This is the first time I've attended the long running (34 years) Montréal Audiofest, which took place March 24th through the 26th. It falls around my birthday so the timing for me isn't ideal. This year I was asked to present a lifetime achievement award to Oracle turntable designer Marcel Riendau and felt it was an honor and a good thing to do, as an Oracle Delphi was my first high performance turntable, I've reviewed two iterations and Mr. Riendau is... Read More

For anyone more familiar with John Barry’s 50s and 60s discography and his early scores for spy films like the James Bond series or The Ipcress File (1965), encountering his late-career work on films like Dances with Wolves (1990) and Chaplin (1992) can be a bit of surprise. Gone are the stylings of his era-defining London mod classics like “Hit and Miss” and “Beat for Beatniks”, let alone his genre-defining “James Bond Theme” (Barry's arrangement of a melody by... Read More

Cécile McLorin Salvant has reached the point in her career where she can, apparently, get away with doing whatever she wants. Dreams and Daggers and The Window solidified her status as the preeminent jazz singer of our time. Ghost Song, her debut on Nonesuch Records, cracked open all genres, covering a range enveloping Kurt Weill, Kate Bush, Harold Arlen, a 19th-century folk ballad, and a half-dozen original songs, which matched the album’s standards for wit, swing,... Read More

After Peter Frampton exited Humble Pie, but before the double live LP "Peter Frampton Comes Alive!" delivered to him super nova pop stardom (an unexpected career explosion that almost destroyed him) he released a series of superbly crafted A&M albums that caught the ears and eyes of rock cognoscenti worldwide, but didn't exactly light a fire on the Billboard Top 100. In the U.K. Humble Pie was signed to Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records.... Read More

Hopefully, one day soon Neil will reveal the reason he's so rapidly releasing so many Bootleg series titles, but for now he's leaving fans guessing. According to the Warner Music publicist there will be "many more" titles this year. These releases are not randomly chosen. Behind each is a unique story. The latest two, out April 14th are The Ducks High Flyin' and Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers Somewhere Under the Rainbow.High... Read More

The best reissues provide fuller context to the material, guiding listeners to (even) more favorably reassess the work without seeming forceful. As more recent installments have generally grown in size and curation quality, the series has become essential for anyone with more than a passing interest in Dylan. The latest set, 'Fragments: The Bootleg Series Vol. 17,' is the definitive collection of session material and tour recordings surrounding 1997's 'Time Out Of Mind.'

It’s no secret that the world’s two largest cartridge manufacturers, Audio-Technica and Ortofon generate most of their cartridge income from inexpensive, mass-produced units, many of which they supply OEM to turntable manufacturers. Yet both lavish time, attention, and financial resources on the far smaller (it would be fair to say “tiny”) top of the market, where ultra-precision hand-built limited-edition models garner more attention than sales from audio... Read More

Classical music-loving audiophiles can sometimes feel like they've been left out in the cold with regard to all-analogue vinyl reissues. Not so rock and jazz lovers who are well catered to with excellent AAA reissues from Analogue Productions, Impex, Craft, Blue Note et al. Speaker’s Corner used to keep the classical reissues coming, but even their releases have dried up in the last few years - a great shame.However, relief is at hand. As reported by MF and... Read More

No one knows why this Andrew Hill album recorded October 11th 1968 wasn’t released until 1980 as part of a Michael Cuscuna produced series. “Tone Poet” Joe Harley doesn’t know, nor, he told me, does Cuscuna. Harley posits a few possible reasons, none of which have anything to do with the music here, which in 1968 clearly was release-worthy. The vinyl revival/resurgence whatever you wish to call it has been a boon to artists like the late composer/performer/academic... Read More

Andover Audio just announced the new Spin Deck 2 turntable, budget priced at $299 complete with Audio Technica AT3600 cartridge and acrylic dustcover. The "starter" turntable now features electronic speed control and automatic end of side shut-off and arm return. The Audio-Technica 3600 comes pre-mounted for easy set-up, but can easily be upgraded.The new Spin Deck 2 also includes a by-passable built-in MM phono preamp. In addition, for greater speed... Read More

Recorded during the same 2011 and 2012 Zipper Hall, Los Angeles sessions that produced the remarkable percussion record “Smoke & Mirrors” (Yarlung 17255-195V), “Earth & Wood” is another sonic spectacular recorded directly to tape using a single AKG C24 stereo microphone (with Elliot Midwood mic amplification). The one-mike recording technique required “just so” placement of both it and the seven member Smoke and Mirrors Percussion Ensemble that performed the... Read More

One way to assure you don't have to wait for your records to be pressed is to buy a pressing plant. That's what the band Metallica just did, buying a majority interest in Alexandria, VA based Furnace Pressing from founder Eric Astor and his business partners.Furnace's Exterior—Photo Taken During November, 2021 VisitFrom the press release:Founded by Eric Astor in 1996, Furnace is known for making extremely high-quality records at its 70,000 square foot,... Read More

In 1970 DGG developed quadraphonic 4 channel tape recording, featuring left, right and rear channel "surround" channels. The tapes were edited using traditional splicing techniques and then down mixed to 2 channels for standard record production, since QS and SQ quad LP technology hadn't been fully developed and when it was DGG chose to not issue LPs in either of those competing formats.For these new reissues, DGG decided to cut directly from the 4... Read More

Rather than writing the usual written review of this extensive, well-produced and brilliantly curated set, I chose a video review to better show the box and associated records. The set includes a double LP containing the Painted From Memory collaboration spread to 3 sides. Side 4 contains selected songs from the never fully realized Bacharach/Costello musical Taken From Life performed by various artists including Cassandra Wilson and Bill Frisell, Audra Mae and of... Read More

In commemoration of Van Morrison's new album Moving On Skiffle, we revisit a past era of Van mediocrity via our archive review of 1996's How Long Has This Been Going On?