Michael Fremer

Sort By: Post Date | Title | Publish Date
Album Reviews
No Jitters From Lee's Coffee
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  0 comments

Very few singers can get this close to a dry microphone, be balanced way forward of the backup band and sound as good as Peggy Lee does on this series of standards backed by a pair of small ensembles, recorded in 1953 and 1956. Neither the original nor the reissue notes explain the album’s temporal context so perhaps there’s no story there.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
No Mercury Poisoning For Polly Jean
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 01, 2011  |  0 comments

No one has ever claimed PJ Harvey creates music made for easy, or even pleasant listening. Much of it is dark and painful, but even at its weakest, Harvey's music is provocative and worthwhile.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
No Overdubs Here!
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 01, 2010  |  1 comments

Whenever a record shows up I like to look at the lead out groove area to see who did the lacquer cutting. Sometimes there’s nothing to be found and that’s annoying, but with this double set I thought I was hallucinating because in plain view was “TML-M” a stamp not seen on a slab of new vinyl in decades. TML is the acronym for “The Mastering Lab” and the “M” means the main lathe at Doug Sax’s place.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
No Sophmore Slump For Fleets
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 01, 2011  |  1 comments

Paul Simon can't go back to his folk-rock roots. It's too late for him to turn around, but a younger generation surely can use the hybrid genre as a start-up base of operations. The first and second Fleet Fox albums demonstrate that. 

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
No Throwaways in Judith Owen's Lost and Found
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 01, 2005  |  1 comments

I turned 50 when the car manufacturer Saab turned 50, so I celebrated my half century, by treating myself to a day at the Skip Barber racing school held in conjunction with Saab's 50th anniversary celebration/annual Saab club convention, which took place that summer (1997) at the beautiful Waterville Valley Ski Resort-no dogs allowed.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
No, Your Midrange Driver Is Not Blown! That's What's Left of Bob's Voice
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 13, 2012  |  14 comments
Does it matter that the rattle and phlegm in Bob Dylan's voice makes it sound as if your midrange driver has blown? No. Hell no. In fact, despite the ragged vocals and 50 years since his debut, this is Dylan's best album in quite some time.
Continue Reading >
News
Norman Pickering RIP
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 24, 2015  |  First Published: Nov 24, 2015  |  6 comments
Sadly, Mr. Norman Pickering passed away November 18th, 2015 at age 99.

Continue Reading >
Letters to the Editor
Norman Pickering's Great-Niece Writes
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 26, 2016  |  First Published: Jan 26, 2016  |  3 comments
Hello Mr. Fremer.

I just finished reading an article you wrote about Norman Pickering - Guess What Company Norman Pickering Started - that was published last October. I really enjoyed reading it, and was especially moved by the interview.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
Not At All Like The Dallas Symphony's Version
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 01, 2012  |  0 comments

This performance and recording with Eiji Oue conducting the Minnesota Orchestra emphasizes the "symphonic" while downplaying the "dance" aspects of Rachmaninoff's composition.

Continue Reading >
Album Reviews
Not Like Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait" You Can Be Sure!
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 01, 2010  |  1 comments

When Aaron Copland titled his Abraham Lincoln musical tribute “A Lincoln Portrait,” he was using the word “portrait” figuratively.

Continue Reading >

Pages

X