[sniks7]

I have a copy of Art Blakey, The Big Beat on 45rpm 180gsm from Music Matters. Astounding sound quality, although the music is not entirely my thing: however, it's a good example of where the former will make me appreciate the latter more.

Of course at that sort of money (£65/$100) I worry about taking it out of the sleeve because the chances a meteor will hit it are too high..

As an aside Music Matters do seem to be doing a lot of releases on expensive 45rpm vinyl. I have a couple of wibbles: firstly splashing out that sort of cash on something which I have no idea about can be bit of a leap and secondly, this whole one-track one-side 45rpm thing.

Just as my head relaxes and the room comes alive with music that you can eat it's so real, it's time to get up and turn the thing over. Hmmm.

 

[jsaliga]

I think you raise some interesting points. I only own one 45 rpm audiophile set, from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs of Patricia Barber's Night Club album. I think it sounds great...but I don't know that it was worth double what I paid for the SACD of the same title (also from MFSL).

But I do have many, many 180g and 200g 33 1/3 long players from audiophile labels such as Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions, Cisco, and Classic Records. And while I have concerns about quality control over physical defects with Classic Records' 200g vinyl pressings, for the most part I have been satisfied with the heavy vinyl I have been buying. But I tend to stick to titles I am familiar with and would be very hard to find or cost prohibitive to buy on vintage vinyl. I don't think I would be willing to spend $30 to $50 for an audiophile LP of music I have never heard before from an artist I didn't know.

Still, I don't mind spending $35 for a real nice Speakers Corner 180g pressing of Ben Webster's Soulville album. I have all of his recordings on CD and know them well. You can buy 1970s reissues cheaply enough if you can find them, but an original 1950s Verve pressing that is in near mint condition is going to be quite expensive and very difficult to locate...and will likely cost more than the $35 Speakers Corner pressing.

--Jerome

 

[sniks7]

What sort of music is Ben Webster's Soulville?

Hmm. Tried to order Blues in Orbit. Doesn't seem to be available in the UK.

 

[jsaliga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sniks7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What sort of music is Ben Webster's Soulville? Hmm. Tried to order Blues in Orbit. Doesn't seem to be available in the UK.

Ben Webster was one of the greatest tenor saxaphone players of the swing era. Soulville is arguably his best album, with a quintet that featured Benny Carter on Trumpet, Ray Brown on Bass, Herb Ellis on Guitar, and Oscar Peterson on Piano (the Oscar Peterson Trio).

It's still in print on 180g vinyl from Speakers Corner.

I think Blues in Orbit just went on backorder and may go out of print. Acoustic Sounds had some last week but I just checked it and it's now listed as backordered.

--Jerome

 

[sniks7]

I see from the thread-starter that I'm supposed to have reviewed the album (Art Blakey, The Big Beat 45rpm).

So briefly..

I'm not a big fan of the music - it's a touch dull and up itself (or I'm a touch dull and up myself and the music's great: I can never tell with jazz).

The sound quality is stupendous though: instrument separation and placing is second to none, and this generates a tremendous resonance in the sound.

I've always felt that small jazz groups are by far and away the best sounding things in hifi and this LP demonstrates that.

 

[scott_d_m]

I'd like to throw my hat into the ring and recommend Doolittle by The Pixies. I thought the cd was excellent sounding but the vinyl version is even better. This one is very dynamic and definite toe tapper.

 

[sniks7]

I have another one that may just make the criteria - Eric Bibb and Needed Time's two albums for Opus3, on 45rpm 180gsm. They are Good Stuff and Spirit and the Blues. They may be out of pressing now: the recordings were mid-nineties.

Excellent modern recordings which are true analogue with no digital delay in the cutting. I've no idea what that means - it's from the sleeve - but the pressings sound warm natural and clear with gorgeous bass and an acoustic (I assume they record together in a room rather than a bunch of anechoic chambers positioned at four points of the globe).

The mikes are AKG tube, neuman for the bass, the mixer custom tube blah blah blah. Again, no idea what that means - they could have bought them in a car boot sale. Tape is BASF. Good stuff. I used to use that on my Walkman for Pink Floyd.

I Want Jesus is a superb track on Good Stuff and worth the price of the album on its own. Beware though: you'll need massive headroom everywhere for it to play faultlessly - the dynamic range of one man and his guitar is huge. I struggled for years to get this playing right.

The music is blues/folk (I think - hopefully someone here can chip in with some actual expertise) played with a bunch of Swedes (the people not the turnip like things. That would be a touch too county/folk).

It's not much like Bibb live, but has a similar effect: four sides of inky black vinyl that'll put a tap to your foot and wry smile in your face.

BTW, you get around four track a side. Perfect

 

[sniks7]

This one doesn't fit the criteria at all - Kate Bush Aerial. I like the music and I like the idea that someone can be utterly serious in this day and age singing about a washing machine, but somebody with a huge behind sat on it at the mixing stage and squashed all the excitement out. Pity. Avoid.

 

[sniks7]

Got another one which may not fit! (I'm not entirely sure you can still buy them) Isn't this fun?!

Lazy Lester, Wild Child Butler, direct-to-disc. I don't think the albums had names, but the room in which they were recorded was called OKTAVIA. Isn't that sweet?

Originally this was going to be a set of four, with Wild Child Butler, Pinetop Perkins and Henry Gray. The latter two never got made.

Wild Child Butler sounds so raw I think maybe he ate the microphones, valves and all, which might explain why they couldn't record anything else.

Therecording is very immediate and clean - there's no bloom at all. The sleeve note calls the style swamp blues and it does have a distinct alligator sound to it: sort of crunchy, chewy and rough.

