Needle Time

  The Jam - The Gift [POLD 5055 UK 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] For those of you watching in black & white, this one is in technicolour.... I last ripped The Jam's swansong, The Gift for the ESWA 2.0 forum back in around 2017. This is a brand new rip from my surfacant cleaned original UK pressing, candy stripe paper bag included, of course. Paul Weller had begun to move away from the band's new wave mod-sound after Sound Affects , flirting with soul, funk, disco and northern soul. The Gift was the result, recorded at Air Studios with Peter Wilson in late 1981/early 1982, and although met with mixed reviews (the NME as fickle as ever), it was the trio's best selling long-player, spending twenty-five weeks in the British album charts. Aside from the obvious double A-side hit single, The Gift gave us two of Weller's finest songs, Carnation and Ghosts. The technicolour mix of styles throughout the album is entertaining, from energetic power-pop to Stax-soul & disc...

  Love And Rockets - Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven [8507-1-R USA 1988 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] As a teenage Bauhaus fan, and appreciator of all things Tones on Tail, I was naturally drawn to Love And Rockets ....well briefly for a few years. The project was effectively an attempt to rekindle Bauhaus by three key protagonists who failed to convince Peter Murphy that a band reunion was a good idea. Tones On Tail had run its course and David J's solo career was a little too obtuse for the mainstream, Love And Rockets was therefore launched in 1985 with a fuzz-guitar cover of Ball Of Confusion . Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven was the accompanying album, released everywhere except the USA in 1985. It wasn't until US college radio picked up on the band, did this album get a vinyl issue in the US, however with a slightly different order and some tracks were remixed. The running order confuses me a little, why on earth did they choose the dub mix b-side of the  If There's A Heave...

  Bobby Hutcherson - San Francisco [BST 84362 DEU 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Blue Note Records in 1971, San Francisco was one of seven albums Bobby Hutcherson recorded with tenor saxophonist Harold Land. This brand new reissue is part of the Blue Note Classic Series, mastered from the original tapes by Kevin Gray. Hutcherson & Land became key players in the west coast jazz scene, backed by a revolving door of pianists including Chick Corea and Joe Sample (who tinkles the ivories on this record). Hutcherson's skill on the vibes & marimba pushed along by a funky Fender bass, and Land's sax hooks to define a cool & fresh fusion of styles between funk, post-bop, exploratory jazz, rhumba and blaxploitation movie soundtracks.  This album has to be the coolest thing you will listen to today. A1 Goin' Down South A2 Prints Tie A3 Jazz B1 Ummh B2 Procession B3 A Night In Barcelona

  Joe Jackson - Body And Soul [IR-030 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Body And Soul was Joe Jackson's seventh studio album when released on A&M Records back in 1984 - it is the third and final of my rips of the Intervention Record represses. Mastered expertly onto a double 45rpm edition by Kevin Gray from the 'original digital files', this version does sound really rather good and should make a fine antidote for anybody feeling damaged by my previous post. Best known for the albums big-band soul hit  You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want) , this release also features minor hits Happy Ending and the delightfully ironic  Be My Number Two .  At the time, Jackson professed this was his album for the new era of compact disc, however Gray has worked his magic mastering these digital recordings onto an analogue media and the choice of 45rpm cuts makes this a highly pleasing sonic experience. Enjoy. A1 The Verdict A2 Cha Cha Loco B1 Not Here, No...

  Dan Reed Network - Dan Reed Network [MERH 123 UK 1988 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] A little bit of a guilty pleasure on a Saturday morning. Does listening to hair-rock make you feel dirty? Do you feel that you are betraying your own musical upbringing by actually enjoying something which totally goes against your personal musical principles? If so please read on.... Portland Oregon's Dan Reed Network were in reality let down by the hair-rock 'phenomena' in the mid-late eighties, when their label Mercury Records decided to pour all their extensive resources into Def Leppard's Hysteria album which suffered from poor initial sales and needed a sugar-coated restart. Consequently, the promotional budget was diverted to the Sheffield band and away from Reed's full screen funk-rock.  Bon Jovi's producer Bruce Fairbairn was employed to add the polish on what is a very well constructed record, which at times could be easily mistaken for a Prince album. If you don't know ...

  Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead (The Bela Session) [LR 150 USA 2018 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Another record which needed a new rip, with its horrible cheap, thick vinyl noise floor this new cut of the classic Bauhaus debut needed a little more care & attention than I first gave it back in April 2019. Given the poor state of many an original Small Wonder release, this is still going to be the best sounding version cut to vinyl.  The label, Leaving Records have done everything possible to make you believe this has been cut from the session original master tape (they even include a picture of the tape on the inner), however I am not convinced, and strongly believe they used a digital step in the mastering chain. If you just listen to Some Faces you could be forgiven for thinking that Bauhaus were just a seventies power-pop quartet. Bite My Hip is the earliest incarnation of Lagartija Nick , adding value to this EP of out-takes from the original Small Wonder sessions, Boys and...

  New Order - 1981-1982 [FACTUS 8 USA 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Last ripped back in March 2021, I always thought this could be improved, so here in full glorious resolution is my original pressing of the FACTUS 8 compilation, mastered and pressed at Record Technology Incorporated. This is likely my best sounding rip of Temptation , whereas Hurt always sounds overloaded towards the end, but I can blame the band for that. Procession will sadly be one of New Order's forgotten singles as the more electronic b-side,  Everything's Gone Green got all the attention and was released in more versions, however it is one of their best from the early period. It took many a while to work out Mesh from Cries & Whispers , and it will always be of Martin Hannett's best New Order productions. A1 Everything's Gone Green A2 Procession A3 Mesh B1 Temptation B2 Hurt

  New Order - Ceremony [FAC 33/12 UK 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Until today, I have never ripped & published my original UK Factory Records A1/B1 twelve inch of Ceremony . I've had a few goes in the past, and abandoned for one reason or another. Likely purchased at PJ Swales (the record and TV shop owned by the then Manchester City chairman) in Altrincham, Cheshire or just up the street at Gordon's Records ...my memory remains a bit fuzzy about where, but who cares? I do recall that the infamous 'Check-In' nightclub was just across the street. I don't own the later re-recorded version with Gillian, this is the original three piece doing reinterpretations of some of the last songs written by Ian Curtis before he took his own life in May 1980. That's all history, and everything went downhill from here on..... A1 Ceremony B1 In A Lonely Place

  World Of Twist - Sons Of The Stage [YRT 62 UK 1991 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] For me, the World Of Twist's finest moment is the original twelve inch single version  Sons Of The Stage . In two low-fi mixes of nineties synthetic psychedelia, the single was backed up by a superb freak-beat reinterpretation of Chairman Of The Board's psychedelic soul classic  Life And Death . Start your week off right, play load and get blown away by these sons (& daughters) of the stage. A1 Sons Of The Stage A2 Sons Of The Stage (12" Version) B1 Life And Death (Remix)

  Mankunku Quartet - Yakhal' Inkomo [MRBLP220SP UK 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Recorded at the Johannesburg Studios of Manley Van Niekerk in 1968, and released on the World Record Co. label that same year,  Yakhal' Inkomo by Mankunku Quartet has become one of the most sought after releases ever to come out of the SA jazz scene. This four piece was lead by the saxophone of Winston Monwabisi Ngozi who also wrote the two tracks which adorn side one. Side two features covers of standards by Horace Silver and John Coltrane. This hard bop jazz crate diggers dream of a record has been out-of-print for almost fifty years, until the British Jazzman Records label acquired the initial rights to a repress in 2017. Last year, Miles Showell at Abbey Road cut a new half-speed master for Mr Bongo Records. My copy is from that release on black vinyl, pressed at Optimal Media in Germany - there is also a smokey-grey vinyl edition for Vinyl Me Please which was pressed from the same cut at G...

  Bill Withers - Bill Withers' Greatest Hits [MFSL 1-445 USA 2016 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I want to begin this post by clarifying just one thing ...this is a fabulous sounding record.  MoFi have finally come clean and confirmed that it was sourced from a mix of original master tapes and analogue copies to DSD64, before being cut by Krieg Wunderlich. Whatever 'special sauce' Wunderlich and Rob LoVerde added in the process is their secret, because after all, we know that you cannot EQ a DSD file. There are also some great songs on this record, Lean On Me , Ain't No Sunshine and Lovely Day  are genuine classics, Just The Two Of Us just makes me want to chunder. The funky groove of Use Me is a particular surprise and really shines through on this pressing.  I have sold a lot of copies of the original CBS pressing of this record back in my retail days, especially when it was a £3.99 'Nice Price'. This copy cost me just over 30 quid, I see the flippers now want ...

