Is there anybody out there?

Testing... 1...2... testing

Edit: For anybody checking this group out - it's only here for myself and Tom to discuss stuff. It would be a private group if that were possible. In other words, there's nothing of interest here for anybody else, so no need to waste time reading on.

Hahahahaaaa...looks perfect !
Testing.

Are you receiving ?

Just came upstairs from my lab.... 5 more to go....hello...hello !

Yes, I hear you ... it's alive!!!!!!

OK, great. So the only difference is that we have to read backwards from the bottom, rather than backwards from the top - I think I can manage that :)

Should be fine !
How can I find it ? Is it coming on my messages ?

If you click on Notify Me at the top of this page you should get notifications in your inbox just like when we comment on the old Order Page...?

The only question is: does it show on 'my messages' when you are writing something...I'm not sure...or should I search somewhere else ?

Have done 'notify' just now.

Yes, your messages show up in my messages, just as they always did - once you have Notify checked. Then you can click through to here to write a reply.

[edit]And we can edit mistakes out too. Nice![/edit]

Now it does show up here, too !!!

Cool.Looks perfect now !

And I'm getting messages on my aol !

We have got it sorted out. Thanks, Mark !

Awesome! Let the good times roll! :)

New Marillion album came out on Friday so it's the only thing I've been playing, and will play, for the next few days! Very Covid/mortality related stuff. Not too surprising really, but done very well.

Includes an epitaph quality lyric:

I came. I saw. I fell.

Very strong album for their 20th... not many groups manage to keep up the quality in the way they have. Largely thanks to the lyrics and vocals of Hogarth I feel as the music rarely sets itself apart these days. Not like the early Fish days where there were lots of hooks in the songs.

Is it An Hour Before It's Dark ???
It sounds very David Bowie for me...his last years ( first 2 songs), U2 - the third song...Bowie again...
I am not criticizing.
Only a Kiss is lovely but very short...

To be honest it's sometimes hard for me to recognize Marillion here.

Sierra Leone is v v good !!! Up to the end of the album - second side is probably better ! This IS Marillion. Looks like second side is amazingly good.

Very high standard indeed ! And great, great vocals.

Sorry - just noticed- this is double album - very impressed ! This music just grows on you...Marillion - Bowie - U2, but NOTHING wrong with this. Why not ?

Sierra Leone is my least favourite song. Something too literal about it. Be Hard on Yourself, Murder Machines and Care are the strongest for me. Interesting parallels with Bowie/U2 - I will pay closer attention to see if I can hear similar!

How did you like Blood Sweat and Tears 3 and 4 - I forgotten to ask...
I surprised myself buying more early Chicago albums ( first editions US and UK ) and must say they are not as bad as I remembered them. Not as good as first album, but still very fine !

Haven't even cleaned the records yet! Fell out of the cleaning routine last week, but a new week starts today and the lab reopens :) Still have a backlog of over 100 records to listen to, so not sure when these will make it into the mix, although given their AAA nature it seems I'll listen to them sooner than later...

URGENT !!! Lark.
For your kind attention
https://vinylmusicmadness.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=30355&search=ASPIC

You can easily return if anything is wrong....
:

Thanks, Tom!! Grabbed it. Could it be the one…? Even if not, a great excuse to listen to it once again 🤗

Hahahahaaaa COOL !!!
Maybe this time lucky.

I just got email from them 10 min ago. It looks they play-testing...

Have bought from them in the past but must have said no marketing or I surely would have received the same email? Anyway, thanks for the heads up! Fingers crossed!

Although I'm starting to suspect that perhaps all first presses have the noise that all my copies do... would be nice to be proven wrong! :)

Always getting news letters from them...every 2 weeks, I think...
Vinyl Music Madness Newsletter 469

I think you need to put your name on their mailing list.

I think you will be proven wrong, Mark. Please let know as soon as you can. I can't wait for that news !!!

John Coltrane – Blue Train

This is Coltrane's album but first of all with amazing Lee Morgan's performances throughout the whole record ...

(???)

Have put my name on the mailing list.

I don't have a copy of Blue Train yet. It's bound to turn up the Blue Note rereleases or perhaps even an Analogue Production/Impex release soon enough. I will definitely buy a copy when it arrives.

I finished the TV show Treme at the weekend. No more Sunday morning visits to New Orleans :( But I have started listening to WWOZ New Orleans live radio stream and am enjoying an eclectic mix of music from and inspired by New Orleans. Heard a Horace Silver track (African Queen) this morning which blew me away - don't own it on vinyl yet so am hoping for a Blue Note rerelease at some point...

