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Mogwai, Young Team (Remastered) We knew we were in for something shiny and new back in 1997 when Mogwai dropped Young Team. It wasn't because their sound was entirely new. Sonic Youth, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Yo La Tengo dropped their noise rock years before Team, but it wasn't until Mogwai hit the scene... Read More »

Throughout my teenage and adult years in the Chicago area, I had the great fortune to experience some of the biggest and brightest of all the rock, blues and jazz superstars as they passed through The Windy City. The venues included some amazing large settings like Soldier Field, The International Amphitheatre, The United Center, The... Read More »

Rhino Entertainment is celebrating the 50th anniversary of David Bowie's classic album Diamond Dogs with a pair of limited edition LP reissues. Which is being offered with choices of a 180 gram black vinyl LP or an exceptionally cool picture disc version that also includes a fold-out poster. My review copy of Diamond Dogs 50th... Read More »

For most audiophiles the word "calypso" conjures up one musical artist, and that person is Harry Belafonte. Belafonte was a 50's era phenomenon whose popularity bled into the 60s. His brand of beefed-up and polished calypso was essentially the closest thing to rock and roll for people who couldn’t embrace something as "dangerous" as Elvis... Read More »

Kenneth James Gibson & Paul Carman, Murals for Immersion I'm not convinced that any words of mine could so aptly describe this record as its title manages to do: Murals for Immersion. And because of this, I feel morally obliged to perhaps break the online literary book of laws, and also begin this music review... Read More »

Rhino Entertainment has just released the Quadio/Blu-ray box set for Joni Mitchell's The Asylum Albums (1972-1975) Quadio, which covers her first four catalog albums for David Geffen's then fledgling label, Asylum Records. This next installment of her Joni Mitchell Archives series includes the albums For the Roses (1972), Court and Spark (1974), the live album... Read More »

Craft Recordings has announced their reissue of Church Street Blues, the seminal 1983 album from bluegrass icon and journeyman guitarist and vocalist Tony Rice. Among the hundreds of recordings Rice participated in over a career that spanned fifty years, Church Street Blues is widely considered to be among his finest efforts, and has been out... Read More »

Craft Recordings has announced the second group of reissue titles for 2024 in their Original Jazz Classics (OJC) franchise reboot, featuring four albums whose release dates range across the period from 1956 to 1960. The new reissues include the classic 1956 Prestige label debut from The New Miles Davis Quintet, Miles; Davis' longtime pianist, Red... Read More »

Just Listen (Columbia Special Products CSS 1337) is an LP that I discovered in 1986. It was released by Columbia Special Products in 1970, as a promotional item for Magnavox. Like most of the CBS Special Products LPs, it's a stereophonic various-artists compilation. The musical selections are by Percy Faith, Ray Conniff, Dave Brubeck, Andre... Read More »

Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, with Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, HDTT 1957 2024 (Pure DSD256) HERE This is such a great album, it is wonderful to now have it in my digital music library in the best quality sound. My standard for this album has always been the excellent 45rpm vinyl... Read More »

Schubert, Quartets 15, 8. Takács Quartet. Hyperion CDA 68423 (CD). TT: 77.48 Schubert's harmonic innovations are broadly recognized. But, as these quartets show, he had a keen rhythmic and structural imagination as well. The Fifteenth Quartet is large-framed, with a twenty-minute first movement; after an imposing "dotted" introduction, a syncopated motif enters, becoming a sort of quirky... Read More »

Deep Purple's Machine Head: Super Deluxe Edition (SDE) has just been remixed, remastered, and re-released in a gorgeous new multi-disc edition that includes media choices to accommodate listeners from all corners. It's also being billed as a 50th anniversary release, though technically it comes a couple of years late for that to be completely accurate—no... Read More »

Impex Records continues to roll out the hits with another superb choice for their next deluxe 1STEP LP treatment, reaching again into the catalog of classic albums from jazz composer, pianist, and vocalist Patricia Barber. For this release, Impex has chosen Barber's fifth album, Companion (1999, Premonition Records), which was recorded live at Chicago's Green... Read More »

Welcome to the first installment of Hit Play!, a bimonthly column (at least in the beginning) dedicated to the ultimate in music and sound on 15-ips reel-to-reel tape. Why devote space to a column about an obsolete analog format? Easy. Tape is far from obsolete! To start, three companies (Analog Audio Design (France)/Metaxas (Holland)/Ballfinger (Germany)... Read More »

Turn up the volume and prepare for sumptuous sonics from one of the great performances in the catalog. This new transfer from High Definition Tape Transfers is terrific. It is now my personal standard for what this great RCA Living Stereo recording can sound like. Respighi Pines of Rome & Fountains of Rome, Fritz Reiner,... Read More »

I think it's pretty safe to say that most record-collecting audiophiles know Dave Brubeck (1920-2012), and his album, Time Out (Columbia CS8192). After all, it's one of the most popular jazz LPs ever recorded. Time Out was released in 1959, and it introduced the world to Brubeck's use of unusual time signatures. It also introduced... Read More »

Rhino Entertainment has an impressive slate of limited-edition LPs available for the upcoming Saturday, April 20th celebration of Record Store Day 2024 (RSD). Rhino's extensive offering of rarities and specialty releases are only a few of the hundreds of exciting albums that will be available from both online sources and at independent record stores everywhere.... Read More »

Craft Recordings is offering another cool slate of limited-edition LPs for the upcoming Saturday, April 20th celebration of Record Store Day 2024 (RSD). Craft's selection of rarities and specialty releases are only a few of the literally hundreds of exciting records that will be available online and at independent record stores everywhere. For RSD April,... Read More »

Jazz Dispensary is a specialty imprint of Craft Recordings that's dedicated to mining the riches of parent company Concord Music's vast catalog of labels. The label employs what they call "sound sommeliers" to search the archives to find the finest original sources there for underappreciated masterpieces of funk, soul, jazz, and all the related genres... Read More »