Kane Strang - Two Hearts and No Brain
The Terminals - Antiseptic
Both arrived today from Flying Out

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

Will do - do you have these early Iris De Ment albums?
Have been meaning to get them for a long while, hope these apparent re-issues are good. Made in USA.

The Stones album has been getting some slagging on forums for its production style, not meeting 'audiophile' expectations it seems.
We'll see.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Jul 4, 2017 17:21:52 GMT 12 Owen Y said:

Will do - do you have these early Iris De Ment albums?
Have been meaning to get them for a long while, hope these apparent re-issues are good. Made in USA.

The Stones album has been getting some slagging on forums for its production style, not meeting 'audiophile' expectations it seems.
We'll see.

I've had both the Dement records on cd for many years. Picked them up during a major Americana phase.  I also like her 3rd record,  The Way I Should.  It gets panned by quite a few of her earlier fans as it moves away from where they think she should be into more political themes on some tracks.  
Living in The Wasteland of the Free seems more relevant than ever.



I see both the lps are reissued on Plain Records, a label that doesn't get a lot of respect in audiophile circles.  They appear to be tied in with 4 Men With Beards and commit the same cardinal sin that 4MWB do in not reveling  sources. Having said that I have a few albums on both labels and physically there're all nicely done with good covers and flat, quiet pressings. As for claims that they're just cds committed to vinyl  I have no idea as one mans ideal mastering seems to be anothers crap.

Geez yes Robin, I didn't bother to do my homework on these - we'll see
'Manufactured by Rhino' they say.

And yes, my only 4MWB LP is very average.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Hi cooksferry - I don't mind her more political material either.
I've always perceived her work as commentary on her life & life around her.

There's a theme of religion too, that surfaces.

But her voicing & phrasing can be almost other-worldly

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Unfortunately I didn't do my homework on these 2 Plain Recording re-issues & the forums are right, their transfers are rubbish - oddly so, because the vinyl looks clean & underlying sound seems beautifully analogue in all respects & the music is sublime.... but there is a curious 'overload distortion' (I would call it) on the vocal track occurring throughout on pretty much every track, ranging from mild to severe/unlistenable. It's like the transfer has been taken from a worn vinyl record, but I don't think so....in other respects the records sound beautiful (notably so) but something rough has happened in the cutting stage it seems.

No option but to return them to Amazon

(The records sound a bit like the youtube vid above )

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Sorry to hear that about the Dement lps Owen. I seen to remember looking at them when they were released and caution prevailing, very unusual for me.
Still I dont think the cds sound too bad, pretty hard to muck up what's basically piano or guitar with voice.

On the way to me
Procol Harum- Salty Dog, MoFi SACD
Procol Harum-Shine on Brightly 3cd deluxe
Laura Nyro- A Little Magic, A Little Kindness - The Complete Mono Albums Collection -2 cd
Vic Chesnutt- Silver Lake 2xlp reissue. Amazon UK have mucked me about with this one, delaying shipping several times but it posts today at last.

Also due to be released this month
Anne Briggs-The Tme Has Come on Earth Recordings who have a much better history than Plain who did my current copy.

Minor edit: Those Plain Recordings pressings seem fine, but something is amiss in the 'transfer' process.

The'distortions' occur on vocal peaks, pretty much throughout.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Jul 9, 2017 11:46:20 GMT 12 Owen Y said:

Minor edit: Those Plain Recordings pressings seem fine, but something is amiss in the 'transfer' process.

The'distortions' occur on vocal peaks, pretty much throughout.

From memory there's a similar distortion on the Anne Briggs lp I mentioned above. Probably why I haven't played it in months/years.

Memory banks obviously have a few cylinders down. I have three of the Anne Briggs reissues(think she only ever did 3 full length albums) and two are on 4MWB and the other from a UK based label Bo'Weavel Recordings.
Just replayed The Time Has Come and despite the record really needing a good clean it actually sounded much better than I remembered and no distortion on the vocals. I did find an old post of mine on a thread on the Steve Hoffman forums complaining about distortion back around 2008 but much has changed in my system since then and just maybe the new XX2 handles things better than whatever I was using in the dark ages.

