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Now Spinning: The Best Of Rod Stewart
A Rod Stewart compilation in the dollar bin might not catch your eye, but that would be quite the mistake here – as this, and the following Vol. II, are low-key two of the better damn rock and roll compilations out there. If you’ve made your way to this site, you’re probably well aware that…
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Now Spinning: Five Man Electrical Band
Between the band’s completely insane Five Man Electrical Band name and the British Invasion-inspired styling on the LP cover, it sure is clear that this one comes straight out of the 1960s. As someone with a soft spot for the era and open ears, especially for those lesser known bands that may not have made…
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Dust Cover Restoration
I spent a good chunk of time this past weekend restoring a turntable that arrived to me in grimy cosmetic shape, including a particularly nasty dust cover that featured decades-old decaying packing tape and its sticky residue covered in dirt and dust. But after an hour or or two of intensive scrubbing, we had it…
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A Diamond In The Rough: The Goldring G800 Phono Cartridge
Out of all the twists and turns on the long and winding road to audio nirvana, as a vinyl enthusiast, my favorite little corner to explore is the world of phono cartridges – particularly that of overlooked vintage cartridges that may be forgotten and easy to find on the cheap. The Goldring G800 certainly qualifies,…
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Now Spinning: Shawn Phillips – Second Contribution
‘I don’t wanna hear old sad bastard music, Barry, I just want something I can ignore!‘ A charming description, courtesy of the Rob Gordon character from High Fidelity (scene included in the film version only), used to describe an apparently forgettable if pleasant Belle & Sebastian album. A scene so memorable, that Belle & Sebastian,…
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Phono Cartridge Review: The Venerable Nagaoka MP-110
The Nagaoka MP-110 is a current phono cartridge offering from longtime Japanese stylus manufacturers, Nagaoka, and has become tremendously popular in recent years for providing an appetizing, warm and pleasant sound quality at a reasonable price point. HISTORY So what do we know about Nagaoka? Not much, I’m afraid, but enough to know that they…
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Now Spinning: The Allman Brothers Band – Cream Of The Crop 2003
Often times my favorite Record Store Day releases are the ones that I’m able to pick up after the ‘holiday’ at a discount. That was the case with this year’s Allman Brothers Band release, which turned up at my local used record store just days after Record Store Day, and still looks to be available…
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Now Spinning: Bill Black’s Combo – Plays Tunes by Chuck Berry
What an absolute blast this one is to listen to, which somehow serves as a pinnacle, last gasp and tribute to early rock ‘n’ roll all at once. Bill Black, of course, is legendary for teaming with Scotty Moore to back Elvis on his first sessions at Sun Studios. Black would remain with Elvis until…
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Now Spinning: Herbie Mann – Memphis Underground
Funky Friday music with this classic from Herbie Mann and a frighteningly loaded cast of supporting musicians. Few, if any, musicians can compete with the constant musical open-mindedness and curiosity of jazz flutist Herbie Mann. He would quite literally explore a different genre or set of influences with every single album – Impressions of the…
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In Defense of the Humble Record Changer
A couple of weeks ago, I repaired the record changer function on my Garrard A70 and shared a video of the record changing mechanism in action with a vintage HiFi Facebook group I belong to, and was amused by a few scattered comments like ‘If you are too lazy to change the record yourself, you…