Rushton, On the subject of the Cat Stevens, Teaser and the Firecat MoFi reissue (mine #0559) sounds splendid. I also have a first press of it on A&M SP4313 that sounds quite good yet isn't as quiet (surface wise) or timbre correct as the MoFi IMHO. So who is Tom Port and what is his issue with this beautiful record? Doesn't he like the MoFi?
Cheers!
Raytheprinter, Pardon me for interjecting. "The Mulligan meets Monk" performance is an unusual but cool east meets west (coast) juxtaposition. Thelonious is one bad cat as I'm sure you are aware.
Analogue Productions has not made one single dog or for that matter even a single So-so 45RPM pressing in this entire series including the Mulligan meets Monk title. I am receiving all of them as a member in the first 50 something numbered pressings from Chad and I can't say enough about how outstanding each and every one of these records is. They are some of the best pressings ever made IMHO.
Happy listening! |
Gentleman, You sparked my curiosity, not being able to recall the sound in question. After listening to the side one ('Round Midnight) of "Mulligan meets Monk" I believe the sound you are referring to in the left channel is brush work "stirring" if you will, across a drum skin throughout the piece. It is subtle and falls behind both the piano and monk’s verbal antics almost leaving a vale of white noise but with somewhat more grain. If it were not for the holiday I am sure Chad Kassem would be handy for a reality check phone call.
Best wishes for the holiday! |
An original brown label A&M pressing of "Teaser" is clearly superior to the MoFi. Not even close. I have both. The MoFi is a tad quieter but the A&M is simply much more dynamic. |
Wc65mustang, I would agree with you in so far as dynamics are concerned. My A&M copy although very clean is not as quiet and the timbre characteristics sound a bit off compared to the MoFi IMHO. In almost every case a first pressing domestic seems to be more punchy and sometimes more forward than the comparable MoFi. I think this is the main cause for general distain by some for the OMR reissues, can't say I always agree.
Happy holiday! |
R_f_sayles, thank you for confirming what I thought I was hearing. It does sound almost like veil of white noise, which on first listening confused me as to what was going on. That very quiet brush work and the baritone sax make for a very unusual combination of sounds to my ear, not being accustomed to this combination. Also, I totally agree with your assessment of the Analogue Productions 45rpm Fantasy jazz series. All of these reissues that I've heard (about 15 or so now) have been superb. (I wish I'd managed to pick up a copy of "Waltz for Debbie" before it went out of print, but I expect the 33 will be lovely.) As to Tom Port, he's a seller of new and used vinyl/CDs on the web. He has strongly held opinions, some of which I agree with and many I don't (e.g., his opinion of the Speakers Corner Mercury reissue series). While I've not liked many (perhaps most) of the MoFi reissues I've heard, "Teaser" is one I have liked. The criticism Port makes about this reissue is the naturalness of the sound. That is a problem with many MoFi reissues in my experience: very unnatural messing about with EQ. That's not the case on this one. Bill (Wc65mustang), the brown label A&M may be more dynamic; I'd have to re-listen for that. And, there may well be brown label copies that sound better than my copy, I'm not trying to make a comparison. My priorities cause me to focus more on instrument timbre and inner detail, which is what I've liked about this version, and that is unusual for me given my reaction to most other MoFi's I've heard. When Port says "it's just a mess and should sound like a mess", that's simply not what I hear and is my only point. . |
Rushton, agreed and I am not trashing the MoFi in any way. In fact it is one of the better MoFi releases IMO.
As r f sayles so accurately points out original releases seem to display more forward and punchy characteristics. However, this is not always the case. For example, I've purchased all of the Led Zeppelin immediately on release. The only one which has decent dynamics is Houses of the Holy, which ironically is the worst of the first 5 albums. The later releases on Swan Song are fair to good but certainly not nearly as excellent as other releases from other artists of that period. I've not heard the remastered Zeppelin releases so perhaps somebody else can jump in with a comparison. |
Van Morrison -Too Long in Exile on UK Polydor
Yo La Tengo -Fakebook on Bar NONE records (again!)
