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Turntable Reviews
The Thorens TD402 DD Direct Drive Semi-Automatic Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 20, 2019  |  13 comments
Hermann Thorens founded his company in 1883 to manufacture music boxes in Switzerland. Cylinder-based phonograph manufacturing began around the turn of the century. In 1956 the company introduced the TD-124—the company’s first high performance turntable and one that among collectors is still in demand. The company moved to Germany in 1966 and merged with EMT. The classic TD-125 followed in 1968.

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Review Explosion
Review Explosion Summer/Fall 2019: Earl Sweatshirt, Tool, Rex Orange County, & Liam Gallagher
Malachi Lui  |  Nov 20, 2019  |  7 comments
(Review Explosion is a new AnalogPlanet feature covering recent releases for which we either don’t have sufficient time to fully explore, or that are not worthy of it. Curated by AnalogPlanet contributing editor Malachi Lui, Review Explosion will focus on the previous few weeks' new releases as well as archival titles and reissues.)

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BeatlesNews
The Beatles Singles Collection Cut Mostly From Original Singles Tapes
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 19, 2019  |  18 comments
I have been assured by co-producer Guy Hayden that this 45rpm box was cut directly from TAPE and that whatever transfers were done (hence the credit) was done as they were for the AAA mono album box, to use as a reference before actual cutting in order to preserve the tapes.
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News
A Survey You Can Take From Cleveland, Ohio Based Gotta Groove Records
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 18, 2019  |  6 comments
Cleveland, Ohio based Gotta Groove Records pressing plant just sent out an e-survey to its customer base and invite analogPlanet readers to toss in their $29.99 or two-cents. They've already received 2400 responses in a little over a day.

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Album Reviews
Craft Records Reissues on Vinyl Creedence Clearwater Classics Green River and Willy and The Poorboys
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 17, 2019  |  15 comments
Though you could argue that Bayou Country containing "Proud Mary" and "Born on the Bayou" was a better album, I'm going with Green River as a stronger, more consistent overall album (you remember albums, don't you?), which also had some hits like "Bad Moon Rising" (with it's refrain "there's a bathroom on the right"), "Lodi", which at the time made me wonder why Fogerty was writing about New Jersey and of course the title tune. In retrospect, despite the New Orleans musical setting, much of what Fogerty wrote was about his life growing up in Berkeley, Calfornia. But I digress.

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Album Reviews
Beethoven Complete Works For Cello and Piano ( New: Source Clarification)
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 16, 2019  |  12 comments
How the original single LP of cellist Fournier and pianist Gulda performing Beethoven’s Cello Sonata in D (Deutsche Gramophon SLPM 138 083) ended up in my collection isn’t clear to me but I can narrow it down to either my college Beethoven symphony music appreciation class professor, or to Duane, the classical music expert at Minuteman Records in Harvard Square.

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Analog Corner
Analog Corner #119
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 16, 2019  |  First Published: Jun 01, 2005  |  8 comments
Here’s more proof that sound quality—or its factual representation—is no longer on the radar screen of the mainstream press. I recently sent this letter to the Wall Street Journal’s corrections editor:

“Sarah McBride’s assertion in today’s lead story that satellite radio offers ‘higher quality sound’ than FM radio is demonstrably incorrect. This is not a matter of opinion. While satellite radio is ‘digital,’ it is a highly compressed digital format. . . . I believe were you to speak with the chief engineer at Sirius or XM, and were they to be honest and candid, they would agree too that while satellite radio is a fantastic innovation and offers ‘noise free’ sound, FM offers demonstrably better sound than current satellite technology provides. I know if you spoke with the chief engineer at WGBH in Boston or [W]FMT in Chicago, they’d tell you the same thing.

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News
Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX Launch Event at Excel Audio, Newport Beach, CA
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 16, 2019  |  1 comments
Excel Audio invites everyone to join us Saturday, November 23rd, 6-9 PM to experience Wilson Audio’s latest triumph the Chronosonic XVX. We will be showcasing the XVX’s driven by D’Agostino electronics with digital by dCS and vinyl played on the Clearaudio Statement. Special guests include Dan D’Agostino, Jesse Luna from DCS, and Garth Leerer from Musical Surroundings.

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Album ReviewsBeatles
The Beatles The Singles Collection Arrives (REVISED 11/19/19)
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 15, 2019  |  25 comments
The Beatles The Singles Collection arrived the other day and it was opened with great anticipation and the embedded YouTube video was quickly produced in a single take before listening to a note. As you'll see when you watch, the packaging is "top shelf" and imaginative and Kevin Howlett's booklet notes are illuminating and useful. Using original artwork from around the world was a nice touch that every Beatles fan with appreciate!

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Album Reviews
Impulse!/UMe’s Latest Collection of “Lost” Coltrane Recordings is Surprisingly Great
Malachi Lui  |  Nov 15, 2019  |  4 comments
In 1964 while working for Canada’s National Film Board (NFB), filmmaker Gilles Groulx set out to make a documentary about winter, but instead used his then $75,000 budget to create Le chat dans le sac (English: The Cat In The Bag), an art house film about two lovers in early-mid ‘60s Montreal. An avid jazz fan as well, Groulx (through Jimmy Garrison) contacted John Coltrane to soundtrack the film. Coltrane agreed, and Groulx supervised the session at Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs, NJ studio. Instead of composing new material for the film (which he hadn’t seen), Coltrane, at Groulx’s request, re-recorded some of his older compositions such as “Naima” and “Village Blues,” after which Groulx, master tape in hand, drove back up to Montreal.

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