Needle Time

  Gil Evans - Gil Evans & Ten [APRJ 7120 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It's time for a little Sunday morning calm in between what will be a busy few weeks. Originally released in mono on Prestige Records in 1957 before Rudy Van Gelder's stereo recording finally became available in 1970. Analogue Productions repressed Gil Evans & Ten onto super quiet 200gm vinyl in 2022, using a lacquer cut by Kevin Grey from the original master tapes. A1 Remember A2 Ella Speed A3 Big Stuff B1 Nobody's Heart B2 Just One of Those Things B3 If You Could See Me Now B4 Jambangle

  Nu Genea - Bar Mediterrano [NG05 ITA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Summer is well & truly a distant memory if you live on the top half of the planet, and one of the best selling vinyl albums (according to Discogs and if you could find a copy) was Nu Genea's second album Bar Mediterrano . I understand that it is out-of-print now so here is a rip of my copy. This funky Italian duo (augmented by a full band) deliver refreshing European retro-disco beats layered into Latin, African & Brazilian grooves. Formerly known as Nu Guinea, the duo are best known for their  Nuova Napoli long player a few years back and before that their work with late great Tony Allen. The Nigerian drummer contributed his unique rhythms to the track  Straniero , shortly before he passed away. A1 Bar Mediterraneo A2 Tienaté A3 Gelbi A4 Marechià A5 Straniero B1 Praja Magia B2 Vesuvio B3 Rire B4 La Crisi

  The Doors - L.A. Woman Sessions [R1 670994 DEU RSD2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Imagine the full recording sessions of one of your favourite albums were preserved on tape for over fifty years and then cut complete by the great Bernie Grundman to a four album box set. I can think of quite a few albums that I would really like to hear in this format.These are definitely for the completists out there, however the quality of these studio out-take recordings is phenomenal.  The chatter between the various band members and producer Bruce Botnick is worth the price of admission alone. Botnick was also responsible for the mastering of the reels for this four album set. Things are going to quieten down a bit for the next week or so as I have to deal with other matters, in the meantime, this little lot will keep you lot busy! A1 The Changeling (Part 1) B1 The Changeling (Part 2) B2 Love Her Madly (Part 1) C1 Love Her Madly (Part 2) C2 Riders On The Storm D1 L.A. Woman (Part ...

  New Order - The Perfect Kiss [FAC 123 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] If you feel the need, Warners are going to release the remastered Low-Life era singles. Here is a brand new rip of a super clean original Factory Records 12" which was released and purchased by me on May 13th 1985, the very same day that Low-Life was released, and this was the first New Order single to appear on an album. For me this record defines a moment in an important time in my life, I was just about to finish college, I was strapped for cash and still managed to rustle up enough dough to buy New Order singles and albums on day of release. A few months later, I would start a career in music buying & sales and then not have to worry about cash for vinyl, well at least until the turn of the decade. Likely the most complete New Order single from possibly my favourite New Order album, I first heard the track in January at the band's one-off gig at a sports centre in Islington, London on a freezing co...

  Foetus Art Terrorism - Calamity Crush [WOMB FAT 11.12 UK 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] A1 Calamity Crush B1 Catastrophe Crunch You've Got Foetus On Your Breath - Wash/Slog [WOMB FGH 8.12 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] A1 Wash It All Off B1 Today I Started Slogging Again Foetus Über Frisco - Finely Honed Machine [WOMB UNC 7.12 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] A1 Finely Honed Machine B1 Sick Minutes (Unmutual) I will begin by confirming that these are not re-posts of old links. My recent reloads of old posts has caused me more than a little anguish, more especially given the quality (or lack of) with many of my old rips. I am actually thinking about abandoning the re-posts in favour of re-rips because they sound so much better on my current set-up. I last ripped these three records back in 2010 & 2015. These brand new 176.4kHz rips are dramatic improvements. James George Thirwell has tried to make a living out of upsetting people for many years. He does do it rather wel...

