Needle Time

  Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna (RCV1 628771 USA 2020 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] As a vinyl fan, the Vinyl Me, Please business model interests me greatly. Their recent announcement of their very own pressing plant in Denver (opening late 2022) was widely well received, and then the news that they had poached Gary Salstrom from Chad Kassem's Quality Record Pressing really raised eyebrows in the vinyl pressing trade. Whilst the principle of record clubs is not a new one (we all remember Britannia Music), the label's open & honest approach to source, mastering and pressing should be widely welcomed. The label covers all genres from classic rock to rap via country and tastes from modern pop through to jazz.  The new plant will finally end their relationship with GZ Media, giving them full control over costs, quality and pressing schedules. This release is mastered AAA from the original analogue master tape by Ryan K Smith at Sterling Sound and despite GZ's noisy (and dirty) pressi...

  Fleetwood Mac - The Pious Bird Of Good Omen [7-63215 DEU 2007 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I did say that you could expect the occasional post during my hiatus, so here's the first of possibly two this weekend... In the current demand for clarity of source information from the vinyl community, German label Speakers Corner Records have always confirmed the lineage of their releases. Whilst compilation albums could never be from original recording master tapes, this reissue of Fleetwood Mac's 1969 compilation was mastered and cut from analogue tapes on an analogue system and then pressed by Pallas in Germany. This isn't the sunny Los Angeles soft-rock of the seventies Fleetwood Mac, this is the original Peter Green fronted blues line-up with a mix of eight original classics and four covers.  A1 Need Your Love So Bad A2 Coming Home A3 Rambling Pony A4 The Big Boat A5 I Believe My Time Ain't Long A6 The Sun Is Shining B1 Albatross B2 Black Magic Woman B3 Just...

  Fleetwood Mac - Rumours [517787-1 USA 2022 Pallas 2X45 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Widely appreciated as the best mastered and best pressed edition of the biggest selling break-up album of all time. They have finally (and unexpectedly) repressed the double 45rpm, all analogue Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray remaster of Rumours, pressed by Pallas in Germany and released only in the USA. If you live in Europe you will have to make do with an inferior edition, mastered & pressed by GZ or Optimal, likely from a digital file. Unless of course, you have a vinyl pipeline from the USA, or are willing to pay a fortune with European importers. This rip is not perfect, but the sound quality is superb and I can hear what all the fuss is about. My only other copy is an eighties mid-price pressing and as my time is limited at the moment, I haven't yet had the chance for comparison.  This is a band that I have actually seen live, and although their music is not my usual taste, listening once m...