Music Reviews Archives - Positive Feedback

World Premier LP Recording: CLARICE from Yarlung Records

Robert H. Levi — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:07:29 +0000

Michael Fremer and Bob Levi CLARICE from Bob Attiyeh and Yarlung Records Extraordinarily well recorded with every tube and analog bell and whistle, this 45 RPM LP of Clarice, pressed in Germany, is another Yarlung Records treat. Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung Records, 2018. A portrait. Considering that the producer, Bob Attiyeh, has taste levels superior... Read More »

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Joni Mitchell's Confessional Classic "Blue" on Mobile Fidelity Limited Edition UltraDisc One-Step 45 rpm LPs

Tom Gibbs — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 23:57:59 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to review Joni Mitchell's classic album Court and Spark, which is part of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's ongoing release of six of Joni's most iconic albums. You can read my review of that superb UltraDisc One-Step set HERE. The UltraDisc is MoFi's ne plus ultra analog statement format, and their... Read More »

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Jethro Tull's "Still Living In The Past," Updated and Expanded on LP and CD+Bluray Sets from Rhino Entertainment

Tom Gibbs — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 23:07:26 +0000

Rhino Entertainment has just released Jethro Tull's Still Living In The Past, which updates the band's original 1972 album issue in every possible way. Still Living In The Past is being released as a gatefold double LP edition, as well as an expansive 5-CD+Bluray package, all remixed and remastered by Steven Wilson. The 2-LP set... Read More »

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Craft Latino Continues to Celebrate Latin and Salsa Music with Eight Superb LP Reissues from Fania, Vaya, and Tico Records

Tom Gibbs — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 16:12:14 +0000

Craft Latino celebrates Latin and Salsa music across a host of subgenres, with eight new LP reissues, many of which have been long out of print. Featuring three albums that are continuing the centennial celebration of "The Queen of Salsa," Celia Cruz; percussionist extraordinaire Ray Barretto's 1975 self-titled album; a pair of albums from salsa... Read More »

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Rhino Celebrates New Wave and Post-punk Icons The B-52's with a Colorful 9-LP Box Set, "The Warner/Reprise Years"

Tom Gibbs — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 17:16:17 +0000

Rhino Entertainment is celebrating the musical legacy of the B-52's with multi-LP and CD catalog box sets, The B-52's The Warner/Reprise Years, which collects the band's eight albums from the years between 1979 and 1992. Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1977, the B-52's initially rode the crest of the New Wave with a string of... Read More »

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And Now, For the Gentlemen, Part 2

John Marks — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 22:53:20 +0000

Bach hanging out with John Marks... John Marks continues with the Gentlemen; see HERE for Part 1. QOBUZ Playlist Link https://play.qobuz.com/playlist/33451444 Jesse Colin Young, Light Shine (1974) "Jesse Colin Young" was the stage name of singer-songwriter Perry Miller (1941-2025). He chose that stage name in part because of his admiration for Lotus sports- and racing-car... Read More »

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A New Record Review: House of the Singing Blossoms, Featuring Anthony Wilson, from Sam First Records

Robert H. Levi — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 15:42:32 +0000

Bob Levi: a portrait by David W. Robinson (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) House of the Singing Blossoms (click for complete album art and information), a jazz tour-de-force starring Anthony Wilson is recorded at Sam First's jazz club and recording studio by Sam First Records. This two record set with thick stock gatefold... Read More »

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Recent Finds No. 48 A Potpourri from NativeDSD

Rushton Paul — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 21:34:12 +0000

This Recent Finds includes an eclectic selection of music from the NativeDSD catalog. What's the common thread? In each case, I found the music engaging, the performers/performances excellent, and the sound quality at a very high standard. Beyond that, it is highly varied group of albums. Frans de Rond us gives another of his marvelous... Read More »

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Recent Finds No. 47 Seven Pure DSD256 from HDTT, Plus 1 More

Rushton Paul — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 01:22:46 +0000

This Recent Finds edition is back to HDTT releases. Some new and some from a few years past that are past due for a review. All are very nice. In fact, four of them are included in my recent Pure DSD256 from Analog Tape: My Top of the Pile listing—albums that were always a reference... Read More »

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The Flying Burrito Brothers

Robert Pincus — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 23:26:29 +0000

The Flying Burrito Brothers were formed in 1968 by former members of The Byrds Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons (1946-1973), who both had similar backgrounds in rural music. Their debut album was the critically acclaimed The Gilded Palace Of Sin (A&M SP 4175), released in February of 1969. A few months prior to recording The... Read More »

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Bryston BDP-3 Digital Player

Malcolm J. Gomes — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 19:09:38 +0000

The audiophile digital music software scene has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past decade. Streaming services have increased their dominance and almost every audiophile I know, has transferred most of their CDs into digital files and stored them in multi-terabyte hard drives, especially since the price of very high-capacity hard drives, even SSD versions,... Read More »

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Recent Finds No. 46 Six Excellent New Releases from HDTT

Rushton Paul — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 19:08:45 +0000

Bob Witrak continues to mine pure gold from the vast past catalogs of great music, great performances, and outstanding recordings. In this edition of Recent Finds, I want to share six new releases I've been very pleased to see: three classical and three jazz, all in outstanding sound quality. Opera Ballets, Ferenc Fricsay, Berlin Radio... Read More »

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And Now, for the Gentlemen! Part 1

