As the nights draw in, we all need some decent music to keep us company, don’t we? There’s something for everyone in this month’s selection, so read on to find your next vinyl purchase.
Freshly Pressed:
A decade on from her last album, it’s a very welcome return from Gemma Hayes with her sixth, ‘Blind Faith’. Her particular brand of indie-folk-rock has never lost any of its allure since sterling 2002 debut ‘Night On My Side’. The time away has resulted in what is arguably Hayes’ strongest set since that initial outing. ‘Central Hotel’ starts with a strummed acoustic and hushed vocals while a faintly unsettling drone occupies the background, before layers are slowly added as it builds towards a slowly detonating final passage. ‘The Break Didn’t Heal Right’ adapts this formula and delivers an even more thunderous denouement. ‘Hardwired’ is an absolute joy, insistent guitar offset by a playful tambourine while Hayes’ distinctive voice gathers in intensity and flickering synths kick in.
‘High & Low’ is a delicate presence instrumentally but the vocal is imbued with the unshakeable low-level pain of grief, occasionally flaring up as it is wont to do. Her capacity to mix the sweet and somewhat sour to produce beguiling results is undimmed. The vivid presentation of the width of the soundstage is a delight and there’s some really good space in the top end too. When things are meant to be murky, they swirl tremendously and when precision is called for it is crisp and inviting. Mastering was done at Sterling Sound and the Takt pressing is pretty quiet throughout.
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If one band other than Girls Aloud can get close to the spirit of their undeniable masterpiece, ‘Biology’, it’s Field Music. Their sense of adventure, seemingly endless reservoir of melodies and restless energy ensures that almost every song has numerous different movements and dimensions. As ever, there’s a lot going on here. The fluttering drum machine of opener ‘Six Weeks, Nine Wells’ hints at things being different this time around and ‘The Guardian Of Sleep’ continues the theme with an almost indecent bassline and some ragged saxophone. ‘Turn The Hours Away’ could be early-Seventies Macca experimenting in his farmhouse with his drum kit in the toilet, so endearingly pure is its sense of melody.
‘The Waitress Of St Louis’’ is sublime, like one of those fancy cakes where it’s outwardly and obviously a rich, sweet, claggy delight but then you find out a highly unusual ingredient has been thrown into the mix. Something is pulling it in curious directions, but it really works. I sampled the red, indies-only GZ pressing for this review and it played near-silently throughout. The mastering ensured that the not insignificant detail in the bottom end was rendered with precision and nuance. Add in splendid cover art and a very reasonable retail price and it’s hard to find a single thing to moan about.
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‘Throat’ is a collaborative effort from McKowski, of the Lost Brothers, and Nick Power from The Coral, also one of the team at AV8 Records who have released this with Liverpudlian label Deltasonic. Recorded over three years and woven around their day jobs, the record is bewitchingly unkempt, at times coming on like spiritual jazz funnelled through ‘Mule Variations’. ‘Nick Power’s Dream’ does what it says on the tin and will play well with Coral fans wandering in unawares. ‘New Brighton Speedway Fire 1972’ is a deliciously odd concoction that might bring to mind a little of Nick Cave’s ‘Skeleton Tree’. ‘The Tailor And The Mouse’ is presented as a vintage, faintly murky folk track, betraying its origins as a traditional piece, and it’s instantly charming for it. The mastering is open and sympathetic to the nuance of the soundstage. A near-silent eco-mix disc courtesy of Press On in Middlesbrough is housed alongside a charming booklet and a pair of signed postcards.
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As part of Latin Grammy award-winning supergroup Bala Desejo, Dora Morelenbaum has already made a mark, their 2022 album ‘Sim Sim Sim’ something of a column favourite. Her solo debut is predictably brilliant, given her pedigree and the fact it arrives via the inimitable Mr Bongo. It’s all pretty glorious but just listen to the gloriously wonky funk of‘Sim, Não’ that is somewhere between Prince and Stevie Wonder in its execution. Her remarkable vocals are just as at home on slower tracks like ‘Essa Confusão’ and ‘Petricor’. The fuzzy cover is oddly perfect and the mastering is deliciously dynamic with opulent definition on a wide soundstage. Thankfully, this is served very well by a near-silent Optimal pressing.
