Following "Making Vinyl" in Minneapolis, which was the best-attended most significant of these events (though the one at Hansa Studios in Berlin was the most exciting) and attended by 500 industry people from around the world, I took a short Uber ride from downtown Minneapolis to Audio Research inMaple Grove.Managing Director Dave Gordon took me on an "after hours" tour of the factory you're sure to enjoy. The company moved to this somewhat... Read More

Frequently cited as "the greatest recording ever made", Decca's first studio recording of Wagner's seminal masterpiece remains a lodestar in the annals of the recording industry, over 60 years since the first sessions took place in Vienna in 1958. Part 3 goes over the different versions that have been issued - on vinyl, CD and SACD - including the brand new 2022 remastering on vinyl and digital. Then I conduct a detailed listening comparison and make some recommendations. Plus a breakdown of some other recordings of the Ring, and a survey of non-vocal, purely orchestral records of music from the Ring on vinyl and CD.

Pacific Audio Fest organizers released this teaser today. At the show KLAUDIO will debut it's new turntable featuring the company's pivoted tangential tracking tonearm, which features a number of interesting set-up innovations.Price was not announced. I'd planned on attending the show, which was really great last year but too much travel in May and early June made yet another trip problematic so it's a no go this year. It should be a really good... Read More

Frequently cited as "the greatest recording ever made", Decca's first studio recording of Wagner's seminal masterpiece remains a lodestar in the annals of the recording industry, over 60 years since the first sessions took place in Vienna in 1958. Part 2 of this in-depth look into the making of this historic set of records begins with Decca's struggles to record a complete cycle "live" at Bayreuth in 1955, an experience that paved the way for the eventual studio recording in Vienna three years later. You'll discover how producer John Culshaw assembled a crack team of Decca's sound engineers to tackle a myriad of practical, technical and aesthetic challenges, while conductor Georg Solti marshaled the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and an unmatched cast of singers into creating a true classic of the gramophone.

I'm in Pittsburgh, PA visiting nearby Iron Mountain where Universal Music Group archives much of its recorded tapes and other assets. Amazing video coming soon. While I was there I visited Jerry's Records, a famous Pittsburgh used record store recommended to me by my colleague Jacob Heilbrunn. Here's some just shot video. Read More

I spent today at Iron Mountain Entertainment Services where Universal Music Group archives much of its music assets. It was a day filled with open eyed wonder at the richness of the tape and video archives, at how the material is being catalogued and at the Iron Mountain facility itself, which should be labeled the 8th wonder of the world. Video coverage coming soon!Can you see that black rectangle at the back of the room? That's another equally large room filled... Read More

Frequently cited as "the greatest recording ever made", Decca's first studio recording of Wagner's seminal masterpiece remains a lodestar in the annals of the recording industry, over 60 years since the first sessions took place in Vienna in 1958. Recently reissued in a brand new remastering on vinyl and CD/SACD, we take a look at the work's pivotal place in not only classical music but also popular culture, discuss the making of this set, and assess the sound quality of its many incarnations. Part 1 covers the history of opera up to the "Ring"; the cycle's creation, and how it radically changed not only opera and classical music, but also theatre and popular culture in the 20th century and beyond.

June 8, 2023: When Joni Mitchell mesmerized the Newport Folk Festival audience last summer with a surprise performance, she “breathed new meaning into some of her most famous lyrics” (New York Times). Today, the powerful live recording of her beloved hit “A Case Of You” is available digitally. Originally released in 1971 on Blue, this new live recording features vocals by Marcus Mumford and Brandi Carlile.

Following High End Munich, I took a train ride to Zurich, Switzerland with members of the CH team: CEO and founder Florian Cossy, publicist Louise Ford, Head of International Sales, Kevin Wolff, and software developer Eduard Kohler. Then, in a whirlwind visit to the heart of Swiss watch making territory, I toured CH Precision in Préverenges as well as Telsa, the company that does CH's "board stuffing". Also in this video you'll see the machine shop... Read More

Universal and The Beach Boys organization tasked mix master Giles Martin to produce a Dolby Atmos edition of the iconic album Pet Sounds. There were big differences between doing this mix and Mr. Martin's previous remix work on albums produced by his father George Martin, and in his ZOOM call presentation before the Dolby Screening Room playback in New York on Tuesday, May 30th, he addressed them. Nonetheless, Martin's larger than life on-screen image amplified a level of discomfort with this project not evidenced in any of the Beatles re-mix events I attended. Following the full album playback, he returned to take questions from the audience.

