Deconomix LP Storage

After many a month online, the most popular search term that brings people to this site is “LP storage”, so much so that livingwithmusic.com has taken over the top spot with many search engines. Since November of 2005, I’ve covered quite a few (but not nearly enough) of the most popular storage solutions for the vinyl enthusiast, but my bookmarks are still filled with perhaps a bit more reclusive shelving units that may be less wide-spread but have garnered as positive or even enthusiastic reviews as have the widely-known solutions discussed on this site already.

One manufacturer with a rock-steady reputation I keep coming across, especially on European music forums and discussion boards, is UK-based manufacturer Deconomix.

As far as I could ascertain, Deconomix, founded by Stuart Fisher, has been supplying the more than huge UK-DJ market with vinyl storage solutions for more than 7 years, but it was the steady flow of highly enthusiastic recommendations that turned my attention to their expandable storage solutions that reach industrial vinyl archiving proportions. Additionally, and that’s where things get interesting for people with a thicker wallet, they can also custom-make just about anything you want, from curved consoles to floor to ceiling archiving storage. If you have enough LPs or other vinyl items to open a shop with … hell, they can outfit one of those as well. Continue Reading →

Tord Gustavsen Trio – Being There

It had to come at some point and I almost bet my life on the fact that it would happen with the release of their third album … and it did, somewhat. The Tord Gustavsen Trio put out a new album and if you mosey on past those usual “great album …” reviews by people who either get paid to say exactly that or simply aren’t willing to put up the effort to listen to an album more closely before they publish what it is they publish every darn time, you come across quite a few (sometimes guarded) reviews by listeners, both in print and in conversation, who perhaps weren’t too happy with the new album (at first). In short, some people thought it was “boring” or, perhaps less harshly put, “the same procedure as last year.” Continue Reading →

Jazz at the Pawnshop (30th Anniversary)

If you want to stop any discussion on a jazz board dead in its tracks or, in reverse, want to flame an ongoing discussion on any audiophile forum, you just need to either mention “Jazz at the Pawnshop” or say it’s at best a mediocre effort. Whatever you do wherever, you’re bound to illicit complete deafening silence or a flame war with loads of hissy fits. With all its reappearances in probably more formats than any other session ever recorded, it’s always fun to watch this one being hotly debated to the point of Internet insanity.

If you ask your local audiophile twerp, you’ll get a three-hour treatise on how good these recordings sound and that you simply have to run to your nearest dealer and buy one box for yourself and several for your friends. Of course, the audiophile is accused by the jazz connoisseur of not having any understanding of jazz whatsoever (“… shit from Shinola”, you know, that kind of argumentation) and the audiophile will lob an “elitist swine” right back at him or her. The “real” jazz fan will without fail compare this session (actually two sessions) to those of more well-known artists and judge it mediocre at best, not worth one’s time at worst. Usually, his or her post will be accompanied by inflammatory language and a reminder as to how many great sessions remain unreleased or only exist in crappy sound quality whereas these Swedish sessions remain in print seemingly indefinitely in great sound. Continue Reading →

The Complete Joe Newman RCA-Victor Recordings (1955-1956): “The Basie Days”

I love this double-CD and it is probably one of the most frequently-played reissues in my home. It’s also the one that made me search out many more double-CDs from this wonderful early 90s reissue series, “Jazz Tribune” (later sold under the title “Indispensable”) by RCA/BMG France.Joe Newman (1922-1992) was best-known for his lengthy stay with Count Basie’s Orchestra. Newman started fronting pick-up groups from March 1954 onwards, but these sessions here start with the first ones for the giant RCA-Victor, starting in early 1955. Newman built an octet around fellow Basie members Wilkins, Green and Wilson by adding representatives of the swinging Kansas City style. The recording was done with one single microphone and soloists were brought to the forefront by simply making them stand up. The group’s sound was recorded exceptionally well and this reissue has more than decent sound, although I could imagine that a label like “Mosaic Records” could remaster this material to really make it shine. Still, this early 90s BMG reissue is a fairly flat transfer and is the better for it (you can really turn this one up without your ears starting to bleed), especially since you can still find this one at relatively cheap prices ranging from about $10 to $20 via second-hand sites or Amazon marketplace dealers. Continue Reading →

Illegal Downloads

Note: Readers beware. This post contains some slightly stronger language that might offend some, but only because it is directed at those who have gotten more money from me than anyone else on this planet.

With a tip of the hat to Indie HQ, a wonderful site which you should be reading regularly, I’m about to go on another verbal rampage here, something I haven’t done for quite a while.

The question posted over there, more or less, is if downloading (readily available for purchase) music is acceptable. It’s a bit more complicated, but head over there to check out the original post yourself.

Let me go off on a slight tangent here with one single example:

Gosh, where do I start? Maybe with this: I don’t want to download music, not only because even the best lossless formats aren’t the real thing, with home-printed covers and the eternal hunt for liner notes and whatnot, but also because I don’t believe in keeping a collection of digital files. Still, the labels have – in the past – forced me to do so. Continue Reading →

The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (Deluxe Edition)

OK, OK, I like ambient music. My PC is filled to the brim with it and I’ve always been a big fan of electronic music, although I don’t have many CDs that fit the description. I bought this Universal Deluxe Edition recently for next to no money on sale and to be quite honest, I didn’t hesitate a single second because The Orb did not only invent and define ambient-house music but also put out one of the best albums ever – this one. When it came out, it was new, energetic, surprising, hip, cool and whatnot and it paved the way for a slew of other recordings I started to hunt for once I was bitten.Yes, this concept album was also more than controversial. The tracks are loaded with samples and, for example, Rickie Lee Jones wasn’t all too happy about her being sampled, especially because she sounds way out there (she only had a cold) when she appeared on an American TV talk show from which this sample was taken. You can find The Orb spinning Sergio Leone, Allegri, Steve Reich, Pink Floyd and a ton of others and one can safely say that they at least helped kick off the heated copyright debate that followed when sampling really took hold after the release of this double-album. Unfortunately, the samples remain largely uncredited on this Deluxe Edition as well. Continue Reading →

“Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what they’re trying to say with jazz. You don’t need any prologues, you just play. If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you.” (Oscar Peterson)

Fathead: Ray Charles Presents David Newman

This is one of those albums I pull out regularly, especially because it is mostly an up-tempo bebop romp with oodles of soul thrown in for good measure. The sound is excellent on this Atlantic reissue that in 1958 marked David “Fathead” Newman’s debut as a leader. Newman was in Ray Charles’ band at the time and hence Charles and some of his musicians are also present on this album. Everyone delivers a more than solid job and the tight ensemble sound is just fun to listen to. At times one gets the impression that one is listening to a much larger band: Hank Crawford’s charts, apparently also added to by Quincy Jones, are invariably excellent. Continue Reading →