Michael Fremer

Michael Fremer  |  Sep 03, 2012  |  5 comments
Brian Eno's early influences include John Cage, Steve Reich and other minimalists. He was more art than rocker. In 1971 when he joined forces with Bryan Ferry's Roxy Music he was more a knob twiddler than a musician. He worked saxophonist Andy Mackay's VCS3 synthesizer and along with a pair of Revox A77s provided the electronic sounds and "tape treatments" that on the group's first two albums, helped create Roxy Music's unique sound.

Michael Fremer  |  Sep 03, 2012  |  8 comments
The great Mexican-American roots-rocker Alejandro Escovedo is back with yet another great, hard rocking yet deeply thoughtful album, his second with veteran producer Tony Visconti. Visconti goes all the way back to David Bowie's epic The Man Who Sold the World and if you hear echoes of that album on some tracks here, like the haunting background voices on "Sally Was a Cop", the album's most powerful song, it's not a coincidence.

Michael Fremer  |  Aug 30, 2012  |  7 comments
The fourth Doors album was not particularly well-received when first issued in 1969. The inclusion of horns and strings was for many a deal breaker, but what really made more pull back was the sense of a less than fully integrated ensemble appearing to come apart at the seams.

Michael Fremer  |  Aug 30, 2012  |  9 comments
Pro-Ject's $299 Essential costs 25% less than the recently reviewed Carbon. So what don'tyou get for your minus $100?

Michael Fremer  |  Aug 28, 2012  |  14 comments
The stereo mix of Pet Sounds issued on SACD by Mobile Fidelity and on vinyl by Capitol a few years ago is interesting and was well done, but Brian mixed it and intended it to be listened to in mono, which is how it was originally released back in 1966.

Michael Fremer  |  Aug 28, 2012  |  9 comments
When it seemed as if my Lyra Titan had at least 1000 hours on it I figured it was time for a re-tip. I took a USB digital microscope image and posted it on this site. I thought it showed some wear but before sending it back to Lyra, I sent it to my friend Wally who produced much better and more definitive images using an optical set-up.

Michael Fremer  |  Aug 27, 2012  |  16 comments
Dear Michael:

You wrote the following on your website:

"I’ve never gotten an email or letter along the lines of 'Dear Mikey: I took the plunge and bought a turntable. What a waste of money. Records sound terrible. You’re nuts.'"

Well, here's your first. Or a close approximation.

Michael Fremer  |  Aug 26, 2012  |  7 comments
Mrs. Willke does not perform the first version of "#9" on the second album of the two LP set How To Teach Children The Wonder of Sex. However, both she and Dr. Willke make a lot of sense on the second album of this two LP set.

Michael Fremer  |  Aug 25, 2012  |  4 comments
Dr. and Mrs' J.C. Willke's double LP set "How to Teach Children The Wonder of Sex" is taken from a videotape of a lecture given by the couple to the faculty and staff of the University of Kentucky Medical Center back in 1966.

Michael Fremer  |  Aug 23, 2012  |  22 comments
ometimes a large record collection yields up unexpected treasures. Last week Tea Party/GOP Missouri Congressman Todd Akins asserted in a television interview that when it comes to rape, “The female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

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