LATEST ADDITIONS

After two COVID-19-induced delays, Record Store Day 2020 is finally (sort of) happening. Instead of the usual huge event, in an attempt to “socially distance” RSD, the releases will drop on three Saturdays over as many months. These “RSD Drops” occur August 29, September 26, and October 24, and in my opinion might fail the social distancing test. In particular, the August 29 drop has huge releases with diverse audiences; I predict that this first drop will be rather busy, leaving the latter two far emptier. I’ll be lining up early at Music Millennium on August 29 (last year’s event at Everyday Music was unsuccessful) for a large set of releases. Here are this year’s most noteworthy RSD items:

Verve/UMe announced today the October 9th release of its second round of Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series/ Acoustic Sounds pressings of two essential John Coltrane albums: A Love Supreme and Ballads, both in stereo, cut using the original analog master tapes. Deluxe laminated Stoughton Press Tip-On gatefold jackets complete the "must have" release.

Unlike many of their competitors, Schiit Audio seemingly intends to guide hi-fi beginners up the quality/price ladder. Their direct-to-consumer standalone components, some advertised for gaming and office setups, start at just $99. Schiit’s products appear feature-packed, but does the sound live up to the specs? Or are Schiit products, well, total shit?

I grew up and went to school in Hereford in the 1980s and 90s - a small, old, and averagely average rural English cathedral city with a bit of a leftie/peacenik 'muesli belt' that definitely included my family. Since a few biggish musicians or bands have had some connection with the town over the years, maybe also because of its hippy side and its proximity to the legendary Rockfield Studios (just down the road near Monmouth), the Herefordshire of my youth seemed to be full of people with tenuous and exaggerated claims of involvement with the music business. Anyone who had ever helped the band that became The Pretenders to unload their van (all of them except the American Chrissie Hynde were local, but had long since fled), played bagpipes on a Mike Oldfield album (he briefly lived just inside the county at the height of his fame) or soldered a jack plug for Mott The Hoople's keyboard player dined out on it for years. It was all a bit tedious and you learned not to be particularly impressed.