Sneak Peek at Upcoming 2015 Music Matters 33 rpm vinyl:

As the embargo is coming to an end shortly, it is a good time to give a sneak peek at some of the upcoming Music Matters Blue Note vinyl in 2015, all of which will be 33 rpm issues.

I'll give you some of the highlights. There is a mix of titles previously done, mostly by Analogue Productions and in every case distinctly inferior, and a few that were previously done at 45 rpm by Music Matters, but with the 'input' of Steve Hoffman, and now without that burden Music Matters can take advantage of not only the improved mastering and cutting chain of Kevin Gray, but Gray's superior mastering.

1. Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage:

This was taken from a second generation analog tape copy made in the 1970's as the master tape was deteriorating. The actual master has not been used in decades - not for the Analogue Productions 45 rpm, not for the hi-res downloads - not for anything, in over 30 years. This tape was discovered by Music Matters and is being used for the first time, and it sounds much, much better as a result. My go-to for Maiden Voyage has been a Japanese Toshiba from their Blue Note Masterpieces series, a rare cut. This one is much better.

What I really get a sense of when listening to the Music Matters is the nautical adventure narrative of the music, how much this is a cycle of tone pieces that in every sense was a concept album well before the first rock concept albums. Tony Williams cymbals splash across the soundstage and put up a wall of shimmering waves, that previous masterings just didn't get. Carter's bass finally has presence and depth of tone. Coleman digs deep and his tone - on the AP 45 whitewashed and weak - here is powerful, rich and vibrant, full of color, as is Hubbard, who has attack and articulation completely missing on the Analogue Productions.

The 33 rpm Maiden Voyage is a revelation, and the way it should have sounded - but probably never has, at least not since a true first pressing, which this almost certainly exceeds.

2. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil:

This is a massive revelation. The earlier Music Matters mastered by Hoffman (if you can call it mastering) is less than ideal. Weak tonality, mushy, wishy washy sonics, as if he sucked the power out of the music and tried to make it some smooth jazz crap. No bass. High end cut that recesses the cymbals. Cutting at 45 rpm doesn't help.

But, it has long been part of the lore that Speak No Evil was a mediocre recording that has no bass. NOT SO. Again here, a second generation tape was used that is recently discovered - and it has everything. Right from the word go, the horns are right out front, squawking, shouting, taunting - just shouting 'speak no evil, speak no evil, speak no evil'...now, with this new 33 version, it all sounds right, and the message gets delivered. Everything here is remarkable - it sounds as a whole, organic, the tone - massive tone - just so vivid. Elvin Jones kick drum (which Van Gelder never really cared to mike) punches through solidly to punctuate the horns, and his cymbal work - as ever with Elvin, very precise and detailed - has every nuance detailed.

Speak No Evil comes across with the power and passion of a revival meet. I suppose that is what it is. Now you are closer to this iconic music that ever before - I almost felt that I had the mike right in front of me, the horns are so powerful and close.

Don't miss this one, and if you haven't got the earlier Music Matters 45, and still buy into the Hoffman mastering style, don't worry - there will be a bunch of them in the used stores next year going cheap.

3. Ike Quebec - Blue and Sentimental:

I always figured this record was fine, but it never really grabbed me. This Music Matters 33 blew my mind. The Analogue Productions 45 is lounge music. The Music Matters 33 is the late night blues, the 3 am type. Grant Green is tough, metallic, very electric, and this is surely one of his best records. Quebec is huge, robust, dark, and there is a menace inside these blues. There is an astonishing moment ending the record - I always thought it pretty much ended on a Green solo, but here I heard much more clearly that ever that Quebec comes back in for a brief, wonderful figure right at the end that is almost inaudible but, in a brief moment, brings the whole record together and to a beautiful close. Just a magic moment, and this is what the Music Matters 33 delivers - sheer magic.

This is a far more powerful record that I have ever heard it before, and almost certainly represents the session far more accurately that it has ever been represented. The Music Matters team 'gets' this music, gets it deep, and they know the spirit of the music. The massively black background and huge, open sound places you right in the studio and you can feel the room back in the early 60's and practically lose yourself back in time. This is a must have and completely supersedes the earlier Music Matters.

4. Stanley Turrentine & The 3 Sounds - Blue Hour:

This is another staggering revelation. This title was not reissued in either the Analogue Productions or Music Matters 45 series and is therefore a welcome addition.

It's a good thing they waited for the upgraded Cohearant Audio mastering chain. This is another one of those Blue Notes that I considered pleasant and lightweight, as early Turrentine I considered it inferior to his later Blue Notes and even more his CTI recordings, but a good if not great record.

When Turrentine comes in on side one, it is a massive roar that had me worried that my needle might not track the power of his horn. Digital never got horns right, not even hi-res - I suspect that only when we see reissues at 384k or quad DSD will the true power of a tenor sax get captured as analog tape obviously could.

What is striking here is how huge Turrentine sounds, how lifelike - you get the whole room in this, and Turrentine just bounces off the ceiling he is so powerful, almost on the edge of distortion. Blows his shoes off, that big bore Otto Link metal sound. Once again here I am struck by how organic and whole this sounds, how the sheer swing comes across, the inner timing of it.

So again a reissue from Music Matters that brings a classic record to life while transporting the listener back to the early 60's putting you not just in the studio, but in the era feeling the essence of the life these great musicians were living through their music. I can guarantee this is light years ahead of an original and a sound this powerful and harmonically right just can't be captured in even high resolution digital.

5. Horace Parlan - Us Three:

Another title that was issued earlier by Music Matters in the 45 rpm series now gets a huge upgrade at 33. I am generally not a fan of Van Gelder piano trio records. I am probably not overwhelmed generally by 1950's and 60's piano trios overall, the few exceptions being stuff like Bill Evans and Herbie Nichols.

I can't compare to the earlier MM 45, but this version is a winner. It opens with a solo bass figure that turns from finger to bow and the sense of resin on the bow is palpable, as is the timing and rhythmic sense - the sync of the kick drum with the bass as Parlan enters, and the piano sound is quite excellent, lots of color and decay.

This is a wonderful swing record, Parlan has a nice touch with a percussive attack, the chordal voicings are fairly advanced for the period, yet still this is very much a hard bop record. Nice one, and makes the case that Rudy actually could record a piano pretty well.

6. Kenny Clarke & Francy Boland - The Golden Eight:

This might be the gem of the series. The Kenny Clarke - Francy Boland Octet featuring a roster of the top Euro and British players of the era, and ex-pat Jimmy Woode on bass. This was recorded in Europe so one of the few Blue Notes not recorded by Van Gelder, so that alone makes it special.

So does the music. Boland is a fabulously inventive arranger as well as a tasteful pianist, Clarke is the consummate hard bop drummer who is consistently swinging and elegant. The band leaves nothing on the table for the more known American counterparts of the era, and under it all is the propulsive and fleet Woode.

Every solo is killer. this band is red hot. For 1961, these players are actually pretty far ahead of a lot of what was going down in the American scene, and they are technically extremely proficient - good thing, these charts are tough even though they are very danceable in a way.

You have to think reissuing this one is kind of a labor of love or a personal passion for Music Matters, given that they have tended to stick to pretty safe titles in the past few years. No wonder - it leaves you grinning ear to ear from start to finish, such is the sheer exuberance in the playing and the absolute joy in the charts. A real treasure, an overlooked classic if there ever was one.

The sound here is quite different from the typical Blue Note sound and Music Matters had an outstandingly well recorded mastertape to work with. There is a big sound-space, a tight and powerful bottom end, a sparkling piano sound and the horns have wonderful tone with huge impact. A great recording, pretty rare, and probably should be the first on your pre-order list.

So there you have it - six of the prime Music Matters Blue Note 33's coming in 2015. I guess that is exactly half of them - Mobley's Workout is coming, the killer Jackie McLean - Right Now (sounds awesome) is on tap, so is Freddie Hubbard's Hubtones (better than the rather limpid AP 45, and very good sounding - but would not have been my first, second or third choice to reissue).