As a general rule, I prefer my blues a little more MOR ('This morning I had a lie-in with my capuccino' sort of thing) but the driving quality of the recording is so involving and you can almost see Lazy Lester stomping on a couple of planks for the percussion.

As an aside, poor old Lester only gets a pic of his feet on the sleeve, to just below the knee and I just sort of wondered did an alligator get the other half or was it Wild Child Butler during his lunch break?

To me that's real blues: you get a gig and only your feet make it to the studio but the whole thing goes ahead anyway.

 

[sniks7]

Shall I shut up now?!

 

[Sherwood]

Wonderul stuff, sniks! Keep it up! I'm committed to wife-time this evening, but I'll get the list updated post haste

 

[Geoff Rymer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott_d_m /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd like to throw my hat into the ring and recommend Doolittle by The Pixies. I thought the cd was excellent sounding but the vinyl version is even better. This one is very dynamic and definite toe tapper.

Any particular pressing? I wouldn't mind this.

 

[hayste]

Arcade Fire - "Funeral" sounds good, an improvement over the CD.

My Bloody Valentine - "Isn't Anything" & "Loveless" 2003 reissues on Plain Recordings sound amazing. I just wish they'd reissue some of their older EPs like "You Made Me Realise", even though the production isn't great on that one, it isn't in print on vinyl or CD, strange.

The Beach Boys - "Pet Sounds", the recent Capitol reissue is fairly highly regarded, I think it sounds fantastic. Not quite as good as the DCC CD but what is? It's a huge improvement over the regular CDs.

The recent Radiohead vinyl reissues also sound good.

Opeth - "Watershed" is an improvement over the CD, not as compressed. I'm not sure if it's still in print but I'm sure there's a few copies still floating around.

Elliot Smith - "Either/Or" reissue sounds great, haven't heard any of the other albums yet.

Nirvana - "Nevermind" & "In Utero". The European reissues with catalogue numbers '424 425-1' and '424 356-1' sound fantastic, way better than both the regular CDs and MFSL CDs (!). Huge dynamics, and the In Utero reissue is actually the original Steve Albini mix, unlike the standard release. Haven't heard them but I'd suggest avoiding the Universal Back to Black reissues of Nevermind, in fact this might have forced these European versions out of print so get them while you still can!

Velvet Underground - the 4 Men with Beards reissues of their albums sound fine to my ears, comparable to the MFSL CDs of the first two. Don't know what they're sourced from but I recommend them personally (I have VU & Nico, White Light/White Heat and VU, yet to get their self-titled 3rd album).

Anything reissued on Warner Bros/Reprise/Rhino, mastered by Steve Hoffman is ESSENTIAL. These all sound fantastic, hugely improving over just about every issue so far. Titles include Rickie Lee Jones - s/t, Joni Mitchell - Blue, James Taylor. Van Morrison's Moondance and Astral Weeks are coming out soon, I'll be sure to pick them up.

Rush - "Permanent Waves" MFSL sounds really good. I've heard the MFSL CD isn't quite as amazing, but the vinyl is essential if you're a fan. Apparently Moving Pictures and Signals are being reissued next year, so be sure to keep a look out.

Joy Division - "Unknown Pleasures" & "Closer" 2007 Rhino reissues sounds good. They are digitally mastered, but don't let this turn you off, they sound great.

Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" sounds fantastic, a HUGE improvement over the compressed CD. Amazing album.

Ones to avoid are the Universal 'Back to Black' vinyl reissues, there's hundreds of them around with the easily identifiable sticker on the front. Haven't heard any myself, but they're all digitally/badly sourced AFAIK, so avoid at all costs.

Also avoid the recent Metallica reissues (the ones mastered by Mobile Fidelity), the first 3 are hit and miss with no bass. I've heard the AJFA reissue is quite good though this was mixed without a bass guitar in the first place, so...

The Kevin Gray DSOTM was mentioned, but I personally hate it. I find it very sibilant and bright, and lacking soundstage. The test pressing got rave reviews, including by Steve Hoffman. This has also been in print for several years (since 2003), so the stampers might be past their used-by date. You need a good turntable to track this one, but I'm afraid I can't recommend it. Reviews of this are very hit and miss, not including the test pressing. YMMV. There's plenty of old, mint condition used copies floating around, so do yourself a favour and pick up one of these. I have an Australian Quadraphonic and prefer this to everything else I've heard.

Sorry if some of these were already mentioned, I didn't read all the thread. Hope this helps!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoff Rymer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any particular pressing? I wouldn't mind this.

The current (2004) vinyl reissue sounds good. Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa, too; the latter sounds especially excellent, all are very dynamic. Their last two albums were reissued on vinyl just last month on the same label, but I haven't heard them.

 

[sniks7]

Does anyone release classical music on vinyl any more? I don't mean re-releases of old stuff, but new recordings of familiar pieces with the bright young things of the classical scene playing a role.

I could do with a decent T*****sky (can't spell the bit in the middle) No. 6 and a Sibelius No. 5. And a Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 that doesn't sound like it was recorded off the radio (as opposed to with a Radio Orchestra).

 

[TimJo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayste /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ones to avoid are the Universal 'Back to Black' vinyl reissues, there's hundreds of them around with the easily identifiable sticker on the front. Haven't heard any myself, but they're all digitally/badly sourced AFAIK, so avoid at all costs.

As noted in an earlier post, the one exception to this advice is the Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love. This was the only pressing so far in the Back To Black series that is a brand new mastering, and all analog using the original source tape. See post #7 for more info...