Live stream: https://wwoz-sc.streamguys1.com/wwoz-hi.mp3

Oh amazing !!! Live stream I mean....so cool. Especially I visited Louisiana some 3-4 years ago. Brings back very good memories. Will visit again probably the next 2-3 years. Just planning. Thanks, Mark.

Yes, Blue Train is one of only few Coltrane's albums I really like and mostly to Morgan's solos, but must say Coltrane is very accessible and very good on this one...I'm not Coltrane fanatic by no means ! :)

Have got WWOZ New Orleans on my headphones now !!! Hahahahahaaaaa....

Horace Silver track (African Queen) ... WOWOWO !!! Sounds great - need to check the line up.

Henderson (again) on saxes !!! Not my fave one but great on that tune....

Live New Orleans jazz radio - doesn't get any more authentic than that. Loved that some of the music is played from vinyl too - you can hear the crackles and groove noise.

Henderson - interesting! Not a fan at all of his solo works and now skip his vinyl releases from Blue Note, but here he clearly works for me... so a great team member but not so good a team leader???

Just heard an announcement of live music in New Orleans today - SOOOOO MANY live shows! Wow. Could spend entire day listening to live music! :)

Quite possibly !
I have got few recordings here... he is a team member - not a team leader, and these records are very top !

Haha...watched Yes concert yesterday from Hammersmith Apollo 2018 - Anderson, Rabin, Wakeman ...Anderson was 74 !!! Still great voice. Could not believe it.

Very good quality !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTk7KmCNOJE

This was probably the very last time he performed in the UK.

Did you manage to see these concerts in England - I missed them all and do not remember why...?

There is plenty of small music venues in NO - music is technically everywhere during late evenings and deep into the night...and people are extremely kind. Extremely ! I would love to live there....

Managed to miss ARW live, but do have concert blu-ray and various recordings to enjoy. Anderson’s voice got very frail after his illness and you can hear that very clearly on his album with Wakeman at the time, but since then he has recovered it very well and he still sounds great. He is my ultimate Prog voice. Long may he sing!

My God ! You have got this ! This is amazing recording with Freeman.

rDin 26 Feb 2022
Two copies, both with major pressing issues. Anybody got a clean copy of this release?

Cecil McBee Sextet – Music From The Source

What are the issues? Just wanted to buy a copy myself....

Did you buy it here ?
https://www.purepleasurerecords.com/coming-soon.html?mc_cid=69cec22eec&mc_eid=873fabce92#!/Cecil-McBee-Sextet-feat-Chico-Freeman-Music-From-The-Source/p/380174596

Hi Tom, yes, I recommended this to you some weeks ago if I remember correctly. I bought from Diverse Vinyl and also Juno. Juno (2nd) copy was much worse than the first and has a sandpaper sound throughout side 1. The 1st copy has stitching (riiiiiip riiiiiip) sound in a few places. I've bought a few Pure Pleasure records (very well named!!) and none are perfect. So, if you want it, seems you have to take a chance!! I may try once more, but I suspect it might be better to wait for a later repress as this batch seems to have issues unfortunately :( But this is incredible music and the recording on vinyl is terrific, ignoring the problems and highly recommended.

Oh yes - you did - just remember....of course ! Few weeks ago and later I recommended Freeman to you.
So sad we can't get a decent copy now.

Lark arrived. Vinyl looks in good shape, although not NM, but also nothing that causes me concern at this point. Deep cleaned yesterday and ready to spin today... is this the one?!

You see... not NM ...hm...hm....

PLEASE LET KNOW !

It’s not THE ONE. A decent enough copy but more crackly overall than my best and sounds a little muted in comparison, so possibly been heavily played, or played with a heavy needle. Spindle marks suggests plenty of plays. The search continues…

OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So sorry to hear this...heavy needle....hopeless case.

Only washing will tell if NM or maybe VG only...
Bad, bad week...

PS. Will you send Lark back ?

I won't send it back. It's a decent copy, so will be ok as a backup or something to sell on at a later date. I'm starting to think a clean copy is not available...

