The Return Of Simply Vinyl:

 The Simply Vinyl brand sure has taken a lot of hits over the past several years. The true, original incarnation of Simply Vinyl produced good pressings with variable sound from varying sources, rarely analog, ranging from excellent from obvious bad digital. Some - Fairport's Unhalfbricking, their Nick Drake titles - are thought highly of, the Drake largely because there are no other reasonable alternatives to very high priced originals. After the demise of the original label, Simply Vinyl branded pressings appeared in huge quantities that were obvious inferior knockoffs, all really bad sounding. It seemed that this effectively killed what credibility the brand still had.

Despite that, Simply Vinyl was revived in 2011, and started out with a reissue of John Martyn's great "Solid Air". And what a great start. Without the endless discussions and arguments about source that too often detract from a legitimate evaluation of the merits of a reissue, I can say that everything about this reissue is exceptional. The sound is crisp, clear, organic and has all the mystery and atmosphere of an original. It perhaps could be called a more contemporary mastering of the original, as it is a much quieter pressing and has a more modern, transparent sound. Yet it is very fine sounding and draws in to this wonderful world Martyn portrays very convincingly. A fine job, highly recommended.

On to Fairport's Liege & Lief, which I compared to a (much less well pressed) pink label Island original.

Again here, the warmth and beauty of the Fairport classic is convincingly portrayed. Perhaps a better comparison would be to the recent Analogue Productions vinyl of Cat Stevens' Tea For The Tillerman, which is thicker, richer sounding and highly polished sonically. The Fairport is pretty polished too, but less thick sounding, and that is appropriate in terms of clarity and transparency. While it misses slightly the overall organic-ness of the original, as far as a modern reissue goes, this can hardly be faulted, and is highly recommended.

 Dusty Springfield's "A Girl Called Dusty" is a bit more problematic, likely due to source. It sounds very good, but very likely comes from a good digital source handled with care in the vinyl transfer. It is glossy, and big, and up front, but doesn't have the 60's vibe as an original would. Stands up very well on its own, though, and is an enjoyable record.

 "The Slider" from T.Rex is a great stomp, a slice of the real T.Rex garage-y glam rock before it got out of hand. This I always found to be the most "real" and "genuine" record by T.Rex, the real expression of Bolan's vision. It sounds appropriately garage rock here, and actually I prefer it to other original versions I have or have heard.

So - a good start to the reborn Simply Vinyl. I hope it continues and keeps the interesting titles and high quality. Presentation is first rate down to accurate cover and label reproductions. Check them out.