With Bowie-mania sure to surge this summer thanks to the first time release of the full concert version of the digitally restored Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture, 50 years after it originally screened, and playing in theaters beginning July 3rd, I found Harvey Kubernik's interview with Julian Shah-Tayler too good to not grab and publish—and that's before listening to Forget I'm 50, his re-imagined Aladdin Sane album. What most got me interested was Shah-Tayler's telling Kubernik that he first discovered Bowie through the song "Let's Dance" and wasn't impressed, but when a friend played him “Yassassin” from Lodger... . How would a 50 something who wasn't yet born when the album was released, recast in 2023 Aladdin Sane? With undeniable high energy and excitement, that's how. The only contributing artist I've heard of here is Gene Loves Jezebel (Michael Aston), who does an effective "Jean Genie". Shah-Tayler tackles "Lady Grinning Soul" and makes it tribute-fresh (the album is available on streaming services). For good measure, Kubernik includes interviews with D.A. Pennebaker who produced the film and with our friend Ken Scott who engineered and produced Aladdin Sane. Me? I was on the Ziggy tour for three stops (New York, Chicago and Detroit) in addition to the Boston Music Hall show so I can confirm that the hysteria you see in the movie was real. The Carnegie Hall show was a quasi- religious experience.

For High End Munich 2023 I brought onboard Carlos Martin Schwab, a Munich area-based writer who in previous years has done no-nonsense show coverage for other sites. I asked him to cover some brands and non-analog related products. You'll note he covered OMA. I asked him to do that because pre-show I decided against entering the OMA room. Why? I was disinvited from a factory visit by OMA's founder. I was supposed to go there for The Absolute Sound, which is reviewing the K3 turntable I reviewed for my previous endeavor and they wanted video factory coverage and an owner profile. Ultimately, I decided it was best to cover the room, which I did in a video posted on YouTube. The encounter left one consumer-observer to comment under the video "I foresee Fremer unloading his OMA TT soon… the tension between him and Weiss was palpable". Martin Schwab also covered a few rooms i didn't assign but I'm glad he did, especially IO Design, an amazing sounding loudspeaker covered last year that I didn't have time to hear this, though I've heard it's been further improved. Martin Schwab encountered my friend Rick Rubin with Al DiMeola. His comment further elucidates his distaste for the industry, which I find amusing. He didn't think I'd run his comment you'll read below that ends with "...ego is counted by the ton." That's because he doesn't know me well. The show was a great success attracting 22,137 visitors from approximately 100 countries who came to see products from 550 exhibitors representing 54 nations. More than 1000 brands were on display. While 22,137 visited the show in person, to date, more than 34,000 people have viewed TrackingAngle.com's first day video coverage on YouTube. Such is the power of the Internet.

June 1, 2023 (New York, NY) In the summer of 1961, John Coltrane headlined at the celebrated music venue, the Village Gate. With a lineup of musicians that included McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Elvin Jones, and the fiery playing of Eric Dolphy, Evenings at the Village Gate captures the creative and transformative spirit that sprang from the pairing of Coltrane and Dolphy, and the evolving short-lived quintet. Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric... Read More

I've been buying records in antique and second-hand stores, thrift shops, and Goodwills since 1965. In my town, there was a Goodwill store with a large display table, approximately six feet by four feet, piled high with hundreds of unsleeved 45 rpm records priced at two for five cents. I would go through them every few weeks searching for Beatle records, always unsuccessfully, except once when I found a new copy of Swan 4182 "Sie Liebt Dich (She Loves... Read More

The press release poop: Los Angeles, CA (May 30, 2023)‒Jazz Dispensary is proud to announce the next harvest of its offerings from the acclaimed Top Shelf series, with a triple groove of reissues featuring Jack DeJohnette’s Sorcery, Idris Muhammad’s Black Rhythm Revolution!, and Leon Spencer’s Where I’m Coming From. These reissues mark the first wide vinyl release of all three albums in over 40 years. As with every title in the Top Shelf series, which reissues the... Read More

Massive new career retrospective on Athens, GA's college rock heroes from a former local scenester