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When this column covered alt-folk singer-songwriter Art Block’s excellent 2022 EP there was a sense of what might be possible and an album, ‘Stones And Fire’ followed last year for which the vinyl edition was delayed until now. There is a vulnerability to his performances that hints at an artist still developing, still growing into their skin. ‘Hollow’ is a neatly executed wash of sound, perfectly positioned in the penultimate spot before the sweeping piano driven title track that wraps things up. ‘Brother’ is perhaps Art Block’s sound at its most effective, with a soaring chorus, inventive arrangements and an intriguing use of space. Pressed in the UK at Packaged Sounds, the vinyl edition is near silent throughout and has been mastered to preserve the all-important dynamics of the rich arrangements.
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Reclusive artist Tucker Zimmerman has made an unlikely return after Big Thief pursued him in the hope of persuading him to make new music. He has written all of ‘Dance Of Love’, which he performs with the indie-folk folk as his backing band. A chance encounter with his 1980 record ‘Square Dance’ prompted Adrianne Lenker to do some research and before long this unlikely combination was underway. Big Thief’s warm, propulsive presence behind him is a perfect fit to envelope the eighty-three year old’s rich, weathered vocals. There are plenty of highlights, including opener ‘Old Folks From Farmersville’, ‘Burial At Sea’ and ‘Don’t Go Crazy (Go In Peace)’, but ‘The Idiot’s Maze’ is especially glorious, with some stirring textures at play. A pin-drop silent Optimal pressing supports a wide, open soundstage that has a lithe mid-range.
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Efterklang have returned in very fine form, ‘Things We Have In Common’ very possibly being their best since 2010’s ‘Magic Chairs’. Ominous electronics, keening vocals and ambitious arrangements are all key ingredients, opener ‘Balancing Stones’ setting the bar high with Casper Clausen’s voice proving to be quite the force above a rampaging wall of sound. The lyric of ‘Getting Reminders’ has an almost hiccupy delivery in the verses, with wide acoustic strumming building the mood majestically in the early stages. The whole album is a delight and Bo Kondren at Calyx has ensured a tremendously three-dimensional soundstage for both the mastering and vinyl cut. It’s a fairly quiet Optimal pressing on what is described as ‘Sky Blue’ wax, despite being a little too rich for most British summer days.
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The quiet brilliance of Joan Wasser’s work as Joan As Police Woman has resulted in a fairly remarkable catalogue being built up over nearly twenty years. Her sixth studio album of original material, ‘Lemons, Limes And Orchids’ has a funkier heart than has previously been her leaning. It perfectly suits both her songwriting and her distinctive vocal style, her band proving to be exceptionally tight across a dozen shimmering tracks. ‘Back Again’ is a particular triumph with its tremendous chorus hook while ‘With Hope In My Breath’ manages to do BIG without feeling at all overblown or excessively polished. Joe Nino-Hernes delivers a vivid and open vinyl cut for the tangerine-coloured Optimal pressing. The copy sampled had a little low-level surface noise at points but it wasn’t anything too off-putting given the quality of the music on show.
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Following the previously reviewed reissue of the main album, it’s now time for a 3LP set from John Lennon entitled ‘Mind Games – The Meditation Mixes’. Spread over three Optimal-pressed clear discs is a collection of ambient reworkings using parts of the title track. It’s not intended to be played in one sitting, with some tracks running to almost twenty-five minutes. They are individual passages created with meditation in mind and they certainly seem fitting for such a purpose from several listens, the sixth and final side going even further with a collection of nine tiny mantras with locked grooves that play over and over until you lift the needle. It’s hard to describe these pieces adequately, given that they feel almost like dreams born of tiny earworms, but there is a dynamic warmth to it on the largely silent discs. ‘Surrender’ is genuinely very immersive but whether it’s worth £85 is debatable, as you can now access these mixes on streaming platforms. Watch out for fingerprints on the super shiny triple-gatefold sleeve too!
