November 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
November 18th, 2022
Intervention Reissues the Short But "Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark" it's never sounded better than this!By: Michael Fremer
It runs less than 1/2 hour but "The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark" is worth its weight in choose your favorite precious whatever. Crazy magic happened in the "small, lonely L.A. studio" A&M's Bob Garcia describes in the liner notes. Obviously the small budget or a previous booking didn't allow Gene Clark, Doug Dillard, Bernie Leadon, Chris Hillman and the others to record at the big A&M Studio, but no matter,... Read More
November 17th, 2022
"Monty Alexander The Montreux Years" Highlights 20+ Years of Onstage Excitement recordings from four different Montreux venuesBy: Michael Fremer
Monty Alexander's long association with the Montreux Jazz Festival produced many stellar musical moments. This double LP set culled from performances from 1993 through 2016 highlights many of them. There's a video interview with Alexander conducted by TrackingAngle editor Michael Fremer the day this review posts.
Read MoreNovember 15th, 2022
Cool Multi-Artist Bowie Tribute LP "David Bowie In Jazz" Found in the Bins French jazz release shows up in U.S. vinyl supply chainBy: Larry Jaffee
“David Bowie in Jazz"'s Aladdin Sane-era cover art might lead you to believe this Bowie tribute record is tied in with or is somehow connected to Bret Morgen’s feature-length "Moonage Daydream" documentary released September, 2022 in IMAX and standard theater formats and currently available for streaming and purchase on Amazon, itunes and other sites.The scant credits, however, indicate that the French Wagram Music label marketed and distributed... Read More
November 8th, 2022
Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'Greatest Hits' Provides A Good Discography Overview From the archives: SRV's 'Greatest Hits' is a good snapshot of the singer/guitarist at his bestBy: Tracking Angle
(This review, written by Carl E. Baugher, originally appeared in Issue 5/6, Winter 1995/96.)The lineage of American electric guitar is a long, rich, exciting thread. It runs through Muddy Waters, Albert King, Albert Collins, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and the kid from Texas, Stevie Ray Vaughan. A plane crash in late August 1990 took Vaughan way too soon but his music sounds just as fresh and vital today as ever. Stevie never made a bad album so putting together a... Read More
November 5th, 2022
UHQR "Can't Buy A Thrill"—You Can Buy a Thrill a remarkable "pick up" band's assured debutBy: Michael Fremer
When Steely Dan recorded "Can't Buy a Thrill" it was more of a "pick-up" studio band than a "group". As Donald Fagen recounts in the notes accompanying this new UHQR release sourced from the original master tapes (shown on the notes insert), Fagen and Walter Becker had failed as ABC Dunhill "staff composers" and decided it was time to live the dream leading a real band.The pair called their friend New York guitarist Denny... Read More
November 4th, 2022
An Extended Suite For Musical Insanity From the archives: Michael Fremer reviews Mr. Bungle's 'Disco Volante'By: Michael Fremer
(This review originally appeared in Issue 7, Spring 1996.)An extended suite for musical insanity and sonic meatcleaver that mutates The Bonzo Dog Band, Spike Jones, Nino Rota, Frank Zappa, Alvin Cash, The Art Of Noise, surf music, exotica, industrial heavy metal sludge, the tango, methedrine, Metallica, Don Van Vliet, and just plain old fashioned wise-assery into a rip roaring roller coaster ride through a double E ticket musical and sonic fun house. That these guys... Read More
October 31st, 2022
Jim Turner's 'The Well-Tempered Saw' From the archives: Listening to this album is akin to inserting a palate cleanser in your systemBy: Tracking Angle
(This review, written by Carl E. Baugher, originally appeared in Issue 7, Spring 1996.)Don’t laugh, this is not just a novelty record—it’s actually a helluva musical album. Jim Turner is an amazing virtuoso with the ol’ crosscut and he never lapses into sound effects or cheap diddling. The album is a jumble of classical and folk music with Turner’s high-pitched saw at the center of some pretty fine acoustic recordings. The folk stuff is especially good.You gotta hear... Read More
October 24th, 2022
Andrew Gold's Halloween Howls guest appearances from Linda Ronstadt and David CassidyBy: Michael Fremer
It's not too late to order this fun record for your young children or grandchildren. The late Andrew Gold produced, performed, engineered and mixed this 1996 children's Halloween album. It's not scary and not meant to be.
