Needle Time

  John Coltrane - Coltrane [APRJ 7105 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] After his early years as a Navy musician, and then Dizzy Gillespie's Orchestra & Johnny Hodges Orchestra, John Coltrane's work as part of The Mile Davies Quintet provided him with the opportunity to record his first album proper for Prestige Records. Originally released on Prestige in 1957, Coltrane was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder with Paul Chambers on bass, Al Heath on drums & Red Garland on piano, Sahib Shihab added baritone sax and the line-up was completed with Johnny Splawn on trumpet. Four out of the six tracks on this album are covers, but it is really the two Coltrane penned tracks  Straight Street and Chronic Blues which stand out.  Just a few months later, Coltrane would be recording his classic album, Blue Train for Blue Note Records. This pressing is the 2022 repressing on 200gm vinyl, cut by Kevin Gray from the original mono tapes and pressed for Analogue Productions...

  Eddie Suzuki's Hew Hawaii - High Tide [AGS-053-ORG USA 2021 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released privately on the ESP Hawaii label in 1974. Psychedelic Hawaiian lounge music anybody? I will just leave this here....... A1 High Tide A2 Maunalani Hale A3 Legend Of Lehua A4 Magic Mile Of Waikiki A5 Pikake Lei A6 Sea Shells B1 Maile Lei B2 Pali B3 Beauty Near Hanalei B4 Fly To Waikiki B5 Kona B6 City Of Refuge Enjoy!

  Electronic - Electronic [FACT 290 UK 1991 24-Bit 176.4 kHz FLAC] Many of you have been asking for a new rip of the debut album by Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr's Electronic project (with a little bit of help from The Pet Shop Boys), so here you are ...in full glorious 176.4kHz quality. Quite possibly the pinnacle of British synth pop, once of course you get over Bernard's rapping on Idiot Country ? Could this (or should this) have really been a New Order album? It does seem to fit quite well between Technique and Republic .  Anyway, enough of the questions, I'll just let you all get on with remembering how you felt when you heard the Electronic album for the very first time. A1   Idiot Country A2   Reality A3   Tighten Up A4   The Patience Of A Saint A5   Gangster B1   Soviet B2   Get The Message B3   Try All You Want B4   Some Distant Memory B5   Feel Every Beat

  Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret [6359 087 DEU 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It took a couple of singles for Soft Cell to breakthrough from the darker alleys of synthpop, and it is very likely that if it wasn't for their cover of Tainted Love , Marc Almond and David Ball would have remained a underground act. That massive worldwide hit single, thrust this album into platinum sales territory, providing a significant return on the relatively small recording costs. This record wears its sexuality on its sleeve, and in Almond's highly suggestive lyrics - which back in those prudish early eighties would still be beyond the comprehension of the majority of the record buying public. I ripped this from an original German pressing of Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret released in 1981 on Some Bizzare Records via their deal with Vertigo Records, kindly funded by a generous blog follower. A1 Frustration A2 Tainted Love A3 Seedy Films A4 Youth A5 Sex Dwarf B1 Entertain Me B2 Chips O...

  Miles Davis - Miles In The Sky [MFSL 2-437 USA 2X45 2015 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I share the common belief that the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab cuts from the Miles Davis Columbia Records catelogue are by far the best sounding, I only have a few comparisons and exclude Kind Of Blue as that is a different mix - I will cover those at some point in the future. The fact that we now know know there is a DSD256 step in the chain appears to be of no relevance to the perception of these albums by the serious listener. I own a few of these records and Miles In The Sky is the latest ripped for Needle Time. Miles In The Sky was recorded over two sessions in January and May 1968, then first released on Columbia Records in July 1968. The album was his fifth & final album recorded with his second quintet of Davis on trumpet, Ron Carter on bass, Tony Williams on drums, Herbie Hancock on keyboards and Wayne Shorter on saxophone. Teo Macero took care of production duties and George Benson added...