Couple of things to mention before I wrap this up:

First - buy them direct from Music Matters. Not from Acoustic Sounds, not from Music Direct - from Music Matters. Why? Simple. If you want the Music Matters Blue Note series to continue, the only way to do that is if YOU take responsibility and make sure it is reasonably viable finacially for Music Matters. There is not a lot of money in these pressings, folks. Maybe you think there is - but there isn't. The pressing runs are small, the licencing costs, the mastering costs, the superb covers, the top pressing - it eats up over half the retail price. BUT - when you buy from one of the big box audiophile delaers, Music Matters have to sell to them at a very low margin - a few bucks a record - as the middleman - Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct and others - makes their markup on it, and actually, those guys force a bigger cut than Music Matters themselves actually earn, which just isn't right.

So buy direct from Music Matters. Forget some free shipping, forget bottom feeding on Amazon, forget anything else and do something with your money -  support the guys doing this so that the can do more. If you want Music Matters, which let's face it - isn't exactly a capitalist operation, it's more like a tiny break even at best - to keep going, buy direct so that can happen.

Music Matters raised the bar by a mile for everyone else in the reissue business. Chad was putting out mediocre masterings with shitty cheap covers for years before Music Matters forced Analogue Productions to up their game. Mofi are upgrading their analog chain because the simple fact is the MFSL vinyl can't hold a candle to what Music Matters does as a routine matter. Let's keep it going. Everyone benefits.

Second - I have been harping on this with Music Matters for years, and they keep telling me that more 'challenging' Blue Note material - not the 'out' stuff, simply more avant titles or titles that veer too far off the Blue Note conservative warhorse track - simply don't sell, that American customers are too conservative and while European markets are not, the bulk of Music Matters sales are in the U.S.. I simply don't believe that, and I would dearly love to see Music Matters bring titles like Sam Rivers - Contours, Horace Silver - Serenade To A Soul Sister, Andrew Hill - Smokestack, Lee Morgan - Taru and so many other deserving gems back to life. It is a myth that Blue Note did nothing worthwhile in the 70's, far from it, and it would be amazing if Music Matters - the only people who could do it - were able to rewrite that part of audio and musical lore by bringing some more Blue Note to market.

Want that to happen? There is only one way. You have to write Music Matters directly. Tell them what you want, give them some reasonably interesting titles. Don't write asking them to reissue your personal favorite, Alfred Lion Presents Australian Surf Music - it will sell 3 copies, and two of those will be returned for a refund. Make it sensible, and if enough people do that, perhaps Music Matters will see a way to bring some deeper BN catalog out. Don't be lazy and waste your time posting to some lame online board or social media that they will never look at. People are too busy to search online for your comments. Write then an email, directly. You might be surprised what can happen.

Ipecac Recordings and the Fantomas WunderKammer vinyl RSD box set...

Indie labels are supposed to be cool - right? The labels who care about artists, fans, and are hip to vinyl.

Not Ipecac Recordings, home of The Fantomas and the new box set reissuing their first four albums -Wunderkammer, a Black Friday 2014 Record Store Day package that just got released after being delayed.

The music is incredible and totally unique. Metal, but not metal, proto punk, but not punk, soundtrack samples - found sounds - the odd vocal but no words - pastiche, almost like a cutup cassette tape, yet incredibly engaging and unique. A total blast and the remastering for vinyl is very good.

That's the good part - all of it, and the story should end with that.

 Unfortunately, it doesn't. Ipecac has shown itself to be actually not the cool, hip, indie darling but just another, smaller version of a corporate beancounter collective.

The pressings are absolute crap. Usually my tolerance level for vinyl is quite high - in almost every case, a good cleaning remedies most faults, and the odd click is just part of the vinyl game. But not this time.

Packaging - the box is nicely done.

Sleeves - cheap single sleeves, thin stock. Beancounters saved some pennies there.

Inners - cheap black card stock. Beancounters saved a bit more, again.

Pressings - cheap, cheap, cheap. Worst pressings imaginable. Beancounters got a big win here - out of 5 slices of vinyl in the package, only one is barely passable. The rest have it all - gouges, warps, dishing, skips, divots, there is even a piece of foreign debris embedded on one side. There is loads of lovely no-fill. There are small abscesses throughout. Just - awful. Like they picked the worst, cheapest plant they could find and didn't give a shit about how bad the product would be.

Now here's the thing. Ipecac clearly either doesn't understand vinyl or care to, or doesn't care at all about ripping off customers, or thinks all it's customers are people who buy vinyl at Urban Outfitter and use crappy cheap record players and won't know the difference. Unfortunately, when it's this bad, even those Urban Outfitter hipsters will know.

So if you were unfortunate enough to buy one as I did - should you take it back? Here's where the accountants running Ipecac are really disgusting. The record store isn't allowed to send defective vinyl back to their distributor or the label - they have to absorb the loss themselves. That's right - the little guy, the record store - exactly the kind of store Record Store Day is intended to help - has to suck it up and eat the cost. Not the corporate suits at Ipecac - they got their money, crap, defective product or not. The record store has to suffer the loss for Ipecac's cheapness and carelessness.

If you ever wonder why so many people don't think it is wrong to download illegally and steal from record labels and artists, look no further than the Ipecac vinyl of the Fantomas. They steal from us, after all.

If you were unfortunate enough to have bought one, for the fabulous, well mastered and unique music it contains, don't bring it back to the record store - WRITE IPECAC directly - info@ipecac.com - and don't just insist that they send you replacements - I can guarantee that the whole pressing run is total crap. Insist that they repress this set at a half ways decent pressing plant that has some minimal standards of quality control and then replace every single one of these junk pressings they so dishonestly passed off on the fans. The artists deserve no less.

Shame on Ipecac for doing such a shoddy job on such fine art.

Music Matters, Steve & Claus and why deadwax doesn't lie.

A kind reader flipped me a couple of links this week that I found somewhat disturbing.

http://www.stevehoffman.info/disc-musicmatters.html#

This is a link to a "fansite" set up by a minion named Claus, who seems to have some strange kind of hero worship thing going on. It is a  listing of all the Music Matters titles Hoffman claims to have mastered.

It lists 77 titles as having been mastered by The Mullet.

Completely false. Hoffman mastered 38 officially, and I have counted it myself. I have them. Easy to tell from the deadwax.

Since this has come to light, Hoffman has taken down the discography on his own website that made similar claims.

But the deadwax doesn't lie. The deadwax has Hoffman's initials in 38 titles. No more. Everything else has the 'KG' initials in the deadwax,and that's who mastered them - Kevin Gray.

Why does Hoffman make false claims? Who knows. Pathological, most likely. Or - more simple. Music Matters is the hottest reissue series going, and has been for some years. It single handedly raised the bar on reissues, not only in sound, but in presentation as well, forcing others - most notable Chad Kassem's Analogue Producions - to up their game, stop ripping off customers, and meet the new standard. No more lame double LP's in single covers so cheaply made the glue falls apart before they even get unwrapped. No more wussy Hoffman sound. No more dubious sources. It happened because of Music Matters.

So that is why Hoffman wants to claim he did more than double the number he really did. He wants to take credit for the best reissue series of the vinyl revival. The guy doesn't exactly get a lot of work, after all.

Some of those titles claimed to have been mastered by Hoffman not only never were released, they were never even mastered. That's how comical these guys are.

Looking at the Hoffman board, my earlier post previewing the 2015 Music Matters releases caused a few guys some angst, as it clearly attributes the mastering to Gray, some angrily stating that the only reason they ever bought MM was because of Hoffman. These guys aren't bright enough to realize that Hoffman hasn't done a MM titles for years. Dumber than that - they take 'buy by the label' to an extreme, valuing their hero fixation on a minor mastering consultant over the music and the sound. Amazing.

I sometimes get emails from Hoffman acolytes attacking me for the scorn I heap on their guru. Fact is, it is stuff like this - taking credit for other people's work - that makes me want to keep on exposing this insufferable egotist.

Fact is - Hoffman mastered 38 Music Matters titles. They got better after he was dumped, and they even went back and redid some of those 38 and made 'em even better.

Linn Records - Sibelius Symphonies 2 & 7 - Sondergard

I hesitated for some time to purchase this new recording of the Sibelius second and seventh symphonies on Linn Records from Thomas Sondergard and the BBC Wales Orchestra because it got panned in a Gramophone magazine review - badly trashed, in fact, the review opening with the word "disappointing".