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October 24th, 2022
Stereolab’s ‘Pulse Of The Early Brain (Switched On Volume 5)’ Rounds Up Rarities As rare pieces of their back catalog continue to go up in price, this collection provides a varied set of less-obvious entry points into The Groop’s long careerBy: JoE Silva
It’s a bit hard to fathom, but Stereolab has now released almost as many compilations as it has original albums. Sure, there’s some crossover, but taken as a whole, all of the rarer material gathered across their Switched On series gives you the sense that during their initial 20-year run the Anglo-French outfit never left the studio .
Read MoreOctober 23rd, 2022
Analogue Productions' "Stand Up" Reissue Stands Up to Time Musically and Sonically cut all-analog at 45rpm from original master tapesBy: Michael Fremer
Jethro Tull is this weird guy with an old man fetish, who fronts a rock band playing the flute while standing on one leg. That’s what we thought. He made weird noises too, while playing flute standing on one leg. A few who knew Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s music knew from where came this old standing on one leg guy’s flute sound (and noticed the credit on the first side ending cover of Kirk’s “Serenade to a Cuckoo”), but there was no Internet and news traveled slowly back then, so Jethro Tull he was until he was Ian Anderson fronting a band called Jethro Tull. Jethro Tull the man was an 18th century agriculturalist/inventor.
Read MoreOctober 21st, 2022
Azymuth's "Telecommunication" Reissue Delivers Craft Recordings and Jazz Dispensary Reissue Unique Funk-Jazz From Original Master TapesBy: Evan Toth
Formed near the sunny sands of Rio De Janeiro in 1973, Azymuth is a Brazilian funk-jazz trio though they manage to sound like a much larger group, especially when hosting guest players. The band features Jose Roberto Bertrami (unfortunately, deceased in 2019) on an array of keyboards, Alex Malheiros on bass and Ivan Conti on drums. These three musicians initially connected with one another in a previous band called Group Projeto 3 which later became Grupo Seleção. The... Read More
October 10th, 2022
Bill Evans "You Must Believe In Spring" Resurrected posthumously released album got lost in Warner Brothers shuffleBy: Michael Fremer
Recorded in 1977 but not released until 1981 after Evans passed away September 15th, 1980 at age 51, You Must Believe In Spring was kind of "the great lost Bill Evans album". For those who bought it when it was first released as a single LP mastered by Doug Sax (Warner Brothers HS 3504) the question always was "Why was this not released immediately upon its completion?" The music is certainly up there with Evans' best on record and on a more... Read More
October 10th, 2022
Viagra Boys' 'Cave World' Says Nothing New The Swedish band's attempts at satire are unconvincing, and 'Cave World' ends up representative of modern political music's broader problemBy: Malachi Lui
The absurdity of any culture is probably best seen from the outside, but by someone with first-hand experience inside of it. On paper, this puts Sebastian Murphy, tattoo artist by day and frontman of Swedish post-punk/dance-punk band Viagra Boys, in a perfect position to comment on the far-right’s increasing presence in America; born and raised in the US, Murphy knows America, but living in Sweden would give him a more distanced view. In execution, however, Viagra... Read More
October 9th, 2022
Mahler–Complete Symphonies by Leonard Bernstein DG resurrects the conductor that resurrected MahlerBy: Michael Johnson
The first time I ever saw a Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) symphony on my music stand, I was an 18-year-old student at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was the Symphony No. 1 in D Major (sometimes subtitled “Titan”) and I was tasked with playing the delicate low English horn notes in the opening measures. From that point on Gustav Mahler’s orchestral works would hold a special place in my musical growth, heralding the finale concerts of various... Read More
October 9th, 2022
Anthony Wilson's "The Plan of Paris" Mixes Jazz, Folk, Blues and Country With Singer/Songwriter Sensitivity a dark album made for these timesBy: Michael Fremer
When Anthony Wilson is not on the road playing jazz guitar, he sometimes steps into a recording booth and exits Clark Kent-like as a sensitive ‘70s era singer/songwriter.For those more accustomed to Wilson backing Diana Krall or leading jazz ensembles on a series of Groove Note releases or providing orchestrations and/or playing on dozens of studio dates (for instance on Paul McCartney’s “Kisses on the Bottom”), his sumptuously packaged, sensitively drawn 2019 Songs... Read More