Album Reviews

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Album Reviews
Big Bill Broonzy Sings Folk Songs From Vinyl Me, Please
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 01, 2016  |  17 comments
The Boulder, Colorado-based vinyl curating service Vinyl Me, Please aims its releases more at new vinyl collectors looking for some guidance and order than at established vinyl aficionados and audiophiles interest in provenance purity.

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Album Reviews
Long Lost Bennett/Brubeck Collaboration Found
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 01, 2016  |  3 comments
On August 28,1962 Dave Brubeck's "classic" quartet and Tony Bennett backed by The Ralph Sharon Trio performed separately on the stage of the Sylvan Amphitheater at the base of the Washington Monument and then in an act of daring spontaneity, Brubeck and company backed Bennett on four unrehearsed tunes, all of which was captured to tape by. Columbia Records' remote recording team.

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Album ReviewsNews
David Bowie's "The Prettiest Star" Three Ways And Box Set Finale
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 02, 2016  |  27 comments
There's something deeply offensive to me about picking apart the sound on the David Bowie [Five Years 1969-1973] box set. The guy is gone, the sadness lingers and maybe it's time to just enjoy and celebrate the music.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
"Dameronia With Strings" Ferit Odman's Tadd Dameron Tribute Will Wow You
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 11, 2016  |  17 comments
“Too expensive to record to analog tape” we often hear from major label representatives, from producers and from artists. And there are those who don’t think the sonics are better or as good as ProTools.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Mono 45rpm "Surrealistic Pillow" from Mo-Fi is the One to Have
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 29, 2016  |  31 comments
Paul Kantner RIP. When is this parade of dead rock icons going to end? Can we at least have a short break?
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Album ReviewsBeatles
The Beatles "1"-- Giles Martin Remixes the Singles
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 26, 2016  |  24 comments
Music re-mixes may not be as complicated or as critical as brain surgery but when it comes to The Beatles, you could make the case.
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Album Reviews
Glenn Frey Proves He's Got the Vocal Chops For A Standards Album
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 20, 2016  |  14 comments
Like Paul McCartney's Kisses on the Bottom, The Eagles' Glenn Frey's standards album was produced with requisite class, though Frey's song choices range wider, covering everything from the 1922 Al Jolson classic "My Buddy" to Brian Wilson's soothing Pet Sounds solo turn "Caroline No" written with Tony Asher.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Is "Interludes" Lyn Stanley's Breakthrough Album?
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 04, 2016  |  14 comments
Lyn Stanley’s third effort had better not be more of the same I told her, but only because she asked. Otherwise, it’s really none of my business, especially since I would be reviewing it.

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Album Reviews
I'm "Bullish" on Patrick Higgins' "Bachanalia"
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2016  |  3 comments
A description of this record in Twitter-like brevity: "Sandy Bull meets Michael Hedges in a church."

Of course that short-changes everyone involved, especially the only living artist among the three: guitarist Patrick Higgins.

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Album Reviews
"Bob Dylan 1965-1966 The Best of The Cutting Edge—The Bootleg Series Volume 12
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 30, 2015  |  4 comments
Recorded music comes to us pressed in plastic and frozen in time. The work leading up to the master often gets lost, tossed or erased and recorded over without a thought that it might be of interest to anyone. That’s most often true. Alternate takes, when they do surface, usually make clear why they were passed over in favor of the one programmed into your brain, though there are exceptions.

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Album Reviews
A New Exile on Main Street "Using the Original Analog Master Tape..."? Doubtful
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 19, 2015  |  53 comments
A recent sales blurb from UMe's "The Sound of Vinyl" website reads: "Using the original analog master tapes this artisan process results in cuts that have superior high frequency response (treble) and very solid and stable stereo images. In short, a very high quality master that helps to create a very high quality record."

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
West Side Story  Comes to Life on Analog Spark Reissue
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 17, 2015  |  32 comments
One of the greatest Broadway shows ever was also one of the great recordings of the dawning stereo era. Just reissued by Razor & Tie imprint Analog Spark and sourced using the original 3 track analog master tape, the music leaps from the speakers with new found conviction intensity and astonishing transparency.

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Album Reviews
A Christmas Compilation From Analogue Productions Spreads Holiday Cheer
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 15, 2015  |  17 comments
Chad Kassem's got a vinyl selling website, a reissue label, a pressing plant and well-oiled licensing deals so what's left to do but a self-produced double vinyl Christmas compilation pressed on red and green?

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Album Reviews
Happy 100 Frank Sinatra! "Ultimate Sinatra" And Today A Free Vintage UBER Ride On Frank
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 12, 2015  |  15 comments
Of course the only "ultimate" Sinatra collection for fans is having a huge collection of his albums on Columbia, Capitol and Reprise—the label he started—plus some of the original 78s from the late '30's up until the era of the long playing record.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
On Almost Blue   Elvis Costello Explores His Inner Country Self
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 02, 2015  |  5 comments
No doubt Elvis Costello knew he was no George Jones or Merle Haggard when, in the spring of 1981 he stepped before the microphone in CBS's Studio A in Nashville under the direction of veteran producer Billy Sherill (who passed away this past August), but he wanted to record an album of country covers in Nashville and following the cleansing craziness of the Trust sessions, this probably seemed like the right time.

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