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Re-Warm serve up a splendid compilation entitled ‘Everything Above The Sky: Astral Travelling With Luke Una’, which spreads sixteen more meditative pieces across four sides of fairly quiet, Optimal-pressed vinyl. After the wonderful ‘E Soul Cultura’ selection, this is the soundtrack to an over-thinker retreating to the countryside for some space and thought. John Martyn’s ‘Small Hours’ sets the bar, but there are plenty of lesser-known delights to be found, including Stephen Whynott’s gargantuan ‘A Better Way’ and a track from the aforementioned Dora Morelenbaum. On top of all that is the Massey’s Conga Mix of 808 State’s ‘Pacific State’. The artwork is gorgeous and the mastering from Robin K Junga is excellent. It’s a distinctive, absorbing collection with effusive sleevenotes on an informative insert.
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Whatever you think The James Taylor Quartet sound like, you may be in for something of a shock with their new album ‘Hung Up On You’. The acid jazz merchants have a rather distinctive brand, but here Taylor took his rock and roll writing to his team of rather funkier musicians and explored the results. And they’re pretty enjoyable, the frontman taking lead vocals for the first time. The opening title track is instantly appealing, feeling like it has been beamed in from forty-five years ago. ‘Chicken Leg’ is one of several Hammond workouts to keep the faithful onside, but the other business is all very endearing, ‘Put Your Hands Up’ especially. It’s not ground-breaking but it is done with passion and heart. Design and packaging are very bare bones and it’s a pretty quiet white disc pressed at GZ.
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It is crazy to think that it has been three and a half years since we lost the remarkable producer, DJ and writer Sophie. Work was well underway on the follow up to 2018’s ‘Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides’ when Sophie fell from the roof of a building in Greece. Sophie’s brother, Benny Long, confirmed he would work on her unreleased material to finish what had been started and so we come to her posthumous second, the self-titled ‘Sophie’. The magical one-two of ‘Reason Why’ and ‘Live In My Truth’ that opens side B sounds utterly captivating, with hooks galore and gorgeous vocal performances from BC Kingom with Kim Petras and LIZ respectively. It’s guest vocalists throughout, as you might imagine, but they all get a spectacularly vivid presentation at the heart of this sonic marvel. The precision in the bottom end of Matt Colton’s mastering and vinyl cut is a joy and the reach of the soundstage out into the room on this near-silent Optimal pressing is fully three-dimensional.
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Precious Recordings Of London have grown the size of their discs once again. Having switched from double-7” releases to 10” EPs, it’s now time for an actual album. It’s still all about the archives, turning to the collected ‘Peel Sessions 21.08.01-16.04.03’ of Saloon. Their wonderful second album, ‘If We Meet In The Future’, was released after the latter session included here which features a quartet of tunes from that superlative long-player. Several of the band offer reflections on the reverse of the sleeve and Ian Button has delivered the usual excellent standard of mastering that gives the listener a sense of being in Maida Vale with the band. ‘Make It Soft’ wafts around magically while 2003 pair ‘Vesuvius’ and ‘Happy Robots’ should send you scuttling off for the rest of their catalogue almost immediately. The branding is impeccable as ever and it’s a pretty quiet GZ pressing.
