Stupid thread of the year on Hoffman's Idiot board:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=271587

Live and in your face on the Hoffman vanity board - a lively discussion of mini-LP CD packaging.

Started by moron of the year "TarnishedEars", and appropriate moniker if there ever was one:

"The things that I dislike about this style of packaging include:
1) It doesn't fit inside of precisely spaced CD-Racks.
2) It is virtually impossible to remove a disk from the inner sleeve without getting finger-prints all over it.
3) The packaging just seems like it was deliberately created to be disposable.
4) The fold-outs wear unevenly.
5) Covers wear poorly when inserted into a shelf of CDs.
6) After you've spent 2 minutes removing the first set of finger-prints that you put on the disk when taking it out, you then put a whole new set on the disk when you attempt to replace it into the sleeve.

Seriously: Has anyone even figured-out how to remove a disk from a MoFi sleeve without getting finger-prints all over the disk yet? "

Yes, dimwit, I have! Just take it out by gently pulling on the RICE PAPER INNER SLEEVE you frigging' moron. Just like an LP - have you ever taken an LP out of its inner sleeve without getting fingerprints all over it? Yes indeed, I learned that by grade 6.

Doesn't fit inside of your pretty, precisely spaced CD racks? GET OVER IT. See your doctor about obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Covers wear poorly when inserted into a shelf of CD's? Hey Dumbo, did you not put your record covers into outer sleeves when you were doing vinyl back in the day?

I have to admit, though, in the Wal-Mart mentality and bottom feeding culture that permeates Hoffman land, I'm not surprised that the Andy From Mayberry and Fred Flintstone types have a problem with their clumsy mitts and a mini-LP package.

Let's look at some other bon mots from the Hoffmanites:

From Jay F., the freak side of Hoffman - "+1. I loathe, hate, and detest them. They seem to have been created for people who don't actually listen to them." So what do you do with them, Jay, if not listen? Are there CD's for listening and some for other than listening?

KeithH, who looks strangely like pedophile harborer Joe Paterno, says "Mini-LP sleeves look nice but are not practical." What's not practical? They take up less space. That alone makes them much more practical.


"Holy Diver", who clearly has delusions of deification, says "The packaging is OK, but most mini LP masterings are wasted beyond belief." Really? Tell that to Mobile Fidelity. Stupid, this imbecile hasn't even heard many I guess. But...he has an opinion!

Rburly, who is a very pretty and chesty blonde, shows her blondness: "I took out an original CD pressing from the mid-80s and found the jewel case to feel very sturdy and hefty with the CD inside. I wish CD makers would go back to the original style. They feel practically bullet-proof. It's probably why I seek out original pressings unless another pressing is generally agreed to be the best pressing."
So...you buy a CD specifically because it has a jewel case...not because of sound quality...what a Hoffmanite!

"I am also not a fan. I've developed a way of removing the disc from the sleeve without getting fingerprints on it, but every time I do it, I'm annoyed that I have to do something special."

Wow - this rocket scientist has actually developed a special way of taking a CD out of a sleeve! He should be teaching a university course. 

MrBritt, who is usually just another dumb Hoffman lemming, actually posts exactly the right information on getting a CD out of a mini-LP package - which really, not even a child of modest intelligence could not do easily (my 7 year old does it all the time), and the Fred Flintstones are all over him.

Worst of which is the ever self-important Kevin Bresnahan, who has been laughed off just about every other corner of the Internet for his pompous mis-information:  "

With the RVG CDs from Japan (in glossy mini-LPs), if you squeeze the edge to spread open the mouth the mini-LP, it doesn't work because the CD stops you. On top of that, if you do manage to get the front and back covers to bow and bit and do get your fingers (more likely fingernails) in there, you've probably damaged the mini-LP sleeve permanently."

Actually, the Japanese RVG Blue Notes came in nice mini-LP sleeves that were not tight fitting at all, a little shake would cause the round bottom inner to slide out easily. 

"Not really sure why MoFi abandoned lift locks in favor of mini-LP." - Hoffman Hero "Say It Right" has been around the internet for years but obviously thinks he can get everything he needs from Daddy Hoff. The Lift Locks are no longer manufactured, as when MOFI originally shut down, their main customer evaporated. Besides, those cases were notoriously delicate and broke easily, which would drive Huffmanites bonkers.

"Bluesky" from Florida proves the decline of Western civilization, at least the American intellectually decline: "It especially bumbs me out that you can't read what CD it is when it's in the CD rack." Bumbs...new word! Brilliant! Get glasses, asshole, you are an old fucker and you need 'em. I can read them just fine, thanks. YOU are the problem, not the package. 

Really, the Hoffman board has long been about whiners and sycophants who come together to get validation for their obsessive compulsive issues. A group of crybabies who come across like a bunch of petulant little girls. But this is well beyond their waste of bandwidth complaining about shipping times and cracked jewel cases. It's really sick.

Bresnahan says "The jewel case was invented to properly hold a CD in a way that makes it easy to get out without damaging it." And a number of other Hoffmanites say that the proper case for a CD is one where the disc does not touch the package at all, and where the disc can be removed without fingers touching the playing surface. 

In fact, the only case that remotely comes close to those specifications is the Lift-Lock case most typically found on pre-Music Direct Mobile Fidelity discs, and old DCC gold discs. It is almost impossible to keep any contact away from the playing surface when picking up a disc from a jewel case - the fingers inevitably must tough the outer edge of the playing surface. The disc is not free from contact with the jewel case either, and jewel cases break easily, hubs are easily broken and floating teeth from the hub can easily scratch the playing surface, and overall, the jewel case is not that sturdy. Doesn't look too good over time either - gets pretty scuffed up.

So what it boils down to on this topic at Hoffman is that the mini-LP detractors can be grouped into two types - Fred Flintstone guys who are too clumsy to get a disc out of a rice paper inner sleeve, and obsessive dainty types who fret about their Best Buy CD racks not being suitable for mini-LP sleeves.

It's a strange world out there, as we watch the decline of Western civilization unfold at the Hoffman board.

Black Friday RSD 2011 has come and gone!

That curiously American pagan feast to obese consumption comes once again this Friday, Black Friday as it is oddly (or aptly) named, and Record Store Day is there to partake in the spending orgy. 

Odd at best that Thanksgiving in America has become not about giving thanks at all, but in lining up and fighting it out with one's neighbors to get the most bargains, and get them first. I think it's pretty sick, but then again, I'm not American, and I certainly did spend a bunch on this year's stuff.

So here is what I have to show for this year - my early Record Store Black Friday :

The Beatles singles box:

It has a cute apple 45 adapter, 2 of the singles are on the Capitol label which I find unfortunate, the others on Apple, the sleeves are nothing to write home about nor are the actual label reproductions, as we expect from Citicorp/EMI the pressings are rather mediocre too, and it will set you back at least $50. There is a lame poster. The sound is actually very good. Not as organic as originals, biut dynamic and clean. Ticket To Ride is a bit worse for the wear, gritty and sibilant. Hey Jude and Something are very impressive. C+.Wait for the vinyl remasters which will emerge at some point.

Pink Floyd The Wall singles box:

Kind of like the Beatles box but only 3 singles, another 45 adapter and lame poster, the box is kind of a wall cutout, another $50 minimum cash grab. D+.Citigroup has a lot of debt to take care of and a lot of bonuses to pay out. Help them out, please.

