James Hardway / Moors + Christians
Cuban ragga with a jazz bend to it
Cuban ragga with a jazz bend to it
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@boxer12
+1 Magnetic Fields Expect the unexpected whenever Stephin Merritt is on the turntable. Kind of sad that "Wayward Bus" was the last album Susan Anway would do lead vocals. |
@flennon
Do you use an ultrasonic cleaner on your records? Lately, I've been bringing lots of 30~40 year old records out of hiding. A ride through the ultrasonic cleaner makes them nearly as quiet as contemporary records. Remarkable how good 40+ year old vinyl can sound when cleaned up. I was blown away listening to Patti Smith's "Easter" (released in 1978) after a through cleaning. I'd forgotten how good the recording and mixing were. As I mentioned earlier, I don't actually use the Sugar Cube to eliminate pops and clicks while listening to vinyl. I use it mostly to speed up creation of digital files, editing track breaks and output. |
I'm listening to a Ray Charles compilation - A 25th Anniversary In Show Business Salute To Ray Charles It's pretty scuffed and scratched up, visually VG or less. I listened to side A without "magic" engaged on the Puffin and there was a lot of surface noise. I turned "magic" on for side B and there's almost no noise, and the music seems more dynamic. There's also a new "grade" function on the Puffin. It gave this record a "D-". I'm not sure how that compares to the Goldmine scale, but doesn't sound very good. I was thinking about selling the Puffin, but I may have to re-think that. |
Johnny Paycheck-Armed And Crazy Side 2 SQ 4.3 Bryan Adams-Reckless Side 2 SQ 4.2 Mel Torme-Torme A New Album Side 2 SQ 4.3 Traffic-Welcome To The Canteen Side 2 SQ 4.2 CCR-Gold Side 1 SQ 4 Dionne Warwick-Valley Of The Dolls Side B SQ 4.3 Louis Van Dyke-Mariposa Side A SQ 4.2 Billy Squier-Enough Is Enough Side 2 SQ 4.2 All were played last night. |
Played these over the last few days as part of the process for breaking-in my new amp. Tried some I have not listened to for many years, others that I am very familiar with more recently, but nothing of particular reason. Just listening to music. As the amp gets more hours on it I will be more serious on selection of albums, seeking the deepest of what the amp has to offer. Probably by Saturday night. Moody Blues 'In search of the Lost Chord' Stevie Ray Vaughan 'The Sky is Crying' (sounds phenomenal) Ambrosia S/T (got the ideal for this one from spiritofradio; great SQ) Leo Kotke S/T Firefall 'Luna Sea' Great album I have had since inception, 1976. The Motels 'All Four One' My favorite from The Motels. Excellent SQ. Fleetwood Mac 'Rumours' Great album, good SQ but not excellent. Firefall 'Elan' Their second album and not even close to the first one. John Mayall 'John Mayall & Friends' Excellent Mayall, excellent SQ. Love 'Forever Changes' Recent reissue, outstanding SQ! Great album. |
Martinů : Eduard Fischer conducts Concertino For Cello And Orchestra, Op. 57. Prague Chamber Soloists & František Vajnar conducts Concertino For Cello, Wind Instruments, Piano And Percussion. Collegium Musicum Pragense. and Roussel : František Vajnar conducts Concertino For Cello And Orchestra, Op. 57. Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. Supraphon 1977 Czechoslovakia |
Sonny Rollins – The Bridge "Without A Song" https://youtu.be/geSKgcNX1SQ "The Bridge" https://youtu.be/kRXeHTht_18 |
Adam Makowicz – The Name Is Makowicz - "Ab Elegy (For Earl Hines)" https://youtu.be/ZRUp4RU4btg Liszt - Sviatoslav Richter / London Symphony Orchestra / Kyrill Kondraschin - Klavierkonzert No. 1 https://youtu.be/V9JRwo9j99Y |
@boxer12 ...well let me think, who would I sort of compare with Magnetic Fields.... First that comes to mind are The Espers. But their records are not easily found except through Discogs. Their first album "Espers" and second "The Weed Tree" were rereleased a few years ago but sold out quickly. Second is The Incredible String Band, but like Espers, their vinyl takes some concerted hunting to locate especially given they were from Scotland. They were active between 1966~1974 although they did reform in 1999 and finally hung it up in 2006. Third is Pianosaurus. Their self releases on vinyl are even harder to find than Espers. You can probably find the CD "Groovy Neighborhood" fairly easy. |
