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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Samantha Crain's Hardscrapple Tales Mesmerize
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 12, 2015
The golden gatefold cover art of Samantha Crain's Under Branch & Thorn & Tree makes clear that this is not a collection of "good times" tunes, but one is still left unprepared for the relentlessly bleak stories of betrayal, despair and desolation Crain delivers in an often pain-wracked voice that's somehow wrapped in a soothing, mesmerizing balm.

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AAA VinylAlbum ReviewsShort Cuts
Short Cuts, Vol. 19: Six Great, Recently Reissued 180g LPs From Blues Giants Albert King, Jimmy Reed, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Skip James, Blind Gary Davis, and B.B. King
Mark Smotroff  |  Jan 03, 2025

Our first Short Cuts combo-review entry of 2025 covers six recent blues reissues — five from the Bluesville Series from Craft Recordings, plus one archival release issued on RSD 2024 by Deep Digs/Elemental Music. Read Mark Smotroff’s Short Cuts combo review to see how many of these fine 180g LP offerings from Albert King, Jimmy Reed, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Skip James, Blind Gary Davis, and B.B. King belong in your collection. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum ReviewsShort Cuts
Short Cuts, Vol. 22, Beaucoup Blues Edition: Four Great 180g 1LP AAA Blues Reissues From John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mississippi John Hurt & Lonnie Johnson With Elmer Snowden
Mark Smotroff  |  Mar 14, 2025

Original blues vinyl pressings are cousins to jazz and soul LPs in terms of scarcity and availability in super-clean condition, just a few of the reasons why they are often super-expensive propositions in the collector’s marketplace. That all makes these four truly outstanding Acoustic Sounds-pedigreed reissues from Verve/UMe and Craft Recordings’ Bluesville series all the more important — in effect, bringing a quartet of classic LP rarities back into more widespread availability in a high-quality manner. Read Mark Smotroff’s Short Cuts combo review to see which of these four 180g 1LP AAA releases from John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mississippi John Hurt, and Lonnie Johnson With Elmer Snowden belong in your collection. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Sibelius Piano Trio Performs "The Korppoo Trio"
Michael Leser Johnson  |  Mar 20, 2022
Grammy award winning Yarlung Records out of Los Angeles California has been releasing classical music albums on CD, LP, and R2R tape since as far back as 2006, but they had somehow managed to escape my radar. Better late than never, as they possess all the ingredients necessary to delight readers of this website; including a dedication to minimalist analog recording techniques, and the curation of the finest up-and-coming classical talent working today. This label is run by people (primarily producer and engineer Bob Attiyeh) who care deeply about classical music, and are connected to first rate performers, particularly those who orbit the many concert halls of the greater Los Angeles area. In addition to running a record label, Yarlung also has an associated nonprofit called Yarlung Artists which focuses on getting promising new artists started on their touring career.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Singaporean Black Funk Surprise
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 08, 2014
31 year old Singapore-based vocalist Vanessa Fernandez is well known at home as a former member of hip-hop group Urban Xchange, known later as Parking Lot Pimp. That was more than a decade ago. More recently she's been the disc jockey "Vandetta" or "Miss Vandetta" on Mediacorp Radio's 987FM.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Smetana's "Má Vlast" Direct-to-Disc Produces A Sonic and Musical Spectacular
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 17, 2020
“I have to admit that this (D2D) recording technique was completely unknown to me before. When I ultimately realized what it entailed, I had mixed feelings at first.” So admitted Jakub Hrusa, the Bamberg Symphony’s 39 year old Czech-born conductor, who joined the orchestra in 2016. Based on the stunning musical and sonic results it was well worth whatever trepidation resulted from the decision to proceed with the recording of Czech-born Bedrich Smetana, which took place July 2th/26th, 2019 in Bamberg, Germany’s Joseph-Keilberth-Saal concert hall. (please forgive the lack of proper accents over the names).

