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A History of Ultrasonic Record Cleaning

A History of Ultrasonic Record Cleaning Despite the attention paid to ultrasonic record cleaning in the last few years, including the various DIY efforts that have broadened its appeal due to lower cost (as well as providing a more flexible feature set than some of the commercial entries), little has been said about the history of ultrasonic cleaning for records. Mike Bodell changes that with a paper entitled “The Curious Case Of Record Cleaning In The Quest For Sonic Perfection” which is being published here for the first time. Mike, who has both a science and business background, came to the subject with an open mind, a curiosity borne out of strong interest (including self-interest: he wanted clean records) and a technical background that caused him to dig deep. “The Curious Case…” is a fascinating read on several fronts: first, we learn that there were early efforts to … [Read More...]

Comus: First Utterance- Part II: Interview with Members of Comus About the Album

Comus: First Utterance- Part II: Interview with Members of Comus About the Album Following the publication here last week of Comus- First Utterance (consisting of an overview of the LP, its reissue and legacy), An Interview with Members of Comus has now been published. It is integrated into the first article as Part II and can be accessed directly (if you already read Part I and want to go directly to the interview(s)) by clicking on the hyperlinked text in the preceding sentence. The interview is really a series of viewpoints from different band members and, like the album itself, offers some starkly different perspectives that ultimately cohere into a larger narrative; about the band, the making of the record and the creators’ individual views of its importance, then and now. This is a fascinating look behind a recording that stands as a milestone in the recorded … [Read More...]

More Tima- More In-Depth Knowledge on Ultrasonic Record Cleaning

More Tima- More In-Depth Knowledge on Ultrasonic Record Cleaning Readers are probably familiar with the contributions of Tim Aucremann a/k/a Tima on the subject of DIY ultrasonic record cleaning. Tima’s latest installment reflects considerable hands-on evaluation of methods and in-depth research on matters such as water purity and filtering. The latest installment, follow-up #2, is published here. It’s a worthy addition to the knowledge base. A lot of LP owners have jumped on board the DIY RCM approach, but questions abound. If you haven’t read Tima’s earlier installments, I suggest you start there (they are linked within his follow-up #2 article). This latest article advances the game--better results as a function of better processes, including water filtration methods. You can tell Tima was a philosophy major—his reflections on the “why?” of things led him to seek … [Read More...]

Psych Folk

Psych Folk Soon to be published here is the first in a series of articles, essays and interviews about psych or “freak folk.” This sub-genre, which was borne out of the folk revival of the ‘60s, had many progenitors and its influence is even stronger now in contemporary works from a range of artists, including Meg Baird, now associated with the hard psych band Heron Oblivion. I’m not a stickler for genre classifications; to the contrary, during the period when this music was first being created, boundaries were crossed and genres were pretty much ignored, which is one of the reasons why the music has a timeless quality. I’m not going to attempt to document the musical history of the movement in great detail—there were many artists in the United States and in the UK (and elsewhere) who contributed significantly to its genesis. Instead, I’ve chosen some records and artists … [Read More...]

The Vinyl Press Goes Digital!

The Vinyl Press Goes Digital! Not for all purposes, all the time, but I resisted the pull of digital media in my main system until now. Why? I didn’t have a very good impression of the sound of CD when it was first introduced. Although I was aware of the improvements wrought by better players, DACs and hi-res, I succeeded in ignoring the audiophile digital side, until now. Why the change? Many of the reissues of rare old albums are taken from digital copies of the master tapes; though I like “all analog,” it simply isn’t realistic if you want to have access to a broader array of music. Some of these vinyl rarities are now in four figure territory which puts them out of reach for most; some have never been reissued on vinyl, digitally sourced or otherwise. But, in some instances, CDs were made early on during the initial growth of the medium and offer a good, sometimes … [Read More...]