Lots of very rare films on Bill Bruford's YouTube....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr9j5pbKHGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr9j5pbKHGA

THIS IS SIMPLY AMAZING FILM OF VERY EARLY YES - FRAGILE PERIOD. 30 MIN. A MUST... :)

Yeah, that was fantastic - what a great way to start a day :) Loved the energy of the live performances - Rick Wakeman dancing(!!) and the sweetness/naivety of many of the interviews. Steve Howe really was on fire back then, and indeed right up until the late 90s or so - some of the extended live jams they did with him were mind blowing. Think it's a Yes day today then :)

Sweetness !!!
I love it and going to watch it again now ( 4th time ). Anderson is 28 here but looks much younger...
Howe's solos in jam - fantastic !

Great, great film...need to search for more treasures like this one on Bruford's page tomorrow.

Tom, been on the microscope again checking out my stylus after playing 1500 sides of vinyl.

https://ibb.co/SmfNndQ

Still looks to be in great condition. Of interest are all the little bits of black crap on the cantilever. Black = bits of vinyl?

In other news just bought a "one owner" NM 1st press of In the Court of the Crimson King from Eil. I already have a crappy first press, so want to see if this one is THE ONE. If not I'll return it :) Also picked up a "barely played" 2nd press of Syd Barret's debut. Been looking for ages and very hard to find any decent copies. Fingers crossed this is decent as it's probably the closest I'll ever get to a first issue.

1500 sides of vinyl !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stylus looks beautiful...you can easily see a very top class here....this stylus is not a joke...very solid.

That's interesting ...probably some loose bits of vinyl.

You just reminded me - pink Island 'In the Court' I need to take to my lab ! Never washed that LP...not even sure if I have one or two copies of pink 'I' - Somehow I took holidays from my lab the last couple of days ... :)

Do you still use brush only for your stylus, Mark ?
I use 85-90 % brush at present and only now and then a 'chewing gum'...:)

Checked the ebay Lark fellow - he is back with around 40 LPs listed - but no Lark !!!! :)

Just got this bootleg today from Juno

https://www.juno.co.uk/search/?q%5Ball%5D%5B%5D=ALLMAN+BROTHERS+BAND%2C+The+-+Live+At+Fillmore+West+Closing+Night+27th+June+1971&hide_forthcoming=0:

PS. I am so behind with everything !!!! :)

Music just for pleasure only tonight - CHICAGO (the band) night - up to Chicago VII - such a pleasure to have some of US first editions on vinyl. All of them arrived the last 2 weeks or so and few of them sound much better than I would have ever expected. On top of it - few of them with HUUUUGE posters in Mint ! :) These posters bring back childhood memories...hahahahahaaaa...music do sound dated but still lots of fun. :)

Stylus cleaning - I use brush each side and then each Sunday evening the Flux "ultrasonic" cleaner. I suspect the brush is sufficient these days, given how clean the records are under the stylus...

Incoming records have almost dried up - which is now a great opportunity to start working on the backlog!

Stylus cleaning - oh...you have stopped using Onzow Zero Dust Stylus Cleaner complately. I think I still use it 3-4 times a every fortnight.
Found 2 new reviews ( Onzow) :

'I bought this two weeks ago as I had a dusty stylus and my brushes were not effective. Tried it once, the dust is still there. Tried it again, and again, and again... The dust didn't move and now it seemed to be coated in some sort of gooey matter.
In the end I decided to use a nylon thread and a microscope to dislodge the dust. Worked a charm.
So in the end, all this money for nothing.'

'This product and others like it over time leave an almost impossible to remove hard residue on your stylus that even migrates up the cantilever and eventually into the cartridge itself.'

Have thrown my OnZow away... while wondering whether that was the right thing to do!! I'm still following the various threads on this until we have a conclusion. Michael Fremer claims he now knows what the debris is but hasn't got clearance yet to talk about it, so I guess we will find out one way or another quite soon.

In the meantime the brush seems to be doing a great job. It's this one - was shipped with the cartridge.

https://www.analogueseduction.net/brushes/project-clean-it-carbon-stylus-cleaning-brush.html

And talking of Analogue Seduction, they got in touch last week to say they are finding it impossible to source Nagaoka sleeves and were cancelling my five months old(?) order... ouch.

Just tried Blood Sweat & Tears comparison, Analogue Production vs MoFi One-Step. No competition. The MoFi waaaay better. It has a very clear presence and clarity of presentation that is absent with the AP. Had I not heard the zone-Step, I’d be more than happy with the AP. From memory, your pressing is better than the AP too.

Before I forget: Marillion UK tiur is in September this year....

