Needle Time

  John Coltrane - Coltrane [APRJ 7105 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] After his early years as a Navy musician, and then Dizzy Gillespie's Orchestra & Johnny Hodges Orchestra, John Coltrane's work as part of The Mile Davies Quintet provided him with the opportunity to record his first album proper for Prestige Records. Originally released on Prestige in 1957, Coltrane was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder with Paul Chambers on bass, Al Heath on drums & Red Garland on piano, Sahib Shihab added baritone sax and the line-up was completed with Johnny Splawn on trumpet. Four out of the six tracks on this album are covers, but it is really the two Coltrane penned tracks  Straight Street and Chronic Blues which stand out.  Just a few months later, Coltrane would be recording his classic album, Blue Train for Blue Note Records. This pressing is the 2022 repressing on 200gm vinyl, cut by Kevin Gray from the original mono tapes and pressed for Analogue Productions...

  Eddie Suzuki's Hew Hawaii - High Tide [AGS-053-ORG USA 2021 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released privately on the ESP Hawaii label in 1974. Psychedelic Hawaiian lounge music anybody? I will just leave this here....... A1 High Tide A2 Maunalani Hale A3 Legend Of Lehua A4 Magic Mile Of Waikiki A5 Pikake Lei A6 Sea Shells B1 Maile Lei B2 Pali B3 Beauty Near Hanalei B4 Fly To Waikiki B5 Kona B6 City Of Refuge Enjoy!

  Electronic - Electronic [FACT 290 UK 1991 24-Bit 176.4 kHz FLAC] Many of you have been asking for a new rip of the debut album by Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr's Electronic project (with a little bit of help from The Pet Shop Boys), so here you are ...in full glorious 176.4kHz quality. Quite possibly the pinnacle of British synth pop, once of course you get over Bernard's rapping on Idiot Country ? Could this (or should this) have really been a New Order album? It does seem to fit quite well between Technique and Republic .  Anyway, enough of the questions, I'll just let you all get on with remembering how you felt when you heard the Electronic album for the very first time. A1   Idiot Country A2   Reality A3   Tighten Up A4   The Patience Of A Saint A5   Gangster B1   Soviet B2   Get The Message B3   Try All You Want B4   Some Distant Memory B5   Feel Every Beat

  Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret [6359 087 DEU 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It took a couple of singles for Soft Cell to breakthrough from the darker alleys of synthpop, and it is very likely that if it wasn't for their cover of Tainted Love , Marc Almond and David Ball would have remained a underground act. That massive worldwide hit single, thrust this album into platinum sales territory, providing a significant return on the relatively small recording costs. This record wears its sexuality on its sleeve, and in Almond's highly suggestive lyrics - which back in those prudish early eighties would still be beyond the comprehension of the majority of the record buying public. I ripped this from an original German pressing of Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret released in 1981 on Some Bizzare Records via their deal with Vertigo Records, kindly funded by a generous blog follower. A1 Frustration A2 Tainted Love A3 Seedy Films A4 Youth A5 Sex Dwarf B1 Entertain Me B2 Chips O...

  Miles Davis - Miles In The Sky [MFSL 2-437 USA 2X45 2015 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I share the common belief that the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab cuts from the Miles Davis Columbia Records catelogue are by far the best sounding, I only have a few comparisons and exclude Kind Of Blue as that is a different mix - I will cover those at some point in the future. The fact that we now know know there is a DSD256 step in the chain appears to be of no relevance to the perception of these albums by the serious listener. I own a few of these records and Miles In The Sky is the latest ripped for Needle Time. Miles In The Sky was recorded over two sessions in January and May 1968, then first released on Columbia Records in July 1968. The album was his fifth & final album recorded with his second quintet of Davis on trumpet, Ron Carter on bass, Tony Williams on drums, Herbie Hancock on keyboards and Wayne Shorter on saxophone. Teo Macero took care of production duties and George Benson added...

