Tonight, Beethoven "String Quartet, Op.131" Bernstein/Vienna Philharmonic (DG 2531 077) Surprising recording. Not your basic DG "house sound", but an airy, stirring reading of this melancholy work. Bill Evans "New Jazz Conceptions" (Riverside RLP-223) Santana "Caravanserai" (Columbia KC 31610) Al Stewart "Year Of The Cat" (Janus JXS-7022) |
Ali Akbar Khan (serod) and Sri Swapan Chaudhuri (tabla) on "Maihar" - a marvelous recording by Kavi Alexander, Water Lily Acoustics 10 Earlier this evening: Joan Baez, "In Concert" Vanguard VRS 9112 Cannonball Adderley, "Somethin' Else" Blue Note 1595 (Classic Records reissue) Miles Davis, "Kind of Blue" (Classic Records reissue) |
Playing now: Varese: Ameriques; Milhaud: L'homme et son desir; Honegger: Pacific 231, Abravanel/UtahSO, Vanguard SRV 274 Classic Records reissue - WOW! Planned for later: Pentangle: "Cruel Sister", Reprise 6430 Na Cabarfeidh: "stick it in your ear" - highland pipes, whistles, drums, guitars - these guys can play! Pentangle: "Basket of Light" Sonny Rollins: "Way Out West" (45 rpm reissue from Analogue Production's Fantasy series). And, as it is now getting later in the evening (and no one else has posted so I can still edit this post), the significant other has gone to bed so music with a lot of bass energy is no longer an option. So let's move to "music-with-no-bass": Renaissance music for viola da gamba, lute and voice: "Songs of a Travelling Apprentice" Cohen/CambridgeConsort, Titanic TI 19. (If you enjoy early music, the recordings on the Titanic label are very worthwhile picking up whenever you see them. Nice performances that are well recorded.) As an aside, here was another example of what a difference a good record cleaning fluid can make to the sound of an LP. I'd cleaned this LP originally (some years back when first purchased) with a home brew alchohol-based solution and VPI RCM. I hadn't played this LP for several years, and listening tonight, I was bothered by some sibilance I just couldn't eliminate (VTA adjustment, add a touch of dampening, nothing worked). So, since I'd never cleaned this "clean" record with Disc Doctor, back it went for a quick clean using my recently adopted Disc Doctor regimen. BINGO: no more sibilance. . |
Beta testing Paul Frumkin's 2 stage LP cleaning solutions, so I am going through a variety of older LPs, cleaning them and listening Vivaldi "Four Seasons" von Karajan/Berlin PO (DG 2530 296) Tangerine Dream "Rubycon" (Virgin International VI 2025) Art Pepper "Meets the Rhythm Section" (Contemporary S75532) |
Tonight: comparative listening to 33 rpm vs. 45 rpm versions of some of Classic Records' RCA reissues. So far, there is no contest sonically (did anyone suspect otherwise?). But, my question in doing this was: "Did the mastering of the 45 rpm versions avoid the hard brittle top end plaguing some of the early 33 rpm issues sufficiently to make it worth the gamble of buying a few more of the 45s to replace other disappointing early release 33s?" So far, the answer is "YES" for the following LPs (listening to selected tracks on each): "Clair de Lune" RCA LSC-2326 - the sound of strings on the 33 rpm is brittle in the upper frequencies to the point I don't find it enjoyable to listen to (at least on my system). The 45 rpm does not have this problem: the string tone is smooth and extended. Definitely not polite and rolled off like many of the originals (so don't come here looking for that original "Shaded Dog" sound; this is more like what I expect to hear in an excellent "contemporary" recording. The 45 rpm also has all the other virtues we've come to expect of this media. "Gonoud: Faust/Bizet: Carmen Suite" LSC-2449 - The 33 rpm version of this is much better, and much more listenable, than I recalled. The top end has some of that brittleness and hard edge to it, but not nearly so much as some others. Just every now and then the massed strings jump out and BITE. Still..., the 45 rpm version is simply soooo muuucch better in so many respects. "Belioz: Symphony Fantastique" LSC-1900 - MUCH improved string tone on the 45 rpm version. The 33 rpm is not as bad as I recalled, as with LSC-2449; but the 45 rpm is a very distinct improvement in every respect. (And still my favorite performance with a modern orchestra is the Freccia/RPO reissued on Chesky CR 1. (If you can find it and have a choice, get the 180 gram, not the lighter weight first pressing run). Conclusion? For me I will go ahead with some additional 45 rpm Classic Record purchases (such as the Sibelius/Finlandia LSC-2336 which sounds so sad on the 33 rpm version and is such a GREAT performance and recording, and such as the Reiner/Spain LSC- 2230), but cautiously. . |