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All Kinds Of Blue:
It’s quite the pair of Tone Poets for October. First up is Booker Little 4 & Max Roach’s self-titled collaboration. Little was only twenty when he recorded this debut as a bandleader, having been part of Roach’s band. The 1958 United Artists title captures an instinctive understanding between the young trumpeter and the legendary drummer, assisted by Art Davis on bass, George Coleman on tenor sax and Tommy Flanagan at the piano. As a non-Blue Note, there’s no gatefold with studio images but the additional insert adds some welcome context on an artist who died only three years after this album was released. The soundstage is excellent, Roach’s stickwork sounding vast and broad on the opening interpretation of ‘Milestones’, while Little cuts loose on ‘Sweet and Lovely’. The slight limitations of the era are evident, but the all-analogue Kevin Gray cut is full of energy and it’s another silent RTI pressing.
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The second Tone Poet is the first of two Donald Byrd titles, ‘Kofi’. Originally released in 1995, it compiled recordings from 1969 and 1970 featuring an array of musicians across the two sessions. As ever with the reissues of these after-the-fact titles, the artwork has been finessed to feel more fitting for the period. It’s a gorgeous sounding record, even if there’s a very different presentation from the two different studio recordings, side B being far more expansive with some wide panning. Duke Pearson produced the whole lot and is in fine fettle holding down the closing track ‘Elmina’. It all pours from the speakers and it’s Kevin Gray in his element. He has also worked on a Byrd title for the Classic series, 1962’s ‘Royal Flush’. A much more conventional affair, things swing from the off with a shuffling blues entitled ‘Hush’. Butch Warren on bass, Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Billy Higgins at the drums and none other than the immediately identifiable Herbie Hancock at the piano form the band and this is tight, commanding work.
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Finally for this month is the second Classic, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers’ ‘A Night In Tunisia’. This frenetic 1961 set serves as a reminder of what an incredible ensemble they were, with both Lee Morgan and Wayne Shorter present alongside the inimitable drummer. The title track is a bewitching workout at the kit, while ‘So Tired’ has a gloriously compelling shimmer from the off. Blakey’s presence in the soundstage is especially vibrant and three-dimensional but the whole lot is hugely crankable. As ever, Optimal handle the pressings for this series and both Classics are silent discs in poly-lined inners.
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Going Round Again:
British indie-soul troupe New Street Adventure first released ‘No Hard Feelings’ in 2014. It has an intriguing mix of polished soul presentation and affected indie-boy vocals, although when frontman Nick Corbin lets his voice off the leash it is genuinely very stirring. The strings on the title track bring the sunshine, sweeping around serenely while reverb-heavy narrative verses yield to a soaring chorus that swings neatly. Womack, Gaye and Mayfield were on the influences list when the record was initially promoted and there are hints of this at moments, even though these are mostly rock rather than soul drums, along with Corbin’s frequently pugnacious sneer. The soundstage is typically solid, with reasonable separation in the mid-range and a dextrous bottom end. Things don’t explode into the room, but there’s some space in the top end. It’s a near-silent, sensibly priced GZ pressing for this in-demand reissue.
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If catalogue box sets, half-speed remasters and coloured variants of ‘Gold’ haven’t satisfied your ABBA needs, then an updated version of an old compilation, now entitled ‘The Singles – The First Fifty Years’, might be just for you. A luxurious booklet is housed inside a hardback outer sleeve along with 4LPs of Miles Showell-mastered tracks that all, just about, fit the criteria of having been a single somewhere on earth. The sound is actually rather good, a step up from recent versions of that ubiquitous greatest hits and rather more in line with the later titles from the 2x45rpm reissue series. Tracks from the comeback album ‘Voyage’ sound a little more dynamic and the rich mid-range on their most famous songs is neatly balanced with plenty of depth. It’s a gorgeous package and the Optimal pressed discs play near-silently. However, at around £100, it’s quite steep considering you’ve heard it all before.