  Son House - Father Of Folk Blues [APB 092 USA 2020 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] There are two initially remarkable things about this album, firstly Edward James 'Son' House Jr. was 63 yrs old when he recorded this, his debut album proper and secondly, all you get is his voice, his guitar, his harmonica and the sound of him banging his booted foot on the bare wooden floor. To hear the other remarkable things, just listen to this record. Chad Kassem from Analogue Productions, a deep southern boy himself, should be applauded for his attention to detail in sourcing the original recording, getting a well renowned mastering engineer to cut from the tape and then press the results onto the quietest of 180gm vinyl at one of the very best pressing plants in the world. A1 Death Letter A2 Pearline A3 Louise McGhee A4 John The Revelator A5 Empire State Express B1 Preachin' Blues B2 Grinning In Your Face B3 Sundown B4 Levee Camp Moan

  Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session [MOVLP1070 NLD 2017 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I was going to re-post my original Cooking Vinyl copy of this album, but like many of my early rips they just don't stand up to the quality I can now achieve. Rather than attempt a deep clean of an album which really needs a deep clean, I've decided that the Peter Moore remaster for Music On Vinyl in Europe and Analogue Productions in the USA needed a rip, and oh boy, this sounds amazing. The Trinity Session was captured live at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto on November 27th 1987 using only a Calrec Ambisonic microphone through a Sony Betamax SL-2000 video cassette deck onto a Sony PCM-F1 to DAT. This therefore means this 176.4kHz rip will give you an additional 130kHz or so of bonus Trinity Church ambiance (apologies to those who don't get my irony).  Likely one of the most atmospheric albums every captured live without a paying audience onto one microphone. I bet everybody ...

  The Moffs - Another Day In The Sun [CIT-012 AUS 1985 24-Bit 96kHz FLAC] Originally as posted to ESWA back in January 2016, however I've take the opportunity to clean up the fades and dispose of a few clicks. If you overlooked this wonderful seven-inch single back in the ESWA days then shame on you. Rousing yet melancholic & somewhat psychedelic, Sydney four piece The Moffs, far from the influences of the British indie scene quietly released this fantastic single which was almost impossible to find at the time and like many, I had to do with a Peelie 'taped off the radio' copy. A pristine original fell into my lap some years later and thankfully I ripped it to 24/96. Enjoy! A1 Another Day In The Sun B1 Clarodomineaux

  U2 - The Joshua Tree [B0026626-01 USA 2017 QRP 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] So what is the best sounding pressing of The Joshua Tree ? Love them or hate them, this album represents the band's creative peak, aided by a superb Eno/Lanois production and the opening three tracks are among the finest on any mainstream rock album. I still have fond memories of the day of release (it was a Monday back then) and my boss at my suburban record chain store bribing the Securicor Parcels delivery man to drop our boxes (there were many) at 7.30am - a good five hours before our local competitors, Our Price Records. In those days, British vinyl releases were not shrink-wrapped and we were selling them quicker than we could get them wrapped. We know that Island Records squeezed the full fifty minutes onto two sides of vinyl and consequently we would never be assured the highest of audio fidelity. I have an original, it's okay but like many out there, time and wear have taken their toll.  There hav...

  Danceclass - Danceclass [AMLH 68547 UK 1982 24-Bit 96kHz FLAC] Originally posted to the ESWA blog in May 2016. Sunderland's Danceclass did everything except dance - Power-pop-rock borrowed from The Jam and Squeeze mixed up with the vocal harmonies of seventies softies Steely Dan and Hall & Oates. They had a strong local following but hardly scraped the lower echelons of chart success with a couple of singles, Setting Myself On Fire and You Talk My Head Off . Given that seventies nostalgia is back in mode, you'll notice similarities to current day harmonic retro-rocksters Field Music, who quite coincidentally also come from Sunderland. A1 Hold On Me A2 Lay By Love A3 Setting Myself On Fire A4 Signals A5 Chinese Whispers B1 You Talk My Head Off B2 Up The Congo B3 Waves B4 Nightfaces B5 Talking Photos