So far Beethoven "Symphony No. 6" Philharmonia/Klemperer (Angel S 35711) Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" (Columbia CS 8163) Classic Records 200g reissue Jennifer Warnes "Famous Blue Raincoat" (Cypress/A&M 0100) Bill Evans Trio "New Jazz Conceptions" (Riverside 12-223) This version of the trio had Teddy Kotick doing the bass duties |
Ella Fiztgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook, Verve - the lady is incredible! Even through the surface noise of these 50 year old records, I just get lost in her incredible singing. And a supporting cast that includes Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Petersen, Ray Brown, and more is nothing to sneeze at. [I'd love to hear the Speakers Corner reissue for even better sound quality: I just can't quite justify the price for the 4LP set. :-( ] Doc & Merle Watson's Guitar Album, Flying Fish FF301 Joan Baez, Volume 2, Vanguard VRS 9094 - just a wonderful vocalist and her guitar, mono. . |
Ray: Thanks! For those interested, I just checked to see if American IV is still available on vinyl, and it is: http://www.redtrumpet.com/software/item.php?item=17745&sid=1170596972 |
hello Rushton,american IV :the man comes around,,,2002 american recordings,LLC,man. and marketing by Lost highway records,rick rubin,there is also a box set of his last recordings,but ive only seen it on redbook cd,hopefully theyll release it on lp also,if not i will buy the cds,most of it is prev.unrealesed i believe,powerful stuff!! |
Some friends over today. The feast: Crosby, Stills and Nash - CSN "Helplessly Hoping" Donald Fagan - The Nightfly "Walk Between Raindrops" Allman brothers Band - Fillmore East "You Don't Love Me" Louis Armstrong - Satchmo Plays King Oliver "St. James Infirmary" Eva Cassidy - Songbird "Fields of Gold" Joni Mitchell - Hejira "Coyote" Dead Can Dance - Into the Labyrinth "Yulunga" Patricia Barber - Modern Cool "Constantinople" Stravinsky - "Firebird" Dorati/LSO |
So far today: Rickie Lee Jones: "Rickie Lee Jones" Rickie Lee Jones: "Pirates" (thanks Sbank !!) Sonny Rollins: "Way Out West", Analogue Productions 45 rpm reissue "Die Rohre - The Tube, A Baroque Delight for the Ears" Tacet L74 (all tube recording and mastering chain, delightful Baroque music in every good sound) Itzhak Perlman & Pinchas Zukerman: "Duets for 2 Violins" - a surprisingly good Angel pressing (S-37406) of this 1977 collaboration. |
Ray Brown Trio, "Soular Energy" Pure Audiophile PA-002 Bill Berry, "Shortcake" Pure Audiophile PA-004 (again!) Whatever Stan Ricker is doing with his revised half-speed mastering process on these Pure Audiophile LPs, the results are simply stunning. I just had to come back to these LPs again tonight both for the superb musicianship and to wallow in the incredible sonics! The inner detail, leading edge transient response and dynamics on these LPs are very special. . |
Today I installed the 1" Cellular shades as called for by Rives Audio http://www.rivesaudio.com They are insulating room darkening shades. So, I played the standard large orchestral warhorses: Mussorgsky "Pictures At An Exhibition" (RCA LSC-2201/Classic Records reissue) Stravinsky "Firebird complete ballet" (Mercury SR90226/Classic Records reissue) Mendelssohn "Symphony No. 3, Fingal's Cave" (Decca SXL 2246/Speaker's Corner 45 rpm reissue Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" (Columbia CS 8163/Classic Records 45 rpm reissue) As good as things have been sounding, the window treatments have taken it to a whole new level. All the residual glare from the 6ft and 10 ft windows is gone compliments of the 1" insulated cellular shades. |