  Donald Byrd - Street Lady [MOVLP3396 NLD 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Blue Note Records in 1973. Dutch reissue label Music On Vinyl have completed an amazing job on this brand new reissue of Donald Byrd's funky-soul-jazz album Street Lady . Whilst the label don't make a habit of revealing their lineage & mastering information on releases, this pressing does show the benefits of having your own pressing plant and managing quality control throughout.... this record sounds fantastic and it is pressed really rather well. The vinyl is so quiet, I would put it up there with QRP pressings. This album is really well recorded, it is super funky and if like me, you have a have a love for organic grooves laden with flute, trumpets, arp synths and Fender Rhodes, it will make your Saturday. Enjoy. A1 Lansana's Priestess A2 Miss Kane A3 Sister Love B1 Street Lady B2 Witch Hunt B3 Woman Of The World

  Simple Minds - Sons And Fascination [203 959 DEU 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I know I said that this rip would feature next week, but I now have to go on a work trip instead, so I managed to squeeze in the time last night and then again this morning for Sons And Fascination . What could have/possibly should have been a double, the band's proper debut for Virgin Records was produced by prog-rock-god Steve Hillage. Virgin records balked at the thought of a double, instead choosing to release an initial two album double pack in September 1981, then split them as separate releases in October 1981. Hillage's production style was very different to John Leckie's, pushing the drums, percussion and Kerr's voice further forward in the mix. This certainly marked a further move on from the new-wave/post-punk sound of the first three records, and further defined the musical direction of Simple Minds.  Both Sons And Fascination & Sister Feelings Call contain some of the bands...

  Mighty Ballistics Hi-Power - Matchless Triple A EP [CRI 12-135 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It is time to give that sub-woofer a good work out with this brand new rip of the only single by dub punks, Mighty Ballistics Hi-Power. MBHP do reflect on the Edwin Astley and John Barry TV show themes in this agit-dub-punk anti-Thatcher three track EP, and this new rip is a significant improvement on my previous attempt. Eyebrows at the ready - this is superb stuff - play loud! A1    Ghost Train B1    Springheel Jack B2    Black Gold

  Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang [VS 400-12 UK 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] ....but we do need a brand new 176.4kHz rip. Banned by the BBC for its political slant behind the guise of libelous untruths, the British Electric Foundation became Heaven 17, and the rest was history. I wonder what they would have done with the recent orange US president. A1 Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang B1 British Electric Foundation - Decline Of The West

  Simple Minds - Empires And Dance [V 2247 UK 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Simple Minds returned to Rockfield Studios with John Leckie in May 1980 to record what was to be their final album for Arista Records. The label failed to keep track of demand, consequently insufficient numbers of Empire And Dance were originally pressed when the album was first released on September 12th 1980. The initial run was just 15,000 & copies were rushed out to coincide with the bands support slot on Peter Gabriel's tour that autumn.  In 1982, Virgin Records acquired the rights to the Arista Simple Minds catelogue for just £35,000 and it is from a Virgin 1982 A1/B1 pressing that this rip has been prepared. Empires And Dance spawned two great singles, I Travel and Celebrate , neither of which would dent the Top 30, however the album's bleak euro-beats and continental politico reference points won great favour from critics and fans alike. Much more electronic than the first two albums, it ...

  Simple Minds - Real To Real Cacophony [201 150 DEU 1979/1980 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Before we begin, I need to ensure that I emphasise my belief that Real To Real Cacophony should be revered as one the great post-punk albums, possibly right up there with Unknown Pleasures , Metal Box , 154 and  The Correct Use Of Soap. In a world filled with genre bias, it would be easy to pigeonhole the second Simple Minds long player differently, but that would be foolish. After all, just look at that sleeve. Real to Real Cacophony was recorded and mixed in five weeks at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire during the autumn of 1979, produced by John Leckie renting the Rolling Stones mobile recording studio. The band entered the studio with just four songs, and left with one of the most important albums of the era. The problem was that Arista Records possessed a highly inefficient  marketing department, and the label had no clue how to promote the band. Sales were extremely disappoin...

  Simple Minds - Life In A Day [204 940 DEU 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I would guess anybody who has heard the digital-format reissues of the early Simple Minds albums agrees that they don't sound great. During those post Johnny & The Self Abusers years, they signed to Arista Records via Bruce Findlay's important Zoom Records labels however Arista never championed the band and after disappointing sales, Simple Minds were dropped by mutual consent. A subsequent deal with Virgin Records proved to be considerably more fruitful. Life In A Day was first released on Zoom Records in 1979, and then repressed as part of the Virgin deal a few years later. A generous blog follower recently contacted me to prod my interest in ripping those early pre-Lillywhite records. After agreeing on a donation to acquire what I perceived (or is that guessed) would be the best pressings, I am pleased to present what will be the first fruits from this project. This 1982 German repress was from the ...