  James Brown (with Oliver Nelson Conducting Louie Bellson Orchestra) - Soul On Top [KS 1100 USA 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The widely anticipated remaster of James Brown's Soul On Top big band album was delayed until earlier this year when originally scheduled for the pre-Christmas market. We don't know the reason for this, perhaps a capacity issue at Third Man Pressing, perhaps somebody didn't like the test pressings, however we do know that somebody wanted the album re-mixed before it was sent to Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sounds to be cut. Why did it have to be re-mixed ....we know that Universal Music move in mysterious ways, so we will never know.  This record was filthy when I removed it from the shrink and out of its cheap paper inner. That was a huge disappointment and likely due to careless cost-cutting at the label, who must have gone to some expense with a RKS cut. Thankfully it did clean up well for this rip. There have been a few stories peddled around the n...

  World Of Twist - The Storm [YRT 55 UK 1990 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Digitalia blog followers will have access to my World Of Twist mega-post from a few weeks back, but for Needle Time, here is the first of a few of their original twelve inch singles in 176.4kHz FLAC. The Storm was their debut single for Virgin Records' subsidiary Circa Records. If you like a good rock-biog book, then I strongly recommend WoT guitarist Gordon King's book, When Does The Mind-Bending Start? as an insight into early eighties Manchester & Sheffield sounds, plus one of the most underrated bands to come out of Northern Britain in the eighties and nineties. No other band was able to blend psychedelia and Manchester like World Of Twist, for a few brief years, they were the best band on the planet, the only problem was that hardly anybody was paying attention as they were all so wasted. You also get the band's mind bending interpretation of the Martin Hannett produced She's A Rainbow as a b...

  Nitro Deluxe - Let's Get Brutal [COOLD 142 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Diving deeper into a box of twelves, I pulled out this dusty old school classic, give it a good clean and relived those early days of instrumental house music. This record is a genre crossing electronic classic which seems to have become a much overlooked gem over the years. Pinned down by a simple drum machine beat, percussion samples from Hamilton Bohannon's Let's Start The Dance and an incredibly simple but effective synthesizer hook, Let's Get Brutal morphed from a 1986 import rarity on Cutting Records into a hit house single around the world, where it was sometimes known as This Brutal House .  A1 Let's Get Brutal (Mega Mix) B1 Let's Get Brutal (U.S. Version)

  The Kane Gang - Don't Look Any Further (Mantronik Mix) [SKX 33 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I really need to rip my copy of The Kane Gang's debut album  The Bad and Lowdown World of The Kane Gang , it has been sat of the shelf unplayed for many years, however when ripping this second album syndrome single, I was reminded of how good their first releases were.  The Kane Gang will always be remembered as a covers band as most of their hit singles were just that - cover versions. These North Eastern soul boys were responsible for some great tunes in there own right, all of them better that the covers, and this is no different. Their interpretation of Dennis Edwards' Don't Look Any Further gave them their biggest US hit single, with quite a bit of help from Kurtis Mantronik. A1 Don't Look Any Further (Mantronik Mix) B1 Don't Look Any Further (B-Boy Dub Mantronik Mix) B2 King Street Rain

  Chakk - Big Hot Blues [FON T 3 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The return of the 'mighty' Chakk, in reality not so mighty as Big Hot Blues was to be their last single for MCA Records before the major label cut free the Sheffield industrial-funk troupe from corporate shackles, leaving the band with a nice shiny studio of their own. Fon Studios was to become a small time hit factory in it's own right ...but that's another story. Funky Worm anybody? Big Hot Blues is a very complex arrangement around Mark Brydon's splendid bass work, tricky percussion and stabbing keyboards in two mixes. You do also get a new cut of one of he band's finest and earliest works Cut The Dust on the flip. A1 Big Hot Blues (Extended Mix) B1 Big Blue Mix B2 Cut The Dust

