2nd Edition
Nina Simone's 1959 Debut "Little Girl Blue" Remains Timeless
Seeing the superb documentary "What Happened, Miss Simone" isn't mandatory but you'll so much more enjoy this astonishing debut album recorded in 1957 (but not released until 1959) that it's highly recommended, especially if you have Netflix. You'll sit transfixed by this exceptional woman's remarkable and often tragic life story.
Analogplanet Visits Audio Research Corporation
To prepare for a review in Stereophile of two pieces of the company's vacuum tube-based electronics, Analogplanet editor Michael Fremer visits Audio Research Corporation, in North Plymouth, Minnesota, just outside of Minneapolis.
"When the Levee Breaks" Re-Grooves The Songs of Led Zeppelin
If you go into this ambitious acoustic Led Zeppelin covers project hard wired for Robert Plant and Jimmy Page you're probably bound for disappointment but if you just relax into it, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you see in your mind's eye. You'll surely like what the production brings to your ears.
The Meze 99 Classics Headphones Sweepstakes
Register to win a pair of Meze 99 Classics Headphones ($309.00 Retail Value) we are giving away.
"Baby's On Fire" LP vs. CD
Compare an original forty three year old U.K. "pink rim" Island pressing of "Baby's On Fire" from "Here Come the Warm Jets" (ILPS 9268), Brian Eno's debut solo album with the 2004 DSD remaster using the original tape played back on an Ampex ATR playback deck with custom ARIA electronics.
Meet Sophia Pfister
Instead of the usual "song and dance", the email refreshingly got directly to the point: "Will you review my record?". I replied, "Send it and if I like it I will."
Stroll Through T.H.E. Show Newport 2016
Last video from T.H.E. Show Newport includes room visits, and a stroll through the marketplace ballroom. The $5500/pr PureAudioProject open-baffled Trio15 Voxitiv speakers sounded as good as they looked. This kind of speaker is not usually my cup of swill but for the short time I got to listen to these, I was impressed by how much performance one can get for (relatively) little money.
Listen To Sweet Vinyl's Sugar Cube Remove a Bad Scratch From "Blue Rondo a la Turk"
Sweet Vinyl's Dan Eakins demonstrates the company's Sugar Cube that digitizes vinyl at 192/24 or DSD and stores files on a USB stick-- and that's but a small part of what this device can do. It automatically adds track breaks as well as metadata that it gets online from an enormous data base that recognizes vinyl and includes track break info, album cover art, etc.
United Record Pressing Acquires Bill Smith
Here's a press release from URP announcing the company's acquisition of Bill Smith Custom Records. Analogplanet did not receive it directly from URP because we probably remain on the company's "do not contact" list. Why? Because we criticize poor URP pressings and praise good ones. The corporate culture under Chairman and CEO Mark Michaels clearly is thin-skinned.
1st Edition
United Record Pressing Acquires Bill Smith
Here's a press release from URP announcing the company's acquisition of Bill Smith Custom Records. Analogplanet did not receive it directly from URP because we probably remain on the company's "do not contact" list. Why? Because we criticize poor URP pressings and praise good ones. The corporate culture under Chairman and CEO Mark Michaels clearly is thin-skinned.
Leslie Brooks Saves Discarded Reel to Reel Master Tapes
Ten thousand master tapes and/or master tape copies stored for decades above a new Jersey auto dealership are slated for destruction. Tape collector/archivist Leslie Brooks manages to save but a few hundred. The rest are buried in a N.J. landfill somewhere, perhaps with Jimmy Hoffa?
Edwards Audio Turntable Line Displayed at T.H.E. Show Newport 2016
The TT1 MkII, the least expensive 'table, includes an 18mm custom LDF (light density fiberboard) plinth, EA202 arm, 12mm clear acrylic platter white ceramic bearing, 120V AC synchronous motor, Blue belt and dustcover. It's available in black, white and red and costs $654.95.
Andrew Jones Shows Off New "Flagship" ELAC Speaker He Did Not Design
ow legendary speaker designer Andrew Jones is best known for designing ridiculously good, reasonably priced loudspeakers (in fact one could argue they are "unreasonably" low-priced considering their performance).
What You Need to Know About Bob Dylan's New Album on Vinyl
If you liked Shadows In the Night, musically and sonically, you will like the music here too since these songs were recorded during those sessions. However, while the files for this record were mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, and cut there by Ray Janos (STERLING RJ stamp), Wes Garland at Nashville Record Productions (WG/NRP) cut side two.
Listen to Two Compositions From Jack DeJohnette's New Solo Piano LP
The new subscription-based vinyl-only label Newvelle Records has given analogplanet.com permission to post this video with audio sourced from "Return" Jack DeJohnette's first solo piano record and the label's latest release.
Analogplanet Radio's "Eric Clapton Tribute" Show Now Available For Streaming
Today's Analogplanet WFDU HD/FDU.fm Radio Show is an Eric Clapton tribute. Of course all from vinyl, mostly original pressings. It starts with a track from his latest album and then goes back to the beginning with a track from Five Live Yardbirds.
Clapton and Johns Team Up And Create Musical and Sonic Magic
At this point in his life and career, Eric Clapton has nothing to prove to anyone but himself. He's gone from being called God on now famous graffiti that embarrassed him but others found justified, to later being called a snooze during a stretch of less than inspiring records and perhaps overexposure.
Source AnalogPlanet