Van Morrison -Astral Weeks on Warner Bros. CA. w7
David Grisman -Dawg Jazz on Warner Bros. brown label
Velvet Crush -Teenage Symphonies to God on Crelp Records
Bud Powell -The Amazing... on Blue Note Japan
Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd -Jazz Samba on Verve (Speakers Corner?)
Antonio Carlos Jobin -Wave on A&M Speakers Corner
Mozart -Clarinet Concerto K622 on Musical Fidelity/ Stereophile |
Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane -at Carnegie Hall on Mosaic
...Very, very nice as Mosaic does so well. |
Ah--Velvet Crush on Creation Records and Yo La Tengo on Bar/None. I'll jump into this thread with Pixies, "Doolittle," on 4AD--same general era and ethos. I just got to hear the very end of "Debaser" twice while my 11 month old pit bull bounded joyously across my sprung wood floor with a bone in her mouth and the stylus jumped the groove. The Teres 160 I just ordered can't arrive soon enough...
Joshua |
Beatles -Magical Mystery Tour on MoFi from the box
Beatles -Revolver on Red Wax EMI Odeon Mono
Beatles -Sgt. Pepper's... on OMR UHQR
Radio Head -Hail to the Thief on EMI UK
Wilco - A Ghost is Born on Rhino Vinyl
The Beta Band - S/T on Astralwerks
James -WAH WAH on Mercury Records |
Last night, after the Pixies (and after the dog went to sleep): Orange Juice, "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever" (UK Polydor); The Verlaines, "Juvenilia" (Homestead); Velvet Underground, "Loaded" (Cotillion); a couple from Human Sexual Response, "In a Roman Mood" (Passport).
Right now: The New Pornographers, "Mass Romantic" (remastered version on Matador).
Later: David Bowie, "Low" (RCA); Boyracer, "Yorkshire Soul" 7" (Yellow Mica)--which just came in the mail today. Plus whatever else looks interesting.
Joshua |
Sessions' The Black Maskers, Hanson/EastmanRochesterO, Mercury SR 90103 (Speakers Corner reissue - Outstanding!)
In Dulci Jubilo, Christmas Music of the 15-18th Centuries, Jurgens/MonteverdiChHamburg, Telefunken SAWT 9419
Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson, Verve VS 6062 (Speakers Corner reissue)
Joan Baez, "Farewell, Angelina" Vanguard VSD 79200 (Cisco reissue - excellent!)
. |
No LP's tonight, but a delightful evening with the Haddonfield Symphony performing:
Haydn "Symphony No. 60 (Il distratto)"
Stravinsky "Pulcinella Suite"
Schnittke "Moz-Art a la Haydn"
Prokofieff "Symphony No.1 (Classical Symphony)" |
Slipknot, sounds like a great concert! Love the programming.
. |
Tonight...
Doors, LA Woman, Elektra (German reissue)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - more from the 45 rpm box set from Analogue Productions.
Ben Webster, Soulville, Verve 8274 (SpeakersCorner reissue)
Britten: Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Britten/RoyalOpHouse, Decca, SXL 2189 (Speakers Corner)
Mozart: Serenata Notturna, Maag/LSO, Decca, SXL 2196 (SpeakersCorner)
. |
Wow Rushton, L.A.Woman?! that’s a departure from your usual excellent classic repertoire. I was starting to wonder if you had any pop rock titles :^) Just having fun with you! I like the Doors and was lucky enough to pick a copy up of L.A.Woman on the now, long gone DCC label.
The Ben Webster, Soulville album is very nice. Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson on the same label is also quite good as you may well know. Cheers! |
Hah! Yes, LA Woman. I need my rock moments from time to time. I just find my selections hopelessly stuck in the 60s-70s. ;-)
Thanks for the Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson suggestion. I've added it to my wish list as I expand my exploration of jazz.
