Loading...

Shore Fire Media has just announced the first two titles from a new LP reissue program, the Rhino High Fidelity Premium Vinyl Series. Rhino High Fidelity's planned release schedule will be quarterly throughout the year; the inaugural release features two outstanding titles, the eponymous debut album from The Cars, The Cars (1978, Elektra Records), and... Read More »

When it comes to audiophile quality reissues, there seems to be a myriad of options these days. My apologies up front, as I am sure that I will miss mentioning a few. We have the exquisite one step releases from Analogue Productions, Mofi , IMPEX, and Craft—many with 45 RPM pressings and with the most... Read More »

Symmetria Pario: Creation, Pekka Kuusisto, violin, Joonas Ahonen, piano. Yarlung Records 2023 Pure DSD256 HERE When you take contemporary compositions from nine different composers (six of which were commissioned for your recital), and you add the brilliant artistry of Pekka Kuusisto and Joonas Ahonen, and you record it in a world class, acoustically magnificent music hall... Read More »

Everything you want to know about the recording of Blue Train's behind-the-scenes and which of the digital reissues of this jazz masterpiece are the best. On September 15th 1957, John Coltrane walked into Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack and recorded a masterpiece album: Blue Train. It was the only album by a saxophone leader... Read More »

This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 216. Blondie, "Heart of Glass"/ "Heart of Glass (instrumental)." Chrysalis – CDS-2275 (1978), 12", 33 1/3 rpm. Genre: disco, electro disco, new wave, pop rock. The five-member band fronted by singer Debbie Harry hailed from New York City. Along with Ramones, Television, and Talking Heads, they took part... Read More »

With La Petite Bande's 50th anniversary in 2022, Challenge Records celebrated with the release of a nine CD box set, which you may have seen. All nice, but that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about something even more wonderful: the release of the original DXD recording resolution files! (HERE) From... Read More »

Craft Latino is a specialty imprint that focuses on reissues of classic salsa, Latin jazz, Latin soul, and Afro-Cuban releases from Craft Recordings' deep catalog of Latino artists, many of which haven't been reissued as LPs for decades. Their newest reissues highlight classic records from a pair of legendary Latino percussionists, conguero Ray Barretto's Que... Read More »

This transfer in Pure DSD256 directly from the original Desmar master tapes recorded by the great Bob Auger is hugely impressive. So clean, open, detailed and dynamic. Just beyond excellent! And the performance is one of the most compelling, most thoroughly convincing, performances of this symphony among the six alternate recordings I have in my... Read More »

Berkeley based Fantasy Records built their early reputation in the 1950s with classic LPs from Dave Brubeck, Cal Tjader, Gerry Mulligan, and Vince Guaraldi. Many of those LPs were pressed on red and blue translucent vinyl, and they became immensely popular with record buyers. I'll never forget finding a sealed copy of Vince Guaraldi's Jazz... Read More »

In this edition of Notes on Recent Finds, I offer you a diverse set of albums I've been enjoying and replaying frequently. There is no theme to this assemblage other than I like them, I think they are all very nicely performed and recorded, and I find the music they contain most engaging. I hope... Read More »

I love forgotten bands and forgotten albums. Part of it is the pleasure of knowing something that other people don't know, and the other part is knowing about obscure rock bands that made really good music. Having said this, I don't like cult bands. Cult bands are usually overrated, and their appeal is usually traceable... Read More »

With this release of the Third Piano Concerto, Anna Fedorova's wonderous traversal of the four Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos reaches a triumphant conclusion. It is a scintillating, powerful, gorgeously emotional performance. Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, Youth Symphony, and Valentin Silvestrov's The Messenger.  Anna Fedorova, Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Modestas Pitrenas conducting. Channel Classics 2023 (DXD) HERE... Read More »

Ah, and THIS is how it's done, my friends. A completely scrumptious new release from the queen of the Baroque violin, Rachel Podger. In partnership with keyboardist Kristian Bezuidenhout, Rachel gives to us a bit over an hour of completely entrancing music by the often underestimated Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788), fifth child... Read More »

Abey Fonn, President of Impex Records, always likes a good challenge. But Impex Records' latest project required Abey to dip deep into her bag of tricks to come up with the ultimate vinyl version of Patricia Barber's Nightclub. Nightclub was Barber's sixth, not to mention, one of her best-selling albums with sales peaking at 200,000... Read More »

Liszt, Les Préludes; Mephisto Waltz; Orpheus; Mazeppa. Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra/Paul Paray. Festival Classique FC 416 (LP). TT: 51.54 My "retrospective" reviews have usually covered compact discs of—ahem—a certain vintage. But I know some audiophiles still favor vinyl over digital formats—I've never given up my own vinyl, though, with age, I'm looking to pare down the sprawling... Read More »

You may have seen that NativeDSD recently decided to expand its catalog offerings to now offer albums originally recorded in PCM 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, and 192kHz rates in addition to the DSD/DXD recordings they have always featured. See the announcement HERE. So, after a month under the new policy, I've been watching to see what... Read More »

Bob Witrak's High Definition Tape Transfer (HDTT) has long been known for its excellent transfers from analog reel-to-reel tape. Both Dr. David and I have written many articles about Bob's very fine digital releases of vintage classical and jazz recordings, many of which sound better than the digital reissues from the major labels.  And now... Read More »

Chicago based conductor and arranger David Carroll (1913 - 2008) made a lot of records for Chicago based Mercury Records. As he also held an executive producer position at Mercury, I suspect that some of his LPs, EPs, and singles were arranged and conducted by somebody else. Also, if you shopped for vintage LPs during... Read More »

Craft Recordings is bringing an impressive slate of limited-edition LPs to stores for 2023's first celebration of Record Store Day (RSD), which takes place on Saturday, April 22. Craft's noteworthy offering of rarities and specialty releases are just a smattering among the hundreds of records from a multitude of record labels. Craft's seven releases include... Read More »