There was a time when a classical recording literally lived or died on a Gramophone review. But my take on this new Sibelius is almost exactly the opposite of that review, and may be symptomatic of just how far the influence of Gramophone - and the quality of some reviews, from the current crop of 'reviewers', has fallen. It is quite true that a recording, and interpretation, can have widely differing impacts on people, accounting for a wide range of differences in reviews. However, there are also cases - more so today, and much more so in online reviews - where a review is just plain dead wrong, and cannot be excused by simply saying 'different people will hear it differently'. There ARE some absolutes, and this is a good case of that.

The Gramophone review claims muddy sound, particularly the timpani in the 7th, and recessed, reverberant sonics overall. The reviewer must have been listening through a 1930's horn gramophone while situated in a closet. That is simply not true, the acoustic is far from distant, it is quite clear and upfront, with amazing inner detail and nuance.The 24/192 sound is exemplary; demonstration quality in every respect. The dynamics on display here remind me that, in the analog era, conductors were quite conscious when recording of the limitations of the vinyl record in reproducing dynamics - true ppp would be obscured by surface noise, true fff caused the needle to jump out of the groove. To some extent this carried into the CD era. Now we are hearing recordings that have no such limitations.

I am no longer looking for "definitive" performances. For the most part, those have already been done long ago and are easily obtained. I am looking for interesting performances that offer an interesting point of view.  That is what I find here.

The performance of the 2nd is sublime. There are dozens of moments of subtle nuance, and the score unfolds organically, hanging together beautifully. If the climax at the finale - every work really has only one true climax - is the defining moment, Sondergard takes it wonderfully, bringing the work to what must be a transcendent exposition. Karajan is a reference point here, and Sondergard has much the same approach. Pacing overall is very similar to Karajan on both his Philharmonia and Berlin recordings, yet Sondergard has more of a feel of the Nordic wind at his back. Reminds me in many ways of the old Kamu on DG.

Comparing to modern reference points - Songergard is vastly superior to the recent Storgards on Chandos, superior in every way to Vanska on Bis, which while well played, conveys a certain 'ordinariness' about it,  is in every way more idiomatic and better recorded than Jansons RCO reading, has also a big advantage in recording over Colin Davis on LSO Live and is also a better performance as Davis takes a broader view and has much less inner detail, and reaching a bit further back to Neeme Jarvi on DG - who takes a far too fast pace and seems rather blunt about it, again comes out more satisfying.

Going further back to the analog era - Karajan may well be king here, but Sondergard is much better recorded and doesn't suffer much in comparison. The Kamu on DG is hard to beat and essential. On Living Stereo there is the Monteux which is quite magisterial, but more Tchaikovsky than Sibelius. Szell was never really inside this work, Barbirolli is to me a reference point that Sondergard still holds up well in comparison to. From the digital era - Ashkenazy on Decca really doesn't get Sibeius other than the 3rd, Oramo on Erato is a fine reading but misses the subtelty of Songergard, Bernstein is a mess on DG as is Levine, and so on.

With regards to the 7th, here I was less convinced by Sondergard, feeling that Barbirolli is the real gold standard, as is Karajan. The performance seems a bit more episodic, less organic, unfolding less naturally. But still, it has a lot going for it. An excellent recording, a great deal of air and space which serves the piece well, and much detail to enjoy. It may not be a first choice, but is a very valid alternative.

So again - don't be dissuaded by one shitty Gramophone review. It is in my opinion completely wrong. I think this recording is outstanding performance-wise and a reference recording. I hope Linn will continue the series and I look forward to the next installment.

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Trilogy, new 2015 remix in hi-res 24/96

Just got the new remix of Emerson Lake & Palmer's "Trilogy", which is one of my favorite albums of all time, and what I consider to me ELP's best work.

I have just been dying to hear the new remix by Jakko Jaksysk. Contrary to the usual complainers, I thought he did a fabulous job of remixing Brain Salad Surgery last year.

First up - the remix of Trilogy is fantastic. The purpose of a remix in my opinion is to clarify and update sonically, to perhaps do what could not be done first time around, to bring new life and to allow the listener to revisit a work with new perspective. Jakko nailed that.

The first thing I hear, aside from a tremendous increase in clarity, it how much texture is revealed. Going back to the original mix at 24/96, it sounds louder, muddier for lack of a less used word, almost smashed together - the new mix has layers upon layers, and reveals the shifts between keyboards and the layering of keys with both tremendous clarity and a beautiful, shifting sense of texture and color. This is the greatest improvement.

There are many moments where beautiful subtle details emerge. Very often they are previously buried keyboard figures, in other places percussion details ring out. Palmer's kick drum has much more impact, Lake's bass lines are tighter and more powerful - as is his guitar, frequently 'fuzzed'. On 'In The Beginning', there is a faint pre-echo of the vocal in the left channel that emerges with great clarity that I never really was able to pick out with such effect before.

On key tracks like "The Endless Enigma', the piano section has dramatic dynamics, and sounds like a true concert grand. The electric keyboards enter forcefully, a dramatic yet seamless shift that comes across with great impact. The keyboard articulation is remarkable. The original mix - and the new 24/96 remaster I find far from a good one - just doesn't have the transient speed, particularly on Emerson. Jakko's mix has those keyboard parts flowing with great speed while also having a tremendous percussive quality, that feel of fingers hitting the keys. The Hammond in particular feels like it is almost burning, and not to spoil it, but there is a one note keyboard beat in the final section that I never really heard before.

I figured I would get this up before thhe internet complaints forums start picking it apart. It isn't the original mix cleaned up. It is a new mix, and it does exactly what a new mix should do - bring new life, making the familiar sound new again. fantastic job by Jakko.

A lot of the usual complainers assassinated Jakko for his mix of Brain Salad Surgery which was not only unfair but dead wrong. He made choices to make the familiar fresh. It sounds fantastic. A good part of that criticism I suspect is because Jakko is not Steven Wilson, who is the new internet darling - all those folks who typically bought in to the idea that old masters should never be tampered with via a remix suddenly became converts because of Wilson, and that is fair enough. But the limited thinking often displayed doesn't seem to extend beyond Wilson, to appreciate that there are others out there just as good - any maybe better for some projects. Wilson brings a fair bit of Porcupine Tree into his remixes, while Jakko brings a fair bit of late era King Crimson into his. Wilson screwed up Tarkus badly and thankfully isn't doing more ELP, Jakko seems to get the music much more deeply and is the right guy for this. Trilogy proves it. Fantastic job, I hope Jakko not only gets to "Works" next, but gets a crack at redoing Tarkus and - if the multitracks can be located - doing the first ELP album right.

ANEKDOTEN - Until All The Ghosts Are Gone 24/96 hi-res new release!

It is a great year so far for progressive rock.

Last summer saw a new record from Opeth, this year Steven Wilson - in both cases, simply masterpiece level work.

Now - Anekdoten.

Unfortunately, aside from the odd pocket of prog-dom this excellent Swedish band are not well know in North America.

Unfortunate, and hopefully new record Until All The Ghosts Are Gone will change that. This is an amazing record.

I have the hi-res 24/96 files, and they are superb sounding. There is little to no compression added, there are wonderful dynamics. That alone justifies going the hi-res route over CD. The tonality is very much realistic and must surely be the closest to how the band sounded in the studio.

So in terms of sound - a winner, in hi-res. This is as it should be - the hi-res should be the ultimate in sound.

Anekdoten very much have their own sound, although the lineage comes through unmistakably - Poseidon era King Crimson, bands from the U.K. scene such as Cressida, and the Swedish scene such as Young Flowers even - yet a very much modern prog band of the moment, taking those influences forward - heavier elements, as well as some wonderfully pastoral ones. The connection to Porcupine Tree, Opeth and King Crimson is reinforced by the presence of members of those bands in guest spots.

This may well be the best work Anekdoten have done so far. Their last was a good record, but this surpasses that - maybe even Gravity, which has until now been my favorite. The record is sequenced just perfectly, it flows together organically and the 6 songs flow into each other seamlessly, suspending time, and grabbing the listener. An immersive and magnetic experience.

The mellotron is a strong voice, but the lead guitar is superb, the playing is fantastic - searing, electric - the bass playing reminds me as lot of John Paul Jones (strangely), and their is powerful drumming of great accomplishment. The band seems more organic and unified as a voice than ever before. There is not a weak track here, in fact, strong as each individual track is, the whole comes together as greater than the parts - a rare album that does that.

I can't recommend this highly enough. Until All The Ghosts Are Gone is a wonderful record and in hi-res sounds glorious. This will surely be one of the best records of 2015 in any genre.