  Melvin Sparks - Spark Plug [CR00416 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Jazz guitar master Melvin Sparks is joined by Idris Muhammad on drums, Grover Washington Jr. on sax, Reggie Roberts on keys and Virgil Jones on trumpet for this break-beat laden funky jazz groove classic, originally released on Prestige Records in 1971. Rudy Van Gelder took care of recording and production duties and the whole shebang was recorded at Van Gelder's own studio in New Jersey. This is the 2022 all analogue repress cut from the original tapes by Kevin Gray for Jazz Dispensary via Craft Recordings and Vinyl Me Please, pressed onto purple vinyl at RTI. A1 Who's Gonna Take The Weight? A2 Spark Plug B1 Conjunction Mars B2 Alone Together B3 Dig Dis

  Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki & Tatsuro Yamashita - Pacific [MHJL 151 JPN 2020 24-Bit 88.2kHz  FLAC] Another re-post of a rip originally featured here on Needle Time in December 2020 which appears to be still in demand. Originally released on CBS/Sony Japan in 1978, here is the unusually groovy  Pacific Island nostalgia trip by Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki & Tatsuro Yamashita, augmented amongst others by a pre-YMO Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi. This is the 2020 repress on clear sea blue vinyl from Sony Japan's Great Track subsidiary, complete with replica poster, inners and obi. The Japanese label employed the services of the legendary Bernie Grundman to perform the analogue mastering from the original master tapes for this project, so expect no compressed nonsense. There is hardly any noticeable noise from the coloured vinyl ....all you hear are the sounds of the waves crashing around you. Pacific is a blend of lounge, funk, disco, rhumba, smooth ...

  Machine - Machine [WWSLP68 FRA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] French boutique label WeWantSounds Records have pulled another lost gem out of obscurity with this recent reissue of long-lost funky-soul gem from Michael Watson's Machine.  Originally released on Sylvia Robinson's All Platinum label in 1972 and incredibly rare, it is not clear how the French label sourced this album but as one of the more credible reissue labels, we can assume that the fifty year rule may have contributed to their ability to access the previously unreleased Japanese transfers (WWS have plenty of Japanese contacts) from earlier this century. This soulful & occasionally psychedelic double sided slab of early hard funk was a treat to rip. You will pay several thousands for an original so kudos to our Gallic chums for getting this one out. A1 Time Is Running Out A2 Only People Can Save The World A3 Why Can't People (Be Colors Too?) A4 Headhunter B1 World B2 Trails B3 Lock Your Door ...

  Alan Rankine - She Loves Me Not [V2450 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] This is not a re-post, in fact I doubt that I have ever ripped this album before. After an initial solo career on Brussels label, Les Disques Du Crépuscule and side work as producer and instrumentalist for Paul Haig & Anna Domino among others, the other Associate got a deal with Virgin Records. A few tracks were re-worked from Rankine's debut album for this unashamedly pop record with his single The Sandman becoming a minor hit. It wasn't enough to drive sales of the album and before long Rankine was back on the Belgian label recording soundtrack work. A1 Beat Fit A2 Days And Days A3 Loaded A4 Last Bullet A5 Your Very Last Day B1 The Sandman B2 Lose Control B3 Break For Me B4 The World Begins To Look Her Age

  Flowered Up - Weekender [HVN 16 UK 1992 24-Bit 96kHz FLAC] Originally as posted to ESWA in June in 2015, I've just removed a few clicks and fixed the fade. Well it is the weekend and this thirteen minute single-sided baggy anthem from London's Flowered Up is likely their best known track. This is the unadulterated non-Weatherall version. I didn't usually rip to 96kHz back in 2015, however I am glad that I did because this sounds bloody fantastic. A1  Weekender

