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The year continues to be a trial for us all in balance and direction. I hope you are making the transitions needed or wanted in the most healthy and happy ways. September 22nd marks a nice day in our planet's orbit to feel less wobbly and angular and more direct and equally distributed. Happy Equinox... Read More »

Freeze this moment a little bit longer Neil Peart GHOSTS…In keeping with my apparent predilection—as an obsessive chronicler of fructifying high end sonics and spiritually inspiring music—to focus my attentions on the fallen, and finally having access to a working computer (again, my long time PC vapor locked on me in pre-pandemic January), Radio Free... Read More »

Battle of the Big Bands! This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations The late-1930s to mid-1940s—it was the height of the big band era, as well as the second world war. Call me foolishly nostalgic perhaps but at least during that arduous period, we could lovingly hug and comfort each other, as opposed to... Read More »

To my ears, the Dutch label Just Listen Records is today capturing much of what is best about live, or nearly live, recordings in their direct-to-DSD256 productions. And occasionally live-to-DXD if needed by the recording and venue. In my days collecting vinyl, I always enjoyed direct-to-disc recordings...when they were well done. And not all were.... Read More »

When Dr. David, Ye Olde Editor at PF, invited me to write some music reviews with a principal focus on DXD and DSD256, I don't think he expected I might start with these particular albums from High Definition Tape Transfers. But, honestly, I just have to start with these wonderful recordings from the earliest days... Read More »

Part 4 – So what does the new system sound like and what are we listening to? Fair warning: my focus is on classical music with a smattering of jazz and acoustic. So, my comments about sources and music and what we're excited about will lean heavily in this direction. In earlier parts of this... Read More »

Back in the early nineties, I worked at my day job with a guy, Tim, who was following his dream, trying to make it as a guitarist moonlighting in a local Atlanta rock band. He was a wickedly gifted guitar player, and his band had often gone head to head against another local band, Mr.... Read More »

Handel: Organ Transcriptions (arr. J. Walsh and J. Hook). Simone Vebber, organ (Serassi organ, Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Milan, 1835-7). Discantica 314.  TT: 54.04 Saul: How excellent Thy name, O Lord; Preserve Him for the glory of Thy Name. Organ Concerti: Op. 4, No. 4; HWV 295 ("The Cuckoo and the Nightingale"). Coronation Anthem, HWV... Read More »

Part 2 – In which this (now former) vinylholic seeks his solution for moving to an all-digital world, with headphones… [Please understand that this is simply the story of a personal journey. It is shared in hopes that it may help others faced with a similar transition in their listening environments. This is not intended... Read More »

Rushton Paul Well now! I'm pleased to say that we've gotten my friend Rush Paul back for another article here at PF. Longer-term readers may remember his article in PF Issue 88, September/October 0f 2016, "My DIY Approach to the Ultrasonic Cleaning of LPs" and his decades-long love for vinyl. But as you will hear... Read More »

Our good friend and fellow scrivener John Marks, he of The Tannhäuser Gate, has shared with us another of his musical reflections from that estimable blog site. Once again, he stirs the mind by telling us about music that we likely do not know...much to our benefit! I always learn when I read one John's... Read More »

Fred Hersch's hands frozen in transmission What are the Options? On a late summer day in August, I reflect on how little has changed since last I wrote. Cultural institutions remain shuttered as mandated, while trying to stay relevant by improvising online teasers. They initially responded to the Covid-19 lockdown with live streams via the... Read More »

Comparing Native DSD64 and DSD256 Releases by Tom Jung of DMP I was graciously asked by Brian Moura at NativeDSD.com to listen to and critique some of their newest Native DSD releases which come from Tom Jung at DMP.  The releases were provided as both DSD64 and DSD256 masters for download and comparison. I listened to the... Read More »

2020 marks the 20th anniversary of progressive / hardcore / metalcore / technical deathcore band Between the Buried and Me, and Craft Recordings follows up on the excellent reissue of the band's first album with a remixed / remastered LP reissue of their sophomore effort, 2003's The Silent Circus. The myriad changes to the band's... Read More »

This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations "To B, or not to B-Note, that is the question" "It's Poetry In Motion" –Thomas Dolby 146. Wayne Shorter, Etcetera. Blue Note – LT-1056 (1980), Tone Poet Series – B0029357-01 (2019), 33 1/3 rpm. Genre: jazz, post bop, modal, free jazz flirtings. One listen to ETC and... Read More »

If you have the good fortune to have a smart TV connected to your stereo and are a fan of the genre, then I encourage you to participate in this Latin Jazz listening party. These are not cell phone audience recordings, but professional productions with good sound. Grab a favorite beverage, a dance partner hopefully,... Read More »

…all descriptions of music are quite worthless & rather unpleasant; they are apt to be hysterical & to say things the people will be ashamed of having said afterwards. V. Woolf, Diary.   Vigilate. English Polyphony in Dangerous Times. Monterverdi Choir, John Elliot Gardiner. Soli Deo Gloria SDG 720. It isn't often we get to... Read More »

Bach vs Beck…is it all just Nature's Noise? I am listening to both Bach then Beck on Spotify and noticed they had a similar 5 million listening audience for the month. What else do these guys have in common? To start they both wrote music for infinite audiences. This is something Beck no doubt always... Read More »

…all descriptions of music are quite worthless & rather unpleasant; they are apt to be hysterical & to say things the people will be ashamed of having said afterwards. V. Woolf, Diary.   Bach Cello Suites, Alisa Weilerstein, Pentatone PTC 5186 751. I am a big first impression guy. I never leave it at that,... Read More »