  Strauss / Fritz Reiner / Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Also Sprach Zarathustra [AAPC 1806 USA 2020 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released as a two-track stereo reel-to-reel tape in 1954 on the RCA Victor label.  Strictly speaking this is my first ever purely classical music vinyl rip and I thought we would start off with a bang, or is that a series of bangs? This isn't the recording of the Strauss composition used in a certain very well known sci-fi movie (that was Herbert von Karajan and The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra), however it is the complete piece which wanders between the full-on drama and gorgeous romantic melodies of the Strauss opus. Eventually released on the RCA Living Stereo series in 1960 on vinyl, the Fritz Reiner conducted version of Also Sprach Zarathustra is highly regarded as one of the very best original classical recordings. You will pay a hefty sum if you wish to buy an original pressing, however in 2014, those nice chaps at Analogue Product...

  Harry Beckett - Flare Up [4539723 UK 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It is really great to see British label Decca Records jumping into the current day feast of high specification jazz reissues using original master tapes. Flare Up by the legendary trumpet of Harry Beckett is one of a few released so far in the British Jazz Explosion Series. Originally released on Phillips Records in 1970, this album has never been reissued since despite high demand among fans of the genre all over the world. Beckett is a legend, possibly the closest the UK ever got to its own Miles Davis, however he only ever recorded three albums in his own right, with Flare Up being his first. His compositions styles meander meaningfully between modal and post-bop, focusing on his own compositions (rather than the standards) and those with long time collaborator Graham Collier. Originating from Barbados, Beckett adapted his chops to match the late sixties cool London vibe with some incredibly manic syncopation fr...

  Lovelock - Burning Feeling [BEWITH106LP UK 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It seems weird that in what follows, I will be 'raving' about a 2022 remaster of an album originally released as a compressed compact disc in 2012. Whilst this double vinyl set by New Yorker Lovelock (also answers to Steve Moore ) was a modern digital recording, the mastering to vinyl is remarkably considerate with the stats coming in at around DR13. Read on.... If you are of a certain era, like me, then this album will feel very familiar. Burning Feeling is set in the years of Italian cosmic disco, Michael Mann, John Carpenter & Jan Hammer film soundtracks, Morodor electronica, Patrick Cowley's sequenced synths and British synthwave but recorded in New York state during 2006 using a Sequential Pro-One and Prophet 600, a Korg Polysix, a Yamaha DX7II FD, a Moog Little Phatt, plus of course a Fender Jazz Bass and a Fender Strat. Be With Records have scheduled a new album by Lovelock for later in 2023...

  Biting Tongues - Libreville [VIRTUE 1 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally slated for release on New Hormones (ORG 26), the iconic Manchester label having folded by the time the Tongues had cut the final tracks in September 1982, consequently small timers Paragon Records eventually snuck Libreville out in 1983 - its limited pressing run means that copies fetch decent money from knowledgeable and appreciative listeners. It amazes me today why this hasn't had a proper re-release - somebody must still have the tapes? A few excerpts have appeared on the After The Click compilation, but everybody should get to hear this album as a whole.  The ten minute opening highlight,  First Use All The G's is a brooding monster opened by screeching horns, then driven by a growing pulsating funk bass line (imho one of the very best basslines you will every likely hear) and multi-layered percussion. 23 Skidoo & A Certain Ratio could only have dreamed of producing something this...

  Soft Verdict - Struggle For Pleasure [TWI 189 BEL 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Is this avantgarde or is this modern classical? This is music for piano, clarinet & harp with random, occasional and stark electronics, after all Belgium is a nation of quirks. Flemish composer Wim Mertens is responsible for writing some of the most beautiful music recorded over the past four decades. No more so than on the title track and the single Close Cover . If you don't think that know these two tracks ...you possibly already do!  I have often wondered what if Mertens and Vini Reilly ever recorded together, a joint album could have been just wonderful. I last ripped this album in 2019, this is a brand new rip which reveals much more of the music from vinyl at 176.4kHz. A1 Tourtour A2 Struggle For Pleasure A3 Salernes B1 Close Cover B2 Bresque B3 Gentleman Of Leisure

