One of the greatest Broadway shows ever was also one of the great recordings of the dawning stereo era. Just reissued by Razor & Tie imprint Analog Spark and sourced using the original 3 track analog master tape, the music leaps from the speakers with new found conviction intensity and astonishing transparency.
Recorded music comes to us pressed in plastic and frozen in time. The work leading up to the master often gets lost, tossed or erased and recorded over without a thought that it might be of interest to anyone. That’s most often true. Alternate takes, when they do surface, usually make clear why they were passed over in favor of the one programmed into your brain, though there are exceptions.
Lyn Stanley’s third effort had better not be more of the same I told her, but only because she asked. Otherwise, it’s really none of my business, especially since I would be reviewing it.
“Too expensive to record to analog tape” we often hear from major label representatives, from producers and from artists. And there are those who don’t think the sonics are better or as good as ProTools.
On August 28,1962 Dave Brubeck's "classic" quartet and Tony Bennett backed by The Ralph Sharon Trio performed separately on the stage of the Sylvan Amphitheater at the base of the Washington Monument and then in an act of daring spontaneity, Brubeck and company backed Bennett on four unrehearsed tunes, all of which was captured to tape by. Columbia Records' remote recording team.
The Boulder, Colorado-based vinyl curating service Vinyl Me, Please aims its releases more at new vinyl collectors looking for some guidance and order than at established vinyl aficionados and audiophiles interest in provenance purity.
Petra Haden, the very talented daughter of the late bassist Charlie Haden, and former member of That Dog released in 2005 an a cappella version of The Who Sells Out that is charming, entertaining, ingenious and loads of fun. It was CD only until now.
Anthony Wilson, best known as a jazz guitarist, has released an organic, occasionally “noir-ish”, sounding album on which he sets up and sings within cinematic musical landscapes, proving himself to be an equally compelling story teller. "Frogtown" is an area of Los Angeles, whose official name is "Elysian Valley". People live there but other than a lush stretch of the L.A. riverbed, there's not much there, which is how the people like it. The same can't be said of this record, which will have you wondering from where came this Anthony Wilson?
At this point in his life and career, Eric Clapton has nothing to prove to anyone but himself. He’s gone from being called God on now famous graffiti that embarrassed him but others found justified, to later being called a snooze during a stretch of less than inspiring records and perhaps overexposure.
If you go into this ambitious acoustic Led Zeppelin covers project hard wired for Robert Plant and Jimmy Page you’re probably bound for disappointment but if you just relax into it, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you see in your mind’s eye. You’ll surely like what the production brings to your ears.
Reunited with his old friend, producer and engineer Roy Halee, Paul Simon delivers an imaginative and vital record—his most fully realized since Graceland., though its musical complexity and mood more closely resemble Rhythm of the Saints”