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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.

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Album Reviews
Before Norah, Diana and Jacintha, There Was Julie!
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  0 comments

Before there was Norah, Diana, Patricia, or even Jacintha, there was Julie London. Just as audiophiles today seem to gravitate towards sexy, breathy singers, audiophiles in the mid-fifties found themselves inextricably connected to Ms. London, thanks in great part to the Liberty Records original ((LRP-3006), issued December, 1955.

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News
It's a Vinyl World, After All DVD Ships!!!!
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 16, 2008  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments
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News
Deep Listening: Why Audio Quality Matters
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 09, 2008  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments
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News
YOU DO NOT EXIST!
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 05, 2008  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments
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Album Reviews
He Swallowed His Pride and Puckered His Lips
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 01, 2008  |  0 comments

You had to be there, and I was.

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Album Reviews
One of the Greatest Finally Reissued
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 01, 2008  |  1 comments

It’s easy to understand why a cut-up rocker with one foot in metal and the other in Vaudeville like David Lee Roth would break out of Van Halen and go solo with a faithful cover of Louis Prima’s version of “Just a Gigolo”/”I’m So Lonely.”

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Album Reviews
Smith-Burrell Combo Equals Tasty Licks
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 01, 2008  |  0 comments

Listening to a straightforward, blues/gospel-drenched comping session like this reminds you that jazz has lost its soul today and aims mostly for the head. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s good to get back to the essential, visceral nature of the genre. This set, recorded in New York at an unidentified studio or studios on three days during the summer of 1963, let’s you know why.

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Album Reviews
Pure Pleasure Spins the Roulette Wheel, Reissues Mid-'70's Carter Album
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 01, 2008  |  0 comments

When this record was issued in 1976, 47 year old Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones) had already sang with Dizzy, Miles, Lionel Hampton, Sonny Rollins and many others.

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Phono Preamp Reviews
Nagra VPS phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 17, 2008  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments
Not that many years ago, it seems, every sound crew in Hollywood and around the world recorded production sound using a compact, open-reel analog tape recorder made by Nagra. The first iteration of the Swiss-made machine appeared in the early 1950s. Shortly thereafter, with the addition of an inaudible recorded tone that allowed easy syncing to picture, the Nagra recorder became the industry standard, and remained so through the 1980s. To this day, Nagra's line of audio products retains the look of those early recorders.
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