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AAA Vinyl
Son House’s “Father of Folk Blues” Provides A Uniquely Intimate Listening Experience
Malachi Lui  |  Mar 28, 2019
Despite recording a handful of legendary Paramount Records sides in 1930, Eddie James “Son” House, Jr. vanished after his rediscovery in August 1941 by Alan Lomax. His recordings gained stature over the ensuing decades, which in 1964 lead Dick Waterman, Nick Perls, and Phil Spiro on a mission to find House. They eventually located him that June in Rochester, New York, approximately 1,000 miles from his origins in the Mississippi Delta. Following his migration, House worked as a New York Central Railroad porter, killed a man in self-defense, and perhaps most importantly in the context of this review, put down his Dobro after the death of close friend and fellow bluesman Willie Brown. However, the younger generation’s enthusiasm for House’s original recordings reinvigorated his desire to play, which he then did for the first time in seven or eight (according to the liner notes) years.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Stealers Wheel's Eponymous Debut Still Provides Dark Pleasures
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 03, 2015
Gerry Rafferty has long been under-appreciated. Oh, sure, "Stuck in the Middle" was an unlikely hit when first released by A&M in 1972 and later found its way into Quentin Tarrantino's "Reservoir Dogs" where the bouncy, anthemic, Dylanesque record company exec knock reached a new audience.

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AAA VinylALBUM RELEASE NEWS
Steely Dan’s 1975 Masterpiece Katy Lied Getting Full 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR Treatment on January 31
Mike Mettler  |  Jan 06, 2025

You can see it in their eyes, but is it really any surprise to learn that we are finally getting the much-anticipated 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR edition of Steely Dan’s rightly acclaimed March 1975 album Katy Lied on January 31, 2025? Read on to see all the UHQR tech/spec details, plus news regarding the companion 180g 1LP edition. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Steely Dan’s 200g 45rpm 2LP Aja Is the Pride of the Analogue Productions UHQR Neighborhood
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 18, 2023

Aja is the fourth (and first non-sequential) entry in Analogue Productions' comprehensive 200g 45rpm 2LP Steely Dan UHQR reissue series — and it’s possibly the most anticipated of them all. Does the UHQR edition of Aja stack up favorably with and/or sound better than the previous LP editions from the label likes of ABC, Mobile Fidelity, and Cisco? Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s in-depth review to find out if the Aja UHQR is worth every bit of those cool 1,500 dime dances it’ll run you tp pick it up (a.k.a. $150, in normal dollars parlance). . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Steely Dan’s AAA Analogue Productions 200g 45rpm 2LP Pretzel Logic Tackles a Few Twists and Turns to Find Its Way Toward Upholding the UHQR Standard
Mike Mettler  |  Aug 10, 2023

Pretzel Logic, the third entry in Analogue Productions' comprehensive all-analog 200g 45rpm 2LP Steely Dan UHQR reissue series, is indeed a bit of a different sonic animal than its predecessors, Can’t Buy a Thrill and Countdown to Ecstasy. That’s due in no small part to SD co-founders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen wanting the album to have more of a first-call studio musician feel to it overall. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s in-depth review to find out if the Pretzel Logic UHQR is the kind of record you want on your phonograph. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Talking Heads: 77 Gets Well-Deserved, and Totally Killer, 4LP + 4 7-Inch Singles Super Deluxe Edition Box Set Treatment, With Original LP –> AAA All the Way
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 08, 2024

The phrase “auspicious debut” is often overused when discussing many an upstart band’s first album — but when it comes to Talking Heads, it’s a phrase that certainly fits the bill whenever you’re both discussing and listening to the fledgling punk/new wave NYC quartet’s first LP, September 1977’s Talking Heads: 77. And now, this important debut album gets its full box set due today, November 8, 2024, with Rhino’s 4LP + 4 7-inch singles-comprised Talking Heads: 77 – Super Deluxe Edition box set, with the original album therein remastered AAA all the way. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s review to see why 77 is another vital vinyl box set to add to your collection — plus see his suggestion for the official, more affordable alternate option of half the box’s contents if your bankbook is currently lacking. . .

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AAA Vinyl
Technics SL-1200G Versus Continuum Caliburn And SAT Arm--File Identities Revealed
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 11, 2017
The file labels were not reversed in this story!

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AAA VinylNews
Ten LP Kinks Mono Box Cut by Kevin Gray From Original Analog Masters
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 18, 2016
A "Kinks in Mono" box set is due for release overseas shortly and in America on December 16th.

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AAA Vinyl
The "Chirping Crickets" Is Rock'n'Roll's DNA
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 16, 2017
When The Crickets' "That'll Be the Day" exploded on the radio in 1957 and the absolutely geeky looking 21 year old Buddy Holly and group appeared December 1st on The Ed Sullivan Show, a generation of kids were moved the way the next one was by The Beatles. You didn't have to look like Elvis. Anyone could be a rock'n'roll star. In fact, "That'll Be the Day" was the first demo cut by The Quarrymen, the skiffle group that eventually morphed into The Beatles.

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