Here Is Barbara Lynn on Light In The Attic vinyl!

Light In The Attic has become one of the best reissue labels in the business. From the outstanding Michael Chapman reissues of a few year ago to their Record Store Day soul boxes, these folks don't get the self-glorification of the reissue labels that have the online big box retailers behind them, but deserve even more praise as they have been putting out quietly some very overlooked masterpieces - like their latest, Here Is Barbara Lynn, originally issued on Atlantic in the mid 60's.

Here Is Barbara Lynn is a record that has it all - outstanding songs, an outstanding singer, and - incredibly for the era - a pretty good R&B guitarist. As far as classic R&B goes - this one is a true gem. Lynn is a great singer and could have been as big as Aretha - she has a more down home voice, that does not have the operatic range of Aretha but is just as affecting - the songs are on average way better than her peers of the Atlantic roster typically had, mostly written by Lynn.

I understand the source was a 24/96 transfer of the master tape. It sounds terrific, better than an original - if you can find it, because this is a known classic in high demand among collectors. Get one, Light In The Attic have done an amazing job. Fantastic, quiet pressing too.

IQ - The Road Of Bones on triple vinyl!

 IQ The Road Of Bones on triple vinyl, the new (2014) record from the UK prog bang whose roots trace back to the 80's, and it is a great one, one of my favorite recods of the year.

 The technical part is - a nice, clean, quiet triple vinyl pressing in a triple gatefold sleeve, and it sounds very, very good.

The music is wonderful, easily IQ's best since the underground classic Subterranea. Beautiful, intricate expansive songs that are very much in a tradition following from early Genesis through to Marillion. Peter Nicholls is an excellent songwriter and a great lead singer. Paul Cook returns on drums bringing IQ back closer to their roots. The Hackett era Genesis influence is clear, but this is a band that still gets better even after 30 years.

The tone is overall dark and baroque, this is not neo-prog or Dream Theater like heavy prog, it is very much classic progressive rock, very British prog. Symphonic in places, very epic.

There is almost two hour of amazing modern prog here, and even dropping the 'prog' part - to hours of fabulous songs, wonderful stories, and not a minute of it wasted. A record that you will listen to end to end and still find new layers.

A great record, one of the best of 2014, from a band that never got the dues it deserves or would have in an earlier era. Find it while you can, this is the real deal.

I wish they would put out  a hi-res digital file of this one, which must surely exist. That would be stunning.

JOHN COLTRANE Offering - Live At Temple University Vinyl:

The long awaited first 'official' release of the legendary and much bootlegged late 1966 Temple University concert is a major, major event. First time from the single microphone mono master tapes, mastered by Bernie Grundman. Although Coltrane lived less than another year after the Temple concert and made a handful of live appearances, for all intents this is the last true concert Coltrane gave before illness started to overtake him. That alone would make the Temple recordings legendary, but even more, this is the sole document of what Coltrane's performances in the late period were truly like. For sure, his late period quintet with (an unusually restrained) Phraoah Sanders is well documented, but as was his performance practice at the time, there is an ad-hoc cast of supporting players, some unknown locals, added, and Coltrane himself is clearly reaching for a higher level at Temple.

The sound is problematic yet magnificent. Only the horns are captured full-on by the single mic, but that is interesting of itself - Coltrane himself sounds incredibly present. Alice Coltrane is also well captured if somewhat distant, only the bass and drums are further back and somewhat less defined. But it is about the music, which is absolutely hypnotic and very special. Sonic considerations fall apart when faced with music as powerful as this.If you are looking for audiophile sonics, look elsewhere, music like this isn't for you anyways.

This is not free jazz, it is too highly structured. If a label must be placed, let's call it 'post-avant garde'. That comes closest. It is a roar and a sonic wall from start to finish, but the eye of the storm is acutely melodic and spiritual, almost a gospel revival and thi is no more evident than on the reworking of My Favorite Things. This was the typical 'crowd pleaser' Coltrane often ended sets with, and the version at Temple is a  remarkable revelation that embodies everything that went before and everything Coltrane represented in the final months of his life.

Coltrane delivers a smoking hot solo, then passes to Steve Knoblauch on alto, who picks up right where Coltrane left and delivers a solo that must be the greatest of his life. This is what Coltrane did late in his career - picked up young local players and let them blow, and putting them in the cauldron that was the late period Coltrane band made faceless players rise and step outside themselves to reach a higher level - Knoblauch does it here big time. At a mid way point, Coltrane exhausts his horn and starts to sing - chant, more accurately, beating his chest as he does. The bata drum chorus behind swings and shimmys and brings an ethereal, world music drum chant to transform the tune into a spiritual revival.

Despite never having been released until now, Temple University has cast a long shadow on players for almost 50 years. It is quite possibly - likely - the single greatest concert performance Coltrane ever did, and is unique in the Coltrane discography as the only representation (outside the later Olatunje recording, which truly is unlistenable) of late period Coltrane performance practice. It is a scorcher of a performance, from an artist that can never be equalled. It is essential.

Rounding Up Some Recent Speakers Corner and Pure Pleasure Vinyl - CTI, Sarah Vaughan, Otis Spann, Howard McGhee, J.J. Johnson:

 After a bit of a lull in interesting titles, both Pure Pleasure and Speakers Corner have reissued some very interesting titles lately. I tend to (wrongly) think of Speakers Corner and Pure Pleasure together for some reason, even though they are quite different, but share pretty much the same manufacturing partners. CTI have been top of the list for both, which is something they have in common.

Pure Pleasure has reissued Freddie Hubbard's Straight Life, a fine title from the mid 70's that has aged very well. It is contemporary for the time, still contemporary today, is not a fusion record but a modern hard bop date with the usual CTI anchor in Ron Carter, Joe Henderson on tenor, George Benson, Herbie Hancock mostly on Rhodes, Jack DeJohnette. It is pretty straight ahead, the nod to fusion - or more so rock - is that it is a very hot date, with DeJohnette particularly laying out a harder, more rock oriented beat, and Hancock very electric. To those who mistakenly dismiss the 70's, this should be a wakeup call, a loud one. The music is fantastic and all the cast are far advanced from their Blue Note beginnings. This, in my opinion, is Hubbard's prime period. It is Joe Henderson's prime also, both on his few CTI appearances and his contemporaneous recordings on Milestone. These guys had broken out of the Blue Note shell and were on fire, and this is one of the trilogy of Hubbard masterpieces on CTI, and has never sounded better or been pressed better - original CTI pressings were pretty bad, suffering from the oil crisis induced quality decline in LP pressings of that era (except in Japan, where the original CTI pressings are excellent). Essential.

So is George Benson's Body Talk, reissued by Speakers Corner. A great choice by SC, a great Benson recording that predates his gradual descent into smooth jazz, still a jazz date that heads towards funkier, more street sense territory, this is prime Benson - the guitar dominates, his technique is incredible as is his melodic sense, these are solid tunes, with an "A" cast - and Benson is on fire - explosive, with a sense of carving out a new direction and taking jazz into more accessible, physical territory without ever losing the essence. There is a sense in these CTI recordings of artists breaking out of the confines of the 1950's bebop model, and no longer bound by Coltrane's direction, free, innovating, yet at their technical peak. Inspired. A fine job by Speakers Corner, a flawless pressing, and a very enjoyable record.

 Pure Pleasure have just reissued The Divine Sarah Vaughan, and again show that they have been quietly curating a reissue catalog of prime material that American reissue labels don't even know exists or have the courage to bring back to life. A Roulette period Sarah Vaughan recording and one of her best, well deserving of "The Divine" title as this is jazz singing that has been lost to the influx of faceless, mostly white, traditional 'jazz' singers catering to older white males with pleasant, inoffensive, generic jazz standard recordings that are usually demonstrative of the worst in 'audiophile' recording. There can never be another Sarah Vaughan, nor another The Divine Sarah Vaughan - this prime recording is a stunner, Vaughan had matured well beyond her earlier, better known Emarcy recordings and her phrasing, nuance and expression had come to a point of absolute mastery, and this record - one of her masterpieces - is the prime exhibit. The orchestrations are wonderful and subtle, never overblown or sugary, and form a perfect backdrop for Vaughan's masterclass. The remastering is outstanding, easily exceeding in transparency and richness any original pressing, and is dead quiet. You will never be able to listen to any of the current crop of "jazz" singers again, and the only disappointment here is that The Divine Sarah Vaughan shows just how much the recording industry has fallen in being unable to uncover, nurture and develop artistry on this level. Essential.