Bob Dylan mono singles box:

Much better value - I paid $36, the sleeves are nicer, the sound is superb, and it is all around a much higher quality product. B+.

Wheedes Groove singles box:

This is really one of the true finds of RSD that make it interesting. 10 singles in cool sleeves and a really well made box, inserts, a CD, a nearly 100 page super well done booklet, and a full download code, all for $60 (well, I paid $55).  Fabulous old school soul, nice sounding, decent pressings, all around a super set. A+. A bonafide bargain, the only one actually on Black Friday.

Sundazed singles - The Byrds, The Yardbirds:

2 by each, the Byrds ones are really interesting and powerful alternates, maybe $9 each is steep but these are well worth having, a solid B+.

Mr. Gasser & The Weirdos on Sundazed:

Curiosity value perhaps, fun, cool covers that dredged up some long lost memories of 'ratfinks', I wouldn't think these would get a lot of rotation from most but an A for effort here. Hot Rod Hootenanny is the better of the three, Rods and Ratfinks has a certain pervese charm though. My copy of Hootenanny is pretty warped, playable though. Happens a lot from Sundazed. Sound is superb on both.

 Tom Petty Kiss My Amps:

Awesome long EP. Comes with a download code for a FLAC file. Rocks like a bitch. A+.Super record. A real prize. Essential.

Dream Theater Metropolis Vol. 2:

Unlike the abominable Roadrunner Dream Theater vinyl titles, this Rhino pressing sounds super good and is nicely presented. A. Rock solid. Good value at under $30.

 Grateful Dead Europe '72 Vol. 2:

Paid $60 for mine, 4 nicely pressed RTI vinyls continuing from the well done Bellman mastered Europe '72 set of a few months back. A+, this is for me a better set overall. 

Brendan Benson Upstairs At United:

Cool all analog 45 12 inch featuring great renditions of Bowie, Costello, Randy Newman etc. songs, nicely packaged, a bit steep at $15 but very worthwhile. One of the better finds, a solid A.


Iron & Wine Morning Becomes Eclectic:

Generic sleeved 12" 33 rpm EP, includes a CD, great value at $15, very interesting sides and good sound, worth picking up. Good B+.This is what RSD should be actually.


Black Keys Lonely Boy 12" 45:


Not terribly good value - two short songs cut at 45 on a 12" vinyl, not even a download and I paid $15. It is a novelty at best as it plays from the inner groove out to the outer groove, something you really better be careful about. Good tunes that build anticipation for the new LP. Interesting, and good songs and sound, but an expensive novelty still. B for the curiosity.


Last - the Mick Rock - Syd Barrett box, for $35, a pretty decent booklet in a tin case, the 2 track yellow vinyl single being almost a throw-in. For Syd completists only, with includes me I guess. B-.


Aside from the Wilco single, Soundgarden EP, a second Upstairs At United and the Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings LP that haven't arrived yet, I guess that's all for me this American Black Friday 2011. For the Wheedles Groove and Brendan Benson alone, as well as the Petty, Dead and Dream Theater, reasonably worthwhile but I did drop $500 - and really - have not that much essential to show for it. 

Until spring RSD....

Crosby Stills & Nash on Audio Fidelity gold CD - an early warning!!

Announced on the Steve Hoffman vanity board by the vanity master himself - Crosby Stills & Nash debut album coming soon on Adio Fidelity 24k gold CD.

Hoffman himself on his board has stated that his new remastering is, aside from Bernie Grundman's Classic 200g vinyl of a few years back, the only use of the true master tape on CD...as the great guru states:

"Well, WSP told us that they came from Stills not Nash. Does it matter? The CS&N gang had them, let's just say that. At any rate, we used them for our disk and Classic used them for their vinyl cutting. That's about it for use so far, I think. Maybe we'll use them again for our 78 RPM vinyl version.."

So, essentially, what Huffy is claiming is that his new version is the only CD taken from the true master tape. Whatever - that in itself is not unusual, but in this case, Hoffster and Audio Fidelity are actually competing against an audiophile release on gold CD from over a decade ago, that Atlantic put out, remastered by Joe Gastwirt. The booklet of that one states "From the original master tapes" and shows pictures of the original master tape boxes.

It would make sense for Hoffman and AF to want to cast aspersions on that version. The audiophile market is a rather limited one, and many potential customers will already have that version, and collectors pay pretty big bucks for it these days.

Personally, I don't care. The older Atlantic gold disc sounds superb, with a very true tonality capturing the dry, difficult acoustic Martin tone very accurately. It is a great mastering job.

Hoffman has not the slightest clue  what tape was used previously. He's just doing his usual salesman job of casting doubts to pump up his version.

I have heard too much of this half truths and little subtle putdowns by Hoffman to get sucked in again, so I will stick to my trusted Atlantic gold CD and avoid Audio Fidelity, whose track record is, to say the least, not very good.

The Monkees "HEAD" on Rhino 180g vinyl - a must have!

I am NOT a Monkees fan. I was a child when the show was on TV, it was kind of a kiddie show and by the time I was a teen hard rock, prog, and all sorts of cool stuff was in vogue where I grew up and The Monkees were really for the worst kind of geeks. Still, there was always a guilty pleasure to many of the songs that kept popping up on AM radio in my parents car.

Head is a very different matter. It's a remarkably cool, funny, trippy record that holds together very well and is a really fun listen. It is a period piece. It's pretty sincere, pretty psychedelic if at times trying too hard to be hip, has some good songs, and overall it's a trip.

Well remastered, although can be a bit bright, by Chris Bellman. A good RTI pressing for Rhino. A very cool reproduction of the original mirror cover that is a bitch to get a good picture of. Highly recommended. You might find yourself listening to it more often than you would expect.

Pink Floyd Vinyl 2011 Part 2 - Wish You Were Here 180g new pressing.

Yup, here comes part II of the 2011 Pink Floyd vinyl reissue campaign - Wish You Were Here quickly follows the disastrous (for all except Michael Fremer) 2011 pressing of Dark Side Of The Moon. Unlike that trainwreck, this one has been well pressed at RTI - I guess someone at Citicorp/EMI was paying attention. Surprising seeing as there are pretty much only lawyers and beancounters at the new Citicorp/EMI, at least until it gets sold. So that is the good news - a good pressing, and the packaging is excellent ( I am showing the back in the picture, the front is just like the original outer wrapper). A new poster is added, showing the flaming 2011 WYWH image (seen on the SACD) - cool.

That's all the good news. Like DSOTM the mastering leaves much to be desired. It, at times, has detail popping out from a rather flat background, that detail sounding a bit jarring. There is almost no air around the sound, the staging is flat and one-dimensional. Occasionally there is a roughness, a crude edge to the sound. Altogether, my 1970's vintage Japanese pressing has everything this one does not.

For the price, I guess the packaging is pretty cool. For listening, have another copy, like a Japanese original, in your collection.

ABOUT THOSE TOSHIBA JAPAN BLUE NOTE 200g vinyl reissues - I was dead wrong!

I posted a few days ago about the new series of vinyl mono Blue Note titles from Toshiba Japan, and got a bit of flak from readers saying they are from 24bit digital files.

I protested that pretty heavily - if there are any folks in the world I would believe without hesitation, it is the Japanese.

