderson & Woody Shaw Real Gone Music reissues hard to find 1970 live recording By: Joseph W. WashekJazz Patterns is a live album recorded in 1970 by the same great Joe Henderson band that recorded the classic Milestone album, If You’re Not Part Of The Solution, You’re Part Of The Problem. Since its release in 1982 on the Everest Archive of Folk and Jazz Music label, Jazz Patterns has always been an elusive and mysterious album. Everest, once highly regarded by audiophiles, had by 1982 long fallen into the deepest depths of the budget label netherworld and... Read More
Comments: 0September 24th, 2025
Parlophone Finally Finishes Ruining David Bowie’s Catalog Mastering (PART 1) An exhaustive sonic guide to Bowie’s discography By: Malachi LuiWith the arrival of the sixth and final David Bowie anthology box set I Can’t Give Everything Away [2002-2016], Parlophone has finally completed a decade-long undertaking: ruining the sound of Bowie’s entire catalog.It’s quite impressive, actually. Six hefty remaster box sets from 2015 to 2025, most with some problem of some sort, and none of them having the sound quality these records deserve. Not all of the box set remasters (and the equivalent individual album... Read More
Comments: 34September 23rd, 2025
Deftones "Private Music" Proves Nu-Metal Still Has a Future The band's 10th album is one of their best By: Michael JohnsonLast month, Sacramento Nu-Metal band Deftones dropped their 10th studio album Private Music. Coincidentally, this album also marks nearly 30 years since their debut LP Adrenaline released in 1995. Deftones have come a long way in 30 years, and their longevity is rare, especially for a band associated with a style of music that mostly died off in the mid 2000s. But part of their staying power has been the musical creativity that has long elevated the group far above... Read More
Comments: 1September 22nd, 2025
Tom Petty "Wildflowers" One-Step Is it That Much Better? double 33 1/3, pressed on Neotech VR900-D2 vinyl By: Michael FremerTo be brief: compared to the version included in the deluxe box set of a few years ago, this re-mastered One-Step version cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering sounds soooo much better, it's kind of ridiculous.I took it to my friend Anthony Chiarella's (he's CEO of Specialty Sound & Vision, which distributes Gryphon among other products) and played it on his system during a meeting of the New York/N.J. Audio club and the reaction in the... Read More
Comments: 21September 22nd, 2025
Manzanara Mackay Post Roxy Produce Live Magic recorded live in Soho 2024 By: Michael FremerFollowing Roxy Music's epic and successful 2022 world tour, Phil and Andy decided they'd not had enough and so the two, along with original Roxy drummer Paul Thompson, went into the studio and in October 2023 released AM PM. They decided in March of 2024 to do some live shows based on the album and this is the result.Frankly, it's reassuring to know that Andy survived the Roxy tour because he appeared to be blowing his brains out and as cosmic,... Read More
Comments: 2September 22nd, 2025
Decoding the Dawn of Modern Music - The Original Source Offers Fresh Illumination of Karajan and the BPO's Groundbreaking Survey of the Second Viennese School - PART 2 20th Century Modernism and the Gramophone By: Mark Ward
To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Arnold Schoenberg, DG's Original Source deluxe vinyl reissue series presents Herbert von Karajan's seminal survey of music by the composer and his two most famous pupils, Alban Berg and Anton Webern. In Part 1 of our coverage of this important reissue I discussed the development of atonality and serialism in the music of Schoenberg, which laid the foundation for a major strand of 20th century modernism. Here, in Part 2, I discuss how the recording industry represented this repertoire in the years leading up to the release of Karajan's game-changing box set.
Read More Comments: 10September 21st, 2025
Technics SL-50C Direct Drive Turntable $899—Unboxed! includes Ortofon 2M Red, built-in phono preamp too By: Michael FremerTomorrow I leave for the Making Vinyl even in Haarlem, The Netherlands, and what shows up today? The New $899 Technics SL50C turntable that comes complete with an Ortofon 2M Red and built in phono preamplifier! So let's unbox it together (in a hurry). I'm hoping tomorrow I'll have time to give it a quick spin and post video before I leave, but maybe not! Read More
Comments: 1September 21st, 2025
Legendary The Record Plant, Sausalito is Now 2200Studios take the tour By: Michael FremerLast week during a visit to REL Acoustics in Berkeley, CA, I was among the guests treated to a tour of 2200 Studios, the former legendary The Record Plant where Fleetwood Mac recorded "Rumours", Prince recorded his debut album and so much music history was written and played. The new owners just recently opened the restored facility that also contains many of the musical instruments formerly housed at Fantasy Studios, including the piano Bill Evans played on... Read More
Comments: 2