  Donald Byrd - Street Lady [MOVLP3396 NLD 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Blue Note Records in 1973. Dutch reissue label Music On Vinyl have completed an amazing job on this brand new reissue of Donald Byrd's funky-soul-jazz album Street Lady . Whilst the label don't make a habit of revealing their lineage & mastering information on releases, this pressing does show the benefits of having your own pressing plant and managing quality control throughout.... this record sounds fantastic and it is pressed really rather well. The vinyl is so quiet, I would put it up there with QRP pressings. This album is really well recorded, it is super funky and if like me, you have a have a love for organic grooves laden with flute, trumpets, arp synths and Fender Rhodes, it will make your Saturday. Enjoy. A1 Lansana's Priestess A2 Miss Kane A3 Sister Love B1 Street Lady B2 Witch Hunt B3 Woman Of The World

  Simple Minds - Sons And Fascination [203 959 DEU 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I know I said that this rip would feature next week, but I now have to go on a work trip instead, so I managed to squeeze in the time last night and then again this morning for Sons And Fascination . What could have/possibly should have been a double, the band's proper debut for Virgin Records was produced by prog-rock-god Steve Hillage. Virgin records balked at the thought of a double, instead choosing to release an initial two album double pack in September 1981, then split them as separate releases in October 1981. Hillage's production style was very different to John Leckie's, pushing the drums, percussion and Kerr's voice further forward in the mix. This certainly marked a further move on from the new-wave/post-punk sound of the first three records, and further defined the musical direction of Simple Minds.  Both Sons And Fascination & Sister Feelings Call contain some of the bands...

  Mighty Ballistics Hi-Power - Matchless Triple A EP [CRI 12-135 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It is time to give that sub-woofer a good work out with this brand new rip of the only single by dub punks, Mighty Ballistics Hi-Power. MBHP do reflect on the Edwin Astley and John Barry TV show themes in this agit-dub-punk anti-Thatcher three track EP, and this new rip is a significant improvement on my previous attempt. Eyebrows at the ready - this is superb stuff - play loud! A1    Ghost Train B1    Springheel Jack B2    Black Gold

  Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang [VS 400-12 UK 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] ....but we do need a brand new 176.4kHz rip. Banned by the BBC for its political slant behind the guise of libelous untruths, the British Electric Foundation became Heaven 17, and the rest was history. I wonder what they would have done with the recent orange US president. A1 Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang B1 British Electric Foundation - Decline Of The West

  Simple Minds - Empires And Dance [V 2247 UK 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Simple Minds returned to Rockfield Studios with John Leckie in May 1980 to record what was to be their final album for Arista Records. The label failed to keep track of demand, consequently insufficient numbers of Empire And Dance were originally pressed when the album was first released on September 12th 1980. The initial run was just 15,000 & copies were rushed out to coincide with the bands support slot on Peter Gabriel's tour that autumn.  In 1982, Virgin Records acquired the rights to the Arista Simple Minds catelogue for just £35,000 and it is from a Virgin 1982 A1/B1 pressing that this rip has been prepared. Empires And Dance spawned two great singles, I Travel and Celebrate , neither of which would dent the Top 30, however the album's bleak euro-beats and continental politico reference points won great favour from critics and fans alike. Much more electronic than the first two albums, it ...

  Simple Minds - Real To Real Cacophony [201 150 DEU 1979/1980 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Before we begin, I need to ensure that I emphasise my belief that Real To Real Cacophony should be revered as one the great post-punk albums, possibly right up there with Unknown Pleasures , Metal Box , 154 and  The Correct Use Of Soap. In a world filled with genre bias, it would be easy to pigeonhole the second Simple Minds long player differently, but that would be foolish. After all, just look at that sleeve. Real to Real Cacophony was recorded and mixed in five weeks at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire during the autumn of 1979, produced by John Leckie renting the Rolling Stones mobile recording studio. The band entered the studio with just four songs, and left with one of the most important albums of the era. The problem was that Arista Records possessed a highly inefficient  marketing department, and the label had no clue how to promote the band. Sales were extremely disappoin...

  Simple Minds - Life In A Day [204 940 DEU 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I would guess anybody who has heard the digital-format reissues of the early Simple Minds albums agrees that they don't sound great. During those post Johnny & The Self Abusers years, they signed to Arista Records via Bruce Findlay's important Zoom Records labels however Arista never championed the band and after disappointing sales, Simple Minds were dropped by mutual consent. A subsequent deal with Virgin Records proved to be considerably more fruitful. Life In A Day was first released on Zoom Records in 1979, and then repressed as part of the Virgin deal a few years later. A generous blog follower recently contacted me to prod my interest in ripping those early pre-Lillywhite records. After agreeing on a donation to acquire what I perceived (or is that guessed) would be the best pressings, I am pleased to present what will be the first fruits from this project. This 1982 German repress was from the ...

 Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles [BST 84175 DEU 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Featuring one of his most well known compositions,  Cantaloupe Island , Herbie Hancock's fourth studio album  Empyrean Isles was recently reissued as part of the Blue Note Classic Series. I have picked up many of this series over the last few years and this is the best sounding of the lot so far.  Originally recorded and released in 1964, this album was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder at his home  studio (in reality his parent's front room) in Hackensack, New Jersey. Kevin Gray cut the masters for this release direct from Van Gelder's master tapes.  Needle Time posts are going to be a little sporadic over the Easter break, I may find some extra time for a few more Digitalia posts this week and more normal service will resume in just over a week. A1 One Finger Snap A2 Oliloqui Valley B1 Cantaloupe Island B2 The Egg

  Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight [SH-542 USA 2019 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Often credited with bringing rap music up from the streets of New York to the masses (via late seventies discos), Rapper's Delight possibly does not get the credit it deserves these days as hip-hop has developed greatly beyond this lengthy fourteen plus minutes (not quite the fifteen indicated) of disco rap.  My copy is the original US red label pressing without the subsequent Chic credits. You will notice quickly that the kick drum on this version sounds much thinner (it literally pops) than on subsequent remixes (there were many), but that bass line (recorded in full in one take) is as thick as it ever has been.  A1 Rapper's Delight (Long Version) B1 Rapper's Delight (Short Version)

  Time Zone - The Wildstyle [CEL 165 USA 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] This single was one of my first attempts at a rip back in May 2010 and it has taken me all this time to revisit the iconic electro single The Wildstyle by Afrika Bambaataa's Time Zone. I now need to locate my copy of the accompanying Celluloid Record's release  Doriella Du Fontaine for new rip - I was never really a b-boy, I just appreciated the better elements of rap and early hip-hop. For me it will always be about the b-side - the not-so 'instrumental' version is far superior to the somewhat  cheesy raps on the a-side. A1 The Wildstyle (Rap) B1 The Wildstyle (Instrumental Mix)

  A Certain Ratio - 1982 [STUMM480 UK 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] ACR's deal with Mute Records continues to be fruitful, as after a few lengthy hiatuses, we now get the second studio album in three years. Unhindered by lock down, but slowed down by Jez Kerr's health, here is the retrospectively titled 1982 . This is not a retro record, despite what the sleeve may suggest, this is very much an album for today, with just a couple of old references thrown in. The introduction of singer Ellen Beth Abdi and highly talented keyboard player Matt Steele has certainly breathed new life into these sixty-plus post-punk funksters. What is also noticeable is that this record is much more dynamic sounding than their other Mute releases, so you need to crank it up. Well done to the band and Air Mastering for restraint in getting the numbers to DR13. I would however propose that you avoid the compact disc. Let's get the 1982 references out of the way first, the title track 1982 is Knife ...

  Easterhouse - Waiting For The Redbird [ROUGH 124 UK 1989 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Musicians don't write many protest songs these days, and it seems politics has been eradicated from popular music. I'm not too sure why, but during my youth it was prevalent. Somewhere there is the unpublished history of protest rock from Dylan to Chumbawumba via the seventies & eighties cocktail of Dead Kennedys, The Clash & Red Wedge - Bragg, Weller and The Redskins etc. Maybe Chumbawamba hitting the top ten in 1997 was to signal the death of the political rock, maybe people lost interest, maybe we grew older and less angry. These days kids are too busy with TikTok and music is deletable - perhaps we were more literate back then?  Bono hasn't waved his white flag in anger since 1983 and Weller has chilled somewhat with age. Manchester's Easterhouse (named after the infamous Glasgow housing estate) were a political rock band and one of four Manchester bands following in the vapour...

