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Head Wondermint Discusses Taking Brian Wilson's Smile on the Road

Matthew Greenwald | Jan 31, 2005 | 0 comments

Wondermint vocalist/vibes/keyboardist Darian Sahanaja, a member of the Wondermints—Brian Wilson's live back-up group— speaks with Matthew Greenwald about his job as Brian Wilson's "musical secretary," and about the restoration and creation of Wilson's legendary Smile album for both live and studio presentation.

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High Drama at Chasing the Dragon's AIR Studios Direct-to-Disc Recording Session Part 2

Michael Fremer | Feb 22, 2017 | 8 comments

The orchestra rehearses downstairs while upstairs the mastering room engineers record and play back a test lacquer.

Finally, it's time for a recorded take of the

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"Carmen" excerpts with Mezzo-Soprano Rosie Middleton. The tension is palpable in both the control room and upstairs. It's quickly clear that the free-spirited rehearsal has given way to a darker, more constrained performance that satisfies no one, especially Ms. Middleton.

os-direct-disc-recording-session-part-2">Continue Reading »

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Horace Tapscott, Tom Albach and the Story of Nimbus West Records Joseph W. Washek | Dec 18, 2021 | 14 comments

If you’re a musician making albums and you’re not a major pop/rock star or you don’t own your own label, the money you make comes with strings attached. To some, they may be invisible—"Hey, that’s what you do to sell records. Right?” To Horace Tapscott, the strings were all too visible and entangling. He wasn’t going to be a puppet dancing for the record companies and the whole system of which they were part.

-nimbus-west-records">Continue Reading »

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How Does That $28,000 SAT Pick Up Arm Sound? Michael Fremer | Jul 11, 2015 | 62 comments

The July, 2015 Stereophile included a review of the $28,000 Swedish Audio Technologies pick up arm. Yes, the price is outrageous but it's difficult to manufacture and doesn't come off an assembly line.

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How Long Do Lacquers Really Last? Michael Fremer | Nov 26, 2021 | 54 comments

How long do lacquers really last? The recent Supersense announcement that it would be releasing lacquers cut sourced from 1:1 master tape copies (the original announcement made it seem as if the company was claiming to be using actual master tapes, which made zero sense and was obviously not the case), produced a torrent of objections and outrage on this website under the original post and on the YouTube channel of record dealer The In Groove.

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I Blew My MTV Audition Michael Fremer | Nov 30, 2009 | 0 comments

Back in 1980 or so, in Los Angeles, I had a disastrous try-out to be one of the original MTV VJs. I had no idea what the content was going to be, but having been on the radio and having done stand-up, I figured why not try out? By the time I wrote the article below, which appeared in Los Angeles music magazine "Music Connection" the week of April 12th-25th 1984 (25 years ago!), MTV had gone from pretty bad to much worse. So I wrote this arbor of sour grapes that I thought you might find amusing now that MTV is no longer about music.-Ed.

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I Love the Music of Esquivel: So Zu Me! Frank Doris | Jan 31, 2005 | 0 comments

Esquivel: Other Voices, Other Sounds/Four Corners of the World

Bar/None AHAON-090

Esquivel: Exploring New Sounds in Stereo/Strings Aflame

Bar/None AHAON-091

Esquivel: Infinity in Sound, Volume 1/Infinity in Sound, Volume 2

Bar/None AHAON-003

(1 and 2) Produced by Johnny Camacho, (3) produced by Neely Plumb

Reissue Supervision: Paul Williams for House of Hits Productions, Ltd.

Digital transfers by Mike Hartrey

Digitally remastered by dbs Digital, Hoboken, NJ

This whole Cocktail Nation, Space Age Bachelor Pad Music revival thing strikes me with extreme bemusement. All of a sudden, a new generation discovers and decides that what was once unhip is now the coolest-whether martinis, leopard skin, kitschy Fifties furniture-or the “easy listening” instrumental music popular at the dawn of the Stereo Age.

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In “The Valley”, Mastering Engineer Kevin Gray Opens Cohearent Recording A/K/A “Hackensack West"

Michael Fremer | Jan 10, 2022 | 15 comments

Rudy Van Gelder turned his parents’ cozy Hackensack, N.J. living room into a recording studio in which was produced, recorded and mastered some of Blue Note and Prestige’s most iconic and sought-after records, or so the legend goes.