  Wire - 154 [SHSP 4105 UK 1979 24-Bit 88.2kHz FLAC] A re-post, originally seen on Needle Time in September 2021. After four attempts at a rip to break in the new cart, here is a new rip (my last one only ever featured on ESWA 2.0) of 154 - this is a quietly pressed album (an 1979 original without the bonus seven inch) hiding an unusual dynamic response (for the period) of DR10. Crank things up a bit and with a more responsive cartridge, this record bursts into life. 1979 was a very important year in music and 154 is a very important album. 154 is a very different Wire album, the opening I Should Have Known Better introduces us to Graham Lewis's dulcet tones and an air of compelling experimentation. The punky Two People In A Room is closely followed by one of my favourite Wire tracks, The 15th with superb Newman vocal harmonies and synths from Mike Horne. The Other Window is classic Gilbert & Lewis nonsense (in a good way), Colin Newman leads again on the post-punk gem A ...

  Cowboys International -  The Original Sin [V2136 UK 1979 24-Bit 48kHz FLAC] We sadly lost Keith Levine this week, so this crackly old post-punk classic kicks things off. Originally posted to ESWA in September 2016, presented here as the original rip. Ripped from a vinyl album released on Virgin Records (V 2136) in 1979 to high resolution 24-bit flac audio. Post-punk history has forgotten Cowboys International to its cost. If ever there was a band who should be applauded for steering the direction of post-punk into the more mass audience friendly new wave sound, it is these highly influential Scotsmen who after just one album steered a whole generation of genres.  Originally known as The Quick Spurts (great punk name), Ken Lockie and Keith Levene formed Cowboys International. Levene moved on to other more successful projects but did lend his unique guitar sound to the closing Wish . Lockie worked with an ever changing line-up of talent in the two short years the Cowboys...

  I am about to break a Needle Time rule between now and Christmas with a whole swath of re-posts from Needle Time and the old ESWA blog. Many of you have donated and requested a new link for a historic blog post and until now, I have just ignored you! Among these are a number of my favourite old posts which have been long lost, as back in the day I only shared them for two weeks. Needle Time rips usually last for one year and it would appear that I have many newer followers who may not be familiar with my old rips. These will be dispersed among regular new rips and these re-posted rips will only last for two weeks with pre-set expiration dates, so you will need to keep a close eye on these pages. These were all ripped on one of my old set-ups and may not be the usual high quality you normally expect and it is likely that I will never re-rip any of those featured. So let's get on with it! If there is anything you desperately need from my archives ....then you know what to do! The d...

  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu [R1 7200 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I guess that most die-hard CSNY fans would have picked up 2021's fiftieth anniversary LP+CD boxed set of  Déjà Vu . The rest of us will be pleased to know that Warner's have reissued Chris Bellman's vinyl remaster as a single album in a high quality textured gatefold jacket. Even though Optimal in Germany dealt with the pressing, this version has not yet been released over on this side of the pond. Thankfully this copy came my way as part of a consignment of recent quality US releases. I also own a well worn 1970 UK pressing found a few years back in a charity shop and this new version is a much a richer listening experience with a more pronounced bottom end. The run-out etchings suggest it is cut from the same metal work as the 2021 remaster, however I don't know what source was used as Bellman uses both digital and analogue sources when cutting at Bernie Grundman's studio. A1 C...

  Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation [19439956921 EU 2022 3x45RPM 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] No strangers to these pages, although still largely ignored by a wider audience, Steven Wilson reassembled Porcupine Tree this year for a major venue worldwide tour but chose to leave original bassist Colin Edwin out of the loop. Wilson instead chose to provide the bass parts on this album, and consequently proved himself to be a master of the four strings ...look no further than the intro to the opening Harridan for evidence.  This album proves Gavin Harrison's standing as possibly the greatest rock drummer of his generation and it is clear Wilson had missed working with him. Add in Richard Barbieri's distinctively sonic synthesized soundscapes and there is no doubt that this is a Porcupine Tree album which picks up from where the band left off with 2009's complicated The Incident . In my humble opinion, this line-up has struggled to develop and improve after the classic trio of In ...

  Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love [KAB 1 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Before we get into the real nitty-gritty, here is a new 176.4kHz rip of KaBush's best selling album which had a bit of a millennial resurgence this year. My memories of KaBush go right back as a lad in the seventies, when I was baffled by my father's interest in her when he would sit transfixed to the songstress on Top Of The Pops. He was never much of a music lover, more an academic who regularly humoured mum's love of Cliff Richard - it was much later when I realised his true interest. This record is not that bad, honestly, as KaBush gets all all conceptual and complicated in her own unique way for her self-produced fifth album. The a-side fits in a bunch of hit singles, however is most notable to me for Killing Joke's Youth's industrious bass on The Big Sky . The b-side is really one conceptual piece, The Ninth Wave , with the clever Watching You Without Me and the choral Hello Earth  both quickl...

  ShadowParty - ShadowParty [STUMM 423 UK 2018 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Another new rip. I was never happy with my original and the set-up used at the time didn't help the more modern production sound of this album. This now sounds very much better. Some of you will know of ShadowParty, however many others may not. For the uninitiated they include Boston (MA not Lincolnshire) multi-instrumentalist Josh Hager who has the vocal style of Brandon Flowers, current guest New Order bassist Tom Chapman, New Order guest guitarist Phil Cunningham and the late Denise Johnson from ACR. This is their debut album was released on Mute in limited vinyl quantities, a highly compressed compact disc or as one of those nasty download/streaming thingies. It is quite good, I like it, there are some good tunes much in the modern day New Order style, very little filler and the vocal duo of Hager & Johnson works well. I am sure I can hear Waiting For The Sirens Call in Marigold , Celebrate was the Worl...

  Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak [VMP-E3116 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I guess you could refer to me as rock-curious, I tend to cut off with British metal, but the Lizzies were Irish and more classic rock than metal. A VMP club membership account threw this old seventies classic my way earlier this year, on orange'ish vinyl (bloody GZ again), however in a splendidly packaged die-cut chrome gatefold sleeve, complete with all the usual Vinyl Me Please trimmings. Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent (makes a change from jazz) but not likely from the original analogue tape (VMP tend to advertise the fact) therefore possibly a digital transfer, not that these ears can tell ....and it does sound bloody amazing. You may be rock-curious too, then this is for you. A1 Jailbreak A2 Angel From The Coast A3 Running Back A4 Romeo And The Lonely Girl A5 Warriors B1 The Boys Are Back In Town B2 Fight Or Fall B3 Cowboy Song B4 Emerald

  Siglo XX ‎– Answer [OS 40 BEL 2018 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] If there was never a Joy Division, then there would never have been a Siglo XX. I don't know if the Flemish town of Genk resembles Macclesfield or Salford, perhaps the towns have much in common ....maybe it is something in the water. Mind you, I did hear that you should never drink Belgian tap water, just the beer.  From one of the very best Belgian coldwave bands comes this six-track 45rpm EP, originally released on Antler Records in 1983, carefully reconstructed by Onderstroom Records. For those who like their rock; dark, rich & moody, and perhaps also their beer. A1   Answer. A2   After The Dream A3   Room B1   Until A Day B2   Endless Corridor B3   Dreams Of Pleasure

  Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Peel Sessions [SFPS 012 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I thought the first Peel Session by the very first recording line-up from Siouxsie & the boys needed a decent re-rip, so after a spin in the HumminGuru, here she is. Recorded at BBC Maida Vale 4 in November 1977 and first broadcast on December 5th the same year, Siouxsie and Steve are joined by Kenny Morris on drums and John McKay on guitar. Courtesy of blog follower penguinflight's significant archive, this four track EP was eventually released ten years later as part of the invaluable Strange Fruit series. A1   Love In A Void A2   Mirage B1   Metal Postcard B2   Suburban Relapse

  Joe Jackson - Look Sharp! [IR-005 USA 2016 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Likely the most famous white winkle-pickers ever to adorn an album cover, Joe Jackson's debut long player, Look Sharp! was first released in 1978 on A&M Records.  This was to have fitted in neatly after last week's Elvis Costello debut, however I am getting pulled from pillar to post with real life matters right now. There was also the decision on how much post-processing was required to produce an enjoyable rip ...but more about that later. Jackson and his band were dispatched to Eden Studios in London to record Look Sharp! Punk was over by 1978 and Jackson hit the studio just as the new wave of British music was developing early shoots, hence the obvious Elvis Costello comparisons. This is an album conceived in London and delivered by A&M for a North American audience, where Jackson became more successful than Costello.  Most tracks were recorded in one take with little or no overdubs, giving th...

