Michael Fremer

Sort By: Post Date | Title | Publish Date
Interviews
Climbing "The Wall of Sound" With Gold Star Recording Studios Co-Founder Stan Ross—Part 3
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2009  |  0 comments

Chico Hamilton Plays Demo Dates, "The Happy Whistler," "Ina Goda Da Vida" and the Closing of Gold Star— Part III

ROSS: When we closed Gold Star, we called up Atlantic, “We got a lot of tape here for you.” Black Oak Arkansas we did for them, and Sonny and Cher.

FREMER: And they didn’t care about the master tapes?

ROSS: No, they couldn’t care less.

Continue Reading >
Interviews
Climbing "The Wall of Sound" With Gold Star Recording Studios Co-Founder Stan Ross—Part 4
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2009  |  0 comments

Part IV: Pet Sounds, “The Wayward Wind,” Dwayne Eddy’s “Rebel Rouser" and more

FREMER: Now, what about the Beach Boys?

ROSS: Oh, sure. “Good Vibrations.” We did some of Pet Sounds at Gold Star.

FREMER: Really?

ROSS: We did some tracks there.They vocaled elsewhere because they had the sound (they liked elsewhere), but they had their music sound at our place. He (Brian) tried out studios all over town.

FREMER: Because he liked that sound.

ROSS: Phil Spector was – he liked going where Phil was.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
Cluster & Eno: Eno Seeks Country Krautrock Comfort
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.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
Cocteau Twins "Head Over Heels" Reissued by 4AD
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 06, 2018  |  8 comments
Sounding more like the recording engineer accidentally fed only the reverb buss to the 2 channel master instead of the intended mix of "dry and wet", the Cocteau Twins' ethereal, reverb drenched Head Over Heels released in 1983 became a much imitated template for "wave", "shoe gazing" and other musical genres that followed in its wake.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
Cohen's Debut Returns to Vinyl For First Time in 20 Years Via Sundazed
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 01, 2009  |  0 comments

Leonard Cohen, the enduring romantic, recorded his debut album appropriately enough, in the waning days of the “summer of love,” in August of 1967. By then he was in his 30’s and capable of expressing his views of love and intimacy in refreshingly sophisticated and sometimes indelibly bleak terms.

Continue Reading >
NY Audio Show 2013
Coincident Statement Phono Preamplifier Looks as Good as It Sounded
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 16, 2013  |  1 comments
Does this look like a $5995 phono preamplifier? It looks far more costly to me. Canadian manufacturer Coincident Technology sells this new two-box tube-based phono preamp direct to consumers for $5995.
Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
Collection of Demos, Outtakes and Radio Still Carries Weight
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 01, 2011  |  2 comments

Knowing Bernie Grundman, there’s something amusing about thinking of him cutting the lacquers for this ORG reissue of Nirvana’s “cull” album of demos, outtakes and radio broadcasts.

Continue Reading >
AAA VinylNews
Coltrane's A Love Supreme and Ballads All-Analog Mastered Set For October 9th Release
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 17, 2020  |  First Published: Aug 17, 2020  |  29 comments
Verve/UMe announced today the October 9th release of its second round of Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series/ Acoustic Sounds pressings of two essential John Coltrane albums: A Love Supreme and Ballads, both in stereo, cut using the original analog master tapes. Deluxe laminated Stoughton Press Tip-On gatefold jackets complete the "must have" release.
Continue Reading >
News
Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings Announces Bob Dylan “More Blood, More Tracks—The Bootleg Series Vol. 14”
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 20, 2018  |  First Published: Sep 20, 2018  |  7 comments
The Blood on the Tracks story is familiar to Dylan fans: the album was recorded in New York City in four days, September, 1974. It was mastered and review copies circulated. Months later (late December) Dylan decided the approach was wrong and re-recorded five tracks at Minneapolis Sound 80 Studios. Bootleggers circulated outtakes from the New York sessions but they’ve never been available legitimately until now.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
Columbia/Legacy Reissues Miles's Transitional Masterpiece on 180 Gram Vinyl
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 01, 2010  |  1 comments
Maybe the soundtrack to your life didn’t exist in 1969, or if you’re fortyish, was filtered through an amniotic sack. 1969 was an unsettling year. The fall was post-Woodstock and spelled the end of the ‘60s, though what we now think of as “the ‘60’s” arguably didn’t happen until the ‘70s. 
Continue Reading >

Pages

X