Today: John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, Impulse AS-40, Speakers Corner reissue (from the analogue master tapes) Fleetwood Mac: Fleetwood Mac Wild Child Butler, Analogue Productions Original recording, d-to-d. If you like blues and you haven't listened to the APO releases, you are missing some wonderful performances in great sound! Pettersson, Sym 8, Commissiona/BaltimoreSO, DGG 2531 176. Great music, excellent performance, fanastic recording - this is NOT the typical DGG sound. Recorded under the direction of Robert Wood (Telarc), this recording has a natural soundstage, extended frequency response, very good dynamic range and no obvious mult-miking. Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Perlman and Ozawa/BSO, DGG. Very nice performance by a young feisty Perlman. Unfortunately, typcial DGG multi-mike mess for sound. Berg Violin Concerto - wonderful work for lovers of great 20th Century music. From the same LP above. . |
Ray, VPI offers the advantage of a platter that fully supports the LP and is sturdy enough to use as a platform for "scrubbing" the surface of the LP using your preferred cleaning fluid and brush (e.g., Disc Doctor or Records Research). I've used a VPI Model 17 pretty intensively for 18 years, and it still runs like a champ; they are very sturdily built. Either the VPI 16.5 or the 17 would be a great addition. OTOH, the manual cleaning process with Disc Doctor works pretty well without a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner adds a lot of convenience, but a more important key to excellent cleaning of your vinyl is using a good cleaning fluid and and good brushes, like the Disc Doctor. I say this after having been a dedicated user of home brew cleaning solutions with my VPI for many years, and being a DD skeptic. NO MORE! After an experience at Lloyd Walker's house, where he took one of my "clean" records, plopped it on top of his VPI 17 and cleaned it with Disc Doctor fluid using a DD brush, the improvement in clarity was so immediately apparent that I become a convert on the spot and have never looked back. . |
An afternoon of music with friends; what a treat! Ray Brown Trio: Soular Energy (Pure Audiophile) Laudate II (Proprius) Menotti: Violin Concerto (Reference Recordings) Rochberg: String Quartet No 3 (Nonesuch) Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8, Borodin Qt (Decca) Shostakovich: Sym 5, Previn/LSO (EMI) Holly Cole: Romantically Helpless/One Trick Pony (Grooveland) Supertramp: Crime of the Century/School All analogue, all vinyl, all great music to share. . |
I just finished listening to "Trouble Man" (Tamla T322L). This Marvin Gaye's outstanding soundtrack to the most forgettable movie of the same title. Maybe it's just my mood, but this is in the top 1% of all my albums. Just a wandering, fabulously inspired performance with an inexplicable ending. Actually parallels his life, I guess. |
Rushton, Two Reggae titles for you Judy Mowatt - Black Woman Black Uhuru - Dub Factor, The I would love to hear what your table might bring out of the Black Uhuru disc. If you like Black Woman, you would probably like all of Judy Mowatt's titles. I do. If you don't like Black Woman, you might still like some of her other titles. Neither of the above titles are representative of classic Reggae IMO. Two that are Bob Marley - Natty Dread Bunny Wailer - Bunny Wailer Sings the Wailers |
Life beyond audio this past week: Olympics coverage is taking precedence for my discretionary time! Some incredible stories happening throughout the competitions. Glad to hear you like the Doc Watson and Mendelssohn LPs, Joe. They are awfully nice! I still need to get Doc Watson's "Southbound" and the two Cisco reissues of the Joan Baez LPs. Aaggh, my wish list at Red Trumpet is getting longer again. . |
Doc Watson "Home Again!" (Vagauard VSD-79239/Cisco reissue) Don't miss this one folks. Incredible, clean, pure recording. Mendelssohn "Mendelssohn in Scotland Symphony No. 3, Fingal's Cave" Maag/LSO (Decca SXL 2246/Speaker's Corner 45 rpm reissue) Another great one. This recording is demonstration quality. |
Have the day off, everyone is out of the house (even the dogs). So, we have: Art Pepper "Meets The Rhythm Section" (Contemporary S7532) Rhythm Devils (Hart/Kreutzmann) "Rhythm Devils Play River Music" (Passport PB 9844) Emerson, Lake and Palmer "Trilogy" (Atlantic P-10113A) ELP "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends" (Manticore MC 3-200) Shostakovich "Symphony No. 12 "1917"" (Melodiya/Angel SR-40128) |
