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You are here: Home / Archives for Compendia

compendia

June 30, 2015 by Bill Hart

As the site grows, I discovered the need for a new “Category”; a place where summaries of, and links to, larger, multi-post pieces could be collected- a sort of “mini- index” for certain topics. For example, we have a survey of some of the noteworthy UK Vertigo Swirls, which includes an interview with Olav Wyper, the creator of the label, along with multiple articles and reviews about the “swirls”; a similar survey of notable Island Records pieces with various interviews, essays and reviews, and as of this writing, an effort (in multiple posts) to capture that marvelous era of... Read More

Filed Under: Compendia

Yuri Grishin- “The British Recording History”

January 2, 2016 by Bill Hart

          Yuri Grishin’s name should be familiar to some readers; he is the polymath who assembled the extensive labelographies of Island, Vertigo, Harvest and Charisma in a series entitled “The Famous British Collectable Record Labels. ” Those books–which include images of the releases, catalog numbers, details about cover art, mastering, matrix information and details on sleeves, variations in different countries, along with “inside” interviews—provide an invaluable resource to collectors, are now out of print and are themselves collectible. Grishin... Read More

Filed Under: Compendia, Ephemera

Buying Older Records- Guides, Interviews, References

August 11, 2015 by Bill Hart

Buying Older Records- Guides, Interviews, References Buying older records can be challenging, even for the well-informed collector. This will serve as an index collecting links to various articles on the site about buying older records, including guides, interviews and references. In addition to identifying noteworthy used and collectible records on the site at large,  TheVinylPress […]

Filed Under: Compendia

Summary of Articles: Warner Records-The “Green Label” Era (and Beyond)

July 6, 2015 by Bill Hart

  This contains a summary of links to various articles, reviews and other pieces concerning the Warner “Green Label” Era (and Beyond). Affiliated labels, like Reprise and Asylum, are also included. Atlantic will probably be covered separately at some point.

Filed Under: Compendia

Summary of Articles Re: Island Records- The “Pink Label” Era

July 6, 2015 by Bill Hart

This collects in one place, the various articles, essays and interviews on the Island “pink label” and early “pink rim” era. It will be updated as additional, related pieces are posted, to make it easy for readers to find all articles on the subject in one place on the site.

Filed Under: Compendia

Vertigo Swirl-Summary of Articles on TheVinylPress.com

May 23, 2015 by Bill Hart

As more material is published to this site,[1] I thought it would help readers to have ready access-with links- to those pieces that are part of the series of related articles on Vertigo Swirl. Thus:  

Filed Under: Compendia, In Brief

In Brief:

Incoming! (More Interesting Records)

Incoming! (More Interesting Records)  An "interesting record" to me offers something unexpected, whether it is a fresh take on a recognized genre, or something that opens a new way of experiencing instruments in combination. It does not have to be "strange" or challenging to listen to; in fact, I'm a sucker for a good melodic hook and enjoy technical prowess as much as anybody, but there has got to be something "more"-- an intangible that differentiates the record from the millions of others to which we all have access.   As mentioned in a recent editorial, a lot of records come in and not all get written up. It’s not an editorial decision or any reflection of the music or sonics; I only have so much time, and I tend not to write short blurbs, but longer (some may say ‘too long’) reviews. My “incoming” piles continue to grow as I publish. This series of short capsules is meant to … [Read More...]

More on Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum

More on Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum Courtesy of Bill Pierce, the former Chair of Woodwinds at Berklee. Pierce worked with Milt Ward in the late ‘60s, including a stint as part of the horn section for Stevie Wonder. Pierce figures prominently on the album, Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum; I have added his recollections to the feature article.   (Scroll down to the bottom of the article). My thanks to Bill Pierce, whose band, the Ralph Peterson Messenger Legacy, is currently active and touring.     … [Read More...]

A Phono Bargain or Three

A Phono Bargain or Three The ever-resourceful Steve Leung (VAS) built me a Franken-Denon 103, repotted in a wooden body with a micro-ridge stylus. In my estimation, it's a phono bargain, given its performance. Wonderful tone and an advanced stylus shape. I have zero experience with stock Denon 103 cartridges, a perennial favorite among budgeteers and tweakers. This Franken-cartridge took advantage of various tweaks that have been performed by DIY'ers and retipping shops over the years-- rebodying the cartridge, using elastomers to 'pot' the cartridge motor assembly into a new body and retipping the old school conical stylus with a more modern profile. Steve did it all in one swoop for me. I didn't even have to supply the stock Denon- he sourced it and did his thing. Set up on a Kuzma 4 Point 9, which is  currently mounted on my vintage Technics SP-10, I’ve now got the vintage Quad ESL … [Read More...]

A Running Experiment on Stylus Wear

A Running Experiment on Stylus Wear The Finish Line article by Mike Bodell has generated a fair amount of attention on various audio chat boards, including the Hoffman forum where I posted the article.  One outgrowth of that thread was Ray Parkhurst’s decision to do a bit of informal testing, using a fresh stylus and examining wear at different time intervals.  (Ray, as you may remember, helped Mike with the macrophotography in his piece). Here’s where that part of the discussion and Ray’s reports begin: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-finish-line-for-your-phono-cartridge-stylus-wear-by-mike-bodell.842572/page-17#post-21738520   For the purposes of Ray’s experiment, he’s using the following set up: Empire 480LT Cartridge 0.2mil x 0.7mil Elliptical Stylus Tracking force 1.25g Technics SL-10 Turntable   Obviously, there are a number of factors at play. Tracking force is pretty … [Read More...]

Change is Good- From Proto-Metal to Spiritual Jazz

Change is Good- From Proto-Metal to Spiritual Jazz Spiritual jazz is something I started to focus on in just the last couple years. More recently, I’ve been writing pieces about obscure private or small label offbeat jazz- the material fits under various genre headings, including soul jazz, free jazz and other categories that aren't always fully descriptive of the music.  This isn’t as much an editorial choice as it is a reflection of my recent listening interests: the level of musicianship is high, and the production quality is often good, in part because the performances depend on non-electrified instruments and more straightforward recording techniques. This is also about the process of discovery—I had largely abandoned listening to jazz records until a few years ago when Ken Golden prompted me to start exploring ‘spiritual jazz’- a journey that took me from the Strata-East catalog … [Read More...]

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