Best regards, |
Seam: Are you Driving Me Crazy? |
Big Brother and the Holding Company w/ Janis Joplin
-Cheap Thrills on Columbia 360 Sound
Eric Burden -Declares "War" on MGM ...Spill the Wine!
Emmylou Harris -Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town on WB
Beth Orton -Central Reservation on Heavenly
Kings of Convenience -Riot on an Empty Street on Source
Sandy Denny -Sandy on Island UK Pink Rim
Santana -Caravanserai on CBS UK |
Thelonius Monk, Monk's Music, Riverside 12-242 (45 rpm Analogue Productions reissue)
Handel, Coronation Anthems, Willcocks/ECO/ChoirKingsCollege, Argo ZRG 5369
Handel, Concerti Grossi, op3,1-6, Pinnock/EnglishConcert, Archiv 413 727
Handel, Chandos Anthems, Willcocks/ChoirKingsCollege/ASMF, Argo ZRG 5490
. |
John Lennon -Imagine on UK Apple
Beatles -White Album on UK Apple Mono
John Lennon -John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band on UK Apple |
Ry Cooder -Buena Vista Social Club on Nonesuch Classic Records
Francisco Aguabella H2o on Cubop
Blood, Sweet & Tears -S/T on Columbia 360 Sound
Santana -Abraxas on Columbia 360 Sound
Santana -Borboletta on Columbia
Mazzy Star -So tonight that I might See on Columbia |
Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Suites No. 1 and No. 2, Skrowaczewski/MinnSO, Mercury SR 90315 (another superb reissue in Speakers Corner's continuing Mercury series, masterful performances of these powerful suites)
. |
Tonight began with some recordings by the outstanding recording engineer Bob Auger:
Brahms, Sextet, Alberni Qt, CRD 1034
CPE Bach, Concertos, Pinnock/EngConcert, CRD 1011
Bach, Flute Sonatas, Preston -fl, Savall -vadg, Pinnock -hpd, CRD 1014/5
And is finishing with Janos Starker performing
Brahms' Sonatas 1 & 2 for Cello and Piano, Mercury SR 90392
. |
Luna -Luna Live on Arena Rock Recording co
The Velvet Underground -White Light/White Heat on Verve
Chris Isaak -Wicked Game on Reprise UK
David Bowie -Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
on MoFi |
Björk -Debut on One Little Indian UK
Police -Synchronicity on A&M
Sting -Ten Summoner's Tales on German A&M
Beethoven _Symphony No.9 Solti-Decca Siver Jubilee
on Speakers Corner |
This afternoon...
Jennifer Warnes...The Hunter.. and Norah Jones, Come away with me.
Tonight....Neil Young...Praire Wind |
I hate this thread because we don't have a turntable yet. And I want one now!!!
Carry on, folks. I'll be OK... |
Last night:
"A Baroque Trumpet Recital" (music by Cazzati, Fontana, Marini, Telemann), Gerard Schwarz, trumpet, Albert Fuller, Harpsichord, and Leonard Sharrow, bassoon, Nonesuch H71274 (lovely recording produced by Teresa Sterne, who always delivered excellent recordings)
William Alwyn, Fantasy-Waltzes for Piano (1956), and Twelve Preludes for Piano (1959), John Ogdon -pf, Chandos ABRD 1125 (John Ogdon is one of my favorite pianists: love tohear him play! This is a digital recording but with excellent sound; I'd never noticed before but some of the best Chandos recordings in my collection have been mastered by Willem Makkee who is doing such fantastic work with the Speakers Corner Mercury reissue series.)
"Proensa" (songs of the troubadours), Paul Hilliard, tenor, with Andrew Lawrence-King, harp/psaltry, ECM 1368 (another Willem Makkee mastering with great sonics)
. |
Boa2, hang in there with us! As I'm sure you've noted, many of the recordings discussed are available in a digital media format. So I hope you'll enjoy the focus on the music in this thread.
