Peter Ledermann’s Direct Grace Records Most of us know of Peter Ledermann through his Soundsmith company, one of the small handful of companies that “retips” phono cartridges. In more recent years, Peter has proven to be a prolific innovator of a range of phono cartridges and accessories. But, did you know Peter also had a record label? One that produces and distributes direct to disc records? It’s called Direct Grace Records. http://www.directgrace.org/Home.html Direct to disc records have, in my experience, been some of the best sounding LPs I have heard. Sadly, many are... Read More
Leaf Hound- Growers of Mushroom; Famous Obscurity; Interview with Peter French
Leaf Hound- Growers of Mushroom; Famous Obscurity; Interview with Peter French Some albums develop a mythology based on rarity, the relative lack of commercial impact at the time of release and later recognition as an influence to other, more well known records by other bands. Leaf Hound’s “Growers of Mushroom” is one such album. It’s a famously “obscure” album, with original copies easily fetching well over $3,000 US. Apart from its desirability as a collectible, it’s actually a great hard rock album, its members drawn from Black Cat Bones,... Read More
David Lindley- El Rayo-X Speakers Corner Re-Master
David Lindley- El Rayo-X Speakers Corner Re-Master David Lindley is a national treasure. He’s been doing this a long time, and has appeared on a lot of famous records, including a number of the big hit albums starting in the ‘70s, many from musicians based or recorded in Los Angeles: Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Terry Reid, Graham Nash, Little Feat and hundreds of other records (and as many live appearances) as a sideman wielding a variety of stringed instruments. He’s had bands (Kaleidiscope; El Rayo-X) and still tours, often as a one-man show. I’ve... Read More
Airtight Supreme v Monster Alpha Genesis 1000 (WuT?) Or the Path to Older Phono Cartridges….
Airtight Supreme v Monster Alpha Genesis 1000 (WuT?) Or the Path to Older Phono Cartridges…. I know, this seems like a stupid comparison, but bear with me. My Airtight Supreme phono cartridge is aging and I’m looking to replace it. The price of the top tier cartridges, like Airgtight’s Opus, their current flagship, is just prohibitive when you consider that it is a consumable. Much as I’ve winced at cartridge pricing in the past, I’ve just bitten the bullet—when I upgraded from my original Airtight PC-1 to the Supreme some years ago, the improvement was... Read More
Nathan Davis- The 6th Sense in the 11th House
Nathan Davis- The 6th Sense in the 11th House Life is a wonderfully strange thing sometimes, small worlds and hidden treasures in plain sight: I had been hunting for copy of Nathan Davis’ The 6th Sense in the 11thHouse, released in 1972. The record, if not rare, doesn’t seem to be all that common or well-known in the audiophile community. There was a promo copy on Discogs for stupid money, and I kept my eye out. One night, sleepless, I hit e-Bay to set up a search/alert for the record when up popped a “New Listing” for a sealed promo copy for very reasonable... Read More
Muriel Grossmann and The Golden Rule
Muriel Grossmann and The Golden Rule There is something very alluring about the sounds Muriel Grossmann evokes on Golden Rule, her latest album, the first she has released on vinyl, and the third in a trilogy with a band consisting of Gina Schwarz on bass, Uros Stamenkovic on drums, and Radomir Milojkovic on guitar. Grossmann, born in Paris but living in Ibiza, has been able to capture the melodic style of, say, a Lester Young with the more ethereal sounds of Coltrane, who is often credited as an originator of the “spiritual jazz” movement. What you hear is a muscular tenor... Read More
The Analog Relax Record Brush
The Analog Relax Record Brush I have had an unhappy relationship with “dry” record brushes over the many years I used them. Such brushes don’t seem to do an effective job of removing surface detritus and despite the “anti-static” moniker applied to some, I have found that dry brushing can generate, rather than mitigate, a static charge. Some also shed fibers. As explained below, I eventually abandoned dry brushing altogether, instead using an “air puffer” to address any surface lint that was introduced after the records had been thoroughly cleaned using a combination of... Read More
AIR-AIR Revisited; Comparison of Pressings; Interview with Tom Coppola
AIR-AIR Revisited: Comparison of Be With Records Vinyl Reissue to Original Embryo Pressing; Interview with Tom Coppola Tom Coppola, Googie Coppola and Dave Johnson (photo by Fred Ahlert, courtesy Tom Coppola) When I reviewed the 2016 Be With Records reissue of AIR on vinyl, I promised to compare it to an original pressing; I thought the reissue was quite good, even though derived from a digital transfer. The original, on the Embryo label, although not exactly rare, does command a price these days. I borrowed a copy of the original... Read More
KEN GOLDEN: TOP PICKS FOR 2018- A LIST
KEN GOLDEN: TOP PICKS FOR 2018- A LIST : Ken Golden, who contributed a piece on “Prog Rock Obscurities” here in 2016, has been a tireless guide to the less well known, the obscure rock, jazz and hard to “genre-fy” music that has become a staple of my musical diet, gives us a holiday present in the form of his most interesting “picks” for 2018: I’m often asked to compile a year-end top 10 list and I always refrain. My memory is short and there is so much music pouring through the threshold of my business that it becomes too much work v. fun. Plus I... Read More
Black Cat Bones-Barbed Wire Sandwich
Black Cat Bones-Barbed Wire Sandwich An important album by a short-lived band known for the association of various members with a number of other early heavy rock and blues rock bands, among them, Leaf Hound, Atomic Rooster, Cactus, Foghat and Free. Kossoff and Simon Kirke, of Free, left the band before this–– the band’s sole release––was recorded but a number of the tracks have same raw swagger and unpolished sound as Tons of Sobs, Free’s first album (and, to me, Free’s best). Admittedly, there’s no Paul Rodgers here. But what is here is very, very good at times if... Read More
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- …
- 28
- Next Page »