Martinon and the LSO’s lively performance of Slavonic Dances debuts on the site with big, rich and Tubey Magical Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sound throughout this original Shaded Dog pressing
These sides are clear, full-bodied and present, with plenty of space around the players, the unmistakable sonic hallmark of the properly-mastered, properly-pressed vintage analog LP
We’ve been trying to get this shootout going for many years – some of the pressings we’ve come across have been absolutely some of the best sounding Living Stereo titles we’ve ever played
If we ever create a Living Stereo Top Ten, this album will be a serious contender of the honor
This record will have you asking why so few Living Stereo pressings actually do what this one does. The more critical listeners among you will recognize that this is a very special copy indeed. Everyone else will just enjoy the hell out of it.
Marks and problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings, but once you hear just how incredible sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
Chester & Lester makes its Hot Stamper debut with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades on both sides of this vintage RCA pressing
Huge, rich, present, with an abundance of energy and great depth and room around the guitars — it’s all here
The notes for this copy rave about the sound — apparently, this live in the studio recording from 1975 has the sound that RCA and Chet Atkins were famous for back in the 50s and 60s. Who knew?
Chester & Lester won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance in 1976
Les Paul’s recordings from back in the day can be off the charts Tubey Magical, but the music is rarely compelling, so we don’t do shootouts for his records anymore, but you can be sure this wonderful sounding title will be a regular on the site from now on
4 stars: “After eight years away from the microphones, Les Paul joined forces with country music’s Chet Atkins in a marvelously relaxed, tasty session of cross-cultural jamming. You won’t have any problem telling Chester and Lester apart on these tracks; Les’ bright, almost metallic sound and twirling, yet now more economical flurries are a world away from Chet’s mellow fingerpicking, lightly tarted with echo. Yet the two styles play brilliantly off each other….”
Finger Paintings appears on the site for the first time ever, here with an INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
Both of these sides are clean, clear and lively with an abundance of detail and a solid bottom end
Some of the tubiest, biggest and richest guitar sonics you could ask for from a “modern” record – this is the sound of analog done right
Here is an original Mercury Maroon Label Stereo pressing (the first copy to ever hit the site) with a KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
You won’t believe how natural, rich, tonally correct and Tubey Magical this copy is – until you play it, of course
Spacious, rich and smooth – only vintage analog seems capable of reproducing all three of these qualities without sacrificing resolution, staging, imaging or presence
Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
Dorati and the LSO’s dynamic performance of these 16 Hungarian Dances debuts on the site with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this early Mercury pressing
These sides are doing everything right – they’re rich, clear, undistorted, open, spacious, and have depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard
You’d be hard-pressed to find a copy that’s this well balanced, yet so big and lively, with such wonderful clarity in the mids and highs
This title is almost always noisy, which is why you will rarely find it for sale on our site
Astrud’s 1969 release appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it from first note to last
It’s rich, warm and natural with wonderful transparency, loads of ambience and – this is key – plenty of Tubey Magic (particularly on side one)
There are some bad marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs) on “If (The Biggest Little Word)” but once you hear just how superb sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and just be swept away by the music
4 stars: “Mistakenly considered a minor entry in the Gilberto canon, I Haven’t Got Anything Better to Do is instead a minor masterpiece.”
Bahia appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on both sides of this early Prestige stereo pressing
The sound is everything that’s good about Rudy Van Gelder‘s recordings – it’s present, spacious, Tubey Magical, dynamic and, most importantly, alive in that way that modern pressings never are
Full-bodied, energetic, and tonally correct from top to bottom, this copy is guaranteed to bring Coltrane’s music to life – it’s possible that you may not own any Coltrane record that sounds as good as this one
The notes for our Shootout Winning copy talk about what is amazing about every aspect of the sound and how well each instrument is recorded – expect to see them on the blog before long
Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings, but once you hear just how superb sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
It’s hard to imagine that any list of the best jazz albums of 1965 would not have John Coltrane’s Bahia on it. The sound is out of this world on the best copies.
Just make sure you have an early stereo pressing on Prestige, mastered by RVG. Accept no substitutes.
Tonight at Noon appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout this vintage Atlantic Stereo pressing
This copy is overflowing with the kind of rich, spacious, Tubey Magical sound that can only be found on vintage vinyl
Phil Iehle and Tom Dowd made up the engineering team for these sessions from 1957 and 1961, which explains why the better copies of the album sound so damn good
4 stars: “…the tunes here are actually studio outtakes from the recordings for The Clown and Oh Yeah. Despite the fact that this is an assembled album, it holds plenty of magic nonetheless.”
How My Heart Sings, here with solid Double Plus (A++) sound throughout this Riverside recording pressed on fairly quiet OJC vinyl
Both of these sides are lively, dynamic and full-bodied, and there’s real weight to the piano, a key quality we look for on all the piano recordings we play
It’s bigger, richer, more Tubey Magical, with more extension on both ends of the spectrum and more depth, width and height than most other copies we played
“Recorded in May and June of 1962, at the same time as the Moonbeams sessions, How My Heart Sings shows a different side of the Bill Evans Trio than that all-ballads album. In Evans’ own words, the band’s desire was to ‘provide a more singing sound’ in this material.”
4 stars: “[The recording] flies in the face of the conventions Evans himself has set, and yet retains the deep, nearly profound lyricism that was the pianist’s trademark.”
Here is a vintage Polydor import pressing (one of only a handful of copies to ever hit the site) with solid Double Plus (A++) sound throughout
Both of these sides give you the richness, Tubey Magic, clarity and resolution few copies can touch
“Van Morrison scored one of his biggest commercial successes with Avalon Sunset, a record highlighted by the gorgeous ‘Have I Told You Lately,’ one of his most heartfelt love songs and a major radio hit which helped introduce his music to a new generation of listeners.”
