I did not line up for Record Store Day this year. I’d respond in disbelief if you told me that five years ago, but it’s true: RSD, once a tactic to lure customers into record shops during the iTunes era, has now become a full-scale shitshow in an already booming vinyl market. In 2023, you don’t need to remind the kids to go to record shops; a new Taylor Swift release does the trick.

The oldest and most respected of all classical music record companies, Deutsche Grammophon, has turned to analogue and vinyl technology to remaster gems from its 1970s catalogue. In the process it has redefined its sonic history and legacy, and pointed the way forward for the other classical music majors like Decca, Warner-EMI, and Sony-Columbia to do justice to the incomparable gems in their back catalogues. We examine how Deutsche Grammophon tackled this challenging project, and review the first four records in what will be an ongoing series of releases in the months ahead.

Here are notes on a selection from my favorite books on the history of recording technology, the history of the record business, and the interactions between recording technology, the record business, and the art of music.

At the Pacific Audio Festival, Michael Trochalakis gets a video scoop for Tracking Angle at the Kirmuss Audio booth. First Michael describes his experience getting a prized record restored by Charles Kirmuss and then Kirmuss turns the microphone over to Ari Crane, Heritage Auctions' Director of Vinyl Acquisitions. If you'd like to contact Mr. Crane, here's his email address: AriC@HA.com. You'll want to watch this video for sure! Read More

Michael Johnson returns with Pacific Audio Fest day two coverage. Lead photo is J. Sikora Reference turntable. YouTube "thumbnail" image is of Origin Live Sovereign. Read More

Blue Note and Jack White's Third Man Records have partnered on a series of Detroit-themed releases from the Blue Note catalog chosen by Detroit native Don Was. In a highly unusual move for the label, the original master tapes were supplied to Third Man for cutting at Third Man where the records are also being pressed.Thad Jones Detroit-New York Junction and Donald Byrd Electric Byrd will be available on July 21, followed by Elvin Jones Genesis and Kenny Cox and... Read More

In December 2020, a little over two years before he passed away this March at age 71 due to rectal cancer, Ryuichi Sakamoto played his Yamaha piano in a room with 48 cameras for Todd Eckert’s mixed reality production studio Tin Drum. “There is, in reality, a virtual me. This virtual me will not age, and will continue to play the piano for years, decades, centuries,” Sakamoto said in the press release. The result is KAGAMI, a “new kind of concert” premiering at The Shed at Hudson Yards, NYC until July 2nd before starting this week at the Manchester International Festival and next year traveling to the Sydney Opera House and Tennessee’s Big Ears Festival next year.

Regrettably I had to skip this year's Pacific Audio Fest though I'd originally intended to go. I had too much work to do and I was too far behind. Fortunately contributing writer Michael "Poetry in Plastic" Johnson volunteered to shoot video coverage for us. This video is his day one coverage.Johnson hasn't contributed much lately because he was busy with his doctorate, which he now has. It's in music, which is not surprising since... Read More

In "Starting a Jamaican Music Collection Part 3a—The Deejays. The Start of Rap?" we covered four deejays—Sir Lord Comic, Count Machuki, King Stitt and U-Roy. We also posed the question "Did the deejays in Jamaica start the musical genre known as rap?" Let's dive right into this question and also highlight five more first wave deejays.It must have been startling in the late 1960's to hear rhyming, fast talking, and jive laced lyrics all... Read More

At High End Munich 2023 Nagra once again produced a "Meet the Experts" feature and invited a group of industry experts, including Matthias Bode, editor the German magazine STEREO, Impex Records founder Abey Fonn, Wilson Audio Specialties' Direct or Sales (and award-winning recording engineer) Peter McGrath, and me to spin records throughout the show for an hour long slot.The system, featuring Nagra's 70th Anniversary Reference turntable and... Read More

Here are notes on a selection from my favorite books on the history of recording technology, the history of the record business, and the interactions between recording technology, the record business, and the art of music.

Following "Making Vinyl" in Minneapolis, which was the best-attended most significant of these events (though the one at Hansa Studios in Berlin was the most exciting) and attended by 500 industry people from around the world, I took a short Uber ride from downtown Minneapolis to Audio Research inMaple Grove.Managing Director Dave Gordon took me on an "after hours" tour of the factory you're sure to enjoy. The company moved to this somewhat... Read More

Frequently cited as "the greatest recording ever made", Decca's first studio recording of Wagner's seminal masterpiece remains a lodestar in the annals of the recording industry, over 60 years since the first sessions took place in Vienna in 1958. Part 3 goes over the different versions that have been issued - on vinyl, CD and SACD - including the brand new 2022 remastering on vinyl and digital. Then I conduct a detailed listening comparison and make some recommendations. Plus a breakdown of some other recordings of the Ring, and a survey of non-vocal, purely orchestral records of music from the Ring on vinyl and CD.

Pacific Audio Fest organizers released this teaser today. At the show KLAUDIO will debut it's new turntable featuring the company's pivoted tangential tracking tonearm, which features a number of interesting set-up innovations.Price was not announced. I'd planned on attending the show, which was really great last year but too much travel in May and early June made yet another trip problematic so it's a no go this year. It should be a really good... Read More

Frequently cited as "the greatest recording ever made", Decca's first studio recording of Wagner's seminal masterpiece remains a lodestar in the annals of the recording industry, over 60 years since the first sessions took place in Vienna in 1958. Part 2 of this in-depth look into the making of this historic set of records begins with Decca's struggles to record a complete cycle "live" at Bayreuth in 1955, an experience that paved the way for the eventual studio recording in Vienna three years later. You'll discover how producer John Culshaw assembled a crack team of Decca's sound engineers to tackle a myriad of practical, technical and aesthetic challenges, while conductor Georg Solti marshaled the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and an unmatched cast of singers into creating a true classic of the gramophone.

I'm in Pittsburgh, PA visiting nearby Iron Mountain where Universal Music Group archives much of its recorded tapes and other assets. Amazing video coming soon. While I was there I visited Jerry's Records, a famous Pittsburgh used record store recommended to me by my colleague Jacob Heilbrunn. Here's some just shot video. Read More

I spent today at Iron Mountain Entertainment Services where Universal Music Group archives much of its music assets. It was a day filled with open eyed wonder at the richness of the tape and video archives, at how the material is being catalogued and at the Iron Mountain facility itself, which should be labeled the 8th wonder of the world. Video coverage coming soon!Can you see that black rectangle at the back of the room? That's another equally large room filled... Read More

Frequently cited as "the greatest recording ever made", Decca's first studio recording of Wagner's seminal masterpiece remains a lodestar in the annals of the recording industry, over 60 years since the first sessions took place in Vienna in 1958. Recently reissued in a brand new remastering on vinyl and CD/SACD, we take a look at the work's pivotal place in not only classical music but also popular culture, discuss the making of this set, and assess the sound quality of its many incarnations. Part 1 covers the history of opera up to the "Ring"; the cycle's creation, and how it radically changed not only opera and classical music, but also theatre and popular culture in the 20th century and beyond.

June 8, 2023: When Joni Mitchell mesmerized the Newport Folk Festival audience last summer with a surprise performance, she “breathed new meaning into some of her most famous lyrics” (New York Times). Today, the powerful live recording of her beloved hit “A Case Of You” is available digitally. Originally released in 1971 on Blue, this new live recording features vocals by Marcus Mumford and Brandi Carlile.