And, while I'm a committed vinylholic, I'd never want to encourage someone who doesn't already have a vinyl collection to dive into these waters without a lot of reflection on the cost, hassle and expense of playing vinyl in any high quality way. I read others encouraging that move, but I think moving to vinyl (from no vinyl) is a significant move that should not be undertaken lightly.
. |
I'm waiting for Slipknot1 to get his new JWM 9 Signature installed so he can tell us about it and all the records he's been listening to as he dials it in... Congrats, Joe!
. |
Thanks for the encouragement, Rushton. I often take note of your music selections, as they (and many others on this thread) are outstanding. In fact, I'm off to get some now!
Enjoy your weekend,
Howard |
Tonight thus far...
Sir Arnold Bax: Symphonic Poems: "Tintagel", "The Garden of Fand", "Northern Ballad No. 1", Boult/LPO, Lyrita SRCS62 (Tintagel is one of my favorite works by Bax, just a delightful work, and this performance by Boult is top drawer. Of course, having Kenneth Wilkinson as the recording engineer certainly helps the sonics!)
Sir Arnold Bax: Symphony No. 2, Fredman/LPO, Lyrita SRCS54 (a wonderful piece of music! Excellent engineering again by Wilkie.)
Mozart: Overture to Lucio Silla; Interludes from "Thamos, Konig in Agypten", Maag/LSO, Decca SXL 2196 (SpeakersCorner reissue)
. |
The only thing on my platter tonight are lttle beads of sweat from installing the new JMW 9 Signature tone arm. Requires a complete dismantling of the stock arm down to the plinth, retaining parts, and screws from it and a complete reinstall of the new arm. One LP so far:
Ray Brown and Laurindo Almeida "Moonlight Seranade" (Jeton 33 004)
Tons of bass and good string tone. Large soundstage, more forward than the stock arm. still a little raw sounding.
My guess is a need to play with the VTA a bit, as well as the need for the Walker Extreme SST treatment on the cart pins to cure and the Nordost Valhalla wire in the arm needs to burn in a bit. |
Joe, Congratulations on getting so far along on the installation! Remember that with the low current in phono connections, the SST will take about 20 hours to fully break in.
. |
Today, so far. The new arm is going through it's run-in. After about 10 hours or so, the highs are still forward and the bass is a tad lean, owing mostly to the burn in needed on the Nordost Valhalla wire and the 20 or more hours needed to cure the Walker Extreme SST on the cartridge pins. running things right now with the mechanical anti-skate in use, no damping fluid in the well and the VTF on the Shelter set at just a nick under 2g. Will leave the VTA as is till things have about 50 hours on them.
Enescu "Sonata No. 3 Op.25 in Rumanian Folkstyle (Wilson Audiophile W 8315)
Stravinsky "Rite of Spring" Maazel/Cleveland Orchestra (Telarc DG 10054)
Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" (Columbia CS 8163) Classic Records 45 RPM reissue |
Slipknot, looks like a nice listening lineup to get that new tonearm introduced to your system!
. |
Tonight...
"Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson," Verve VS 6062 (Speakers Corner reissue)
"Coleman Hawkins and his Confreres," Verve MG VS-6110 (Speakers Corner reissue)
"Going Back to Acoustic," Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Pure Pleasure PPAN001 (excellent acoustic blues by two masters, reissue)
Up next...