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Jazzhaus Presents On 180 Gram Vinyl First Wave of Heretofore Unreleased Post WW II Jazz Recordings

Michael Fremer | Jan 29, 2014 | 8 comments

During the late 1940s, ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s American jazz musicians and groups toured Europe and the world, usually to greater appreciation and acclaim than they received back home. Sad but true. Some moved overseas where they were treated with greater respect than they received at home but that’s another story.

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Jim Hagerman's Tips To Remove Noise From Your Vinyl Playback System

Michael Fremer | Oct 06, 2017 | 7 comments

Phono specialist/electronics designer Jim Hagerman of Hagerman Audio Labs recently published a PDF file containing really useful tips for reducing and hopefully removing from your system hum and other forms of phono playback noise pollution.

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Joe Boyd: collectors choice

Michael Fremer | Jun 30, 2003 | 0 comments

Michael Fremer picks favorites from the rich Joe Boyd discography

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John Hartford---Catalogue---Flying Fish 259---The Records You Didn’t Know You Needed #9

Joseph W. Washek | Jan 24, 2022 | 17 comments

John Hartford (1937-2001) wrote “Gentle On My Mind” which won four Grammys, was chosen by BMI as the #16 Song Of The Century, was in 1990, the fourth most played song in the history of radio, has been covered by dozens, including Elvis, Sinatra and REM and by 2017 had been downloaded 250,00+ times. He was a regular on The Smothers Brothers, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour and the Johnny Cash TV shows. Between 1967 and 1970, he recorded seven albums for RCA which are an uncategorizable mixture of folk, rock, country, bluegrass, easy listening, psychedelic-folk and just plain oddness. If that wasn’t enough, he got hip credentialled by playing on The Byrds’ Sweetheart of The Rodeo LP.

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Kaikhosru Sorabji: Adventures in Extreme Piano

Steve Taylor | Sep 30, 2003 | 0 comments

Editor's Note: I am pleased to post this new piece by one of The Tracking Angle's most fearless and original writers, Steve Taylor. When he wrote for The Tracking Angle, Taylor almost always covered lesser known groups and composers. Taylor managed to convey the color, emotional content and meaning of unfamiliar, and often difficult music with great clarity and infectious enthusiasm. With this overview of the composer Kaikhosru Sorabji, Taylor picks up where he left off. We are fortunate to have him back, and hope you agree.

As with the Charles Lloyd piece, because of technical limitations, images of the pianist Michael Habermann and available album cover art will be found in the "Photo Gallery," accessible at the bottom left hand side of the home page.—MF

Album Reviews Features

Kanye West’s Donda 2 : Unfinished & Uncomfortable (+ Stem Player Review)

Malachi Lui | Mar 24, 2022 | 52 comments

Mere months after his patience-testing yet rewarding opus Donda, Kanye West is back with its lazily titled sequel, Donda 2. Don’t expect to find it on streaming platforms or in record stores, however. The artist now legally known as Ye instead independently released it exclusively on the $200 Stem Player, a proprietary, Yeezy Tech- and Kano-developed device that allows users tactile interaction with his last three albums (more about that later). Most of Donda 2’s media coverage centers around the Stem Player situation, how everyone thinks Kanye is “crazy” to so highly value his art by making everyone pay $200 for it. Yet, Donda 2 itself doesn’t cost $200; it’s a free download accessible only via the $200 Stem Player, meaning he doesn’t technically have to pay anyone royalties or sample clearances. Kanye would tell you he’s winning, except it’s his own game designed to eliminate any threat of competition. (Either way, Billboard ruled the album ineligible to chart. Kanye’s decision to keep Donda 2 off streaming is immensely respectable, though I wish he also put out a more convenient $20 CD or tape.)

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Keith Carlock

Michael Fremer | Jul 01, 2007 | 0 comments

Eager anticipation turned into bitter disappointment early as Steely Dan played its final Beacon Theater (NY) concert last night (June 13th 2007). Opening tunes can’t be counted upon for greatness, as the band warms up and the mixer dials in the sound, but unfortunately, last night’s thin, sizzly, musically disjointed opener set the stage for an evening of thudding, overblown drumming, and an excruciatingly thin, sizzly, sibilant vocal mix on Donald Fagen’s clearly fatigued voice.

Obviously, drummer Keith Carlock is a talented and energetic drummer, but his playing last night had very little to do with Steely Dan’s slinky, insinuating sound, and much more to do with a Heavy Metal concert.

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