June 8th, 2023
Joni Mitchell's Live "A Case of You" Available digitally today how you view this depends on your mindsetBy: Tracking Angle
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.
Read More Comments: 1June 8th, 2023
André Previn's West Coast "West Side Story" A certain kind of jazz, superbly recordedBy: Fred Kaplan
Many have long forgotten, if they ever knew, but for a brief spell in the mid-to-late 1950s, André Previn was one of America’s most popular jazz musicians, at least judging by record sales, and his cover of West Side Story, released in 1960, marked his high point in that realm. It was his 6th and final album devoted entirely to a Broadway score—the first, in ’56, was My Fair Lady, which remained the best-selling jazz album for the next three years. It also marked pretty much his farewell to jazz, after which he turned to arranging unabashed mood music and then, in a total switch, to conducting classical symphonies.
Read More Comments: 2June 6th, 2023
Tracking Angle Visits CH Precision in Préverenges, Switzerland tour includes visit to "board stuffing" factory, and metal fabrication and anodizing facilityBy: Michael Fremer
Following High End Munich, I took a train ride to Zurich, Switzerland with members of the CH team: CEO and founder Florian Cossy, publicist Louise Ford, Head of International Sales, Kevin Wolff, and software developer Eduard Kohler. Then, in a whirlwind visit to the heart of Swiss watch making territory, I toured CH Precision in Préverenges as well as Telsa, the company that does CH's "board stuffing". Also in this video you'll see the machine shop... Read More
Comments: 36June 5th, 2023
Stillpoints Aperture II Acoustic Panels small frames prove extremely useful in near field applicationBy: Ken Redmond
The Stillpoints Aperture Acoustic Panels, available for quite some time now in their original or Series II form, have been reviewed numerous times including by our own Michael Fremer. These reviews have consistently praised the panels' positive impact when placed at the first point of reflection, between or behind the speakers.Over the years, I have utilized them in my listening room in all these positions. However, during AXPONA 2022, when I entered the... Read More
Comments: 1June 3rd, 2023
Rhino High Fidelity's "The Cars" Reissue—A 4 Album Pileup 4 versions of "The Cars" debut album comparedBy: Michael Fremer
Like most "overnight successes", the individual members of The Cars knocked around for years working to find the right setting and musical formula before hitting it big with their debut album. Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr met in Cleveland, both moving to Boston in the early '70s and releasing non-charting albums in various "folkie" type groups including Milkwood and Cap'n Swing. The Cars formed in 1976 with guitarist and Berklee student Eliot Easton joining Ocasek and Orr (the three had been in Cap'n Swing) and keyboardist Greg Hawkes, who had been in a previous group with the duo but left to tour with musical comedian Martin Mull plus drummer David Robinson late of The Modern Lovers. Hawkes didn't join until early 1977. Whew!
Read More Comments: 16June 3rd, 2023
Giles Martin "ZOOMs" In" to Introduce His Atmos "Pet Sounds" Mix at New York's Dolby Screening Room the mix master intended to attend but a family emergency prevented itBy: Michael Fremer
Universal and The Beach Boys organization tasked mix master Giles Martin to produce a Dolby Atmos edition of the iconic album Pet Sounds. There were big differences between doing this mix and Mr. Martin's previous remix work on albums produced by his father George Martin, and in his ZOOM call presentation before the Dolby Screening Room playback in New York on Tuesday, May 30th, he addressed them. Nonetheless, Martin's larger than life on-screen image amplified a level of discomfort with this project not evidenced in any of the Beatles re-mix events I attended. Following the full album playback, he returned to take questions from the audience.
Read More Comments: 30June 2nd, 2023
Sam Rivers' Mid-Sixties Masterpiece "Fuchsia Swing Song" captures the thrill of transition between bop and avant-gardeBy: Fred Kaplan
In the mid-1960s, just as rock ‘n’ roll was displacing jazz as America’s foremost popular music, Blue Note Records took a bold but commercially disastrous foray into the avant-garde, signing such adventurers as Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Graham Moncur III, and Cecil Taylor. It was a similarly risky move for today’s corporate-owned Blue Note to start reissuing some of these artists’ albums, a few years back, and on deluxe vinyl no less, but... Read More
Comments: 0June 2nd, 2023
Julian Shah-Tayler's "Forget That I'm 50" Re-imagines "Aladdin Sane" and it Works! multiple artists tackle the Bowie classicBy: Harvey Kubernik
With Bowie-mania sure to surge this summer thanks to the first time release of the full concert version of the digitally restored Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture, 50 years after it originally screened, and playing in theaters beginning July 3rd, I found Harvey Kubernik's interview with Julian Shah-Tayler too good to not grab and publish—and that's before listening to Forget I'm 50, his re-imagined Aladdin Sane album. What most got me interested was Shah-Tayler's telling Kubernik that he first discovered Bowie through the song "Let's Dance" and wasn't impressed, but when a friend played him “Yassassin” from Lodger... . How would a 50 something who wasn't yet born when the album was released, recast in 2023 Aladdin Sane? With undeniable high energy and excitement, that's how. The only contributing artist I've heard of here is Gene Loves Jezebel (Michael Aston), who does an effective "Jean Genie". Shah-Tayler tackles "Lady Grinning Soul" and makes it tribute-fresh (the album is available on streaming services). For good measure, Kubernik includes interviews with D.A. Pennebaker who produced the film and with our friend Ken Scott who engineered and produced Aladdin Sane. Me? I was on the Ziggy tour for three stops (New York, Chicago and Detroit) in addition to the Boston Music Hall show so I can confirm that the hysteria you see in the movie was real. The Carnegie Hall show was a quasi- religious experience.
