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Capital AudioFest 2021
Capital Audio Fest 2021 Day Two Coverage
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 16, 2021  |  9 comments
Day two of the Capital Audio Fest began outside where I ran into Theremin manufacturer Arthur Harrison who'd been invited to give two talks on the spooky sounding instrument. The usual show stuff follows that fascinating encounter. I try to not review hotel room sound unless something sticks out as being unusually fine sounding.

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Capital AudioFest 2021
Capital Audio Fest 2021 Day One Coverage—With an Analog Slant
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 11, 2021  |  15 comments
Capital Audio Fest 2021 was well-attended, yes but more importantly the enthusiasm level and excitement was off the charts. CAF usually attracts mainly the newbie and wannabe exhibitors but this year the show was positively mainstream with the show taking up the 3rd floor meeting rooms and 5th floor Twinbrook Hilton hotel rooms as well as the lower level atrium floor where record vendors proliferated and VAC/Von Schweikert occupied the biggest room off to the atrium side.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Duke Pearson's Merry Ole Soul   Swings You Into Christmas
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 10, 2021  |  4 comments
If Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas is a melancholic look back at childhood Christmas viewed through the eyes of the Peanuts gang, Duke Pearson's 1969 Blue Note release Merry Ole Soul is the Christmas record you'll want to play at a hip holiday cocktail party.

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News
Want a Lacquer of A Love Supreme Cut From the Original Master Tape?
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 10, 2021  |  34 comments
Not kidding. Supersense and Universal Music Group, Austria are making available a limited number of lacquers cut directly from the original master tapes of a few albums including A Love Supreme and Getz/Gilberto. That's what they are saying, I don't blame you for being incredulous.

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DiscographiesFeatures
The Peaceful Glitch Pop of Sketch Show
Malachi Lui  |  Nov 09, 2021  |  12 comments
Earlier this year, I wrote a four-part series about Yellow Magic Orchestra, the seminal synthpop trio of Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Of course, that’s only the tip of the proverbial iceberg; between solo records, collaborations, other bands, productions for others, and session credits, hundreds of wildly varying releases encompass the YMO-centered extended discography.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas Will Warm An Atheist's Heart
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.

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News
ERC White Blood Cells Goes On Sale Friday November 5th 1 PM EDT
Michael Fremer  |  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.
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Album Reviews
John Coltrane A Love Supreme Live In Seattle
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.

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Features
Vinyl Reports: Gil Scott-Heron, PJ Harvey, Boards Of Canada, & Dexter Gordon
Malachi Lui  |  Oct 30, 2021  |  26 comments
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Features
Michael Chapman Fully Qualified Survivor (Harvest) and 50 (Paradise of Bachelors) ---The Records You Didn’t Know You Needed #8
Joseph W. Washek  |  Oct 30, 2021  |  2 comments
Michael Chapman died on September 10. He was 80 years old. Pitchfork, NME, and The Guardian published obituaries all of which referred to him as a folk singer-songwriter, best known for the 1970 album Fully Qualified Survivor. Chapman did not like being called a “folk singer” for the excellent reason that the term was inaccurate when applied to him. After fifty-four years as a professional musician, with an unlikely career resurgence beginning when he was fifty-seven, that produced thirty albums including 50, which many regard as his best work, it probably also would have rankled him that that he was mainly remembered for FQS his second album.

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