Which is why I am terribly saddened to have found out this afternoon, from absolutely direct and unimpeachable sources, that in fact this new vinyl Blue Note Series is not only from 24 bit hi res files, they are actually from 24 bit files originally remastered by Rudy Van Gelder as part of the 24 bit RVG CD series of a few years back.

That's right - these are not even sourced from original blue Note mono tapes, digitized. They are actually folds of RVG mastered digital files!

To say that Kevin Gray has done miraculous work on the two titles I have is an understatement. The Maiden Voyage, for which I understand the true master tape has not existed for over 20 years, sounds very good. The Soul Station is not bad either, although not near as good as the Music Matters.

Leave it to Citigroup/EMI to be the ones to, for the first time, turn even Japanese record companies into dishonorable crooks. I am beyond shocked and feel shamed for the Japanese record buyer.

Whether they sound decent or not is immaterial. These are a sham. There is no doubt that these vinyl pressings are a complete crock. Avoid.

New Hendrix reissues - Winterland and (sort of) In The West, 180g vinyl pressings:

 With the usual controversy coming with any new Hendrix product - why not everything (Winterland), why reissue In The West when the original Royal Albert Hall cuts are substituted with, well, actual 'in the west' cuts.

I can't get too hung up about it - Winterland is awesome, 8 superbly well mastered and pressed RTI discs and the material is smoking hot. I listened end to end, all way through, in one sitting - it is that good. Hendrix at his live peak, tight and relaxed, in the groove, blazing. Great stuff.

In The West was well pressed at QRP. I actually find the material lesser than Winterland, yet still a more cohesive statement than the original, of which I have a fairly nice Japanese original, so I have no complaints as to whether this record really, is, "In The West", and since Hendrix was dead when this record was compiled and released, there really is no 'original' anyways. This may be closer to Hendrix than the original anyways.

We must surely be getting to the end of what is viable from the Hendrix vaults, RAH and more live material notwithstanding. These are two of the best - Winterland at the very top.

Two best of the year - Joshua Abrams vinyl, Samuragochi Symphony 1 CD ...

Here are two of the very finest releases of 2011. Format is now anydrogynous - we can move freely between digital and vinyl, and appreciate both where one may be superior to the other.

On top- the Eremite label produces a 180g LP by Joshua Abrams - "Natural Information" by the Chicago bassist/multi-instrumenatist. Best described as mostly acoustic psychedelic world sort of jazz, soundscapes based on polyrythmic textures that may have MPS era Don Cherry as a starting point, but is totally unique and highly fragrant, potent music. Exemplary RTI pressing and production. An amazing, unique and highly recommended record.

 

Now we come to a CD available on Denon from Japan, composer Mamoru Samuragochi and his Symphony 1 - "Hiroshima" beautifully played by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, conductor Otomo and given an exemplary recording by Denon.

Here is a deeply affecting, powerful original work that has 3 very lengthy movements that would be near impossible to do on vinyl. Virtually unknown in the western world, Samuragochi has written what will one day be considered among the very best classical works of the 21st century, perhaps of all time. This is not Japanese native music - it is western symphonic music, clearly at some past point strongly related to Mahler, but subliminating Shostakovich, Hovhaness, Havergal Brian and a whole lot of others into a very unique voice. Clearly programmatic, the music presents Hiroshima honestly without a political point of view - as human, tragic, yet hopeful, and the climax comes at a split second and is a devestating flash of light that tonally overwhelms with the complex emotion it portrays.

I can't get this off the CD platter. Absolutely a must have CD - essential in any quality collection.

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon, 2011 180g vinyl pressing - another EMI beancounter screwup!

I doubt I need to post a picture of the 2011 vinyl reissue of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. So let's go straight to the heart of the matter - how it compares to the Kevin Gray mastered vinyl EMI put out several years ago.

Despite Michael Fremer's positive review of this new pressing, I have to piss all over another shitty efforts by EMI's beancounters. Fremer claims the Rainbo pressing is good, and even that Rainbo is focusing more on quality control. If that is the case, they sure missed the mark on their biggest opportunity of the decade to showcase what they can do. My first copy of DSOTM looked like it had been run over by a Fedex truck, heavily and deeply scuffed edge to label on one side. About a half inch wide scuff at that - just real ugly. I took it back to my local store and we opened another - same thing. And another - same thing. I figured they are all going to be just as bad so I walked out with the third defective copy, and tried it out at home. I asked at a couple of other area stores - they say folks have been complaining to them about the shitty pressing too, and they have had returns - which, in vinyl folks, the retailer cannot send back to the manufacturer - they have to eat the shit for the labels.

Yes, that scuffing is audible. But really, there are ticks and pops all over so it doesn't really matter. Sonically I find this new remaster less dynamic and robust as Gray's - mellow, or more like veiled, not bad at all, but not nearly as engaging as the earlier version.

Of course, neither comes close to my Toshiba Pro-Use DSOTM. That is awesome.

But for both sonic and pressing quality reasons, stick to the earlier Gray version. It's a quality piece of vinyl and better (analog) remastering. This one is just a cash grab.

New Blue Note vinyl from Toshiba Japan - 200g mono LP's:

Here we have a new series from Toshiba-EMI Japan - Blue Note mono pressings on 200g vinyl.

The technical stuff: Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearant. Pressed at Quality Records, Chad Kassem's new Kansas pressing plant. Sleeves printed inthe USA. Taken from the original RVG mono master tapes (which are known to be 'fold-downs' of the stereo tapes, but wrongly assumed to be nothing more than a straight fold-down). Horribly expensive to import (I got mine from HMV Japan). The usual high standard of packing the Japanese are known for - LP packed outside the sleeve, even outside the inner sleeve, with a round bottom anti-static sleeve contained in a separate white cardboard cover. Japanese outer sleeve. Bulletproof.

Now, much will be made (and is being made by Chad Kassem/Quality Record Pressings) about a Japanese record company using a US plant to press vinyl. Unfortunately, I have to say this turns out to be a terrible mistake.

I have been enjoying quite a bit of the fast growing QRP output - and at the same time thinking 'this is all a bit too fast and too much output for a new plant' - and sure enough, I have been finding QRP pressings pretty good as far as flatness and centering goes, but no better than RTI (even a bit more inconsistent) in terms of quietness. To be blunt - I find that QRP, just like RTI, produces records than have tons of micro scruffs and scratches, and simply too many ticks and pops.


Getting down to these new QRP pressed Toshiba-EMI Blue Note pressings - I got Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, and Hank Mobley's Soul Station. Both I have on 33rpm King Blue Note, Maiden Voyage also on AP 45 rpm, Soul Station on Music Matters 45rpm. Sonically, bearing in mind I am comparing mono to stereo, I prefer the direct and robust sounding mono Toshiba Hancock to the Analogue Productions which is too smoothed over and lacks punch and dynamism, but the Mobley I prefer the Music Matters for its more vivid and tonally rich presentation.

But both Toshiba pressings are, unfortunately, much too noisy for a $60+ pressing. The quality, while obviously better than, say, a Rainbo pressing, just isn't at the top echelon yet. And QRP messed up BOTH labels- see the picture below for what I mean - this just is not the quality I expect at this price point, and sheesh, even Rainbo can get a label on a record cleanly.

 

Sonically - interesting, and worthwhile. Quality needs to take a big step up.

SMILE 2011 The Beach Boys - well worth the wait!

