Opening the Door to Comments! When this site launched, it did not include any facility for user comments. I didn’t want to bother moderating comments, and had enough work just assembling content. But now, almost two years into publishing TheVinylPress, I’m willing to experiment a bit, so some articles will now include a comments feature. If you want to post a comment, you will have to register. (Registration and login links are at the bottom of the page in the “black bar”). Initial comments may be put into a queue until you are validated as a user. And, at least... Read More
Milt Ward Virgo Reissue Coming from Frederiksberg
Although I don’t have all the details yet, I have learned that Frederiksberg Records, a small, eclectic label from New York, is in the process of reissuing the hard to find (and even harder to pay for) jazz obscurity, Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum. You can find out more by keeping tabs on Frederiksberg’s Bandcamp page, https://frederiksbergrecords.bandcamp.com I’m told there is a bootleg out there so be careful. Frederiksberg is doing this project with the participation of the family of Milt Ward, which is to be applauded. Hopefully, this will give more access to a... Read More
Clem Snide- Forever Just Beyond
Clem Snide- Forever Just Beyond With a name derived from a character in the same literary work as the band name so famously identified with the Walter Becker-Donald Fagen duo, Clem Snide has an extensive discography, typically cataloged as “alt country.” This latest release is the work of one of its founding members, Eef Barzelay, who was responsible for much of the songwriting and singing. According to his bio, Barzelay suffered some serious bumps in the road during the last decade, including a failing marriage and financial ruin. At the same time, he learned that Scott Avett was a... Read More
Muriel Grossmann- Reverence
Muriel Grossmann- Reverence Muriel Grossmann continues her quest for musical ascension on Reverence, which was released on vinyl in early December, 2019 on the RR Gems label as a 2 LP set. The compositions are Grossmann’s, and the band is much the same as the group of seasoned musicians with whom she has worked for some time (and detailed in the review of her Golden Rule), but for one notable exception: the addition of a keyboard player who brings that rich, woody Hammond B-3 sound to a series of compositions devoted to Africa. In some ways, Ms. Grossmann’s exploration of the roots of... Read More
Stylus Life- StylusTimer
Stylus Life- StylusTimer Stylus life is a recurring question in audio discussions. Some serious attention was devoted to the subject here, in Mike Bodell’s “The Finish Line for Your Phono Stylus.” That article examined the issue from a number of perspectives, including early studies, claims by cartridge manufacturers and real-life experiences by users. It also generated a long, interesting thread on the Steve Hoffman forum that is worthwhile to read. The Hoffman thread also generated an experiment by Ray Parkhurst who documented the wear of a new stylus under certain controlled... Read More
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... 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... 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:... 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... Read More
Stylus Wear – Mike Bodell’s “The Finish Line for Your Phonograph Stylus”
Stylus Wear in Vinyl LP Playback- Mike Bodell’s “The Finish Line for Your Phonograph Stylus” One thing all of us who play vinyl LPs share, no matter how basic or esoteric the turntable/tonearm and phono stage, is our reliance on the phono cartridge. These intriguing little devices not only make a significant contribution to the sound quality we experience, but are the first interface with the record, functioning as a transducer to convert tiny inscriptions in the groove into an electrical signal that eventually gets equalized, amplified and re-transduced from an... Read More
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