LATEST ADDITIONS

 |  May 01, 2005  |  0 comments

First issued on Premonition CD in 1994 and later on limited edition LP (licensed by Music Direct, which now owns the Mobile Fidelity name) with three tracks deleted due to space limitations, and then on Mo-Fi SACD, Café Blue now gets the 3 LP 45rpm treatment, _ speed mastered by Paul Stubblebine using Mobile Fidelity's Gain 2 Ultra Analog System™.

Michael Fremer  |  May 01, 2005  |  1 comments

If Travelling On With The Weavers is the original “Kumbaya Moment,” this live album recorded in 1962 is the “Kumbaya Follow Up Moment.” The first live concert I every attended was Joan Baez at Town Hall in New York City in 1962 or 3. I was in high school but until that night, had never seen unshaven legs and armpits. I mean on girls. I'd never seen moustaches before, either and again I mean on girls. But there they were! Loitering in the balcony foyer. I can still smell the Patchouli oil and what lurked just beyond. Maybe I was just imagining that.

Michael Fremer  |  May 01, 2005  |  0 comments

The three new Chesky works on this stupendous-sounding disc are easily his boldest, most ingenuous and fully realized compositions yet. One needn't be a classical music critic-and I've never claimed to be one-or even an experienced classical music listener (a claim I can make), to immediately grasp and appreciate both the conceptual audacity of the music, which melds traditional classical motifs with flamenco accents, South American folk music and contemporary jazz, and the skill displayed by the composer in weaving the thread of his concept throughout the three pieces. If you want a high-concept one line “treatment,” how about “Chesky and Stravinsky Joyride South of the Border and Return to New York to write up the trip?”

Brent Raynor  |  May 01, 2005  |  0 comments

Imagine a world where The Electric Prunes sell-out large arenas with outrageous ticket prices and Don Henley and Glenn Frey are more than happy to honor your request for "Southern Man" at the Barstow Holiday Inn.  Imagine Dr. Byrds And Mr. Hyde selling more copies than Mr. Tambourine Man by a large margin.  Now, imagine hearing a direct and natural link between Black Flag and The Flying Burrito Brothers while defending Meat Puppets II as one of the best country albums ever to anyone who'll listen, and you may just be ready to enter the peculiar world of The Sadies.

Michael Fremer  |  May 01, 2005  |  0 comments

Time was, and not that long ago (well a decade or so ago), when you could easily find original pressings of this breezy addition to Ella's song book series, either as a double LP set or as two individual volumes. Fitzgerald was as much a popular singer as a jazz great, appearing often on popular venues like The Ed Sullivan Show, so her LP sales were brisk—especially the Verve songbooks. I found my original copies of these at a house in Hackensack, NJ fifteen years ago. What an Ella find that garage sale was! A real fan was jettisoning her LP collection and I was more than happy to oblige for a buck apiece.

Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2005  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments

(This Interview originally appeared in Volume 1, issues 5/6 of The Tracking Angle, published in the winter of 1995/96)

Ever hear an LP copy of Maurice Jarré's soundtrack to "Dr. Zhivago"? It was released by MGM during the label's "Sounds Great In Stereo" era. They'd put that statement on the record jacket whether or not what was inside was really recorded in stereo. "It would sound great if it had been recorded in stereo, but unfortunately, it wasn't, " is what MGM meant to put on the cover, I'm sure, but they probably didn't have room.

Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2005  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments

M.F.: I remember when we were working on "Tron" we were in London in the Royal Albert Hall, we had about 108 pieces waiting, and the guy's sitting up at the organ waiting, while a fight broke out between Wendy Carlos and her associate on one side, and a guy named John Mosley who we'd hired to supervise the recording sessions. And there was a copy of the score being pulled back and forth till it just about ripped in half, so that was a swell time.

S.M.:All about how it was gonna be done?

M.F.:How it was gonna be miked, and.....

S.M.:Yeah, you see that's not the time to have the discussion.

Robert J. Reina  |  Apr 30, 2005  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  1 comments

For those who want to collect all of Wilson's recorded work, and are willing to put in the effort, I thought I'd describe Wilson's other recordings not already mentioned.

Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2005  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments

Years before Burt Bacarach became "hip" once again, well before he had a part in an Austin Powers movie, or wrote songs with Elvis Costello and Ronald Isley, your editor interviewed him. Bacharach's insight into music writing, recording and performing are still fascinating.—MF

In 1970, Simon and Schuster published a book called " How to do Almost Everything" written by syndicated columnist Bert Bacharach. The title refers to a collection of helpful home hints, not son Burt's musical career, but it might as well have.

Michael Fremer  |  Apr 03, 2005  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments
Audio Research's long-promised "final statement" phono preamplifier has finally arrived, and its price is $3500 less than the originally rumored $10,000. That's a pleasant deviation from the audiophile norm, but at $6495, the Reference phono still boasts a steep ticket. That's more than twice the price of the $2495 PH3 SE, AR's previous best—a class sonic act itself.

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