Just rush out and buy this one. The Beach Boys "Smile" is finally out, and done the right way, and it is a masterpiece all around, no matter what one's view is of its state of completion, whether it really is Brian Wilsons vision, or what has been done to bring these 1960's recordings to a 2011 release. What Brian Wilson's ultimate vision of Smile might have been is irrelevant, there likely never was a cogent vision or end game, it is likelier that Smile was always destined to be a perpetually changing thing. No matter.

What we have here, on two nicely pressed and very reasonably priced 180g vinyls, superbly mastered for vinyl by Chris Bellman, is an entrancing listen from start to finish, a captivating wide open door to an era that never truly existed, a music that truly did make me break out in a big smile. It's the real deal, readers, and you need to get a copy right away. This record has good vibes pouring out of it. A huge heart. For once, EMI have got one right.

I'm not going back for the big box, but I am sure going to pick it up on CD - it is just that good. Not to be missed.

Bono KNOWS you are stupid - stealing from the middle class to give to the rich...Achtung Baby!

Bono knows we are stupid. He's the type that drops in on the Occupy City protests to get his picture taken with a slice of his "market" to keep up his street cred, all the while picking every loose pocket he can find in the crowd. These guys, MAJOR rich guys, are worse than the crooks on Wall Street. Those guys are obvious sharks. Bono et al are worse because they pretend to be great humanitarians, but are in reality the biggest capitalists around.

Here is the new 4 vinyl set of Achtung Baby by U2. List price $170USD. The original album on two slabs of 180g vinyl, along with a couple of remix LPs. Yes..that is right...U2 set ANOTHER world record - this time - MOST EXPENSIVE single album reissue ever.

Just for the record, I got mine for $120 CDN. Still a huge, huge ripoff. Here's why (if it isn't perfectly obvious already):

The records are superbly remastered by Bernie Grundman. That's the good news.

There is a sticker on the box stating "Pressed in Germany", which is a flat out lie. The records are manufactured by the underwhelming budget plant Gzvinyl in the Czech Republic, and the pressings are best described as 'serviceable' - they are not terribly quiet, they are very dirty and need a cleaning straight out before first play, and let's face it - for $170, anyone should expect a Pallas or RTI pressing at minimum.

The pressings are placed into rather rough cardboard sleeves without lining. At $170, there should easily have been a polylined inner or a round bottom inner before the cardboard inner sleeve. The discs are scuffed and dirty as a result - a cheap product. Obviously done at the lowest possible cost to maximize margin. U2 do not give a rats ass about quality. Just money.

The box itself holds the discs rather loosely. All the inner sleeves, as well as 3 or 4 outers, have split seams as a result. Really pisses me off that this thing lists at $170 for such a totally carelessly produced ripoff.

Why worry about value added - like a CD, or even a download code? Neither are here for your $170 list. Thanks, guys. I get newly recorded albums on vinyl for like $16, better pressed, sans seam splits, that include a download card. 

So there you have it. Bono loves you. A well remastered, mediocre pressing, dishonestly represented, one album and 40 minutes of remixes, arriving in poor condition due to careless package design, and a record setting price gouge. We, myself included, are so stupid this set is already pretty much sold out. Quality or value are not concerns.

ORG Dumbs Down to Hoffman for uninspiring new series!

Announced on the Hoffman vanity board - ORG - Original Recordings Group - engage the Hoffman/Gray team to do a new series of vinyl reissues based on the Atlantic Jazz catalog and the Black Lion jazz catalog.

Sad. ORG has been distinguished till now for using the best remastering talent in the business - Bernie Grundman. Those ORG 45's by Grundman - the Coltrane/Impulse, the Getz Au Go Go, the Weather Report, Nirvana, and so many others have a transparency and tonality - and an honesty - that Hoffman can't go near. Remember how disastrously Hoffman screwed up "Coltrane" on a $50 AP reissue?

It's well known that Hoffman doesn't know or understand jazz. He fattens up the bass, scoops out the mids, and turns down the top end - he's scared shitless of sizzling cymbals, and he wants to make jazz sound like a groovy mellow so-cal country rock shit. The Music Matters series sounded much better than the AP Blue Notes because Ron Rambach and Joe Harley were in the room producing, making sure Hoffman didn't mess up. And the Music Matters reached a whole new level over the past couple of years when Hoffman got booted out and Gray started doing them without the Huff.

So why would Jeff Bowers engage this douche to remaster a new series? Huffy sure does need the work. Universal, Capitol/EMI, so many others have banned Hoffman from working on their titles. Seems Warners is pretty much all that is left. But Grundman sure does know the music better, and has not only a better studio, has better judgement in remastering. He's honest. He doesn't play to the gallery.

The answer can only be - Jeff Bowers is falling into the Hoffman forum bullshit. He's going for what he wrongly thinks is a social media audience that he wants to tap into. He's SOLD OUT.

Proof? Look at the post that the duplicitous Hoffman hits his lemmings with. "Forum friend Jeff Bowers" is how the Huffy describes him - a short time ago, Hoffman let his rabid followers shit all over Bowers and ORG in a terribly destructive way, as well as continually taking thinly veiled barbs at Grundman, purely out of jealousy. Now Hoffman gets a gig from Bowers - and they are forum buds.

I guess Bowers is the latest Stockholm Syndrome victim. That's how Hoffman operates - try to destroy if you aren't hiring him, best of pals and open doors to the Hoffman forum kingdom if you do. Kind of how the mob operates, when you think about it.

It's all pretty sick, and very sad. I feel sad for Bowers and ORG that he feels this is necessary, and that his standards have fallen so low. I have been a huge fan of ORG since day 1. I think I won't be alone in getting off the bus now that Bowers has joined this sick club.

Not that the music gives me much incentive. Black Lion is hardly a candidate for expensive audiophile treatment. For the most part, it's catalog is made up of American ex-pats recording in the UK or Europe during the mid to late 60's with local pickup players of distinctly average to low calibre. If you want to hear late Ben Webster blowing hot air into his mouthpiece backed by some local hacks, go for it. If you want to hear Dexter blowing hard and backed by a four-square rhythm section, be my guest. There is so much better material by any artist on Black Lion - and much better recorded - to be mined. Most, of course, not accessible to Hoffman. Black Lion did have an avant garde imprint, Freedom, that was picked up by Arista - red hot stuff by Marion Brown, Archie Shepp, Charles Tolliver, Randy Weston, many others - all in their 1970's true prime. This stuff would all be very worthwhile, totally not commercially viable as audiophile reissues, and in any event, outside enough that Hoffman would totally screw them up.

Black Lion is very, very minor stuff for extreme completists only. The jewels in European jazz, aside from ECM, are Steeplechase and MPS. Now...if Bowers did some Steeplechase...we would seriously be talking.

Atlantic jazz is just as chequered - there are some obviously gigantic recordings by Coltrane, Coleman, MJQ, Charles Lloyd, Rahssaan - and some of the later stuff by Eddie Harris, Les McCann, Herbie Mann and others are very good. Problem with Atlantic was Joel Dorn, who didn't met a recording session he didn't want to fuck up with strings, horn sections, and other crap - he ruined most of Yusef Lateef's 1970's output, as well as a lot of Harris, Laws, and so many others. Most Atlantic were not all that well recorded, and the truth is - most Atlantic master tapes were lost in the infamous warehouse fire decades ago. So one has to wonder what Hoffman will be remastering from, anyways.