@flennon Let me draw a deep breath because I’m going to say what you probably don’t want to hear (hint-$$$$). Before the frightening part, I urge you to check out this document if you haven’t already. https://thevinylpress.com/app/uploads/2021/03/PAC-Vinyl-Records_2021-03-01_pdf.pdf I started the "aqueous" cleaning process as many have with a Spin Clean. For the money, it ain’t bad. Especially if you’re willing to experiment a bit with surfactants added to the bath water instead of using the supplied bath solution. The Spin Clean does quite a good job at removing surface dirt, finger prints and other big stuff. However, it’s impossible to reach into the groove to remove dirt, mould release agent and other microscopic trash. The worst part of the Spin Clean is having to dry the records by hand after spinning them. If you have a mountain of cotton wipers to dry each record, it’s fine. But you quickly run out and that ends your cleaning session for the day. I watched a couple friends wrestle with ultrasonic cleaners that had various kludged up gadgets hung on the side with fasteners that seemed to always come loose sometimes spilling the records into the bath or worse, on the table top or floor depending on their work surface. And after all the heroics, they still had to dry the records by hand I had an opportunity to try a Degritter for a weekend. I was immediately impressed with the build quality of the gadget. It was purpose built to just clean vinyl records, not adapted from various other parts. It was well thought out and executed. I tried cleaning some of the filthiest records from the shed and was amazed at the outcome. Needless to say, the Degritter came in the front door never to leave. |
@flennon @slaw Steve makes a good point about US cleaners and the ability to clean them to help prevent mold growth. Regarding the Degritter, it does not store the bath water in the ultrasonic tank within the machine. It pumps the water in (through a removable and cleanable filter) from a removable tank (ABS plastic) and pumps out after each use. The tank holds 1.4l of water. The storage tank has a check valve in the bottom allowing removal and insertion when it is filled with water. The storage tank is dishwasher safe. The ultrasonic tank is shaped in a manner that pulling the filter plug on the side drains what little water remains in the tank, usually doesn't amount to more than a teaspoon of water. In fact, Degritter recommends doing this if you're not using the gadget for more than a few days. If one wants to be doubly sure, the rubberized record guide on top is easily removed. The slot stares down into the ultrasonic tank allowing a wipe if need be. |
I have had my Degritter now since February. It's awesome! It's expensive but considering it was purpose built, from R&D to engineering to production, it is by far the state-of-the-art in todays US vinyl cleaning options. As puffball08 stated, cleaning is a breeze if/when necessary. Note; Degritter recommends to clean the entire system every few months or so (depending on how many records you may have cleaned) with a 10% ratio of white vinegar/distilled water and running three full cleaning cycles with this solution. I do that and then run another 2 cycles with only distilled water in order to be certain there is no lingering molecules of vinegar before inserting my next record. I highly recommend this machine, if it is within your budget. |
@mammothguy54 I added one precleaning step in the Spin Clean (10 spins each direction) with a tiny bit of Tergitol in the bath water prior to putting the wet record into the Degritter. Yeah, it increases the labor and time but dramatically cuts down on the muck in the Degritter's filter. I can easily go 100 cycles without cleaning the filter element. And even at that point, there's hardly anything trapped in the filter. Plus the filter element doesn't turn yukky brown color so quickly after leaving much of the surface dirt in the Spin Clean. Thanks for pointing out the vinegar system cleaning of the Degritter. I'm about due for that since I've passed 1100 cycles. |
Arrived this week so far: Alice Cooper "School's Out" Friday Music Isaac Hayes "Black Moses" 2016 Craft Recordings John Lee Hooker "The Country Blues of..." 2019 Craft Recordings Big Star "#1 Record" 2019 Craft Recordings Tom Fogerty "Excaliber" 2018 Craft Recordings RSD: Tom Petty "Angel Dream" Elton John "Regimental Sgt. Zippo" Robert Palmer "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" Stillwater "Demos" The Who "Face Dances" |