 Perhaps not as essential, but still very worthwhile, is the early 60's J.J. Johnson Sextet recording J.J. Inc., featuring Clifford Jordan on tenor among other top players. Speakers Corner have given this minor gem a sturdy, fairly forward remastering that is perhaps not their absolute finest, but excellent still in every respect. This is a solid hard bop date very much in the idiom, distinguished by creative sextet orchestrations and fie playing. J.J. in particular is on fine form, and the band is up to the challenging, melodic material. No classics here, just a fine date from the period, given a good sonic cleanup. Recommended.

 Otis Spann's blues classic Walking The Blues is reissued on Pure Pleasure, an original Candid recording that is a classic of the acoustic blues genre. A bass and drum-less trio led by Spann's virtuoso (yet never showy) piano, this is a wonderful record that is magnetic from start to finish. The sound is crystal clear and detailed, but betrays some limitation of the 60's recording in that the piano is a bit on the thin side. Nonetheless, the sound is excellent and the playing has such elegance and conviction that more than compensate for any minor sonic drawbacks. Pure Pleasure have done an outstanding job and a real service by bringing this fine record back to life.

 Also from Pure Pleasure, the absolutely fabulous Return Of Howard McGhee, a mid 50's Bethlehem recording that is just stunning. An amazing band with the far too seldom heard baritone of Sahib Shihab and Duke Jordan on piano, this is a typical Bethlehen date of the era - short, concise tunes, excellently recorded. The difference in this case is the level of inspiration and sheer joy in the playing, And maybe joy in being just released from the slammer, and inspired as he had a lot to prove with this comeback record. Shihab is a treat, as is Jordan. McGhee is a wonderful player, with a rich tone and quick, agile runs full of harmonic and melodic ideas. This record is simply a joy to listen to, and Pure Pleasure have given it fabulous sound, making it essential and elevating it, after half a century, into the great recordings of the 1950's.

Masterpieces By Ellington - Duke Ellington on Analogue Productions, or - how Quality Records Pressings can screw up...

Just arrived - "Masterieces By Ellington", a historic 1950 recording by Duke Ellington. Skipping the back story of this recording, it is truly outstanding to see this fabulous recording reissued on vinyl, and the job AP have done is beyong amazing. Often you will read a review qualified by saying something to the effect of 'for 1950, the sound is...' - well, here, there can be no such qualifier. The sound is light years beyond anything recorded today. There is not only a timral, tonal richness and analog organic quality - the definition and lifelike-ness is astonishing, as are the wide dynamics, somethimes, the full band comes in and the dynamics are almost frightening. The dimensionality is so lifelike, it is hard to distinguish this as a mono recording. You have to wonder about why stereo or MCH were ever introduced when mono is capable of a recording such as this.

The music is genre-defining. The last of the WWII era Ellington band's recordings, and the first time Duke could record his finest compositions in full concert length, this is historic. It simply cannot be missed.

But - and a big but. The pressing simply isn't up to the quality of the mastering, and does this magnificient, timeless music a big disservice. QRP - Quality Record Pressing - claims unashamedly to be the best pressing plant in the world. The problem with making such an inflated claim - unprovable as it is - is that you then have to keep that promise.

The pressing is flat. It has the usual marbling and light scuffs typical of vinyl today - but has multiple pinpoint dots, which are literally tiny, microscopic gaps - throghout, and despite my usual meticulous efforts - First RV mostly - the pops during quiet passages cannot be eradicated, and are intrusive, and wholly unacceptable.

Of course, Acoustic Sounds will not post anything approaching a negative comment about their product on their store website, so all you will find is positives there, as well as on the usual professional reviewer sites. My lengthy experience is that if I got a screwup, a whole lot of the pressing run is going to have that same screwup.  It seems to me that AP/QRP rushed this out to hit the Christmas market and the quality conrol just wasn't there. Unfortunate, and a real disservice to this great music.

The SACD coming next year will no doubt be a stunner. Wait for it. Even with the sub-standard pressing, Masterpieces By Ellington is revelatory, revolutionary, and beyond essential. You have been warned about the pressing, so buy forewarned, or wait for the SACD. Either way, this is magnificent.

More on Music Matters Blue Note: Hank Mobley Soul Station 33 rpm, The Magnificent Thad Jones 45 rpm, Lee Morgan The Sidewinder 33 rpm

I am kind of running out of words to use in describing the new series of 33rpm Blue Note from Music Matters.

If you haven't heard them, do it. This is the best these titles have ever sounded and ever will. If you have the 45, particularly those repeated from the Analogue Productions 45 rpm series, well, yes -  you need to get these, and hopefully you have a used record store in your area to ease your pain. They completely invalidate the sonics of the AP BN series.

However, Soul Station was done in 45rpm by Music Matters, not AP, and sounds good at 45. Why, then, would the same company and the same team (admittedly now sans Hoffman) do a double dip and reissue Soul Station yet again?

The reason is - because they can do it better. And not just better - way better, so way that it justifies the double dip, which double dips rarely do.

And this one is overwhelmingly justified.

I don't need to tell you about the music. It is probably Mobley's greatest record, one of the top 20 Blue Notes in history, and probably Blakey's finest moment on record. Being anchored by the light touch and incredible swing of Wynton Kelly and the big bottom of Paul Chambers is a dream combo.

So to the sound - it is organic. The earlier MM 45 was less so, favoring a more delineated sound, that maybe has more transparency - but here, it sounds as a whole. The sense of 'harmonic inner timing" is here to a much greater extent than before. And the tonality - that is a whole different matter. The sheer brassiness of Mobley on this date, the swings, the dips, the slurs, the swoops - the sheer range of his sound, and his burnished tone - all here, right out in front. There are no speakers, just this huge ornaic sound straight out in space ahead of you. Blakey bombs and shimmers, the metal hits, the shimmying of the cymbals, the big swooshes, the drama of Blakey all perfectly represented like the day in Hackensack they recorded it. A monster record, and all I can add is - the previous MM was great, and I listened to it and enjoyed it. The new MM I can't stop playing.

On to a Music Matters 45 I had inexplicably overlooked. Actually, a record I have totally ignored until I had the idea come to me that I should pick up the MM45.

First - the cover. What a totally amazing image of New York in the late 50's, and no one besides Music Matters would go back to the original cover materials to get the original shot so it can be shown so crisply and clearly.

The music is an amazing set of varied tunes, not the typical blowing formula or uptempo/ballad/uptempo a side formula so often used in this era. This is a beautiful, almost autumnal record, from a unique voice. I came to Thad via the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band recordings of the 70's, the greatest big band operating in the 70's, way past the end of the big band era. Thad always marched to his own beat, even against the tides of the times, and that is no less the case in the late 50's on The Magnificent Thad Jones.Thad has been somewhat diminished historically, overshadowed by his brothers Hank and Elvin. Undeserved, but understandable as his body of work as sole leader is quite small.

Magnificent Thad Jones is a treasure. The sonics here, mid-50's, are astonishing. Barry Harris' piano actually sounds like a real piano, unlike a lot of RVG recordings of the ear. Thad sounds amazing, with a huge, wide open tone - I can hear echoes of dixieland in Thad, echoes of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley, and a very unique harmonic voice, very advanced, always swinging. The fourth track, where Billy Mitchell's tenor lays out, is a masterpiece of advanced ballad playing that is so stunning, and at times the sound so incredibly beautiful, it is not just a one track masterpiece. It sums everything that came before, and points ahead as a roadmap to free jazz, without ever losing the song. Incredible.

This may be one of the very best pre-1960's Music Matters Blue Notes, so don't miss a completely unique, unforgettable record. The cover alone is worth the price.

Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder. Done by Analogue Productions on 45 rpm, now done by Music Matters at 33 rpm. In every way, the 33 supersedes the 33. Again, the AP 33 sounds like they thought it was a Barry Manilow record, not a hard bop record with boogaloo swing. The MM 33 has what is now becoming apparent will be the signature sound of this new series - completely organic, holistic sound, incredible transparency but not clinical, transparency to source and the holistic analog signature of the master tape, astonishingly low noise floor, a massive big sound with floor crushing timing.