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For their eighty-fifth anniversary, Topic Records are plucking titles from across their sizeable catalogue and this month was the turn of June Tabor and Oysterband’s splendid 2011 release, ‘Ragged Kingdom’. ‘Son David’ is especially glorious with vocal interplay, chiming mandolin, aching fiddle and an irresistible melody. This is followed by a remarkably powerful cover of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, that lingers long in the memory. It’s a very strong, atmospheric folk record. The mastering is pretty open, with plenty of width and sparkle on the acoustic instruments. Unfortunately, the GZ pressing has some noise at times, including a run of intrusive pops on one track. It’s likely avoidable with a bit of roulette, so be braced for possibly needing to try a few copies.
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Fabulous Welsh label Libertino have reissued Adwaith’s superb pair of albums on new variants for those seeking to plug gaps in their collection or in need of some vibrant colour on their turntable. Adorable debut ‘Melyn’ is now available with a red and yellow Cornetto effect, combining the two previous hues deployed. It uses the same metalwork as the 2018 original, so the sonics remain the same and that means pretty open mastering, a wide soundstage and a very well balanced bottom end. ‘Gartref’, ‘Y Diweddaraf’ and ‘O Dan Y Haenau’ give a fairly representative sample of the different strands of the record and it’s well worth seeking out if they’re new to you. It’s a pretty quiet GZ pressing, considering the fancy wax. 2022 follow up, ‘Bato Mato’ has also been reissued on an orange and clear splatter effect and is similarly aesthetically pleasing while maintaining the audio presentation of the original.
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Vintage Decca compilation ‘The Psychedelic Scene’ from 1998 didn’t receive a vinyl outing until a GZ job in 2019 as part of that year’s RSD. Five years on, it returns on two pink discs and it’s a fresh cut pressed at Pallas. A four-page booklet provides the sleevenotes with a mini-essay and a track-by-track guide to this cross-section of UK psych music. Tintern Abbey’s ‘Vacuum Cleaner’ is a belting opener despite both artist name and track title being quite staggeringly bad. The Attack, Small Faces, The Moody Blues and Timebox are amongst the artists featured and the soundstage is pretty solid. It’s a little heavy on the bottom end, but the sonic signature is pretty consistent across what must be quite the array of sources to wrangle. Playback is largely silent throughout and the centre labels look delightful.
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A number of years on from when it was first mooted, ‘Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision’ arrives in several formats, most notably a 5LP and blu-ray box set. The latter contains 5.1 mixes of all 17 tracks from the posthumously released ‘First Rays of the New Rising Sun’ and three further pieces, while the vinyl presents thirty-nine tracks from the four months of recording for what would have been that album that he managed prior to his death. A twenty-six minute medley of five tracks is curious if not compelling, but there are some interesting nuggets to be found, such as an alternative mix of ‘Come Down Hard On Me’ and a roaring eight-minute live take on ‘Astro Man’. The mastering is solid enough given the variable sources, with some space and width, but the GZ pressed discs were fairly filthy out of the sleeve. A good clean is required, which feels a bit much for a £100+ box. They’re not silent even afterwards, which is a shame given this will only really appeal to the avid collectors.
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The next Suede album to get the thirtieth anniversary half-speed mastered treatment in ‘Dog Man Star’. Their catalogue hasn’t always been the most sympathetically or dynamically presented music and Phil Kinrade from Alchemy at AIR has had a go with the current sources, but things still sound rather like the mid-range is in a bucket. A comparison with the original is instructive, as it also has that curiously bloated aspect to the middle of the mix. However, the 1994 2LP keeps a sparkle to the strings and vocals that feels less pronounced on this new edition, preferring a little more clarity for Bernard Butler’s parts. ‘The Wild Ones’ perfectly demonstrates this contrast, also highlighting a little more sibilance in the vocals. The GZ pressing could be quieter and the alternative artwork may not appeal to everyone.