  Miles Davis - Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud [SR13/1 FRA 2021 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally recorded at Le Poste Parisien Studio in Paris on December 4th & 5th 1957 and released on Fontana Records, in Europe only during 1958 as the soundtrack to the Louis Malle French-noir movie,  Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud . Nearly all subsequent represses of this ten inch album were from fake stereo digital transfers, however Paris label Sam Records succeeded in sourcing the original mono master tapes and released this pure all analogue repress (or facsimile as they like to call it) in two limited runs of 1000 pressings. This rip should have appeared yesterday, but as I am quite busy will real world work, I hope the jazz fans among Needle Time followers won't mind some Monday jazz. A1 Générique A2 L'Assassinat De Carala A3 Sur L'Autoroute A4 Julien Dans L'Ascenseur A5 Florence Sur Les Champs-Élysées B1 Dîner Au Motel B2 Évasion De Julien B3 Visite Du Vigile...

  Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media - In The Groove [HMJY-158 JPN 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Having sat in the Columbia Japan archives since it's original release in 1973, In The Groove by Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media is a much sought after platter of high quality funky Japanese jazz. Finally repressed from the original master tape earlier this year as part of HMV Japan's Project Re-Vinyl series, this album has finally re-emerged to great applaud worldwide. Original pressings are almost impossible to find, so you'll still have to part with a considerable wad for this new press. Thankfully Juno Records in the UK were selling a few for about the same price as a Tone Poet.  I have often praised the exceptional musicianship of Japanese musicians from this period and this record is easily one of the very best. The quality of production, mastering, packaging and pressing make In The Groove make this a must-have for all collectors of the genre. To say that this was a joy t...

  Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True [JC 35037 USA 1978 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on UK label Stiff Records (SEEZ 3) in July 1977, Elvis Costello's debut album, My Aim Is True was released across the Atlantic following a deal with Columbia Records. A recent acquisition is this 1978 second pressing from Columbia's own plant in Pitman, New Jersey. To these ears, this pressing has a much fuller sound compared to UK pressing. It's worth recalling that none of the original singles from this album were initially UK hits, and as the album to launch Costello in the US, his fourth single & breakthrough hit,  Watching the Detectives was added to the US release. All the singles from this album are now revered as classics by a true British institution. The singles aside, some of the other album tracks are highly worthy of attention, the wall of sound soul of No Dancing , the garage punk of  Welcome To The Working Week and  Waiting For The End Of The World , th...

  Cosmic Analog Ensemble - Expo Botanica [HST102 FRA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The back pages of Needle Time are scattered with occasional modern obscurities which snatch influences from the more kitsch moments in musical history. From the Bandcamp generation comes Lebanese musician Charif Megarbane, who dares to be different by recording with analogue instruments, compared to many of his peers who chose to compose and record on their laptops. Mergabane plays all the guitars, bass, percussion, Moog & Mellotron, drums, organs, synths & a sitar on this delightfully groovy album reflecting on French & Italian movie scores, with random funky breaks, but all with a touch of Lebanese spice. Enjoy. A1 Executive Summary A2 La Grande Bellezza A3 Le Cinéma Intérieur A4 Vol de Jour A5 Ohms and Watts A6 Version des Faits A7 À Bras le Cœur A8 Le Droit à L'Oubli A9 La Corde Sensible B1 Holy Mackerel! B2 Parachute Jellyfish B3 The Age of the Interroba...