Of course, The Sidewinder is an essential record. Morgan's trumpet, coming back after a lengthy drug related layoff, has a confidence and swagger, and a new maturity. Joe Henderson is massive and skirts the edges of his sound. Billy Higgins throws up a wall of shimmering cymbals. It's all here, and I daresay, an original could not possibly sound this good. This is the definitive Sidewinder, despite a sense for a few seconds - seconds only - with the opening bars (the bass figures) that there is a slight wobble in the master tape, which is immediately dispelled when the horns come in. I only mention it as the AP did not have that slight sonic hesitation at the start,  which says that the MM 33 comes from the true, one and only, authentic master tape. Obviously a well used master given the popularity of Sidewinder - but still one capable of giving up glorious sound in the right hands - which are the hands that brought the Sidewinder to life once again, via Music Matters.

It's time for Record Store Day 2014 - a Preview:

Tomorrow another Record Store Day hits, with the inevitable lineups, Ebay poachers and scalpers, a frezy for what could be high value collectables - and a ton of titles, in my opinion, most of rather limited merit. Some have complained that RSD is a cash grab, which it certainly is, but a cash grab with a noble purpose - to get the beautiful sound of 'ca-ching!' ringing through the independent record store industry, struggling to survive, and that is the most worthwhile cash grab I can think of.

Yet this year, I find less of interest than ever before. But there are gems, and here are the ones I have picked up:

1. Grateful Dead - Live At Hampton Colisseum 1974:

A Record Store Day tradition - an unreleased Dead live recording, mid-period Dead and still vital, and although this year it was not mastered by Chris Bellman at Grundman's, no matter - it sounds excellent, and the artwork, particularly the inner gatefold, is superb. A great show from a period that is not always front & center, sounds great, a great release.

2. Mastodon - Live At Brixton:

A live set from Mastodon, a very good one, pretty heavy, a decent if not exceptional live recording covering their 'big' tracks, includes a DVD which is why this is the most expensive record I picked up. Worth having, if not entirely essential. Any Mastodon is a good thing.

3. Bruce Springsteen - American Beauty:

4 tracks, leftovers mostly from his High Hopes LP, sonically similar - brickwalled, but as they had the good sense to go to Grundman for mastering, not as bad as it could have been. Regardless, there are ok songs here but nothing that comes near essential or even illuminating.

4. Frightened Rabbit Live At Criminal Records:

I loved Frightened Rabbit's last LP, but this left me pretty cold. It is the most brickwalled RSD release I have this year, and sounds very hard and digital, quite in opposition to what were warm, woody semi-acoustic performances. A let down, and could have been better had more attention been paid to the sound quality.

5. Tame Impalas - Live Versions:

Fantastic. Quite different from the LP studio versions, much more of a Hendrix/Cream psychedelic and hypnotic groove, a record that grabs you from the A-side lead in groove and doesn't let go until the B-side run-out. Sounds really super for a live recording. Thrilled to have picked this one up.

Pretty decent colored vinyl, too. I would suggest you grab this one.

6. Steve Earle - Townes (The Basics):

Unadorned, basic versions of Steve Earles's covers of Townes Van Zant, which is the way it should be - the dialog between Steve and Townes, the conversation with these great songs, demands minimal intrusion and that's what this is. Superbly mastered for vinyl. Decent pressing. Well worth checking out, one that will get repeated spins over a long period.

7. Flaming Lips: 7 Skies H3:

A distillation of the gimmicky 24 hour song of a few years ago. I approached with caution. I like the cover. The swirl vinyl looks pretty cool. So I'm in, but not expecting much when the needle hits the grooves.

But - WOW! This is the best RSD release Flaming Lips have ever put out there. The music is almost a (mostly) instrumental soundscape for a landing in  another galaxy - exploring sounds, textures, melodic fragments, and even noise - but all the way through it is highly cohesive, moody and melodic, exploratory and gripping. I love it. Get one.

8. Sun Ra - Outer Spaceways Incorporated:

From ORG, a Black Lion title from 1968. Interesting.

I am no Sun Ra scholar or follower, his recordings are so disparate and spotty to find that this catalog never could form anything approaching a cohesive entity, and getting into Sun Ra is very difficult due to the many low quality self recorded albums he did and the great distance between a good Sun Ra night and a not so good one.

This is a fantastic, vital Sun Ra record that should open a lot of ears to what Ra was about. These are long live tracks, wholly representative of Sun Ra;s cosmic free jazz vision rooted in 1950's be-bop and the big bands of Fletcher Henderson in particular. It opens with a free jazz big band ensemble statement, with (guessing) Ra on piano, very much out of Powell/Nichols/Monk, and a very extended drum solo that is amazing, a primal, thunderous walk across those outer spaceways. Mesmerizing. Elsewhere, there is more free jazz head blowing, interspersed with very straight up hard bop piano soloing, and the occasional horn solo coming out of the young tenor lions of the era.

A fabulous recording and the highlight of RSD for me.

9. Charles Lloyd - Live At Slugs:

Two tracks on a 10" at 33, an undocumented early Lloyd quartet with Gabor Szabo, Ron Carter and Pete LaRoca. Interesting, as this is not yet fully formed Lloyd as evident on the pre-Atlantic era recording of Dream Weaver. The sound is limited - it was recorded in a club in the early 60's on a portable table top Nagra, so take that for what it is. Carter suffers worst, and sounds like he is not that familiar with the music, droning and vamping. Szabo is outstanding, and comes trough very cleanly. Lloyd comes through ok, a little rough at times, and LaRoca is a bit muffled. Interesting, limited in value by the sonics, not great Lloyd, and inessential - but worth a listen, although I doubt I will listen to it again in this lifetime.

10. Jerry Garcia - Garcia:

Rounder Records reissue of a largely forgotten early Garcia solo effort that really does deserve re-evaluation, as it is a truly wonderful, enjoyable record that has great songs, some experimentalism, and great playing. Very well mastered as well, and the dreaded white vinyl isn't too bad. Well worth checking out.

11. Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky:

I had finally got the title track out of my head, where it has bounced around inescapably for 30 years after I first heard it while participating in a bit too much weed.

Whether you have heard the title track enough for this and the next two afterlives, it's actually a pretty good record that has the vibe of the late 60's, a certain hippiness and a certain happy, free and optimistic vibe, and it grooves, and Greenbaum is a good singer, and this is a great artifact of the era.

Had never owned this album, glad I do know. Maybe Spirit In The Sky, a monster hit back in the day, has enough distance now that we can look at this record fresh, again. It is a good one, and sounds great on this well done RSD reissue.

12. Joan Baez - Blessed Are, Big Mama Thornton - Sassy Mama:

Two Vanguard reissues I was looking forward to:

Joan Baez - Blessed Are, a double album, consisting of relevant covers and strong originals, is among the finest Baez records of the era. Vanguard have remastered it well, it sounds alive and vibrant.

Big Mama Thorton's Sassy Mama is even better, from the other end of the spectrum. It positively rocks, slides and shimmys and is another truthful, vibrant remaster. Hugely rocks, and is a must-have.

13. Otis Redding - Pain In My Heart (mono):

Bringing up the end is a vinyl reissue of Otis Redding's Pain In My Heart, mono version. While I have never bought into the fetishism of mono aficionados - 'more punchy' and all that - this is a very good reissue and the mono mix is much less dark than the stereo, almost as if a light has been shone on it, or scrubbed up a typically muddy early Volt recording. There is a sense of hearing these anew, or renewed, and a freshness that brings classic recordings and a long gone ear back to life. So this is highly recommended and worth picking up.

See you on RSD Black Friday (or a few days before).

HI-RES Audio Roundup:

Some random thoughts on the state of hi-res downloads and some titles I have picked up recently:

First, there is certainly a pickup of new releases appearing as hi-res downloads. In the Popular category, a lot are at 24/44 - showing that hi-res was not really a consideration in recording, as virtually all recording now is at 24bits, but often higher sampling is not even a consideration as the album is targeted at CD (and maybe vinyl). Quality rarely enters the equation in the music business.

And, unfortunately, all too often the mastering, even at 24bits, it the same as the CD mastering - brickwalled.

So unfortunately I tend to avoid new releases in hi-res, until the labels understand that it is entirely reasonable to provide a hi-res file that hasn't been squashed to within an inch of its life. The vinyl isn't brickwalled - so the uncompressed master exists.