Purcell: "King Arthur" Deller/DellerConsort, Harmonia Mundi HM 252/53
. |
Doors/Elektra label/Weird Scenes inside the gold mine/2 lps |
Dead Man Walking -The Soundtrack & the Score
on Classic Records/Columbia |
It's late, but lat lp
- Julian Bream: Encores/Fernando Sor/ Federico Moreno Torroba/ Sine Qua Non
Beautiful guitar playing. The strings are "alive". Every note actually have their own meaning. Great recording! |
OK boys and girls, here's tonights line up:
Mendelssohn "Mendelssohn In Scotland "Fingal's Cave"" Maag/LSO (Decca SXL 2246) Speaker's Corner 45 rpm reissue
Bach "Suites For Unaccompanied Cello Complete" Starker (Mercury SR3-9016) Speaker's Corner 200g reissue
Ray Brown Trio "Soular Energy" (Pure Audiophile PA-002) 200g blue vinyl
Arm is starting to dial in. VTA will be needing some attention. However, in a d'oh! moment, I have managed to lose the set screw for the counterweight. I have been crawling around the floor with a Maglite trying to find the little bugger to no avail. I have both a large and small counterweight for the arm but the screws are not interchangable (that would make too much sense)
One thing is for sure: the JMW Signature arm sounds NOTHING like the stock arm. As good as the soundstage was, it is much wider now. The Bach Cello Suites almost sound movie monster size huge. |
"The Bach Cello Suites almost sound movie monster size huge." - This is a good thing??? Sorry, Joe, couldn't help myself wondering. I can just see it now... Like something out of Fantasia, a march of 12 foot wide cellos... :-)
.
. |
Rush,
You're right, it's NOT a good thing. The "Soular Energy" LP after it was more like it should be. Maybe my ears were still in work mode for the Bach. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper with a 10 foot high cello resonating around the listening room.
The arm continues to change with each LP, so I think we have a way to go yet. I noticed an even leaner bass presentation today with the Mendelssohn (only about 7 hours on the SST), but the Ray Brown had the depth and snap you would expect. The VTA is nowhere near dialed in yet.
Next up, the ultimate Slipknot1 test of soundstage:
Holst's "Savitri" |
For tonight, still in relaxing mood. It's cold and the holiday always make me feel lonely and slow.
- Ravi Shankar/Song for everyone/1985 ECM Production
- Smetana/Ma Vlast/Kubelik with Vinna Phil./Decca |
I just bought a turntable recently and am listening to "The best of JIM REEVES", and also some Christmas albums. |
Smw30yahoocom, congratulations on getting your turntable! If this is your first venture into vinyl welcome, hope you will continue to share your music explorations with us.
Tonight thus far...
The Julian Bream Consort: "Elizabethan Music", RCA LSC 3195
Ensemble Musica Antiqua de Vienne: "Concerts et Danses de la Renaissance", Harmonia Mundi HMU 938
Clemencic Consort: "Feast of the Ass" Harmonia Mundi HM 1036
. |
Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony/ Manuel de Falla/ Lavida Breve
wonderful.........
The Spanish quality is made up of others in a very old amlagam, long since stablied. |
I have 2 systems, one "reasonably priced" Pioneer SX580 receiver, Sony MB100H speakers, and my new Sony PS LX250 turntable. I wanted to try it with my small system and if I liked playing records, I will eventually get a real nice turntable to use on my other, more expensive system. I just absolutely love it. I had been buying records mostly at the Goodwill stores for 3-4 years so I have quite a few. I'm listening to Marty Balin "Hearts" album right this minute. I can't believe how much I like it. I'm wondering what is the cheapest, best solution for cleaning the records as I can't afford a record cleaning machine for awhile. Thanks, Sandra |
Smw30yahoocom (Sandra), Congratulations! I'm happy to have you with us in the world of vinyl-lovers. Cleaning your records will absolutely give you better sounding results and will protect them from unnecessary wear. My recommendation for superb cleaning results is to purchase the Disc Doctor "Miracle Record Cleaner" (scroll down a page) solution and brushes and then follow Disc Doctor's recommended manual cleaning procedure. I prefer the original "Miracle" formula that requires a distilled water rinse to the new no-rinse "Quickwash" formula. You can buy directly from Disc Doctor or from various mail order companies, such as Acoustic Sounds. Disc Doctor works very well in a purely manual cleaning regimen, and you can add a RCM later for convenience if your chose. The RCM adds convenenience, but it won't improve the cleaning result you can get from the manual Disc Doctor procedure. . |