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To mark the twentieth anniversary of Interpol’s ‘Antics’, Matador have opted to reissue it on red vinyl. It’s still a wonderful record, of course, with singles ‘Evil’, ‘Slow Hands’ and ‘C’Mere’ having lost none of their lustre. The aesthetic of the album is forthright and angular, from the strident percussion to the crisp colours of the artwork. In short, we all know it’s great, but if you’re in the market for a vinyl edition, it all comes down to the sound. Cut by Heino Leja at Optimal, who have pressed the disc, it sounds solid if a little crunchy at top end, something which feels a little more noticeable as the tonearm gets closer to the disc’s centre. It uses the same parts as the 2020 edition, so this is more for those yet to own it rather than anyone hoping for an upgrade.
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Sunday Best Records mark the ten-year anniversary of Rhoda Dakar’s ‘Sings The Bodysnatchers’ with several different variants of a newly configured vinyl edition. There’s fresh, much-improved artwork and three bonus tracks. A tribute to the short-lived ska act for whom she was the lead singer, this collection is bursting with the love of music, Dakar’s voice in full flight throughout, with ‘Easy Life’, ‘Let’s Do Rocksteady’ and ‘Private Eye’ especially superb. The bonus tracks are good fun and the autobiographical sleevenote is a hoot. Jason Goz at Transition has done a fine job of the audio remaster and the cut is reasonably dynamic. Things get a little congested towards the centre and the mostly-quiet 3 tone GZ-pressed vinyl looks neat but had a little noise towards the end of side two.
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The Beggars Arkive project continues to make positive early noises, working with Too Pure to deliver the third album by post-hardcore types Mclusky. Formed in Cardiff in 1996, they had nearly a decade as ever-presents in the Welsh music scene before a hiatus that spanned 2005-2014. It’s twenty years since they released ‘The Difference Between Me And You Is That I’m Not On Fire’ and vinyl copies have been very hard to find. Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering has delivered a rich and deep mastering with forthright vocals and a substantial but textured bottom end. ‘She Will Only Bring You Happiness’, with one of the less obvious singalongs, perfectly demonstrates the vivid soundstage and the heavier moments still have a strong sense of dynamics. A near-silent Optimal pressing is housed in a satisfyingly sturdy gatefold.
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Of all the titles I might have imagined having a vinyl reissue in recent times, Shola Ama’s ‘Much Love’ was not high up the list. It received a 25th(ish) anniversary outing last year, on recycled coloured wax and it has been punted back to the racks as part of this year’s instalment of the Black Story programme, celebrating Black artists from the UK. Now a collaboration between Universal and Warner Records, a further ten titles have emerged this month. Ama’s record is a stylised burst of late-nineties pop-soul that is best remembered for that untouchable single, ‘You Might Need Somebody’. The disc, pressed at Optimal, is pretty close to silent and the mastering is solid rather than spectacular, with things very much in the rectangle around and between the speakers and a hint of sibilance here and there. It offers enjoyable nostalgia, but is perhaps a questionable use of £30.
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Just Played sampled a range of titles from the campaign including a Pallas-pressed clear vinyl edition of Gabrielle’s largely excellent debut, ‘Find Your Way’. Of course, ‘Dreams’ still leaps from the grooves, but ‘Going Nowhere’, ‘I Wish’ and ‘Second Chance’ are amongst other highlights. Naturally, the production dates it somewhat but a shootout with a UK original – yes, what of it? – demonstrated that this new cut might just be a little easier on the ear. The top end is marginally less open, but sibilants are more controlled and the bottom end has more palpable definition. It’s a little less warm, but marginally more impactful. The disc is near-silent but the artwork scans leave a fair bit to be desired. Also released was a special picture disc edition of Soul II Soul’s ‘Club Classics Vol. One’, using the metalwork from the 2013 reissue. It’s a decent sounding master but the image choice is a little underwhelming and, despite Optimal’s best efforts, the noise floor is evident for most of playback thanks to the choice of format.