  Benny Carter - Jazz Giant [CR00384 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Produced by the late Lester Koening, Benny Carter's Jazz Giant was recorded in 1957 and released on Contemporary Records in 1958. As part of the label's all-analogue revival in the Acoustic Sounds Series, Bernie Grundman re-cut from the original master tapes for Quality Record Pressings. Essentially big band jazz for a small swing quartet, Carter's line-up was augmented by Ben Webster, Frank Rosolino, André Previn and Jimmy Rowles for the album sessions. Grundman certainly brings the old tapes back to life for this release, where the clarity & positioning of the musicians is clearly defined, Leroy Vinnegar's double bass sits centre right with Shelly Manne's gentle snares & Barney Kessel guitar given a little more width. The brass dominates the left channel, they are all clear but not shrill, like some of the very best jazz releases, the listener feels in the room with the performers. A1...

  The Neville Brothers - Yellow Moon [395 240-1 DEU 1989 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It is time for some bayou soul from The Neville Brothers. Recorded with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, Yellow Moon spawned the groups first hit single for many years, including evocative covers of Bob Dylan's  With God On Our Side and Sam Cooke's  A Change Is Gonna Come . Now this is an album which cries out for a considerate new remaster to vinyl on perhaps one of those slightly more expensive record labels. The original is held back by a slightly restrained Lanois production and a cheap A&M Records pressing. I've managed to coax out the finer details of, what I assume is, a digital recording but I believe some is lost in the late eighties mastering. Don't get me wrong, it sounds great ....I just think it could sound fantastic. Enjoy. A1 My Blood A2 Yellow Moon A3 Fire And Brimstone A4 A Change Is Gonna Come A5 Sister Rosa A6 With God On Our Side B1 Wake Up B2 Voo Doo B3 ...

  Clock DVA - Transitional Voices [01718-08 DEU 1990 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Transitional Voices was a live document recorded in Bologna, Italy of the fourth version of Adi Newton's Clock DVA. Newton split the more commercial Polydor line-up after a bust-up over a dented trumpet after a gig in Paris during 1983, then became The Anti-Group (or T,A.G.C.) for a series of releases for Sweatbox Records. The DVA brand was rekindled in 1989 with the more electronic Buried Dreams album with bassist Dean Dennis and Anti-Group collaborator Robert Baker.This album was a record of that band's first live performances, released in 1990 on German label, Interfisch Records. The track running order seems a little rearranged as I am sure I can hear Newton say 'good night' after Sound Mirror and again following the closing Technogeist . A1 Transitional Voices A2 Sound Mirror A3 Syntactic B1 N.Y.C. Overload B2 Fractal 9 B3 Technogeist

  Ian Carr - Belladonna [MRBLP229 UK 2021 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Reproduced in a high quality gatefold package, Mr Bongo Records rereleased the classic 1972 jazz/rock fusion album Belladonna complete with Vertigo swirl inner sleeve and labels.  Miles Showell cut this release half-speed at Abbey Road on a restored Neumann VMS 80 lathe, likely from a digital transfer of the original master tape. The label are not fully open about the source of this release, however nearly all Showell remasters these days are not cut direct from tape. That being said, this pressing does sound fantastic with a wide detailed sound stage and plenty of air for each instrument to shine through.  The Scotsman's trumpet is backed up by an illustrious band of accompanying musicians including Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Roy Babbington on bass, Dave MacRae on Fender Rhodes and also Brian Smith on sax. Often compared to the Miles Davis style of fusion, Belladonna takes things further with p...

  Biting Tongues - Don't Heal [SITU 1 UK 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Biting Tongues were one the most misunderstood of Manchester's post-punk bands and probably, as a result one of the least successful. The bands original quirky punk-jazz overtones and poetic lyrical ramblings had a limited following and their first albums had a very small audience. Listening to this work some forty years after their first recordings, you quickly pick up on the power and intensity of Biting Tongues music, and with a more discerning ear, you realise how important they should have been. Early Tongues struck a post-Beefheart funk groove laid over with Ken Hollings poetic and manic meanderings.The first album, 1981's Don't Heal was recorded in two short sessions, played straight through without a break between tracks. Random tapes were left running throughout both sessions of warped jazz, their accidental intrusions incorporated into the final mix by producer, the late Stuart 'Jammer...