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I own a lot of albums, and my use of the word "albums" means LPs and CDs. Most of them bring me tons of pleasure, but I also keep a few albums for reasons other than pleasure. I find Miles Davis uniquely irritating, and LP-era Ellington turgid, but since I like to cruise in the... Read More »

I wrote about my enthusiasm for what Hunnia Records has been doing in this earlier article covering a dozen or so of their releases over the past few years. But Hunnia does not stand still! Not by any means. And I continue to enjoy their new releases. Here are a few you should know about...... Read More »

Over the past four years, I've found myself regularly returning to recordings by the Spanish string quartet, Cuarteto Quiroga. Their performances are refined, beautifully played, nuanced in interpretation, and played with total conviction. They recently released their sixth album for Cobra Records, Und es Ward Licht! (below), and it's a stunner. It's well past time... Read More »

Patricia Barber, Clique!. HQ180 33.3 LP: $39.99 MSRP. Patricia Barber patriciabarber.com. Impex Records impexrecords.com Patricia Barber's Clique! was released to great fanfare by Impex Records in August, 2021. I had the good fortune to review the DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition) 32-bit/352.8kHz digital download files of the album at that time, and you can read my review... Read More »

Beware! Wildly broad generalizations coming below...  Interesting conversations get started over morning cappuccinos in our household. Today, the discussion was about files from the HDTT (High Definition Tape Transfer) catalog versus modern recordings from the NativeDSD catalog. Ann opined that, overall, she found the NativeDSD files in our library were the files to which she... Read More »

I love guitarists, and I own a lot of LPs by guitarists. Although I file the jazz guitarists, like Barney Kessell, Johnny Smith, and Wes Montgomery, alphabetically, many guitarists, regardless of genre, are also found in my miscellaneous guitarist section. That's where the obscure guitarists and multi-artist collections of guitar music are found. One obscure... Read More »

High Definition Tape Transfer has been on quite a roll in 2022 with a strong schedule of new releases. Their jazz releases in 2022 have been phenomenal and, hopefully, merited your attention. But, the classical albums they've reissued have been similarly outstanding, including performances in the top echelons of the catalog such as the Mercury... Read More »

Remastering is a technique applied to improve sound quality. It can be done in digital or analog domain. There are few audio manufacturers who also release their own recordings. One of them, and probably the most interesting, is the Japanese Esoteric, which remasters classical music from the world's best labels. Esoteric is a brand owned... Read More »

I've written before about the recordings of pianist Hannes Minnaar (see HERE and HERE). I'm writing now to share with you a new solo piano recording of the Shostakovich 24 Preludes (a marvel), an earlier recording of piano works inspired by Bach, and a scrumptious complete cycle of the Beethoven Piano Concertos with Jan Willem... Read More »

In this superb release from Eudora Records, the Protean Quartet deliver stylish performances of the last of the Haydn's Russian Quartets, the first of Beethoven’s String Quartets, op. 18 no.1 (but already a masterpiece), and the first recording of Juan Pedro Almeida Mota’s String Quartet op. 7 no. 1. Performed on period instruments, with historically... Read More »

Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique. Roméo et Juliette: Scène d'amour. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Paavo Järvi. Telarc CD-80578.  TT: 71.22. Downloads: classicalarchives.com (mp3) Like Cala Records and Avie Records, which I've recently discussed, Telarc Records, based in Cleveland, was created as an audiophile label. At first, they briefly pursued the "direct-to-disc" blind alley with Advent Records' Direct from Cleveland, presenting Lorin Maazel... Read More »

When I was fifteen I had yet to learn that greatest hits and best of records also meant The Worst Sounding Records. Back then my ears weren't very sophisticated, so I was oblivious to the fact that albums like Simon & Garfunkle's Greatest Hits and Rod Stewart's Sing It Again Rod were, despite the wonderful... Read More »

There are times when something so special comes along that one needs to shout "Stop the presses. Hold page one." This is one of those occasions. HDTT has just released a superb DSD256 transfer of the legendary RCA Living Stereo recording of the Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 "Organ Symphony" from Charles Munch and the Boston... Read More »

I’ve been listening to various of the Hunnia Records' Pure DSD256 recordings downloadable from NativeDSD. There are very many that I like both for the music and for the quite stellar sound quality. It's time to share with you some of the excellent Hunnia recordings that I'm enjoying. Founded by Robert Zoltán Hunka, owner and... Read More »

Time Out was the first jazz album to sell more than a million copies. The album was certified platinum in 1997 and double platinum in 2011. The single, "Take Five", also sold over a million. And it has been reissued endlessly. So why bother with yet another? Because this release in Pure DSD256 from HDTT... Read More »

Chopin's music is loved by many. And many pianists gravitate to performing his works. Unfortunately, not all pianists should play Chopin—both Chopin and we would be better off if they found some other poor composer to butcher. But, when Chopin's music falls into the hands of an empathetic artist devoted to communicating Chopin, ah then,... Read More »

David Crosby, If I Could Only Remember My Name. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, MFSL 2-496, Original Master Recording, Gain 2™ Ultra Analog, 2 x 12" 45 RPM SuperVinyl™ 180g LPs, Numbered Limited Edition, Numbered, Reissue, Remastered, Gatefold, 2022 First up...the spring 2022 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, 2 X 45 RPM, limited, numbered remastered reissue on... Read More »

This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 206. Bionic Boogie, "Chains"/"Cream (Always Rises to the Top)." Polydor – PRO 066 (1978), 12" 33 1/3 rpm, promo. Genre: disco. Bionic Boogie was the brainchild of American disco producer, musician, and songwriter Gregg Diamond, who rose to prominence in early 1976 with "More, More, More" (Buddah... Read More »

Cantate Domino. Torsten Nilsson (Conductor), Oscar's Motet Choir, Alf Linder (organ), Marianne Mellnas (soprano), Proprius 7762/AudioNautes Recordings AN-RTR-2107, 15-ips, 2-track reel-to-reel tape, IEC EQ, Price: €850 (until January); €990 (after January, 2023). Proprius Records' conjure up many fond memories for old time audiophiles and for good reason! And thanks to Fabio Camorani, founder and owner... Read More »