John Marks — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 21:36:58 +0000

John Marks is a multidisciplinary generalist and a lifelong audio hobbyist. He was educated at Brown University and at Vanderbilt Law School. He has worked as a trial and appeals lawyer; as a music educator, recording engineer, classical-music record producer and label executive; and as a music and audio-equipment journalist. He was a columnist for... Read More »

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Bert van der Wolf Recordings of Stavanger Symphony Orchestra for NRK Broadcast

Rushton Paul — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:51:11 +0000

As you know by now, I enjoy the recordings produced by Bert van der Wolf-Oude Avenhuis. So, when I saw that he'd released a series of live performance recordings with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andris Poga, I just had to get them all for a listen. These live recordings are part of a... Read More »

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Recent Finds No. 45 More Wonderful Albums from NativeDSD

Rushton Paul — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 15:39:04 +0000

Today we have a wonderful organ recording from Base2 Music, one that was included in my earlier article, Outstanding Organ Recordings in DSD256 and DXD (HERE), but am only now getting to writing a review. Also included is a remastering of one of my favorite Ben Webster albums, Gentle Ben, from 2xHD. From the new... Read More »

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Norman Greenbaum's Breakthrough Album, Spirit in the Sky, Available Again on an Excellent Reissue LP from Craft Recordings

Tom Gibbs — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 03:43:25 +0000

Craft Recordings has just reissued Sixties psychedelic icon Norman Greenbaum's 1969 debut album, Spirit in the Sky. While its eponymous title track quickly became the anthem of a generation, other than an extremely limited release on Record Store Day in 2014, the LP has been out of print for fifty-five years. An entertainingly diverse album,... Read More »

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Craft Recordings' Original Jazz Classics Reissue Campaign Continues with Classic Albums from Bill Evans, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, and Ken McIntyre with Eric Dolphy

Tom Gibbs — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 20:47:13 +0000

Craft Recordings' mid-year selection of releases in the Original Jazz Classics (OJC) reboot series features six new titles, including a pair on the Vee Jay Records label that have never appeared as OJC's prior to now. Those include two albums from pianist Bill Evans, both coming from 1962, including the trio setting Moon Beams and... Read More »

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Recent Finds No. 44 New Releases from NativeDSD

Rushton Paul — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 20:56:46 +0000

This article of Recent Finds contains a truly disparate array of albums, but all of which I've enjoyed immensely. They are all beautifully recorded, supremely well performed, with interesting music that should be heard. I hope you will find something here that tickles your fancy. Mine has been tickled nearly to death listening to these.... Read More »

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Pure DSD256 from Analog Tape: My Top of the Pile

Rushton Paul — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 13:48:07 +0000

In an earlier article, I posted my list of Pure DSD256: My Top of the Pile albums for sound quality. In this article, I'd like to expand on this and share some Pure DSD256* albums transferred from analog tape that I consider my top of the pile for sound quality in this category. I decided... Read More »

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Odds and Ends from Trieste

Stephen Francis Vasta — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 16:32:42 +0000

Schumann, Symphonies 1-4. "Giuseppe Verdi" Theatre Orchestra, Trieste/Julian Kovatchev. Erresse RS 6367-72/73 (2 CDs). Timings: 75.54, 69.45 Dvorak, Symphonies 4-6. "Giuseppe Verdi" Theatre Orchestra, Trieste/Julian Kovatchev. RS 053-0134 (3 CDs). Timings: 40.59. 38.17, 46.33 The success of Naxos, circa 1990, showed that there was a market for newly recorded low-priced classical CDs. The result, as CD manufacturing ramped up... Read More »

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Recent Finds No. 43 HDTT Releases New and Long Past Due

Rushton Paul — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 19:23:32 +0000

Today's Recent Finds include several "not so recent" but long cherished releases from HDTT that I'd just not yet included in an article. Why, I don't know. It's a function of the astonishing wealth of excellent recordings available in the HDTT catalog. But they are popping up now as I work on a list I... Read More »

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Get the Master Tape Listening Experience with Pure DSD256, Free Sample Downloads Included

Rushton Paul — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 16:26:42 +0000

The other day, I posted a list of Pure DSD256 albums that I consider my "top of the pile" for sound quality. HERE This article will be a further discussion of Pure DSD* recordings and why they are such an important development. So, tune out now if this is not your thing. Otherwise, join me... Read More »

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Pure DSD256: My Top of the Pile

Rushton Paul — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 15:47:20 +0000

I listen to a lot of high resolution DXD and DSD256 file downloads. And, as you can imagine, I have my favorites—my "top of the pile" recordings for sound quality (to borrow a description from my vinyl years). I thought I'd assemble some of these personal favorites into a list for anyone interested. To keep... Read More »

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Sound Liaison Releases a Pure DSD256 One-Mic Stunner, With Free Download Sample Track

Rushton Paul — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 18:03:17 +0000

Peter Bjørnild and Frans de Rond at Sound Liaison have just released a stunning new Pure DSD256 album. This is their first album in Pure DSD256 and the results are simply incredible, with all the transparency, timbral accuracy, and resolution for which we love Pure DSD256. Frans says of DSD, "Its incredible clarity and precision... Read More »

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Jascha Horenstein's Mahler Symphony No. 8, a Stunning Performance and a Recording of Great Historical Importance

Rushton Paul — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 21:31:13 +0000

Every so often, a music release occurs that is of such historical and musical significance that time must be made to mark its arrival. So it is with this amazing restoration of the BBC's 2-microphone live recording of Jascha Horenstein's Mahler Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand," recorded live in 1959 in Royal Albert... Read More »

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