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Peter Tosh’s ‘Mama Africa’ gets a recycled red vinyl reissue as part of the programme, celebrating his eightieth birthday with a return for this blistering 1983 set. Mastering is superb, with a nuanced bottom end alongside genuinely exhilarating highs and percussive elements. Just listen to the title track and ‘Not Gonna Give It Up’ to get a sense of both the magic of the performances and the vivid nature of the soundstage of this near-silent Optimal pressing. Staying in Germany, Pallas have done the honours for a similarly excellent sounding new cut of Neneh Cherry’s ‘Homebrew’. Released in 1992, it’s her second album and includes ‘Buddy X’, ‘Money Love’ and a striking guest vocal from Michael Stipe on ‘Trout’. Booga Bear and Jonny Dollar worked with Cherry on the sharp production and it’s perhaps unsurprising to learn that Geoff Barrow was involved in ‘Somedays’. The pressing had a little light surface noise at points but the mastering is clean and forthright.
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Finally, from the Black Story titles, this column sampled an album that also has a foot in the British Jazz Explosion camp, ‘Movement’ by The Joe Harriott Quintet. As with the rest of the latter series, the audio has been remastered at Abbey Road and cut from the original master tapes. British jazz expert and key figure in the reissuing of titles from that era Tony Higgins provides some hugely illuminating sleevenotes for the alto-saxophonist’s 1964 classic. Joined by Shake Keane on trumpet and flugelhorn, Pat Smythe at the piano, Coleridge Goode in command of the bass and Bobby Orr on drums, Harriott is in joyous form throughout this exhilarating record. The rowdy introduction of ‘Beams’ eventually yields to a seemingly conventional rhythm, only for that to quickly become deconstructed, highlighting a sense of adventure that sits neatly alongside the far more accessible opener ‘Morning Blue’ and ‘Face In The Crowd’. The mastering is every bit as good as previous Brit jazz reissues from the series and the Pallas pressing is pin-drop silent throughout.
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You may have caught the neatly orchestrated media storm around James Blunt offering to change his name if the twentieth anniversary reissue of his debut album, ‘Back To Bedlam’, ascended to number one where it had spent plenty of time when first released. Stuart Hawkes has remastered the record and delivered the cut via Metropolis for a pretty quiet recycled red vinyl Optimal pressing. It has decent sonics, with plenty of separation on the different textures of ‘Goodbye My Lover’, ‘High’ and, of course, ‘You’re Beautiful’. Perhaps as a consequence of his genial social media presence, it actually sounds like a pretty effective bit of AOR at this distance and with that particular song’s ubiquity having faded.
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At The Front Of The Racks:
Your correspondent has written elsewhere for Clash about the absolute majesty of Laura Marling’s eighth album, ‘Patterns In Repeat’. Its quiet but utterly absorbing genius was always going to need a special pressing. Opener ‘Child Of Mine’ sets a high bar for everything that has to follow, perfectly demonstrating the hushed performances and intimate intensity of these initially home recordings. ‘No One’s Gonna Love You Like I Can’ contains more beauty in two minutes than many artists manage in a career and ‘Caroline’ is a ridiculously effective use of metaphor to tell a story while also channelling Leonard Cohen sublimely. I could go on, but you just need to hear it and, it turns out, this is a fine way to do so.
Matt Colton has mastered the record and cut the vinyl edition which comes housed in a gorgeous gatefold rendering of Marling’s own striking artwork. And this one needed to be done right because there is no hiding place with such sparse recordings. Thankfully, he has delivered, providing a three-dimensional soundstage for these tracks built up from those initial home recordings. The sumptuous string parts soar into the room, Marling’s guitar reverberates like it’s there in front of you and her voice is quite majestically drawn in the space at the heart of each song. I sampled the standard black edition, pressed at Optimal, and it was near silent throughout.
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All titles reviewed above were cleaned before playback using the ultrasonic record cleaning machine, Degritter. A full review of its capabilities can be found in a previous column and you can find local dealers at www.degritter.com
Words: Gareth James (For more vinyl reviews and turntable shots, follow @JustPlayed on Twitter)
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