Michael Fremer

Michael Fremer  |  Nov 03, 2021  |  18 comments
Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas album is a secular holiday delight sure to please every listener, even atheists and agnostics. Originally released in 1960, the sound here is warm and inviting as a Yule log burning in the fireplace—once you get past the opener "Jingle Bells", which is somewhat brighter, brasher and more in your face than the rest, though having Ella in your face is hardly problematic.

Michael Fremer  |  Nov 03, 2021  |  First Published: Nov 03, 2021  |  21 comments
The Electric Recording Company announced that sales of its limited edition reissue of The White Stripes' White Blood Cells goes on sale this Friday, November 5th 1PM EDT on the ERC website. In addition a limited number of copies will be available via Third Man storefronts.
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 02, 2021  |  12 comments
In the worthy annotation to this historically remarkable release, educator and author of the biography “John Coltrane His Life and Music” Lewis Porter provides a play by play of this unlikely nightclub performance of Coltrane’s worshipful masterpiece recorded October 2nd 1965.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 30, 2021  |  First Published: Oct 30, 2021  |  23 comments
No need to check your calendar it's not April 1st and this is for real: ERC just announced it would be releasing The White Stripes' White Blood Cells, the group's 2001 final release on the Sympathy For the Record Industry label cut from the original analog master tape and packaged in the usual meticulous ERC way.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 28, 2021  |  First Published: Oct 28, 2021  |  40 comments
(photo: Jeremy Neech)
The blank white The Beatles double LP gatefold jacket intended to show the world that the group was finished with busy, production heavy studio creations that relied for completion upon production tricks and gimmickry. Instead, the group wanted to emphasize musicianship and “live play”.

Never mind that the songs sometimes ended up being more individual than group efforts and that squabbling and disagreement led to acrimony as well as long time engineer Geoff Emerick exiting, producer George Martin going on holiday and even Ringo Starr walking out for a few weeks.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 15, 2021  |  First Published: Oct 15, 2021  |  55 comments
The electrical service in my house has been problematic since I moved in 22 years ago. I’ve had ground hum issues, amplifiers that mysteriously buzz here but not elsewhere and general noise on the line problems too.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 11, 2021  |  31 comments
(Update: I was wrong. These were cut from files and not from tape. The information I received was not clear. Some of the commenters are correct and I was wrong. I am always happy to end up with egg on my face to get correct facts published. These digital transfers are the best I've heard. I'm leaving the review "as is".. Brief and to the point: This is a previously unreleased Sarah Vaughan fan “must have” double LP set recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie November 9th, 1969 with Vaughan sympathetically backed by a trio of relative unknowns: Johnny Veith on piano, Gus Mancuso on bass and Eddy Pucci on drums. Mancuso’s story is fascinating and worth a read. You’ll have to fend online for yourself for more about the others.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 05, 2021  |  21 comments
Everything is true that you might have heard or read about this “off the beaten Tone Poet path” release.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 01, 2021  |  17 comments
The gentle, introspective Bill Evans Trio of The Village Vanguard sessions that produced Sunday At the Village Vanguard and Waltz For Debby yielded two years later to the somewhat more rhythmically assertive trio heard on this December 18th, 1963 Webster Hall recording released early in 1964.

The late bassist Scott LaFaro’s friend Gary Peacock replaced him in the trio with Paul Motian continuing on drums. Though no less cerebral and harmonically tuned in than was LaFaro, Peacock brought to the group a faster, more aggressive rhythmic style punctuated with nimble staccato runs. More tapping of the toes and less tugging at the heart.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 01, 2021  |  First Published: Oct 01, 2021  |  7 comments
Ortofon launched on a September 30th Facebook video the company's new MC Verismo cartridge. The previous day Ortofon's Leif Johannsen participated in a ZOOM interview with AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer and discussed the design and features of the new MC Verismo cartridge.

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