'... I guess we will find out one way or another quite soon....'
Lets hope so - I am very curious what's wrong with it...

I have got a brush like yours it arrived with Dynavector together - nice and soft...but I am mostly using the whole set od lovely make up brushes. They have different shapes and go deeper inside the cartridge in case there is some dust collecting up there...

BS&T

The MoFi waaaay better !!! One-Step is a winner... No competition
Great to know !!!

:)

ELVINYL:
https://www.elvinyl.com/listings/3260568-pink-floyd-obscured-by-clouds-vinyl-for-sale

???

Not sure if you will receive this Wakeman - but it's so much fun here !!!!! :)
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10217336942975639&set=gm.4884268908274836

News of The World:
Official Brand X
15 M7aaarch aptofn4 g1s74g2o:mr37tl ·
BIG NEWS: Brand X's CHRIS CLARK will be playing Keyboards in JON ANDERSON'S new band touring March 2023. The group consists of members from The Band Geeks, and Anderson says: "We'll do Close To The Edge, The Gates of Delirium, Awaken, and a bunch of classics. We'll make it sound as much like YES in the 70s as possible..." Here at BX Headquarters, we're behind Chris 100%. This is going to be epic. 👍

Ah ....very, very young YES ... again !!! :)

https://www.facebook.com/bambang.i.tabah/videos/3361806364042737

Don't think I'll get to see Marillion on this tour. Would love to see Anderson next year though! Hope he tours the UK and somewhere nearby (but *not* Bath Forum!!!).

I have definitely seen that Yes clip before - in fact I think I've seen the full broadcast. Super stuff. So young. So talented. I love the raw sound on it where you can clearly hear each instrument, particularly Squire's bass playing.

Got the three Eil records here - again their descriptions are overly generous so will have to clean and listen, but not optimistic about play grade. One described as 'near as new' yet plenty of spindle marks and hairlines and other marks on it. I've bought better copies of same album from them at half the price in the past.....

The Wakeman link throws an error "content not available at this time".

First of the Eil records: Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs 2nd press. Plays NM 😍 Full MAGIC. Very very happy with it.

That's great !

I am much less happy today ... first of all Traffic bootleg - supposed to be in VG plus and ... you can't hear the music through the background noise !!!

The Allmans - Juno - arrives with scratch on side one. You can not hear it...but it's there.

Eil no.2 - In the Court of the Crimson King. Best first press I’ve heard. Side 1 plays NM. Side 2, Moonchild is a little noisy due to it being so quiet throughout. Then clean for the rest of the side. A very strong VG. Again very happy with this. Probably no need to look any further 🤗

Will have to give all my Courts a good wash this weekend ! I think I must have around 5-6 copies from the first edition to reeditions ... and I haven't played them for a very very long time ....

Fun ahead then :) Such a great album. Final Eil is another first of The Wall. All of my copies play well but always with one side or another clicky. I'm trying to put together a perfect set. This one might have the clean LP I'm looking for! Will find out over the weekend...

Hahahahaaa...yes ! I think tomorrow is the day as long as sciatica will not stop me again !
Following your feedback on this one few months ago, I got myself first edition UK of Rumours that arrived 2 days ago and this time in quite nice condition. Just a very little noise on 'Songbird' but nothing to worry about...for some recordings it is really impossible to get 100% pure and clean sound quality. These records have been played...like The Court, The Wall, Lark, Rumours ...long may you run to get a MINT copy...possibly never indeed ! :)

Decided to return Hancock to amazon...Maiden Voyage ... don't really like that LP as much as I thought I did ...there is about 100-120 albums I would happily sell ... I bought them all in error and they are not needed here and I am not going to play them again. If I am in right shape and spirits, will start listing them all tomorrow... :)

Managed to get through with Chicago ( till Chicago 8 ) and that's the end of my journey here with this band ... the next one: Procol Harum ( till Procol's Ninth )... :)

Maiden Voyage. Describes well my journey into Jazz this time around. I've set sail... I'm buying all the releases from Blue Note and other AAA titles I can find. A small amount end up on my PLAY shelf and the rest go into storage. For whatever reason I don't like them enough. But at this time I recognise that I'm still learning and so will return to the stored records one day and go through them again to see whether my appreciation of jazz now covers any of those records...

You are quite correct about the likelihood of ever finding MINT copies of old classics. People tend to play them a lot. Or even NM, or even VG+. But every now and then a great copy lands and the search is over. The other thing that keeps me searching is just how much better the old pressings sound, even when not MINT, compared to modern pressings. MAGIC vs TRAGIC.

