Herbie Hancock: Crossings (Speakers Corner) There are so many good reasons to own a copy of this record, not the least being that it is a sonic treat. But there are other just as compelling reasons: it is jazz tinged fusion mixed with psych, funk and spacy sounds that reflect a unique, and perhaps most adventurous period in Hancock’s growth as an artist; it is highly experimental but embraces so much of what came before that it is a virtual primer of jazz sounds that are both eerily strange and strangely familiar; it is performed by a stellar band that includes Buster Williams on... Read More
Sonics vs. Music on LPs
Sonics vs. Music on LPs With apologies for the “click bait” title, I had an epiphany the other day playing the main system for a visitor. I usually try to find music that is both interesting and well recorded. There is no shortage of such records, but as I find myself plunging deeper down the rabbit hole of obscurities, lost bands and forgotten albums, I realized how much of a gap there in sound quality between some of these musical gems and the spectacular sound you get on the great audiophile quality records. Ideally, you’d get both— interesting music and lifelike... Read More
BLAST FURNACE- Self Titled
BLAST FURNACE- Self Titled Unlike Satori, this Danish hard rock album is very accessible musically and there is a decent reissue available from Polydor that is far cheaper than an original pressing. The album mixes psychedelia with unmistakable traces of a Broadway show tune—in between, the mix of strings, woodwinds and keyboards earns it a place in “prog rock” circles. It is a highly enjoyable album to crank up—it doesn’t require repeated listening to “get it”—it is very straightforward in the way hard rock sounded as it grew to maturity, but there’s enough unique... Read More
A Tribute to Quad
A Tribute to Quad Much has been written over the years about Peter Walker’s electrostatic loudspeaker, including the wonderful book assembled by Ken Kessler, Quad: The Closest Approach. I bought my first pair of Quad ESLs in 1973 and learned much about listening in the process of living with them as my main system during the ‘70s and early-mid ‘80s. I never sold my original pair, but after all sorts of experiments with subwoofers and add-on tweeters, I put the original ESL to the side for what turned out to be decades. I switched to a pair of Crosby-modified Quad 63’s,... Read More
Gone to Texas
Gone to Texas I’m long overdue in publishing new material at The Vinyl Press. My mini-travelogue of our journey from New York through the Deep South was part of our transit, a road trip of relocation to Austin, Texas. We landed in Austin on February 1, and with a pretty good sense of the real estate market here (great for sellers, ugly for buyers), we set out with our broker to find a place that appealed. My original intention was to buy something in an international modern vein, but that didn’t happen for a number of reasons. Our “new” house in Austin is circa the 1880’s and... Read More
Spiritual Jazz- Three Picks
Spiritual Jazz- Three Picks Exploring “new to me” music often forces me to confront my own biases if not outright ignorance. If you asked me how much jazz I listen to, I’d say very little these days. Sure, I’ve gone through many of the highly regarded “audiophile” favorites and warhorses, usually in the form of reissues from the likes of Analogue Productions (Sonny Rollins “Way Out West” cut at 45rpm is spectacular despite the hard panning characteristic of many early stereo recordings), or other labels, e.g. Music Matters. I have quite a pile of traditional jazz,... Read More
Flower Travellin’ Band- Satori
Flower Travellin’ Band- Satori I never delved deeply into the Japanese psych scene, and this album probably serves as good a gateway as any—it is amalgam of powerful vocals, deranged guitar licks and an unholy mix of metal and the occasional Eastern motif, blended with a blues riff or two, and a lot of aggression. Fronted by singer Akira Yamanka a/k/a “Joe,” who also had a career as a movie tough guy, it’s not easy to put a label on this creation. It was apparently recorded quickly, and the version sold in North America is different, containing... Read More
From the Gulch to the Delta
From the Gulch to the Delta- On Pawn~ in Asheville, N.C. We are down in the Gulch, Nashville’s newest “hot” urban enclave, bubbling with fashionable boutiques and trendy nightspots. Our trip from Virginia was uneventful, if wet; the views along the higher ridges were hampered by fog. With a brief stay-over in Winston-Salem, a quiet town of old architectural gems (and one of the best café lattes ever, at a place called “The Hive”), we landed in Asheville. This is a vibrant city nestled into the Blue Ridge Mountains with the charm of the south but a distinct culture all its own.... Read More
The War of Fog
The War of Fog -Adventures in Audiophile Moving. For forty days and nights, we’ve been packing boxes and squaring away our Hudson River home for sale to the new owners: roughly 12,000 records have gone through my hands recently; a few thousand left a while ago, and are now in the hands of a friend who returned to vinyl; as many were handed off to a wholesaler who dealt with the listings and shipping (none of the really rare stuff got sold, so you didn’t miss a thing). The wholesaler came back a couple weeks ago to take another 2,000 records out of here. That left me with about 6,000... Read More
Songs in the Key of Wonder
Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life In spite of his considerable talents, a vast body of commercially successful recordings spanning the decades and enduring recognition from the time he first appeared on Motown’s Tamla roster as “Little Stevie Wonder” at the age of 11, I still think Stevie Wonder is vastly underrated as a composer and performer. His maturation as a gifted writer and musician not only helped redefine the sound of “soul” and popular music in the ’60s, but led to a period of deeper, more introspective music in the ’70s... Read More
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