Month: October 2020

Pharoah Sanders – Thembi

  • Pharoah Sanders makes his Hot Stamper debut here with STUNNING Triple Plus (A+++) sound from first note to last
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market
  • 4 stars: “Recorded with two different ensembles, Thembi was a departure from the slowly developing, side-long, mantra-like grooves Pharoah Sanders had been pursuing for most of his solo career… it’s rare to have this many different sides of Sanders coexisting in one place, and that’s what makes the album such an interesting listen.”

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Nina Simone – Wild is the Wind

  • Off the charts “Triple Triple” (A+++) sound for this classic Nina Simone album – both sides earned our top grade of A+++
  • There are a lot of bad sounding Nina Simone albums out there in the bins, but fortunately this is not one of them – it’s rich, smooth and tubey, just the way we like our Female Vocal records to sound
  • This is a very rare title, and unfortunately most of the copies we played had condition issues, so quiet vinyl just does not seem to be in the cards this time around
  • A Billboard magazine “special merit pick” on release, with the reviewer commenting: “Simone… sets up an exceptional romantic mood that offers top listening delight.” It was included in Robert Dimery’s 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and rated the 5th best album of the 1960s by Pitchfork (!).

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Herbie Hancock – Thrust

  • Thrust makes its Hot Stamper debut here with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER on both sides – reasonably quiet vinyl too
  • This vintage pressing is well balanced, big and lively, with wonderful clarity in the mids and highs, as well the bass foundation critical to Hancock’s funky jazz
  • 4 stars: “… an earthy, funky, yet often harmonically and rhythmically sophisticated tour de force… Hancock continues to reach into the rapidly changing high-tech world for new sounds, most notably the metallic sheen of the then-new ARP string synthesizer which was already becoming a staple item on pop and jazz-rock records… This supertight jazz-funk quintet album still sounds invigorating a quarter of a century later. “

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Rush – Fly By Night

More Rush

More Prog Rock

  • The first copy of Rush’s sophomore release to hit the site in years, this STUNNING pressing boasts Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish
  • Bass and body are key to the best pressings, along with Rock and Roll energy, and here you will find plenty of all three
  • This is the vinyl embodiment of the Classic Analog Rock sound we love – rich, warm, punchy, dynamic and clear
  • “… it showed that the young band was leaving their Zep-isms behind in favor of a more challenging and original direction.”

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The Recordings of Nina Simone – These Two Didn’t Make the Grade

These are just some of the Nina Simone recordings that we’ve auditioned recently and found wanting.

Without going into specifics we’ll just say these albums suffer from poor performances, poor sound, or both, and therefore do not deserve a place in your collection, and may even belong in our Hall of Shame.  

A Free Service provided to the Audiophile Public, courtesy of Better Records.

Dvorak / Cello Concerto – Hard to Recommend on Classic Records

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Dvorak Available Now

Sonic Grade: F

An Audiophile Hall of Shame pressing and another Classic Records LP debunked.

This is a Classic Records pressing (Remember the Sound!) that never sounded very good to me. But the original never impressed either, as you can see from our review of it below.

I have never heard a copy of this record sound better than decent. This title is very unlikely to have the wonderful sound of the best Living Stereo pressings that you can find on our site, each of which has been carefully evaluated to the highest standards.

We love the Starker recordings on Mercury. Wish we could afford to buy some and do a shootout. At the prices they command these days, that is very unlikely to happen.

UPDATE: 2024

Starting in 2024, we were able to do a number of shootouts for Starker’s Mercury recordings.

If we have any titles in stock, they can be found here.

Reviews can commentaries for them can be found here,

We used to recommend the Superanalogue pressing you see pictured when it was in print. I doubt we would care much for it now.

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Miles Davis – Decoy

More Miles Davis

  • STUNNING sound throughout with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or very close to them
  • Fans of Bitches Brew will find much to like here, and at least in most ways, this is actually a better sounding album
  • Exceptionally quiet vinyl throughout — Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus
  • “Mr. Davis has made tasteful creative use of synthesizers, drum machines and other modern gizmos, voicing them with saxophone, guitar and other traditional instruments without letting them dominate the music.” – NY Times

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Letter of the Week – “These two Hot Stampers have four of the greatest sounding sides of music I have experienced.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Yes Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom,   

Dropping you a line to tell you that these two Hot Stampers have four of the greatest sounding sides of music I have experienced. The new HS Aja and Fragile blew me away. I often start a listening session with the good intention of documenting the experience for you. I quickly blow that idea off and just start falling into the music. It would take thousands of words to explain the total experience. These two records have a presence and soundstage that put me in the studio (again, like your Sgt. Peppers) or feet from the stage.

In your description of Aja, you commented on Becker’s guitar floating on a bed of cool studio air front and center on “I Got the News.” I became more interested and awed at the controlled pressure he was using on the strings with his left hand. The “harmonic” sounds of the notes were completely narcotic. With Fragile, the translucent layering of instruments and their note decay, danced across the room like sparks, making my head swim. At times the soundstage of Fragile extended well over my head.

I am lucky to have a well equipped and tuned stereo and room, but I would give them up in order to hold on to the Hot Stampers I have collected over the years from you.

Gary C.

Gary, thanks for writing and thanks for the kind words.

TP

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Gerry Mulligan Quartet – Reunion With Chet Baker

  • This outstanding copy of Mulligan’s superb collaboration with Chet Baker boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
  • Remarkable Tubey Magical richness, as well as the kind of immediacy and transparency that few copies have – all qualities essential to reproducing both the trumpet and the baritone sax with exceptional fidelity
  • The sound of a vintage Pacific Jazz recording from 1957, on the rare stereo pressing no less, is really something to hear – you can be sure that no reissue can hold a candle to this LP
  • 4 stars: “The Gerry Mulligan Quartet of 1952-53 was one of the best-loved jazz groups of the decade and it made stars out of both the leader and trumpeter Chet Baker… the music is quite enjoyable and the interplay between the two horns is still special.”

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Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention – Freak Out!

More Frank Zappa

Reviews and Commentaries for the Music of Frank Zappa

  • Insanely good sound throughout with all four sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or very close to it
  • The overall sound here is incredibly rich, warm and full-bodied yet still super detailed, spacious and dynamic; the energy level is off the charts too!
  • Most pressings of this double album are just awful, if you can even find one that’s clean enough to bother playing
  • “One of the most ambitious debuts in rock history, Freak Out! was a seminal concept album that somehow foreshadowed both art rock and punk at the same time. Its four LP sides deconstruct rock conventions right and left, eventually pushing into territory inspired by avant-garde classical composers.” – All Music

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