  Heaven 17 - The Luxury Gap [V 2253 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The Sheffield trio took their soulful-electropop to the masses in 1983, initially through Channel 4's The Tube TV show relaunching Tina Turner's career, but better known for the huge Temptation single with Carol Kenyon. The Luxury Gap was the vehicle for their new found success, breeding a plethora of hit pop singles in the UK & Europe, still with political sentiments, but polished enough to appeal to the wider masses. This album has been bastardised over the years by poor quality, almost unlistenable CD remasters, however this is an original vinyl, sounding exactly as nature intended back in 1983.  You shouldn't need any other version. Enjoy. A1 Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry A2 Who'll Stop The Rain A3 Let Me Go A4 Key To The World B1 Temptation B2 Come Live With Me B3 Lady Ice And Mr Hex B4 We Live So Fast B5 The Best Kept Secret

 David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Forbidden Colours [VS601-12 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Sadly we lost Ryuichi last weekend, so in  tribute, here is one his most famous compositions and its instantly recognisable gorgeous & simple melody. A1 Forbidden Colours (Vocal Version) B1 The Seed And The Sower B2 Last Regrets

  The Sisters Of Mercy - Temple Of Love [MRX 027 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Just a brief follow-up on last week's MoFi Floodland . I may have mentioned before that I was never a Goth, but I did spend too many nights in cramped, hot, dirty and dubious nightclubs in Manchester basements between 1982 and 1984. I did appreciate that some of the so-called goth bands were turning out some damn good music and this particular single was one of the biggest dance floor bangers for all those fish-netted, back-combed, leather trousered doom merchants. This is my original UK twelve in it's full-length glory which has cleaned up remarkably well to produce one hell of a rip.  I also have learned to appreciate TSOM's cover of Gimme Shelter more and more over the years. The levels have been kept considerate so that you can blast this out as loud as you like. A1 Temple Of Love (Extended Version) B1 Heartland B2 Gimme Shelter

  Joy Division - Closer [FACT.25R UK/EU 2015 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Pressed from Barry Grint's (Alchemy Mastering) 2007 digital remaster, here is the most recent version of Closer that I possess. I am not too sure why I purchased this when it was released, possibly I thought I needed to hear what a 192kHz digital file sounded like on vinyl. Optimal Media in Germany were responsible for the pressing. This remaster does sound quite different that the original, it is a little more dynamic and louder than my original pressing. There was also a US pressing using the same files, however that was pressed at the now defunct Rainbo Records who pressed infamously noisy vinyl. A little further research shows that there was also a Kevin Gray & Steve Hoffman cut pressed at RTI. Hoffman states this version was rejected by Warners for release (test pressings are out there), he doesn't mention why but you do wonder how that sounds! A1 Atrocity Exhibition A2 Isolation A3 Passover A4 ...

  Carmell Jones - The Remarkable Carmell Jones [B0034579-01 / ST-29 USA 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHZ FLAC] One of the very latest releases from Blue Note's high-end Tone Poet Series is this all analogue repress of the debut album of slick hard bop by twenty-six year old trumpet player, Carmell Jones. Well, he was only twenty-six when he recorded this album in Los Angeles during 1961 for Pacific Jazz Records. Jones is joined by Harold Land on tenor saxophone, Frank Strazzeri on piano, Gary Peacock on bass and Leon Pettis on drums. This brand new cut was by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed at RTI.  A1 I'm Gonna Go Fishing A2 Come Rain Or Come Shine A3 Night Tide B1 Sad March B2 Stellisa B3 Full Moon And Empty Arms

  Waltel Branco - Meu Balanço [MRBLP266 UK 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on CBS Records Brazil in 1975. Recently repressed courtesy of the wonderful Mr Bongo Records is this wonderful album of Brazilian jazz-funk, big-band orchestrations and serious boogie from the legendary Waltel Branco. Original copies of this record exchange hands for princely sums these days, so thankfully the British reissue label have done a credible job with this fully licensed reissue. This album has been a hot favourite on my turntable recently, whilst the production & mastering standards of the original recordings may not be up to modern day standards, just wait until that bass kicks in.  Enjoy. A1 Luar Do Sertão A2 Sonho No Céu A3 Meu Balanço A4 Lady Samba A5 Apenas Um Coração Solitário A6 Jael B1 Walking B2 Satiricon B3 Carmen B4 Meiguice B5 Petite Fils B6 Zoraia