There really isn't that much Atlantic 60's stuff that hasn't been reissued to death, and in the 70's the crown jewel of American jazz is without a doubt the Milestone catalog. Why not REALLY break the mold and do a Milestone reissue series?

All in all, I think Hoffman sums this situation up well when he claims:

"I asked OrgMusic why they wanted these to be mastered by us (usually they would use Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman in Hollywood). I was told that "Hoffman/Gray are dialed in to what audiophiles want to hear- and we want our stuff to stand apart. Steve and Kevin mastered our best sounding record ever- Rickie Lee Jones- Pop Pop- people still talk about it- and we pressed it at Pallas. We broke the mold- now I want to do that again". "

Bullshit, Steve. You didn't ask Bowers why they wanted you. You asked them for a promo blurb to post on your forum. ORG already stood out - Grundman, exciting, often off beat titles, wide range of genres, and great pressings. There is nothing in Black Lion or that hasn't been done with Atlantic that remotely breaks any mold. And another sly little insinuation there that Chris Bellman isn't as "dialed in" as the great Herr Huffmein is. Cheap shit. Bellman doesn't do much ORG anyways, Stevie, Grundman does. But you really wouldn't know, would you?

Now ORG have dumbed down and don't stand out at all.

If ORG does any Atlantic Ray Charles, just make sure Hoffman doesn't cut up the master tape, ok?

Quality Recordings - Cat Steven "Tillerman" 200g vinyl, Freddie King vinyl reissues!

As ORG/Original Recordings Group seems to want to emulate Classic Records quality control reputation (as in, no quality control) - out of the ashes of Classic comes Quality Recordings, a part of Chad Kassem's Acoustic Sounds empire.



First up - some Freddie King, Getting Ready and Texas Cannonball, both originally on Shelter (Leon Russell's old label) and featuring the Russell/Muscle Shoals crowd. Both fine, hot blues rockers well recorded and given excellent, warm, vibrant if a bit loud and brash remasterings.



But I'm sure what readers want to know about is the pressings.



Well, they are dead perfect. Flat, centered, quiet, visually perfect, in MOFI style inners. Just simply perfect, the way it should be.



The much delayed Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman is the title I imagine most are wanting to know about.



Again, I have a flat, perfect 200g pressing that is totally quiet - perfect in every way. Classic never really could get 200g right. Quality Recordings seems to have it nailed.



Marino's remaster is warm, big sounding, detailed, tonally excellent. Perhaps Marino's weak spot is that his remasters tend to sound rather unsubtle (to mangle a perfectly good word) - a bit brash, lacking some delicacy and inner quality that a better remastering engineer like Bernie Grundman can achieve. He is far better than Steve Hoffman, though - maybe on a par with Gray. But that's not to take away much from a very fine achievement here - this is a splendid reissue, a bargain at $30, and a fine start to Quality Recordings that looks towards a fine, long future.

WTF is with ORG - another train wreck pressing!

Just arrived yesterday - a fine box from Soundstage Direct with 11 slabs of vinyl, from MOFI, Music On Vinyl, Porcupine Tree, and ...Original Recordings Group (ORG).



I dumped all over ORG for their shitty pressing of Weather Report - Heavy Weather on 45 rpm vinyl. I figured it was an aberration, but noted that ORG appear to have changed from Pallas to RTI for their pressings - not necessarily a good sign.



Now arrives the 45 rpm Albeniz Suite Espanola, from the London reissue program that so far I haven't bother with (insipid, listless group of titles really).



I should have stayed away.



Look at what I received for $60 plus shipping - freakin' skid marks across the vinyl!! This is just so disappointing, so ugly, so unnecessary. It's just purely crappy quality control and both ORG and RTI are to blame.



Maybe it's a great remastering (Bernie Grundman), I have no idea. The sound is pure garbage.



Stay away from this one, too, as well as the ORG Weather Report. Looks to me like Original Recordings Group, the highest priced reissue company in the market, has decided to go the way of Classic Records and keep buyers in an endless loop of frustration, returning product endlessly in search of a passable pressing.



Not this boy. New policy - when they are this bad, I'm sending them back for a refund, no second chances. For $60, they can do their own quality control checks instead of leaving it to the customer.

Classical CD roundup - 2011 so far...

Rounding up briefly the highlights so far in 2011, on the classical side. There is still lots of life left in the classical CD business, even if it's been pretty much over 5 years since I have bought anything from DG, Decca, Philips or EMI!

Valery Gergiev has been recording Shostakovich symphonies at quite a clip lately, here we have numbers 2 and 15. The sound in the series, with his Marinsky Orchestra, is outstanding and of demonstration quality - deep, warm, analog like, zero string

harshness, a realistic acoustic and dynamics in spades. Gergiev's readings are definitive. I love Haitink's earlier readings on Decca, but that sound is nowhere in the class on offer here, and Gergiev is perhaps more idiomatic, and much more dramatic. Highly recommended.

Naxos is a label that has come along way from it's roots as a deep budget label that offered a wide range of repertoire from third and fourth rank orchestras with no-name conductors in serviceable, bland sound. For sure, they still do some of that. But recent cycles of Bax, Vaughan Williams, Rousell, Stanford and others feature first rate orchestras, up and coming conducting stars, and first rate sound typically from displaced former Decca and EMI engineering teams. Case in point - the Sibelius symphony cycle from Inkwan in Helsinki. Here we have symphonies 1 and 3 in outstanding interpretations - easily the most fresh, insightful readings in decades - that eclipse totally modern recordings from Ashkenazy, Oramo, Vanski, Jarvi and others - even perhaps Berglund. The sound is glorious - not quite reference class, but extremely good.

And it costs under $10. I have the entire cycle, and there is not a single mis-step, and not a single one that I would not place right beside Berglund, or Karajan, or any other favorite. Inkwan's Naxos 2nd in my opinion is right up with Karajan's Philharmonia account.

Pierre Boulez conducts the magnificent Lucerne Festival Orchestra in a brisk, dry

reading of Mahler's 6th, as well as Webern and Stravinsky's Chant Du Rossignol. The Mahler is likely the main attraction here, and listeners' feelings about Boulez overall will likely be the deciding factor. The recording is quite good, and far superior to Boulez' DG version, sonically it is not demonstration quality, but is admirably transparent and natural, if lacking a bit in weight and body. Boulez can seem cold and clinical, and this version certainly has greater passion and feeling that his earlier Mahler for DG. It is not sentimental,yet it can frequently be exciting, and often I find Mahler's 6th (and 5th) to be conducted with an eye on having the adagio sliced out to go on those endless, cheesy romantic compilations for the easy listening classics crowd. Boulez will never be one for that, and his reading places Mahler squarely where he should be, in the modern, neo-classical tradition. It's worth hearing, and the Stravinsky in particular is very good. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is young, highly committed, and never plays by the numbers. They eschew vibrato, and are highly individual. Perhaps not recommended as a first choice, or for all listeners, but recommended nonetheless.

I haven't picked up hardly and BIS titles in a couple of years, as none have really interested me, but for some reason, there have been quite a few excellent titles released by BIS this year. The label always produces exemplary, natural sound with full dynamics, and lately, pretty much all are being released in dual layer SACD format.

A disc of Eino Tamberg orchestral music from Neeme Jarvi - the ballet suite Joanna Tenata is rather abstract, tonal, challenging - highly charged, dynamic music making full use of

the orchestra's colors, particularly brass and percussion. Beautiful music. The Symphonic Dances and Concerto Grosso are a different matter, largely concertos for saxes and woodwinds, the Estonian folk elements less at the fore, showing greater influence of Bartok, Prokofiev and obviously Tubin.

