Commodores – 1977 Live

What a great live album! Meanwhile I know these songs for about thirty years and just love them.

Josey Wales – No Bother Tax Me

One of my favourite songs of Josey Wales.

Miles Davis Kind Of Blue 50th Anniversary Box

A good idea to present a box like this for the 50th anniversary of such a great album. The box comes along with 2 CD’s, a DVD, a book, a large poster and some photographs.
The DVD contains a wonderfully made documentary about the record and the people involved as well as some interviews and you can spend around fifty interesting minutes with the story around Kind Of Blue.
For the vinyl enthusiast the record is a disappointment. While choosing blue vinyl is a nice idea and the sound quality is ok, the pressing of the record is of poor quality. I really don’t get why the people over at Sony didn’t produce a really fine audiophile pressing to make this box to a real collectors item.
Apart from that it’s absolutely worthwhile to own this 50th anniversary box of Kind Of Blue.

Nina Simone – He Needs Me

I love this song. Just bought the record ‘The Legendary First Recording In New York City, 1957′ two or three weeks ago. A compilation of wonderful songs. A little melancholic and if you’re in the mood late in the evening it’s just a perfect album to just sit and listen to.

Beniamino Gigli

Beniamino Gigli sings “E lucean le stelle” from Puccinis Tosca.

Beniamini Gigli on Wikipedia.

Enrico Caruso

The great Enrico Caruso performing Una Furtiva Lagrima.

The Enrico Caruso Page.
Enrico Caruso on Wikipedia

Curtis Mayfield – Back To The World

I love this record and it’s the one I like best of the Curtis Mayfield albums. Great songs driven by fat horn sections in the background. Amazing early seventies soul with good lyrics.

Pickering XV-15

Yesterday my new cartridge, the Pickering XV-15 arrived. I had some luck to fetch one at an auction on ebay. Setting up the XV-15 is a bit of a hassle because of its unusual shape. Using the Technics alignment tool helps but should be handled with care if you mount the headshell with the cartridge on it – the needle tip nearly touches the alignment tool. Of course the brush doesn’t make aligning easier but all these minor distractions won’t put us off getting our cartridge to run, won’t they?

Now comes the best part – listening. Everything I read about the Pickering and its full bodied sound is true. Compared to my Denon DL-110 there’s more bass and a more accentuated midrange. There is a Chet Baker record I think is quite problematic because the recording is somehow strange or perhaps just bad. I always had the feeling it sounds a bit wrong especially with my other turntables. The Technics improved things a bit but now with the Pickering the record sounds as it should.

I think I’m going to have a lot of fun with the Pickering.

Technics SL-1210 MKII

Finally I settled for a Technics SL-1210 MKII which is based on the legendary SL-1200. Yes, I’m more than satisfied with this deck. Not long ago and you would have seen a disapproving look on my face if you’d mention the Technics as a serious competitor in the turntable market. Luckilly I changed my mind. I did a lot of reading and the fact that the Technics has a technically mature direct drive that nearly eliminates speed issues was one of the reasons that convinced me that there must be something about it.
I’m using it with a Denon DL-110 cartridge and compared to the Thorens TD-160 which I used to own I must say I don’t miss anything. And there is this ease of use the 1210 offers and lets you forget all that fiddling around. Easy VTA adjustment and cartridge alignment (yes, that alignment tool coming with the deck works) is just wonderful.
Well, i don’t have to repeat what others already discovered and written down much better. Here is an enthusiastic review at vinyl heaven.
KAB has also found some good reasons why this is a perfect but underrated turntable here.

Sound HiFi just like KAB offers some tweaks to improve the SL-1210 if you wish to do so. Perhaps you would like to try another tonearm or use an external PSU.

It’s good to see that a quality turntable is no longer regarded as just a DJ turntable only and more people become aware of the strengths this deck has to offer for that price.

Einstürzende Neubauten – Nagorny Karabach

A few weeks ago I saw a documentation about Blixa Bargeld and was surprised about the sound they are producing nowadays because I didn’t bother about their activities for a long time. Perhaps the time for records I used to like and listen to very often like Halber Mensch, Kollaps and Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T. was over for me.
What I like about the band is the way they stick to their style and the music they make today is just the result of a long process.