(This review originally appeared in The Tracking Angle Magazine Issue 7, Spring 1996.)Bryan Ferry covering Gogi Grant’s dramatic “The Wayward Wind” has always been one of my musical dreams, but Neil Young does a more than adequate version to open this long neglected mid-80s Young country album. While he doesn’t bring the kind of “camp” to the tune Ferry could, he’s got the spirit right, with cascading strings (17 count ‘em pieces), Waylon Jennings on guitar, and Bela... Read More

Last May 1st, Tracking Angle published "The Onzow Zerodust Controversy Concludes Here" in which I thought we'd put the story forever to rest. I thought "everyone" would be satisfied by the instructions published there. Please read them using the above hyperlink.Later Onzo Labs' Akira Ishibashi requested that I remove the original photo we'd been using to show the residue left on the stylus, to one more representative of what WAM... Read More

You’ve never seen a cleaner Cadillac in your life. My 1985 Eldorado was triple black and it proudly boasted the “Biarritz” package which upgraded it with a stainless steel roof and extra plush leather seats. Even though it was over a decade old by the time I took ownership of the vehicle, you wouldn’t know it because of how carefully I cleaned and detailed it almost each and every weekend. In the summer evenings, with the Eldorado in showroom condition, a buddy or two... Read More

(Photo of Rainer Maillard at Emile Berliner Studios, 2019 by Michael Fremer)Tracking Angle invited DGG "Original Source" Series producer/mixer Rainer Maillard and cutting engineer Sidney C. Meyer to respond to Michael Johnson's review of the "second batch" of titles, specifically with the tracking issues he encountered on the Brahms The Piano Concertos disc.Mr. Maillard responded:With each cut we had to make decisions and thereby were forced... Read More

After chatting with the most affable Dave Nauber, CEO of T+A North America, I agreed to review the company’s flagship preamp, the P 3100 HV - fitted with an optional MC phono card. I told him I’m a tube guy and that listening to and writing about a modern, solid-state, German-made preamp from a company I knew almost nothing about was not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking fun review.Mr. Nauber remained calmly undaunted and said, "I’ll be shocked if... Read More

For Cecil Taylor, the word “jazz” didn’t represent the music’s rich historical and geographical lineage. The further he progressed, the more he distanced himself from such strict definition. And considering his music, why wouldn’t he? A classically-trained pianist who worshipped Ellington but also studied and admired Stockhausen and Xenakis, it took almost a decade before Taylor’s brilliance fully revealed itself in the studio. Yet even on his debut album, the 1956... Read More

On my previous endeavor, June of 2020 writer Jeff Flaim covered, and we discovered avant-garde trumpeter Jaimie Branch and her supercharged, trumpet, drum, bass, cello quartet: Lester St. Louis, cello, voice, flute, marimba, keyboard, Jason Ajemian, double bass, electric bass, voice, marimba, and Chad Taylor, drums, mbira, timpani , bells, marimba. What do you call this? Punk Rock improvisatory jazz? The off the charts energy level of beating drums, bass, churning... Read More

The press release from The Electric Recording Company: The eponymous album of Crosby, Stills & Nash marked the inaugural studio release by the renowned American folk rock supergroup. Unveiled byAtlantic Records in 1969, the album stands as a seminal masterpiece within the realms of folk rock and rock music genres. With David Crosby,Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash at its core, all of whom boasted prior affiliations with accomplished bands (Crosby with The Byrds,... Read More

Acoustic Sounds just announced the forthcoming UHQR release of The White Stripes' 2002 double LP "Elephant". The lacquers were cut more than a year ago on June, 22nd, 2022. By chance I happened to be in Nashville moderating panels for Making Vinyl, Nashville and visiting United Record Pressing, Nashville Record Pressing, Welcome to 1979 and Nashville Record Productions. When Chad Kassem told me that Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound was cutting lacquers on... Read More

Veteran disc mastering engineer Paul Gold runs Salt Mastering out of a small, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y. studio crammed with tape machines—including a few rare and unusual ones you'll have to watch the video to see— and a pair of Neumann lathes. He contacted me to say he's just completed a "shaker console" he's been working on for fifteen years! And he thought I'd enjoy seeing it. I did. It's not like Shaker furniture. Gold goes back... Read More

Overnite Sensation FZ's legendary 1973 album's 50th anniversary super deluxe edition celebrates 50th anniversary with expanded fifty seven unreleased and rare studio and live tracks. Eighty eight track, five-disc edition includes 4 CDs and Blu-ray disc with outtakes, alternate edits and unedited bonus vault masters plus two previously unreleased shows recorded at The Hollywood Palladium and Detroit's Cobo Hall. Blu-ray includes original Quad mix, plus new surround sound and Dolby Atmos mixes of the core album. 180g vinyl set of greatest interest to Tracking Angle readers: 2 LP 180-gram black audiophile vinyl reissue with the album cut at 45 rpm for the first time ever from the original analog tape by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering in 2023 and a bonus 24” x 12” poster of the complete cover art.

When Robert Schumann wanted to tell the world how impressed he was by the young Johannes Brahms, Schumann published words to the effect of, “Hats off, ladies and gentlemen!” That’s exactly the way I feel about Solen Electronique’s fully assembled and tested (and slightly tweaked) version of SB Acoustics’ top-of-the-line floorstanding 3-way (but with twin woofers) loudspeaker kit, the Sasandu Tx (for TeXtreme). (The sasandu is a traditional Indonesian musical... Read More

BOSTON - (Aug. 23, 2023) - U-Turn Audio, an independent American maker of award-winning turntables, announces their first ever refresh of the beloved Orbit Turntable lineup. Building off a decade of success, the next generation of Orbit takes turntable design and technology to the next level with a range of new features like its high-tech magnesium tonearm, electronic speed control, revamped drive system, and more customization options than ever before. U-Turn Audio... Read More

I figured before boxing it up and returning the MoFi Electronics MasterPhono I'd remove the top cover and give you a short guided tour. Read More

"TOM WAITS’ ENTIRE METAMORPHIC AND GROUNDBREAKING MID-PERIOD ISLAND RECORDS STUDIO CATALOG NEWLY REMASTERED FROM ORIGINAL TAPES AND PREPPED FOR RELEASE ON VINYL "AND CD FOR FIRST TIME" (all caps from press release)