LATEST ADDITIONS

Album Reviews
Cassandra Wilson's "Belly of the Sun" Finally Issued on AAA Double Vinyl
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 19, 2013
Back in 2002 the adventurous, eclectic jazz singer Cassandra Wilson returned to her home state of Mississippi to record this album in the Clarksdale train depot as well as in a boxcar not far from the now immortalized "crossroads" where, as legend has it, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil.
Continue Reading »
Album Reviews
"Heartworn Highways" May Be Out of Print But Copies Are Still Stocked Somewhere (Or Other)
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 19, 2013
The documentary "Heartworn Highways" produced and directed in the mid-1970s by James Szalapski but not released until 1981 documented the rise of a generation of singer-songwriters that included Steve Earle, the late Townes Van Zandt, David Allan Coe, Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, Steve Young and Charlie Daniels.
Continue Reading »
News
Classical Pianist and YouTube Phenom To Issue New Liszt Recording in Digital and Pure Analog
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 19, 2013  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
The Ukranian pianist Valentina Lisitsa, who has more than 30 million YouTube channel views (and you thought classical music was 'dead'?) and is currently signed to Decca Records, will soon issue a collection of Liszt pieces recorded two different ways: digitally and all-analog with no edits, recorded from the same set of microphones.
Continue Reading »
News
Howard Stern Crapped All Over Me Today. I'm Still Smiling
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 18, 2013  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
Howard Stern crapped all over me today on his radio show. The opening salvo came just after he admitted that he really doesn't listen to music anymore, couldn't care less and couldn't bring himself to play David Bowie's new album.
Continue Reading »
News
I Messed Up! I was on "For What It's Worth" Last Night...Not Next Week (online link to show in comments)
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 15, 2013  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
Oh well. My segment on Gary Dell'Abbate's and Jon Hein's VH-1 Classic TV show "For What It's Worth" aired last night. I thought it was next Thursday evening.
Continue Reading »
News
Pressing Issue With U.S. Edition of The Bryan Ferry Orchestra's "The Jazz Age" (Updated 3/14/13)
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 12, 2013  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
Whether or not you appreciate the mono "old 78rpm" sound of Bryan Ferry's re-imagining of songs from his catalog as "jazz age" singles (I do so far), I came upon a serious pressing problem on side two track three that I brought up to Bob Ludwig, who gets mastering credit because I honestly wasn't sure if it was part of the " retro-plan" or a genuine pressing problem. In part that's because there's absolutely nothing visible to indicate a problem.
Continue Reading »
Record Buying Tips
Decca/London Records Myths Exploded!
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 02, 2013  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
It's time to put to bed a long standing record myth: that UK Decca and UK-pressed London records are different pressings, even if they have the same matrix numbers, mother numbers and stamper numbers. This myth has persisted for a very long time, fed by people who claim to hear differences between such records even when the information in the lead-out groove area is identical.
Continue Reading »
Album Reviews
Richard Thompson's "Electric" Continues Celtic Mayhem Chronicles
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 26, 2013
Sexual obsession, ugly betrayals, bitter kiss-offs, working men's tribulations, murder and mayhem— all of the traditional British balladry fare continue to preoccupy Richard Thompson as they have for decades. While he's moved on occasion through musical fashion, he always manages to return, as he does here, to his ground zero (dis)comfort zone.
Continue Reading »
Album Reviews
Prokofiev's "Love For Three Oranges" Plays Cinematic Mind Games
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 23, 2013
Everyone knows that composer John Williams cribbed Holst's "The Planets" for his "Star Wars" soundtrack. Fewer know that the main theme and even the arrangement for "Star Wars" is almost a complete rip of Eric Wolfgang Korngold's score for the movie "King's Row" starring Ronald Reagan, Ann Sheridan and Robert Cummings. People absolutely freak out when I play it for them.
Continue Reading »
News
First 27 Analog Corners Served Up on Analog Planet
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 22, 2013  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
The first 27 of the hundreds of Analog Corners written for Stereophile have now been published on this site with many new accompanying photos courtesy of Ariel Bitran, Stereophile's hard working editorial assistant.
Continue Reading »

Pages

X