Thomas Dausgaard is one of the best conductors around today. Consistently interesting, fresh and honest, and willing to take chances. He offers a fine Swedish Chamber Orchestra reading of Schubert's 8th and 9th, the smaller chamber orchestra (on modern instruments) bringing a freshness and vitality to music which, with traditional orchestras, often seems hackneyed and overwrought. The same forces bring a reading of the 1877 version of Bruckner's 2nd that just blows the doors off early Bruckner, it's briskness aided by the opening and unravelling of textures brings an entirely new, fresh view to this work, placing it far closer to middle Beethoven than to Brahms, and bringing it out of the reverberant church context Bruckner is typically placed in, out into the open with a dry, open sound.

Both these are totally, highly recommended.

Now we have Owain Arwel Hughes conducting his father's works,

including Anatiomaros, the Suite For Orchestra and Glyndwr legend. This is exemplary British music, very much coming out of Vaughan Williams, Holst, Bax and so on.

In many ways, unknown and/or long neglected composers like Arwel Hughes (and Tamberg, Tubin, and many others) offer flawed, but far more adventurous and unpredictable experiences than their more celebrated contemporaries. It's the flaws that prevented them from achieving greater popularity, as well as the slightly more challenging or offbeat aspects of their music. They didn't write for the mainstream, they wrote what they heard in their minds, and that's what makes them so interesting, and in many cases, much more relevant today. If you are into British music at all, and I have to say that I am as much a lover of British music as I am of Nordic and Scandinavian composers, you should hear this very fine disc.

Typically at an industry or products end of life, price is lowest and quality is at it's peak. Also typical of many product life cycle end periods, the niche manufacturers come to dominate as the larger players have abandoned the business as their need for economies of scale can no longer be met.

That is largely what we see in the classical segment today - almost universally the sonic quality is at an absolute peak, and more 'niche' or less mainstream repertoire is dominant, and this is what we are seeing in these excellent new releases. It's never been better.

Hans Werner Henze is a perfect example of a composer for whom the leaps in CD sonics benefit massively. Here is a new Wergo recording of his 3rd and 5th symphonies, beautifully conducted by Marek Janowski. Earlier digital did not do Henze any favors, it made his music sound hard and cold, yet here, it is deeply human, reaching music, affecting deeply, and this I can attribute largely to the very involving, human sound. I had ignored Henze for a long time, and now I hope for more.

The Naive label, out of France, is doing some wonderful contemporary things to bring classical music to a broader, younger market. One disc, out of many recently from this fine label, is of Ravel and Prokofiev piano concertos from the outstanding pianist Anna Vinnitskaya - who, from what I hear in these works, is a major, major new star. She's not at all one of those young Asian technical but soul-less virtuoso kids that the major labels trot out regularly. She has chops that dance all around those players, but has an intelligence and fresh point of view that they totally miss.

Here, the Prokofiev sounds less of a hard, technical showpiece and far more of an organic, introspective conversation with orchestra. There are obviously technical fireworks on display, but they seems also to have a deeper inner quality, and a humanity that is often (usually) missing. The Ravel is also a wonderful performance - light, bluesy, jazzy, dancing, human. These readings instantly become first choices in both cases. They are fresh, unique, and completely of their time. This is an artist to watch, big time. Fine, fine recording. Highly recommended.

So there you have it. a long one, this time, and plenty of off the main road recordings to check out. As I think back to the first decade of CD, where dozens upon dozens of new classical recordings flooded the stores every week, I can't help but thinking that the state of the classical industry today may be desperate from a major label economic point of view, but as a cottage industry, it really has never been better.

A new addition to the living room...

Her's my latest addition - a Rhodes 1979 suitcase piano. Refurbished, in outstanding condition, playing just peachy with rather little work needed (and easy, minor stuff for the most part).



You know the Rhodes sound, you've heard it on hundreds of records. It's wonderful to have one here, and it's always useful to be in touch with what real musical instruments sound like.



I've already put a Mad Professor wah on it. Too cool.

New music - THe HORRORS - "Skying" -

Read about this one in Uncut and it caught my interest, I'm always into new music that reads like it would be sympathetic to my vibe. Good call on this one, Uncut.



Never really paid attention to The Horrors before - their first two albums sounded like twee synth pop to me, and I had pretty much dismissed them. All of a sudden, Skying appears on XL, and it seems to me like the record that comes out of a band that has all of a sudden made a huge, transformative leap and found not only it's own voice, but has jumped from being an indie also-ran into being a band that can stand up with the major alternative rock names of the day.



I find this to be simply a beautiful record. It hold it's influences well, coming from the new wave camp through Britpop with elements of Radiohead, My Bloody Valentine, The Verve and others, the synths are still there, but the guitars and analog keys are much more to the fore, there is a touch of progginess in the shifts and colors, it's highly melodic. Totally entrancing. It's a pop record, no doubt, and highly tappable. It's one of the highlights of 2011.



A big five doobies to this excellent work. The Horrors will only get bigger, and better. This is the kick-off point.



A side note - XL was badly hit by the British riots last week. A bunch of yobs and losers burnt down a warehouse putting a whole bunch of indie labels, including XL, in a precarious state.



Here's your chance to support an indie label and get an outstanding contemporary record while doing that. I hope you pick up Skying, and you will be rewarded for doing so.



Nice pressing, double record, well done embossed gatefold, I paid $16. A freakin' bargain.

New Steve Earle - "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive"...

Take it from one who has long respected Steve Earle but has never really been a lover of his records - this one is his best record, ever.



I picked this up in a slow week. Didn't want to leave the record store empty handed. Wouldn't have bought it otherwise. When that happens, either I get something that turns out to be a stone classic and a huge surprise, or I get bitten by a piece of dog crap and feel guilty knowing that I knew it was a waste of money when I bought it.



Happily, this one is a huge surprise. I can honestly say it is a transformative experience listening to this.



I won't spoil it for you talking too much about the music. It's sort of a country album, but not the Randy Travis or (substitute any generic conservative countrified nutjob you prefer) any other such country pop artist. It's traditional in a way, but so was Coltrane in 1967. So is Hans Werner Henze, at his core. It's also very forward looking and of today. Just get it. It's great.



Here, we also have a dedicated vinyl mastering that has been plainly done to optimize sonics. It was clearly intended as a true analog vinyl master, and it sounds like it. No hi-fi sound effects - just a warm, vibrant, dynamic, tonally faithful sound on a pretty decent pressing, for which I paid a princely $17.



I consider this a master statement, both artistically and sonically. It gets 5 doobies on both counts. It's a must, regardless of genre. It transcends genre. I strongly recommend it and would be surprised if it does not reveal itself to you as much as it did to me.

WEATHER REPORT - Heavy Weather on ORG...

Just in, 45 rpm vinyl of Weather Report's awesome "Heavy Weather" on the ORG (Original Recordings Group) label, and the weather is indeed heavy - hail, in fact.



That's what the pressing sounds like. A hailstorm of pops and clicks.



This one, unusually for ORG, is pressed at RTI, and it sounds like it. Not only a cacaphony of pops and clicks that even my amazing cleaning methods can't remedy, a low level continuous surface noise floor that truly mars this beautiful remastering by Bernie Grundman.