Second, I still see tons of shots taken at HD Tracks about "provenance" and such other rubbish, and the usual paranoia about compression and so on. For the most part, these people haven't a clue.

Of course, HD Tracks usually have no idea of 'provenance' and those jumping up and down about this are either manic depressives or obsessive compulsive. Since the dawn of the record era, 'provenance' has been a complete non-issue. When people bought records, and then CDs, there was never any information or concern about who 'mastered' it, what the exact tape source was, whether it was a first generation stamper or not, or anything else. It sounded good or it did not, and particularly in the case of CD, such provenance was by far no indication of any sonic qualities. But regardless, no one in their right mind ever went to a record store and gave a seconds thought to whether it was mastered by some 'name' technician, whether any hint of dynamic compression was applied, or anything else. Hell, whole continents had vibrant record industries that never, ever received a master tape, and produced glorious sounding records. All that mattered was the music, and whether it sounded good or not.

Now the internet age comes along, and it enables those wankers who sat in their rooms obsessing over whether they had a first pressing or not, or scour the internet for any information that might validate or invalidate their compulsion (and listen according to what such dubious information tells them), and can connect in a forum with others similarly afflicted.

HD Tracks has no such information. We didn't go into a store in the 90's and ask the counter staff for who mastered the CD or what the tape source was. We bought it, and enjoyed it (or if it sounded ugly, we took it to the local used store and sucked it up). Why does anyone think HD Tracks should be any different?

And further, HD Tracks does get stuff that is way too compressed. That is unfortunate, and wrong. The much smaller HighResAudio out of Europe told me that they reject a full 30% of stuff the labels send them, as either too futzed with, too highly brickwalled, or where they suspect an upsample. Good for them. HD Tracks will offer that stuff for sale. I understand that, just as those record stores in bygone days had records that sounded fabulous and ones that sounded like crap. If they don't carry it, the customers interested in those titles will just buy it elsewhere, and that is revenue left on the table.

The Pearl Jam 24/96 are an example of hi-res files taken directly from the latest masters for CD, where the compression was added at the hi-res stage before being downconverted for CD. This is fairly typical, the likeliest is that the compressed 24/96 was what was sent to create the 24/44 glass CD master. But these were analog recordings and almost certainly a 24/96 straight transfer of those tapes was the first step by the mastering house. It is that file that should be made available by the label for hi-res download, not the compressed one.

On the other hand, The Clash remasters at 24/96 also have some compression added but not to the extreme of the Pearl Jam, and this clearly was a choice made artistically and it doesn't bother me a bit. Ditto the very excellent Rush 24/96 series. Fantastic.

On to some recent hi-res acquisitions:

1. Ella Fitzgerald - Sings The Cole Porter Songbook (24/96):

A  fantastic, classic recording. The hi-res transfer is robust and accurate. Crystal clear, with all the natural bloom and detail possible. Timbrally accurate. Ella's voice comes completely 'out of the box', immediate, alive, and the orchestra just rocks. Superb soundstaging. Everything is just right. A must-have.

So is the Ella - Ellington Songbook, which (at 24/192) might be an even better recording. Certainly, there is a very robust tonality here. The colours of the Ellington orchestra are superbly captured. And the music is timeless. A superb transfer. All the Ella transfers in hi-res are (except the Irving Berlin Songbook 24/192 which is a defective file yet to be replaced by Universal).

2. Paul Bley - Plays Blue, Live In Oslo (24/96):

A rare solo recording by Bley, actually a fairly rare late period recording. The first track is a very long improvisation that shows how Bley, advanced in years, has such a living history to draw on - and can bring it all together not as a history lesson, but as a statement of where he is today. The other tracks, also improvisations, are more self-contained and no less profound. Bley's playing is beyond technique and his conceptions are immediate and alive with intellect. ECM's live sound is beyond reproach, as this label has got the sound of a live piano to perfection. Close, with all the extraneous sounds of the performance intact, this is an essential document and undoubtedly one of the top jazz recordings of the year.

3. Billy Hart Quartet - One Is The Other (24/88):

This is a great working band, yet their last record impressed but didn't grab me down deep. Cerebral, and a bit precious at times. This new one follows from that, but forges a more immediate emotional connection. This is still a very cerebral outfit, contemplative, but within that, it has more fire. More blues underpinning, more post-bop, more of a Herbie Nichols aura in spots, even a bit of Ornette evoked at times. And a whole lot more fire from Hart himself makes this a superior album, and the usual fine ECM recording - and superb in hi-res form - makes it another early highlight of the year for me.

4. Pat Metheny Unity Band - Kin (24/96):

The last Unity Band recording was a pretty straight up Quartet date with Chris Potter up front, and it was very impressive.

This new one, Kin, does not do as much for me. Metheny, as he has a tendancy to do, tries too hard to be eclectic instead of being direct, and too often this record fells like it doesn't know what it wants to be or what it wants to say, being all too often a mashup of disparate instrumentation, often used for effect rather than purpose. A pleasant enough record, but I prefer Metheny in a more simple setting.

Sounds very good in hi-res without a doubt.

5. Mogwai - Rave Tapes (24/96):

Here is one of those cases where there is certainly a fair amount of dynamic compression applied, probably much more than  'audiophiles' will tolerate, especially if they have read some crazy "DR Database" numbers beforehand.

It actually sounds really good, better than the vinyl in fact. It is a very good record, less dreamy and abstract than the previous "Les Revenants", which is a superb and essential record. It is a bit more electronic-y, and a bit more of the club than the cosmic landscapes Mogwai have often painted. The compression probably suits the music well, and this is a download that can be highly recommended.

6. Bryce Dessner - St.Carolyn By The Sea (24/96):

This is a fascinating recording on the DG label that points to a new frontier - a true synthesis of orchestral/classical form with 'rock' instrumentation. Bryce Dessner, guitarist in The National, composes a classical work, St. Carolyn By The Sea, for orchestra which, unlike earlier attempts to blend rock with a classical orchestra (Deep Purple's Concerto For Group and Orchestra, for example) is not some lame attempt to integrate a rock band into an orchestra work - which usually results in a rather weak piece of orchestral music with a rock section grafted on - but a classical symphonic work that has modern instruments, an electric guitar particularly, organically part of the orchestral fabric. This is not a crossover or hybrid - it is a through composed suite, and one that works perfectly. It is a very tonal, somewhat hallucinogenic piece of music, a hint of lineage to Bartok and Hindemith, very emotionally direct, and sounds fantastic. Originally a DXD recording (32 bit 384k sampling) - it would be VERY interesting to hear the original DXD file!  The coupling - a suite by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood - is much more British in charachter, and much more 'in tradition', and is also a wonderful piece of music that feels like film music of the Gunning/VW/Korngold variety. Works perfectly. Completely recommended, not just for the adventurous.

7. Sibelius Complete Symphonies - Storgards (24/96):

Well, there is a hell of a lot of fine competition on this turf. Perhaps not complete cycles in hi-res, but still, there are classic cycles from the past that are interpretively hard to surpass. Karajan, for example (incomplete, though). The Kamu/Watanabe cycle on SACD from Tokyo FM is simply mind bogglingly revelatory, and in a league of its own as an interpretation. Berglund, particularly his Bournemouth cycle. Barbirolli, on EMI (and a very nice 24/96 transfer recently). Tough competition.

The Storgards is sonically fantastic, a very fine Chandos recording. Good start. The interpretations are broad and compelling, at times searching for a different point of view, overall fairly broad and leaning more to Tchaikovsky than Kamu does. No great revelations here, but a very solid, well thought out and well played cycle that is completely enjoyable. As an interpretation I prefer it to the Vanska cycle ongoing on BIS. Vanska may be more urgent, but Storgards goes deeper.

Problem is - there is a Kamu cycle on the horizon from BIS, and Kamu is not only a hugely under-rated conductor, his Sibelius, as we can see from the older Tokyo FM recordings, is probably a game changer.

