LATEST ADDITIONS

Album Reviews
Denser and Occaisonally More Conficted, Yet Remaining Majestic
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 01, 2006  |  0 comments

The latest Sigur Rós album is yet another soundtrack to an imaginary movie you’re asked to create in your own head. The swelling orchestral resolves mostly corral you into thinking goodness and heavenly inspiration with singer "Jonsi"’s high pitched child-like (and sometimes cat-like) vocals sung either in a language of his invention and on some tracks for the first time actual Icelandic, making it easier for your personal invention as you’ll have no idea what he singing about. Not that it matters. The group’s music wears its mostly uplifting emotional heart on its sleeves.

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Album Reviews
Turntable Manufacturer Puts Money Where Stylus Fits
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 01, 2006  |  0 comments

Clearaudio couldn't have gone into the record business to provide software support for its line of turntables. There’s no shortage of new vinyl in 2006. Perhaps the album’s producer is a friend.

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Cartridge Reviews
Koetsu Urushi MC phono cartridge
Michael Fremer  |  May 07, 2006  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  1 comments
What makes a phono cartridge worth $3500 or $4000? Pride of ownership? Snob appeal? Sound? Tracking ability? Exotic materials? Styling? Labor cost for skilled artisans? Special ether? Cool wooden box? All of the above?
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Album Reviews
Another Jumpy One From Domino
Mike McGill  |  May 02, 2006  |  0 comments

Well, is the uber-buzz justified? Fastest-selling debut album; Greatest band since the Beatles, number 287 in a series (collect ‘em all)?

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Album Reviews
Cream Reunion on Triple Vinyl Takes You There
Michael Fremer  |  May 02, 2006  |  1 comments

Yes, Clapton, Bruce and Baker have gotten older. Face it, they’ve gotten old as have those of us who’ve been Cream fans since they were called “The Cream” on the first album jacket. And face it, youth be served, they haven’t the raw power they once had.

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Album Reviews
The Late Shirley Horn's "Best of" Set Includes Bonus Live Tracks
Michael Fremer  |  May 01, 2006  |  0 comments

Will there ever be another jazz singer with the elegance, clarity, and emotional depth of the late Shirley Horn? I don’t think so. Horn put more into, and got more out of her pauses than many singers get of the notes they actually sing. Her piano playing was equally sophisticated yet economical. Everyone from Joni Mitchell to Diana Krall has been influenced by Shirley Horn.

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Album Reviews
Sundazed's Mono Byrds Reissues: Start Here
Michael Fremer  |  May 01, 2006  |  0 comments


Apparently, the inclusion of the nostalgic Goffin/King song “Goin’ Back,” and the rejection of Crosby’s icky threesome song “Triad,” (which found its way onto The Jefferson Airplane’s superb Crown of Creation) caused him to split. The story goes that the horse on the cover represents Crosby, but if it's really a parting shot, why show the head instead of the tail?

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Album Reviews
A Thompson Bon-Bon From Mobile Fidelity
Michael Fremer  |  May 01, 2006  |  0 comments

This five song 45rpm EP compiled for Mobile Fidelity by Thompson from his archive of live recordings includes “From Galway to Graceland” and “1952 Vincent Black Lightning,” recorded in 1994, “Oops! I Did It Again” and “It Won’t Be Long” from 2003, and a 1985 edition of “Shoot Out The Lights.”

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Album Reviews
Oh Behave Yourself! Cisco Music Reissues '70's Classic
Michael Fremer  |  May 01, 2006  |  0 comments

Only in retrospect do you realize how much The Guess Who’s sound drew from Creedence Clearwater Revival. That’s fine, because only in retrospect do you realize how much of what sounded new and unique when you were immersed in it, was really formulaic and sometimes trite.

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Album Reviews
What? Another Hendrix Package?
Michael Fremer  |  May 01, 2006  |  0 comments

Compilations are an ugly concept on vinyl. Either analog copy tapes have been strung together to create a cutting master or digital copies of masters are electronically assembled to produce the same cutting master. Once in a black and blue moon, original masters are removed from their reels and strung together to produce cutting masters made from original master tapes, but those are few and few between and almost impossible to make. They’re rare because few companies allow precious masters to be cut up and because unless the tunes were recorded in the same studio on the same impeccably maintained recorder, it’s very difficult if not impossible to cut a lacquer where the record/playback head’s azimuth changes from track to track.

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