Here, Grundman shows again why he is simply the best in the world. That extended, holographically transparent, clear sound that has a tonality that is simply spot on in timbre and color. Absolutely organic, and simply stunning.



The amazing sound is almost enough to overcome a shitty pressing - almost. Maybe at a different price, it would be. But not a $55, and not at the true cost - $55 plus the shipping, and I suppose, the return ship and the ship of the replaceement.



It's already $75, and it will be well over $100 to get a decent one.



If a decent one exists.



So - with regret - you have a choice here. If I got a crap pressing - and all four sides are unacceptably noisy - there are many more in the small press run. So you either go in here understanding that you are a nut job and willing to pay over $100 to eventually get a passable one, you pay your $55 plus shipping and accept whatever pressing you get and ignore the noise while enjoying a Grundman masterpiece, or you simply take a pass.



I don't know which way I'm headed. The music and sound here are both a perfect 10 - and more. But for the top, top premium price this ORG goes for, I expect perfection in the pressing, and I EXPECT THAT WHEN THE LABEL DOESN'T GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, THEY WILL MAKE IT RIGHT AT NO COST TO ME.



I know Music Matters does that. Actually, Rhino and Warners typically do too. ORG and Elusive Disc need to also.



A superb remastering let down by a bad pressing. Nuff said.

Audio Fidelity Target series - a new low!

Troubled "audiophile" label Audio Fidelity have announced a new series of vinyl and CD releases, supposedly at lower prices, manipulatively called the "Target" series.



Here's a new low, for a label renowned for screwed up mastering, production mistakes, hit and miss repertoire choices, and often sound that is really not much of an upgrade. A low, because AF have now made clear that they are full of shit and aiming straight at the Hoffman cultites. the 'Target' moniker was created solely by Hoffman wankers, and supposedly is the mark of an early 80's European CD with mythical, holy grail sonic qualities. like most other inventions of the Hoffman board, their purported qualities are massively exaggerated or simply non-existent. Target CD's are simply early digital - never taken from original sources, offering muddy, low level sonics that those with marginal systems and/or hard, bright sounding digital players prefer becuase their frequency limitations and mud mistaken for warmth fit right in with their warped world view.



Damn, I could get a good mastering to sound just like a Target - put a resistor across my tweeter to kill the top end, lower the bottom to have no presence, and put a blanket over my speakers to lose the detail - and there you have it, the Target sound.



One Hoffman lemming, a real loser 'Tootull', even complains that Toronto record stores wouldn't take his Targets off his hands, apparently not having got the memo that these are uber-collectable. I can just see this douche going to the used record stores telling them 'but..it's a Target!! They're worth BUCKS!! Steve Hoffman says so...don't you know who Steve Hoffman is??' and being laughed right out of the store. They are early digital, dude. Only valuable to collectors who buy into snakeoil generally.



The real hilarious, gut splitting post on the Hoffman board is from a guy who is looking forward to this series, particularly if they are "flat transfers". He didn't read the "Adventures in Mastering" vomit inducing self aggrandizing promo pieces by Hoffman himself, wherein he declares that "At no time do we just do a flat transfer and call it "mastered"" also saying he uses "equalization equipment and other signal processing gear" - I guess it's hard for the acolytes to keep up with whatever is the dogma of the month.



So why is Marshall Blonstein doing this? Remember, Marshall has no reluctance to take the low road in marketing his wares - his recent Huffington Post 'interview' shows he has a high propensity for, shall we say, 'gilding the lily' - and that he takes himself very seriously. Marshall did the respected DCC label, a knockoff of Mobile Fidelity, true. His ventures since have been rather variable, including Audio Fidelity.



Marshall is doing this to tap into that myth on the Hoffman board, to jack up his cred and sales among Hoffmanites. Pure and simple.



Among more knowing audio folks - Target means early, shitty digital from late generation sources. I wouldn't go near it if he was giving them away.



Already, the Hoffmanites are salivating at the propspect of getting their faves on this new series. Some great titles are being proposed!



Melissa Manchester! Yes! That will sell a bundle, guys. Hey- are Hoffmanites not past puberty yet?



Pablo Cruise!! Laura Branigan! Shiela E!! Wow-ee!! These guys are so lame.



Worse - they have no clue about rights, licensing, or indeed their host's issues with many labels.



Oasis, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin - these bands own the right to their recordings. They will not be licensed out - extremely unlikely. Even if they were, Hoffman is barred from touching anything from EMI, MCA, most Universal...in fact, it seems pretty much only WEA still allow him to touch their stuff (and doubtful they let him near a master). Gray has no such limitations I understand.



Even so, there are label restrictions are ownership matters that HUffers just don't understand in the slightest. It's sad to see these people pump their own narrow wet dream without the slightest inkling of what might be commercially viable or even obtainable.



Sadder - left to his own, Marshall comes up with two titles to launch this misguided affair - a record by Riot (yeah- Riot!! WTF??) and a 10,000 Maniacs titles that is ok, but MOFI have already done the gem of the Maniacs catalog - In My Tribe, and AF can't approach the sonics of MOFI, even on a rare bad day for MOFI.



Like I said, a new low for Marshall Blonstein and Audio Fidelity. I think I'll stay away just on principle. I hate being manipulated, and I hate even worse being sold to as if I were a moron.

Since I'm on about Music Matters this week, how about going back to some that deserve to get out front some more?

Here's s look back on some Music Matters 45 rpm vinyl releases that came under the radar and deserve more attention.



Way too often, the narrow demographic of buyers for these reissues, and even more, the limitations of the Steve Hoffman vanity board as the prime source of discussion of these titles (with the usual misinformation, complaining, limited knowledge/appreciation of the music that is endemic on that board) prevent some of the real gems in the Music Matter catalog from gaining their rightful acclaim.



Let's take a look at Jackie McLean's seminal "Destination Out". That's a test press of that title to the left. Remastered by Kevin Gray as Huffy had left the party in a huff (bad pun, I know) by then. Here we have the cream of mid-60's jazz in five perfect tracks. There should be no more reason to buy this record than to hear Roy Haynes behind Jackie McLean, who was approaching freer playing at this point, but not at all into dissonant avant garde. But there is much more reason - Bobby Hutcherson, for one. Taking essentially the piano spot, Hutcherson's vibes have simply never been reproduced as gloriously as they are here - the ringing, metallic yet warmly resonant tone here is astonishing, how the notes ring and reverberate throughout the room has just never come through before now. My first reaction was a broad smile - THAT'S what Bobby Hutcherson sounds like - what a major thrill to finally hear that! Then there is Grachan Moncur, enfant terrible, who has such a rich tone filled with harmonic warmth, and on this one you can hear and feel the sweat dripping off his bell. I consider this one of Moncur's best outings.



What more can I say - except bring on more Jackie McLean! One Step Beyond just HAS to get on the Music Matters schedule, if only for the emergence of Tony Williams - it's often not recognized that Tony Williams became Tony Williams in Jackie McLean's band. The intonation issues that Jackie has on earlier Blue Note were resolved by this point and this title is the real start of the prime Blue Note period for Jackie McLean. Don't miss this one.



