Michael Fremer

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Features
Keith Carlock
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 01, 2007  |  0 comments

Eager anticipation turned into bitter disappointment early as Steely Dan played its final Beacon Theater (NY) concert last night (June 13th 2007). Opening tunes can’t be counted upon for greatness, as the band warms up and the mixer dials in the sound, but unfortunately, last night’s thin, sizzly, musically disjointed opener set the stage for an evening of thudding, overblown drumming, and an excruciatingly thin, sizzly, sibilant vocal mix on Donald Fagen’s clearly fatigued voice.

Obviously, drummer Keith Carlock is a talented and energetic drummer, but his playing last night had very little to do with Steely Dan’s slinky, insinuating sound, and much more to do with a Heavy Metal concert.

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Book Reviews
Russian Collector/Historian Produces Reference-Quality, Fully Illustrated Labelographies
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2010  |  1 comments

Depot.' I knew just by looking at that record (especially the label), that it was something special compared to the American Reprise pressing I already had. Of course having been turned on to the Parlophone Beatles albums a few years earlier, I had a well-founded pre-conceived notion about the improved sound quality well before listening.

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Features
We'll Get It Wrong In The Mix
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 31, 2010  |  0 comments
I wrote this article, originally published in Music Connection magazine, back in 1985 after becoming increasingly disgusted with and alarmed by the deteriorating sonic quality of new releases from familiar artists. Little did I realize then that 1985 was a 'golden age' of good sound compared to what most pop and rock recordings sound like in 2008! I remain grateful to editor Bud Scoppa for giving me the platform to spout a then unpopular view in a magazine read by Los Angeles engineers, artists and music business executives.

When The Absolute Sound's Harry Pearson announced he was looking for a new popular music editor, I applied for the job by sending him this article. He liked it enough to give me the job. That gave me an ideal platform from which to advocate saving the vinyl record and extolling its unique set of virtues, sonic and otherwise.

Watching the LP section at the huge Tower Records on Sunset shrink by the week, never did I imagine that in 2008 the LP would be back and Tower would be gone. —Michael Fremer, 1/15/08

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Features
Long-Awaited The Doors Vinyl Box From Rhino Arrives
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2010  |  1 comments
The long awaited faux lizard skin clad, seven 180g LP The Doors box set has finally arrived, two years late, at a higher than originally announced cost, and for now (May, 2008), in very short supply.
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Interviews
The Big Breakup
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 31, 2008  |  2 comments

>(Editor's note: back in 1985, with the release of Richard Thompson's Across A Crowded Room and Linda Thompson's One Clear Moment, the two were in Los Angeles at the same time and I got to interview them, both on the same day.

The assignment brought back still-raw memories of the legendary June, 1982 Roxy appearances by Richard and Linda Thompson in support of their final collaboration, the masterpiece Shoot Out the Lights, recently reissued on 180g vinyl by 4 Men With Beards.

Everyone knew the couple had broken up and this would be the last chance to see them live. To add personal insult to musical injury, I called my ex-girlfriend who'd left me four months earlier, and with whom I was still in love, and asked her if she'd like to attend the show. She said yes, and so there we were sitting once again across from each other as we'd done so many times at concerts and clubs for the previous four plus years. Whatever was going on in our heads (or at least mine) played out that evening on stage. Here's the piece written in the aftermath of the two interviews—M.F.)

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Features
Special Limited Offer: Jim Marshall Autographed "Publisher's Copies" of The Tracking Angle Issue 13
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 31, 2008  |  0 comments

Legendary photographer Jim Marshall recently said that of all the magazine spreads that have used his images over the years, the one appearing in The Tracking Angle issue 13 was one of a “handful” of the finest ever.

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Interviews
Don Henley Finds His Thrill at The Sunset Grill
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2009  |  2 comments

(Back in 1984 I was assigned to interview Don Henley, who'd just released Building the Perfect Beast his second solo album.

Henley picked me up in his black Porsche 911 and off we went to the Sunset Grill for lunch. We talked about music and life while downing burgers, fries and Cokes. Despite the classy name and the complex arrangement for the song that immortalized the place, the Sunset Grill was a tiny, hole in wall burger stand on Sunset Boulevard.

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Book Reviews
Fanciful, Factual Fables Highlight Music Lover's Book
Michael Fremer  |  May 31, 2008  |  0 comments

“Body snatching” aliens invade earth and disappear among the populace. Someone discovers that playing Black Sabbath’s song “Paranoid” causes the aliens to melt. It’s mankind’s only hope for survival. But not any version of “Paranoid” works: only pure analog ones do—either on vinyl or tape. Used copies become scarce. Turntable sales rise…

From that premise author Mitch Myers conjures up detailed and often hilarious scenarios, capping the vignette with a surprise ending sure to elicit a physical reaction.

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Features
"It's a Vinyl World, After All" DVD Now Available!
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 30, 2009  |  1 comments

Can DVD number 2 match the first? Video being shot at RTI last August

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Interviews
Elite Recordings: A Conversation With Freelance Recording Engineer Veteran Marc Aubort
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2010  |  3 comments

Swiss-born recording engineer Marc Aubort began his career in the late 1940’s working first with wire recorders and later with tape. Aubort first came to America in 1955 to inspect the American operation of European budget label MMS (Musical Masterpiece Society).

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