Whats on your turntable tonight?


For me its the first or very early LP's of:
Allman Brothers - "Allman Joys" "Idyllwild South"
Santana - "Santana" 200 g reissue
Emerson Lake and Palmer - "Emerson Lake and Palmer"
and,
Beethoven - "Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major" Rudolph Serkin/Ozawa/BSO
slipknot1

Stiffs Live. Live concert recording of Nick Lowe, Wreckless Eric, Larry Wallis, Elvis Costello, & Ian Dury. Stiff 1978

Bruce Springsteen - "High Hopes"

Last of the Christmas/Birthday present LP haul. I know this is not one of Bruce's best sellers. However, it's a solid album and having Tom Morello as special guest didn't hurt.

I saw the 2014 Springsteen High Hopes tour w/Tom Morello. It was my first Springsteen show. Honestly, never had much interest prior to seeing this show. However, seeing this Springsteen show completely changed my opinion of "The Boss". Was a magical show.

Springsteen could do a "Greatest Hits" show every night of the year and fill arenas. But for this show, the 3 show-stoppers for me were 3 songs off of the title LP. 1). "American Skin(41 Shots)", 2). "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (with a blazing guitar solo by Morello) and 3). the walk-off solo closer "Dream Baby Dream".

Great Show and a pretty good album. Although, none of the studio versions reach the intensity of the live versions.

Now, regarding my comment about "last presents". This does not count the 2 LP's I bought for myself over the Holidays! Still inbound are "The Hot Spot" (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, featuring Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis) and Robbie Robertson - S/T, both of which have been on my wishlist for a long time.

Dan(Puffball),

Thanks for the info on "Spacemen 3".

Absolutely loving the Thales Easy Tonearm! More of everything good (detail, soundstage presentation, tonal balance), less distortion (although I never really noticed that to be an "issue" until it was "gone"), & greater initial note impact. It's much easier now to hear the beginning, middle, & end of the notes as well as subtle layers within them. Vocals are incredible. Going from the Vira (which is also a great sounding tonearm) to the Thales Easy is the biggest tonearm improvement I've made (SQ wise) since going from a Rega 300 to a Victor UA-5045... which was huge. Build quality of this arm is top of the line. You can tell it's Swiss made, very smooth movement. The only thing I don't like about it is that it lacks a finger "hook" at the end of the tonearm, which takes a little bit to get used too. 

Larkin Grimm / Parplar  

@boxer12 Man, that sounds like a great piece of equipment.  We’re you able to make the change yourself?  Great to hear about the resulting improvements.  Well done.   

Van Morrison 

Poetic Champions Compose


 

Grey’s Anatomy asks me “who’s this”. 
 

I answered “guess” 
 

“I dunno” she answers, “some big black guy”

 

“Hmmm no,  more like a hobbit sized Irishman …”

 

 

Deniece Williams-I’m So Proud Side 2

Ratt-Out Of The Cellar Side 1

Tony Bennett-The Art Of Excellence Side 2 SQ Audiophile

John Cougar Mellencamp-Uh-Huh Side 1 SQ Audiophile

Pat Benatar-Tropico Side 1

Night Ranger-Midnight Madness Side 1

Ricky Van Shelton-Wild-Eyed-Dream Side 2 SQ Audiophile

Linda Ronstadt-Mad Love Side 1 SQ Audiophile

It was not planned but it turned out to be a 1980’s playback night. All the recordings were above average in SQ with Night Ranger being the weakest. Ratt was a surprise just missing Audiophile status mainly due to the VG+ condition. A near mint copy should qualify. The SQ champ was Uh-Huh a digital recording but it avoided the vocals having a sharp edge to them. Bennett/Van Shelton had that slight digital edge on vocals. Ronstadt was recorded with the JVC 3M system(Doug Sax) but it had a somewhat "hazy" recessed vocal presentation. Not what you expect on a Linda Ronstadt recording.

 

Spiritofradio, Thanks! Yes, I have a separate pedestal for the tonearm so changing arms is "fairly" easy. FWIW, this was the easiest arm I've ever set up in my system. 

 

Robert Fripp / Exposure  

 Talking Heads – Remain In Light (did ya know it was mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound?)

I was planning to spin some records last night after visiting my kids and grandkids and literally one minute after I walked in the door, the power went out.  So much for that!  At least the rain and wind got rid of all the snow we've had for the last few days in the NW.

I saw the questions about the Degritter.  I have become a fan of US cleaning.  I recently picked up a pre-owned Klaudio LP200 and have cleaned about 100 records with it.  It doesn't perform miracles, but it gets them super clean and seems to help with static. 

Prior to that, I've been using a VPI 16.5 vacuum cleaner.  It also does a nice job and is faster. 

The US cleaner on the other hand it fully automated.  Drop a record in, walk away, a few minutes later the disc looks like new.  The LP200 uses distilled water, no cleaning solution, which I like also. 

Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense

Can't find my copies of Fear of Music and More Songs About Buildings & Food...I know I own them, driving me crazy. Thought I mastered the alphabet.

@tubegb 

Nils Lofgren - Acoustic Live - Analogue Productions

That is a great record. Excellent sound quality.

 

This is a no brainier

1. Hugh Masekela - Hope - Analogue Productions 45 rpm 

2. .Duke Ellington - Jazz Party

3. Mark Selby - Baby, I do - Live At Rockpalast

Second of three new arrivals today….

Tom Petty - Angel Dream. Warner remaster 2021

And the Third of the three arrivals today….

Richard Thompson - Still. Fantasy 2LP 45rpm 2015

New Arrival today!

David Gray - "White Ladder"

 

20th anniversary 2LP White Vinyl

Just back from PVF:

Jimmy Smith-Home Cookin’ 1966 BN 

Clifford Brown-The Beginning and the End 1973 COL