But there are some records I feel I will never find a clean copy - Larks is one as is Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason - I just think ALL pressings are flawed on that one, so the only way to get a good copy is start moving up through the years as I did with Barrett. 2nd press sounds fantastic. Perhaps 1st press even more, but, for now at least(!), I shall be happy with a NM 2nd press full of MAGIC and continue the search for other records I need that are in worse condition.

The Wall is going back. Side 1 has too many problems. Copies I’ve bought from Eil for half the price sound better. Eil is frustrating. The language they use to describe records are vague. You have to buy the record to find out if it’s a keeper or not. On the plus side they are still a great source of very decent copies. Just unlucky with this one.

There is another Wall, Mark - !!!
I just found it and lost it the same time .... on ebay. From the seller I bought before...
I will have another look now and try to find it again.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234465935376?hash=item3697424010:g:uGMAAOSwPBFiLyWk

He says 'ARCHIVED COPY' ... First pressing.

Looks nice - but you will probably need to ask him a question about the matrix numbers.
I would...

MAGIC vs TRAGIC - what a lovely and correct expression !!!
I don't want to land up with tragic anymore...Have been there few times before.

Eil - they might be getting old ... I still remember them from many, many years ago ! :)

Still sad - your last Wall is not a keeper !!!!!

Oh thanks for that link to eBay. Will dust off the sniper and give it a shot!

Another One-Step arrived, which I’d preordered before the Tapestry saga (still waiting for replacement to arrive): Muddy Waters’ Folk Singer. Both records dished 😬 After flattening, plays perfectly. This is an exceptionally quiet and sparse recording so it’s kind of crucial the vinyl is quiet and here it is dead quiet, revealing just some tape hiss and then only the music. Terrific. Same MoFi super vinyl sound - wide open soundstage with phenomenal depth and clarity. Very happy with this one.

And then one of the records slipped out of the MoFi sleeve because I picked up the wrong end. SCRATCH!! 🤬This is why I dislike square sleeves - too easy to grab the wrong end. Impossible with Nagaoka.

Muddy Waters’ Folk Singer .... need to listen to this one. Never ever heard it !

OMG !!!!
https://www.discogs.com/release/22385077-Muddy-Waters-Folk-Singer

This must be one of these LPs that slipped out of MoFi sleeves - arrrrrrghhhhh - and you just wanted these ones especially to be very quiet !!!
Can't you tell them the scratch had already been there when you got it ???
I got The Allmans with the scratch from Juno, sealed the other day....

It's very easy to make a mistake like this....that's why I am very slow when dealing with MoFi sleeves....Don't know what happened to Nagaoka - this is very, very strange !!!

Muddy Waters
Folk Singer

I like it already !!!
Plenty of 'space' up here... you can breathe inside that music ! ....will be looking for nice copy for myself for sure !

I’m tempted to actually tell my shop what I did and ask whether they’d be willing to get a replacement on my behalf. Would be an interesting loyalty test for them…! As it is, it affects about 10 seconds of a song so I think it’s something I can live with as a reminder of my clumsiness. Thankfully I ripped my t prior to dropping, so I have a perfect digital version for replay.

You could do this or write straight to:

AcousTech Mastering
Contact Info:
Record Technology, Inc.
486 Dawson Dr.
Camarillo, CA 93012-8090
USA
Sites:
recordtech.com

Both option seems to be perfect - with yours probably even faster and/or maybe cheaper.
They will definitely sort it out for you - I have been through very similar problems 4 times in my life ( the last 5 years) and everything just took 2 - 4 weeks ! :)

In each and every case I received new vinyl records - not the cover !

Hi Mark,

What sort of experience did you have with Tony Hall Records on ALVINYL ?
Just thinking about buying some records from him ... but not quite sure...

Any good news from Muddy Waters’ Folk Singer supplier ?

If I recall correctly, I returned the item I bought and then noticed he used the same address as Barabbas. When I questioned this he said they use the same guy to do the shipping. So who knows.

Folk Singer I decided was my own fault and I cannot ask the small shop dealer to cover my mistake. All part of the fun of vinyl!

Sure...
Another disappointment - brand new and sealed - from Juno - background noise really bad in quiet places - the same with Davis I have just opened ( the same title you have got from me, live recordings ) .... not better at all than the copy you have got ! :)