Read More Comments: 7June 1st, 2023
The Dare's Borrowed Nostalgia For The Hardly-Remembered 2000s 'The Sex EP' is hedonism manifested in its dumbest form, taken to its absolute dumbest conclusionBy: Malachi Lui
“I’m losing my edge…to the art school Brooklynites in little jackets… and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered 80s.”When a then-32-year-old James Murphy uttered that line on LCD Soundsystem’s 2002 debut single “Losing My Edge,” it was about the millennial hipsters taking over New York City, recycling culture and fashion from a quarter-century before. Unlike their aesthetic predecessors, they didn’t have to work hard to find anything; they were “internet seekers who... Read More
Comments: 20June 1st, 2023
Taylor Swift's Record Store Day Exclusive: "Folklore: the Long Pond Studio Sessions" the 2020 disney+ documentary soundtrack encapsulates the artist's most vulnerable momentsBy: Nathan Zeller
Black velvet skies, desolate streets, and lilac bags beneath everyone’s somnolent eyes. Is the foreboding purple from sleep deprivation, early morning’s merciless frost, or both? Fossilised fingers despite wool gloves, numb toes underneath double-layer socks; next year remember three pairs. It seems an ordinary Saturday yet early as 3:00 AM record collectors camp outside. Why? Record Store Day; the day Taylor Swift fans receive their yearly limited edition release.
Read More Comments: 0June 1st, 2023
Munich High End 2023 Wrap Up and Alternative View TrackingAngle hired a local to cover some of the showBy: Carlos Martin Schwab
For High End Munich 2023 I brought onboard Carlos Martin Schwab, a Munich area-based writer who in previous years has done no-nonsense show coverage for other sites. I asked him to cover some brands and non-analog related products. You'll note he covered OMA. I asked him to do that because pre-show I decided against entering the OMA room. Why? I was disinvited from a factory visit by OMA's founder. I was supposed to go there for The Absolute Sound, which is reviewing the K3 turntable I reviewed for my previous endeavor and they wanted video factory coverage and an owner profile. Ultimately, I decided it was best to cover the room, which I did in a video posted on YouTube. The encounter left one consumer-observer to comment under the video "I foresee Fremer unloading his OMA TT soon… the tension between him and Weiss was palpable". Martin Schwab also covered a few rooms i didn't assign but I'm glad he did, especially IO Design, an amazing sounding loudspeaker covered last year that I didn't have time to hear this, though I've heard it's been further improved. Martin Schwab encountered my friend Rick Rubin with Al DiMeola. His comment further elucidates his distaste for the industry, which I find amusing. He didn't think I'd run his comment you'll read below that ends with "...ego is counted by the ton." That's because he doesn't know me well. The show was a great success attracting 22,137 visitors from approximately 100 countries who came to see products from 550 exhibitors representing 54 nations. More than 1000 brands were on display. While 22,137 visited the show in person, to date, more than 34,000 people have viewed TrackingAngle.com's first day video coverage on YouTube. Such is the power of the Internet.
Read More Comments: 0June 1st, 2023
Ghost Adds Some Flavor To Their Phantomime Sweden’s theatrical metalheads provide some fun from covering Iron Maiden to Tina TurnerBy: Dylan Peggin
Ghost is a band you can hardly run away from. Tobias Forge, who assumes the role of frontman Papa Emeritus IV backed by a revolving door of anonymous musicians known as Nameless Ghouls, has brought an element of theatricality back into the music world that can be traced to older acts such as KISS and Alice Cooper. With a schtick that serves as a Satanic parody of Catholicism it's one that could be seen as either sacrilege to the superstitious or tongue-in-cheek... Read More
Comments: 4June 1st, 2023
John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy 1961 Village Gate Recording Recently Discovered in the New York Public Library For the Performing Arts Archives "Evenings At the Village Gate..." released globally on Impulse! July 14thBy: Tracking Angle
June 1, 2023 (New York, NY) In the summer of 1961, John Coltrane headlined at the celebrated music venue, the Village Gate. With a lineup of musicians that included McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Elvin Jones, and the fiery playing of Eric Dolphy, Evenings at the Village Gate captures the creative and transformative spirit that sprang from the pairing of Coltrane and Dolphy, and the evolving short-lived quintet. Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric... Read More
Comments: 0May 31st, 2023
My Flea Market Crate Digging Dozen Treasures For $3 Or Just Junk?By: Joseph W. Washek
I've been buying records in antique and second-hand stores, thrift shops, and Goodwills since 1965. In my town, there was a Goodwill store with a large display table, approximately six feet by four feet, piled high with hundreds of unsleeved 45 rpm records priced at two for five cents. I would go through them every few weeks searching for Beatle records, always unsuccessfully, except once when I found a new copy of Swan 4182 "Sie Liebt Dich (She Loves... Read More
Comments: 3May 30th, 2023
Craft's Jazz Dispensary Announces "A Triple Groove of Top Shelf Series Reissues" (Plus a "Smokeware" Offering) from Jack DeJohnette, Idris Muhammad and Leon SpencerBy: Tracking Angle
The press release poop: Los Angeles, CA (May 30, 2023)‒Jazz Dispensary is proud to announce the next harvest of its offerings from the acclaimed Top Shelf series, with a triple groove of reissues featuring Jack DeJohnette’s Sorcery, Idris Muhammad’s Black Rhythm Revolution!, and Leon Spencer’s Where I’m Coming From. These reissues mark the first wide vinyl release of all three albums in over 40 years. As with every title in the Top Shelf series, which reissues the... Read More
Comments: 0May 29th, 2023
Maps and Legends: The Story of R.E.M. Book review and interview with author John HunterBy: JoE Silva
Massive new career retrospective on Athens, GA's college rock heroes from a former local scenester
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