Speaking of Granchan Moncur - he recorded two records as a leader for Blue Note, "Evolution", the first and probably the best, pretty much starts off where Destination Out ended, adding to that group Lee Morgan, and Bob Cranshaw in place of Larry Ridley and Tony Williams back in the saddle in place of Roy Haynes. What is remarkable here is how the sympathetic Kevin Gray remastering turns this into a whole new record. It is more "out" than many are willing to go, but don't be deterred by that - it's far from inaccessible, in fact, the warmth in the midrange, Moncur's glorious tone, Hutcherson's metallic singing vibes tone, and a real swing to the proceedings were a revelation to me - and I have known this record for decades. This is neither a 'blind' purchase or a 'spec' purchase - it's an essential purchase. Let this music wash over you and revel in the tone colors brought to life.



An earlier and more mainstream hard bop session led by Paul Chambers wasn't to me an automatic Music Matters purchase. Sure, it has an early pre-Coltrane Elvin Jones - but at this point Elvin was really struggling to find his identity. Chambers is always solid, and Tommy Flanagan never made a bad move. Clifford Jordan, it seems to me, was the wild card here. Jordan's presence is mostly what made me hesitate - I never considered him much more than a journeyman. But his playing here actually makes the date, and he really plays at a much higher level that many of his BN contemporaries, and here is a case where the whole truly exceeds by a wide margin the sum of the individuals involved - it comes together as a very satisfying cohesive record that was both an unexpected surprise and a minor revelation.



That I had really not given it any respect previously made it all the more delightful to make a re-acquaintance in such a rewarding way. If you have overlooked this one, don't make my mistake - be surprised, and delighted, and maybe even it will open your eyes and ears to the many other unheralded titles in the Blue Note catalog that you need to discover. Curated by Ron and Joe, you just know that if they put it in front of you, it's going to be great. You have to take the next step to make the discovery.



Before I leave this topic for awhile, I urge Music Matters to bring more Donald Byrd/Pepper Adams collaborations out of the vault and into our hands. Pepper has been unfortunately largely forgotten now, while Gerry Mulligan remains revered, and IMO Pepper walks all over Mulligan as a hard bop bari player - and his stay in the Byrd band was seminal. Music Matters have done Byrd In Hand, with a second horn - Charlie Rouse on tenor. It's a good date and sounds very good. Pepper had one of those tones that never really got properly reproduced on record - it's big, much bigger than Mulligan, it's metallic from that Berg metal mouthpiece he favored, he growls down deep and loves the horn's bottom end. It's a baritone sound, and too often, I found players like Mulligan trying to make the bari into a darker tenor. Among bari players, Pepper is revered - not nearly as much so Mulligan.



In my view, Music Matters can't get enough of the Byrd/Pepper records into market, so we can here for the first time that magnificent, unique bari tone. Royal Flush has just got to get on the schedule. How about that, guys?

About that Music Matters 45 Sonny Rollins "Newks Time":

In some of my recent posts, readers have commented on the recent Music Matters 45 rpm vinyl release of Sonny Rollins' Newks Time, citing rather severe problems sonically. As I mentioned in those comments, it surprises me that Music Matters would put out anything subpar - their standards sonically and in the whole presentation have been consistently sterling, and truth is I have not personally heard their Newks Time (but the comments posted and private emails I've received sure have pumped me to rectify that).

I did ask the good folks at Music Matters about it, and got the whole story. First, an email Music Matters was kind enough to forward to me, unedited or altered:

"Hi gang,

Tonight I'm sitting here listening to the test pressings of Sonny Rollin's amazing Newk's Time session. I'm blissed out....and here's why!

From the inception of Music Matters' Blue Note project, there have been a handful of sessions that we (Ron and I) dearly love but that apparently had master tape problems of one kind or another that made the prospect of being able to release them seem remote indeed.

One of these sessions was Sonny Rollin's amazing "Newk's Time". We had been told by various folks (including Michael Cuscuna) that the masters "had problems" and that it would be better to move on to other great Rollins titles on Blue Note. We did that (you'll see Sonny's great Vol. 1 from us soon and Acoustic Sounds has released Vol. 2) but Newk's Time has always been a favorite.

A few weeks before our last Blue Note mastering marathon at Acoustech in June, Ron and I decided to go ahead and request Newks' Time, despite all the warnings.

The session comes, and sure enough, there on the Newks' Time masters are dire looking warnings about "severe tape drop outs" all over the outer box and inner notes. Most of the fuss seemed to revolve around drops out on the first track "Tune Up".

Undaunted, Kevin went ahead and carefully spooled the tape up so we could have a listen and settle in to our battle plan.

The first thing that struck us all...well the first two things really...were how great Sonny sounded and how great the overall sound was. Sonny was in full flight, I was getting totally stoked and then it happened.... the dreaded "drop out"! I said "wait a minute!" but Steve was already on to it... "THAT'S no drop out!" He was right, this was clearly Rudy making a fairly radical fader move. Tape drop outs are obvious and have their own "sound". This was not a drop out.

We had been noticing (and commenting) on the fact that Sonny was moving in the stereo image. Then I started laughing since it was so obvious....Sonny was WALKING around the studio (the Hackensack living room) and Rudy was doing whatever he could, using his faders, to keep up with Sonny.
Anyone who has been to a Sonny Rollins concert knows that he is not a stationary player. I had vague memories of reading of Sonny's recording adventures with Rudy, of Sonny's desire not to be chained to a microphone.
It probably sounds like a small matter to most, but for Ron and myself, this was one of those Eureka Moments where everything suddenly makes sense.
We put up "Tune Up" again as Steve began to zero in on other things that the track needed.

The rest of the tracks were fine.....no "severe drop out" issues at all! Yes, you do hear things shifting around a bit as Sonny walks around, playing his tail off, but hey, that's what the man does...he needs to MOVE to play his absolute best!

There's an amazing track on this album that will take up all of Side C on our release....Philly Joe Jones and Sonny on an amazing duo work out on "Surrey With The Fringe On Top". I wish I had a camera to capture Steve hanging on for dear life with the faders trying to "walk" with Sonny and keep him present. He succeeded but needed a towel to dry off afterwards!
Thanks Steve! Thanks Kev! And THANK YOU SONNY!

Cheers,

Joe and Ron"

So there you have it, straight up.

But wait a minute - despite all that, it's clear - Newks Time DOES have some sonic problems, and damn, it costs $50 a pop for folks to get that! Is that right?

I suppose it is all a matter of perspective. If all it's about to you is pure, perfect, unblemished sonic nirvana, you might not be getting your fix with this one.

For me, though, it has always been about getting fantastic historical and LIVING performances in not necessarily the 'best' sound possible, but the most realistic and faithful sound possible - and a big part of that is representing that particular moment and place in time as faithfully as possible.

Those warts on Newks Time are part of the music. Hearing Sonny moving around, going off mic, moving side to side in the stereo image - those are all parts of that wonderful moment in time, they are part of the performance, part of that particular day at Van Gelder's - part of the history that Music Matters is doing such a fabulous job of reproducing, of archiving and preserving for my, and hopefully my kids, enjoyment going forward.

I would not reject Newks Time because of these artifacts (they are not flaws! artifacts is a better word, IMO) - and again, I have not yet heard the MM vinyl - I suspect I will embrace them as they bring me closer to that moment in time and closer to what is a truly great Sonny Rollins session.

I perfectly understand that others may see this differently. If nothing else, readers who have written me about Newks Time have pushed me into ordering a copy to hear for myself, and to give some thought to what exactly should be expected in preserving these performances. I'm grateful on both counts.