Emil Berliner Studios continue to redefine the sonic legacy of Deutsche Grammophon's back catalogue in this latest batch of AAA, deluxe vinyl releases in the Original Source Series. Here we review the two standalone releases from master conductors Herbert von Karajan and Claudio Abbado. (Reviews of the William Steinberg releases to follow, beginning here).

Los Angeles, CA (January 9, 2024) — Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds are thrilled to announce the latest installment in their acclaimed Contemporary Records Acoustic Soundsseries, which heralds a staggering 12 vinyl and hi-res digital releases throughout 2024. These reissues include sought-after albums from Art Pepper, Shelly Manne & His Men, Harold Land, Hampton Hawes, Howard McGhee, Prince Lasha Quintet, Ben Webster, Helen Humes, and Sonny Rollins.... Read More

LOS ANGELES – Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi) ushers in the new year by introducing the latest additions to the acclaimed series of limited-edition, high-end vinyl reissues. Rhino Hi-Fi will release six albums in the coming months, starting on January 12 with Ornette Coleman’s Change of the Century and Television’s Marquee Moon. They’ll be followed by The Cars’ Candy-O and the Grateful Dead’s American Beauty on March 8, and John Coltrane’s Olé Coltrane and Miles... Read More

Every artist announces their end differently. Some make a big deal out of retiring, only to return three to five years later with an album or tour. Others creatively decline until they die, or until no one’s interested anymore. Or, they release their best album, slowly retreat from the spotlight, say that they’re “not currently thinking about a future in the arts,” make sporadic and seemingly random appearances on others’ experimental records, and reissue the entire... Read More

LOS ANGELES - Parlophone Records is proud to announce the release of a very special David Bowie limited vinyl LP, WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH), which will be released on April 20 for Record Store Day. The album is taken from the Trident Studios 1/4” stereo tapes dated December 15, 1971, created for the provisional tracklisting for what would become The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars album.The tracklisting for WAITING... Read More

The holidays are over and a new year has begun. As we kick off another year, music aficionados turn their attention to the first big event of the new year: the Grammy awards which take place on February 4th. Awards are important, it’s an appropriate opportunity to give accolades to all of the nominees, whether they win, or not. It’s also an exciting chance to cheer on those who were associated with your favorite musical projects of the past year. Hey, if you’re not a... Read More

The press release: 85 years ago on January 6, 1939, a German-Jewish immigrant and passionate Jazz fan named Alfred Lionproduced his first recording session in New York City founding what would go on to become the most iconic and longest-running Jazz label in the world. For 85 years Blue Note Records has represented The Finest In Jazz, tracing the entire history of the music from Hot Jazz, Boogie Woogie, and Swing, through Bebop, Hard Bop, Post-Bop, Soul Jazz,... Read More

Artists include: Black Sabbath, The Doors, The English Beat, Grateful Dead, Stevie Nicks, Velvet Underground, Yes and More. These are not part of the Rhino "High Fidelity" series so there's lotsa colors and little information about who mastered from what and where these were pressed.Available January 5:America – Now PlayingLimited Edition 1-LP 140g Coke Bottle Clear vinylThe Doors – Alive, She CriedLimited Edition 1-LP 140g Translucent Emerald... Read More

In part 1 of our Bunny Wailer retrospective we followed his life from a young boy to age 30 and covered his first two solo albums, Blackheart Man and Protest. Now we will delve into his next eight albums somen of which were award winners.As mentioned in part 1, Bunny's debut album, Blackheart Man, is considered by most every music critic to be one of the ten greatest reggae albums of all time. The follow up, Protest, although good, was a bit of a let down. That... Read More

The Decca/London Phase 4 Stereo records of the 1960s set the gold standard for albums of film music and easy listening. Building on the already fabled Decca sound, Phase 4 exploited the latest multi-track mixing and miking techniques to show off the new stereo technology. And of all the albums produced in Phase 4, few have become as iconic as those by legendary arranger Roland Shaw, covering music from numerous Bond and other spy movies and TV shows of the period. In Part 2 of this survey, we dive into each of the albums and find out what makes these records so special, even over 60 years since their original release. (You can read Part 1 here).

Looking for the perfect musical antidote to all those holiday season tinsel tunes, carols, and Viennese waltzes? Look no further than the secret agent stylings of Roland Shaw and his Orchestra, which exploded in all their technicolor glory on a series of albums for the fabled Decca Phase 4 Stereo label in the 1960s and 1970s. Everyone and their mother at the time was covering the hot, groovy sound of John Barry, Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini et al, which had injected jazz pep and cool into the soundtracks of numerous TV shows and movies that followed in the wake of the global success of the James Bond movies. But Roland Shaw stood out as the arranger and conductor who came closest to the quality of the originals, and sometimes even exceeded them. So sit back with your Martini to hand, and cue the Main Titles: it’s Secret Agent Time…..   

Warner Brothers got into the record business in the late '50s releasing a series of super-corny records half-heartedly aimed at the growing "audiophile community". It was a "catch up" effort and too little too late. The label did it without its own recording studio or much of an A&R department and it showed! However, someone there knew good sound—not surprising since WB invented "The Talkies"—movies with sound. A few years later,... Read More

Win the Rega Planar 3 50th Anniversary Edition recently reviewed on this website! According to importer Sound Organization, this is the last one made available to them, though there may be one or two lurking at dealers. Tracking Angle is giving it away to a lucky reader, one string attached. Read on!Here are the contest rules:1) you must join our mailing list to enter the contest. It's free and easy to do—just click on the Mailing List Signup" rectangle at... Read More

Note: This is a revised video necessitated because proprietary hardware and software was inadvertently presented. Both have now been either blurred or edited out.At the beginning of December while in Los Angeles to attend the 30th anniversary Los Angeles and Orange County Audiophile Society GALA, where every year I "roast" the Founder's Award winner (this year it was AudioQuest's Bill Low), I received an invitation from a publicist to visit Gil... Read More