The MMJ releases are “warts and all” including artifacts in the recordings. Same with the TP and all the Blue Notes done by KG. It’s how you know no effects or anything have been applied.
And it’s always Kevin cut LPs I notice it on too. Absolutely no problem if that’s whats on the tape. It seems like some people think they know what they’re talking about with this stuff, but they can’t even tell you what an overloaded mic sounds like though. I mean most of these recordings aren’t “audiophile”. They were recorded live, mixed live, and have lots of blemishes. It doesn’t make them bad recordings though because it’s the music that’s important.
A lot of Blue Note Recordings suffer from mic overload, and unfortunately that is a by product of mixing live, as you mentioned. Context matters and Blue Note was a label with a demographic of mostly lower working class African Americans. They simply couldn't afford endless takes, returns, etc. Basically one shot to get it right.
I always thought some albums were shelved because they were literally recording sessions faster than the market would bear. But I’m no expert on why Blue Note made every decision they made. As Miles Davis famously remarked, though, “If you never make a mistake [playing jazz], that’s a mistake.” If the point of the music is that it’s supposed to be truly improvised, you would expect the musicians to make some mistakes from time to time. If a guy occasionally hit a wrong note or Rudy Van Gelder occasionally pushed a fader too high, so what?
That's why Rudy mastered the way he did so it would play on the worst of turntables but the music could still be enjoyed.
Yeah, it’s a product of the times. I love plenty of recordings that are far from audiophile. As a matter fact, probably my favorites of all time could be considered lo-fi. I just don’t want to damage these records by allowing them to misstrack. I would mention I heard distortion and a lot of times people would tell me it must be my system. I’ve concluded that it’s probably the tapes, not the records or my system. If a perfectly aligned Technics with an ML stylus can’t track these, You’d have to spend a lot more on a table just to listen to them which wouldn’t make sense. My comments were in no way bashing these recordings. They are some of the most legendary, priceless recordings of all time. I just have an issue with “audiophiles” not knowing what mic overload is.
Got "The Rajah" in. Very nice sounding. Still like the album eventhough the reviews here seem to be split. And the weird cover really does look better in person. Its actually pretty cool looking. Glad TP/BN changed it.
I’ve had one or two that have torn in two places from the excess adhesive. Most tears are in the middle and I wouldn’t rule out that a shifting disc during shipping could weaken the paper. But most of my tears split “while” I’m opening the jacket, and I already have the disc removed.
Two places actually, Rotate This at Ossington and Dundas and Kops Records Danforth east of Broadview. Queen west of University at Kops would be the same price. Kops does have three stores so they transfer LP's between each store daily if the one you visit doesn't have it in stock. If the item is not in stock, they'll do a special order at the same price. I caught up on the majority of 2020 releases this way. Hope that helps.
I'm not exactly sure why you're experiencing this problem unless you're fully opening the jacket (flattening it out). Even my original Impulse will not open fully unless forced and I'm sure with the same results you're experiencing. Mind you, the adhesive used now may also be different and their holding ability might not allow a full opening without tearing. Just a guess since I don't open any gatefold to it's full extent.
Blue Note was the one label that invested in pre-production costs including paying their artists for rehearsal time so I doubt what you say. Perhaps RVG was cranking the needle to achieve more energy in the recording session?
Is there any interest in TP or Classic reissues in mono? As nice as it is to have all these pressings, it'd be nice to have a mono reissue programme at the same quality level. Would it not?
I’m not sure that warrants an entire separate series, but I would like if more of these titles were mono, or at least the ones where a dedicated mono mix exists. For the stuff that was just a fold down to mono I see no point, just hit the mono switch on your amp.
Am I dreaming, did I just notice that Iggy Pop is on two songs from the soon to be released new record from Dr. Lonnie Smith, I'm so all over this one!
I don't care for the mono if it was recorded stereo, unless there is something wrong with the stereo mix. I'm not interested in mono just for the sake of mono.
Good portion of the mono mixes are actually folddowns of the stereo tape so no point in releasing the monos.
Listening to Jack Wilson today. Would be a nice surprise to get an album from this artist on a TP. "Easterly Winds" I guess is his more known album. I like "Something Personal" much better in that its not the same ol' same ol' and is explorative just up to the point of not being too out there. If one hasnt heard this album I think its great and would make for an awesome TP: Starts off slow and ethereal but then really takes off..Roy Ayers on vibes. If one enjoys Bobby Hutcherson then I cant imagine this album not being appealing.
What’s done is done: no one can travel back in time and make Rudy re-record the albums the way we think they ought to have been recorded. They are what they are, and thank God they exist. If a trumpet’s occasionally in the red on some of the albums, so what? Everyone involved did the best they could.
I’m a little confused at this discussion. It is well know that Rudy recorded a lot of this stuff hot. There are countless times you can hear him “diving for the fader” as Joe Harley would put it. It doesn’t mean the stuff doesn’t sound fantastic the vast majority of the time. If I got upset about every recording that had flaws, I wouldn’t have many records in my collection. I think part of the issue here is that people are saying different things. Many folks here judge the sound of the record relative to the recording. I think it’s assumed that others know of the limits of recording and the shortcomings on these albums. Others read “this sounds really good”, but hear poorly recorded piano or a hot horn and think they were mislead. But the problem here is that none of these are perfectly recorded. So if every review of RVG SQ said the horns are hot and the piano muffled, we wouldn’t get very far. Just my opinion.