8. Cecil Taylor and Grachan Moncur - Blue Note (24/192):

I can't say enough good things about the hi-res Blue Note transfers. That two Cecil Taylor titles have arrived - Unit Structures and Conquistador - is cause for celebration. They are challenging and uncompromising for sure, and guaranteed to clear out any dinner party that has gone on too long. There is no question that these are masterpieces of early free jazz - radical free jazz. The music is what it is, either one immerses oneself in this world, or one is repelled by it. It deserves to be played loud. The transfers are impressive. Taylor is percussive, horns bite. The bass is solid, and the angularity of the music has not been blunted. Grachan Moncur's Evolution is to some less challenging and is not free jazz, but it is post-bop and avant-garde, and a classic of the genre. Hi-res really brings out the depth and width of the trombone tone, as well as Jackie McLean's tart tone.

Apparently The Ultimate Elvin Jones is on tap along with Don Cherry's Complete Communion. Bring them on.

Ornette's New York Is Now is out now. Absolutely killer date and sounds fantastic. Believe it or not, two of the 5 tunes on New York Is Now have become standards. Name another Ornette album that you can say that about! 

9. America - Complete Warners Recordings (24/192):

Here is a case where hi-res causes a complete critical re-evaluation and brings music I have consciously ignored for decades onto the radar. "A Horse With No Name" is still one of those annoying songs that got played so much back in the day that it just sort of got stuck in your head, and you couldn't get it out, and it drove you crazy until you got a chance to put on some ELP or Zeppelin to drive it out of your head. Still is. But despite that, these absolutely wonderful transfers, which have such a fantastic golden tonality, and show exactly what true hi-res done right is capable of. These are not only competitive with anything recorded today, they blow most of it away.

In particular, later albums like Holiday and Hideaway are really great albums!

This is where hi-res does a great service. I would never have sought out these records, but they are a truly welcome addition to my growing collection, even if I still never need to hear "Tin Man" again.

10. Miles Davis - Jack Johnson (24/96):

This one has appeared a couple of places - HD Tracks, Acoustic Sounds. I liked the 24/96 Bitches Brew, and the 24/192 Kind Of Blue knocked me out. This one is unimpressive. Compared to the Japanese DSD version ripped from SACD, it sound dimensionally flat and tonally bleached. The DSD sounds rich, vibrant, dangerous. It roars, stomps, slices, none of which strike me as being the case with this hi-res file. If MOFI get to Jack Johnson, hold out until then, otherwise, track down the Japanese DSD.

11. Love - Forever Changes (24/192):

This is what hi-res is all about. Just a sublime knockout. Dynamics, timbre, dimensionality. This has a reputation, probably undeserved, of being a mediocre recording. That reputation was passed around on certain internet forums, most likely for self serving motives. Don't believe it. This is a completely natural recording with loads of tone and harmonics. And it is a great, great record. This hi-res transfer is just stunning.

I was looking forward to the MOFI DSD. Might pass on it now. Get this one, it is great.

12. Cream - Goodbye / Eric Clapton S/T (both 24/192):

Surprised that these appeared this week, and apparently mastered from the analog tapes at Sterling Sound.

Goodbye Cream is a mismash of a record, multiple recording dates, half live, half studio - leftovers. Another case where the internet experts have passed around the notion that one side's analog masters are MIA since the days of the MOFI gold CD.

Well, regardless, this sounds amazingly good, all the way though - with one exception. Sittin' On Top Of The World really does sound distinctly inferior to the other two live tracks, and of course the studio tracks. Very likely, this is a case of it is what it is - this track was recorded at a different venue on different equipment than the others, and it is a case of the raw materials to work with just aren't up to the hi-res treatment. Not that it doesn't sound good - that Jack Bruce bass is just so propulsive and driving, that big Gibson bass tone. Ginger Baker's double bass drums never came through so cleanly or so full of bottom end power. It is really Clapton's sound on this track that is problematic, recessed somewhat, and at the end - that final electric flurry - almost sounds like tape degradation. But overall, this is a fantastic sounding transfer that greatly exceeds any prior incarnation - even the MOFI.

On Eric Clapton's self titles debut problems, there are no issues stemming from the recording or master tapes. It sounds incredibly good. What I really like about transfers like this is that no 'audiophile' tinkering has been done - just a straight, honest mastering that preserves every nuance of the original tapes. Cut at such high sampling rate, the recording just breathes, sounds wide open with incredible depth and separation. Clapton assembled quite a 'choir' around him, and almost every voice comes through here with great clarity, and the inner timing of the music, and the beat, is just superb and completely natural. I forgot I was listening to digital - always a good thing.

I would say that these new Cream/Clapton reissues in hi-res may just set a new benchmark in the rapidly evolving high resolution marketplace, and if these indicate a new trend - going to the analog masters, using what is obviously top equipment at a top mastering facility, and avoiding any audiophile tinkering - hi-res is about to get a whole lot better.

By the way, I see a ton of new BIS titles appearing on The Classical Shop this week, as well as on Qobuz. These are relatively older recordings - i.e. before BIS started to record at 24/96, which is really only within the last year or two - so virtually all these are unsanctioned upsamplings of 24/44 recordings to 24/96, and although they sound perfectly fine within the confines of 44k sampling, this is a completely dishonest practice and these should be avoided at all costs. For acquiring BIS hi-res, there is ONLY one legitimate source - eClassical.

Returning to Music Matters 33 rpm series: GRANT GREEN Idle Moments, TINA BROOKS True Blue:

I think my position on the new Music Matters Blue Note series at 33 rpm has been pretty clear. These are the gold standard of Blue Note, and a significant step ahead from the (magnificent) 45 rpm series.

Quite bluntly, it seems to me that, despite the angst of a minority online who have chastised Music Matters for issuing titles that have previously been available on the Analogue Productions 45 rpm series (and the odd duck that Music Matters themselves issued at 45 rpm), Music Matters have done a real service to lovers of this incredible music by this select 33 rpm series. The sound is simply mind boggling.

Idle Moments was done at the AP 45 rpm series and screwed up by Hoffman. It sounds dull, muted, the timing is all off. Tempo Di Hoochie Koo, for whatever weird reason, Hoffman cut the top end, sucked out the upper mids, and completely messed up the inner timing. Music Matters get it right - more than right.

Just like the new MM Blue Train, this record just roars out of the speakers. It is immediately propulsive and powerful. The bass is strong and deep, but more importantly, has a sense of organic inner timing, of inner rhythm. Bobby Hutcherson is completely different than on the Hoffman incarnation - metallic, percussive, rich with overtones. Swinging, completely in the pocket. Joe Henderson's tone is deep, full of wood and spit. Green himself is just amazing - subtle, swinging, in a groove. This is hypnotic, dark, beautiful music that for once - maybe the first time since the original RVG (which it exceeds by a wide margin, by the way) this great music is presented as exactly what it was in the studio - a masterpiece of dark, understated, yet subversive 3 am soul.

Forget 45rpm, the Music Matters 33 rpm gets it right. My copy is a perfect pressing and worth every penny, it knocks the socks right off the Analogue Productions 45 rpm and costs $15 bucks less.

On to Tina Brooks - True Blue. If there ever was a national anthem of Blue Note, True Blue is it. The story of how Music Matters recreated the incredibly complex variations of the color blue on the front cover would be a book on it's own - the attention to detail in recreating this brilliant record, and the abandonment of any notion of cost efficiency in getting there, shows just how deep a love and commitment to Blue Note these fanatics have. This would be worth the $35 just for the cover, but on to the music.

Here, we have Music Matters own 45 rpm version to compare to. The first thing that hits me is the bass - the 45 sounds hollowed out, but on the new 33, it sound full, tuneful, and driving. Where on the 45, which in its own way sounds quite good, Tina's tone sounds like a weak Hank Mobley, here is sounds like it should - coming out of Bird, rich, urgent, insistent, swinging - and Freddie Hubbard no less so. While on the earlier MM Freddie, in comparison, was much less brash and brassy, here he is opened up and sounds huge, bright, right out front. As with the other Music Matters 33's, the soundstaging and complete disappearance of the room is astonishing - this just leaps right out in front, a massive three dimensional sound, so very alive that you can just reach out to the sound in front of you. You can literally see the ceiling on this record, and hear Freddie's wide open, big sound bouncing off.

Alfred Lion messed Tina Brooks around and never really gave him his due. He recorded Tina, and held stuff back to effectively starve him out and keep him out of the limelight. He was a problematic guy for sure, but so were half the artists on Blue Note, and Tina should have and could have been bigger than Hank Mobley.

Music Matters finally give Tina Brooks the tribute he is long overdue. This music has the street in it, and a joy that the previous Music Matters only hinted at. This is 'the' True Blue.