Some where between here and there
Vic Chesnutt- Silver Lake, 2nd last in the very good vinyl reissue series
Love- Love, self titled mono reissue on Rhino Records, part of their summer of love program.
Anne Briggs- The Time Has Come

new public broadcasting service album "every valley" en route.

first ever issue of the original (not the awful rehash) ghost in the shell soundtrack delayed

not in the post, but a trip to Dunedin gave me a chance to fill some gaps:




Jimmy Cliff, BB King and The Fall from Noise Worth Hearing via Twings'n'Twine at a very good price ($33, $28, $28 respectively) whereas Don Auerbach, John Cale and Dudley Benson were a bit more expensive from Relics ($45, $47 and $30). Rapt to have finally got myself a copy of Dudley Benson (note the Stichbury print on the cover) but I don't know that taking my daughter record shopping is a good idea - she has yet to learn the value of a dollar.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

In the post
The Harrow & The Harvest- Gillian Welch all analogue issue. Got sick of being mucked about by Amazon.com so went to the UK branch instead for immediate ship.
Tim Buckley - Wings: The Complete Singles 1966-1974 cd
Vic Chesnutt-Ghetto Bells 2xlp

Had these on cd for awhile and finally decided i need these on vinyl aghh the addiction 😉

Should land around the 20th

Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI

On the way from Amazon Uk
Bright Phoebus, reissue of the folk classic by Lal and Mike Waterson.
There has been a long struggle to get this out on a legitimate reissue due to problems with the original label.  I was fortunate to score a nice original lp a few years ago and also have what appears to be a semi-legit cd reissue from several years back.

I have the double lp coming for myself. Lp #2  consists of alt tracks and demos and the double cd for my son. Bit of an early 70s who's who of UK folk royalty appearing including Lal, Mike and Norma Waterson, Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Mattacks, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior.

Thanks for the heads up on that cooks. Did you get the "Forever Aldebaran" reissue that came out last year ?

Aug 4, 2017 8:39:18 GMT 12 guitardude said:

Thanks for the heads up on that cooks. Did you get the "Forever Aldebaran" reissue that came out last year ?

No, I must be slipping.

Well worth while, if a little more of a challenging listen than I was expecting. First couple of listens through I couldn't make sense of it at all, then I played it with my Supex SD900 and it all fell into place. The Supex has an uncanny way of doing that, I don't quite know why ?

Jul 31, 2017 15:12:40 GMT 12 cooksferry said:

In the post
The Harrow & The Harvest- Gillian Welch all analogue issue. Got sick of being mucked about by Amazon.com so went to the UK branch instead for immediate ship.
Tim Buckley - Wings: The Complete Singles 1966-1974 cd
Vic Chesnutt-Ghetto Bells 2xlp

Mine's not shipping until 12 Aug (from Amazon UK).

Just placed on this album, haven't heard any of their previous albums but this sounds awesome from the YouTube files

Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI

Aug 4, 2017 19:14:34 GMT 12 Citroen said:

Jul 31, 2017 15:12:40 GMT 12 cooksferry said:

In the post
The Harrow & The Harvest- Gillian Welch all analogue issue. Got sick of being mucked about by Amazon.com so went to the UK branch instead for immediate ship.
Tim Buckley - Wings: The Complete Singles 1966-1974 cd
Vic Chesnutt-Ghetto Bells 2xlp

Mine's not shipping until 12 Aug (from Amazon UK).

Just got notification that its shipping now  

Aug 5, 2017 17:57:58 GMT 12 deano1974 said:

Just placed on this album, haven't heard any of their previous albums but this sounds awesome from the YouTube files

And a long time coming.

My daughter loves me, and pays attention, she bought me this for my birthday




and I bought this one for myself





Very pleased with both, OV Pain are a duo from the incestuous Dunedin scene featuring Tim Player (Opposite Sex) and Renee Barrance (Elan Vital). Worth checking out if you have a thing for that no-wave synth thing...

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

At Folsom Prison is a classic that every collection should have.

Your daughter is very perceptive!

Arguably Cash's finest moment on record.
Love that vintage twangy guitar melody plucking.

My copy, just a German Sony/BMG re-issue.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Just arrived this morning
Vic Chestnutt-Ghetto Bells
GillianWelch- The Harrow and The Harvest.

That's 4 new arrivals to tee up this weekend

Got home to a very nice suprise 7 days before expected eta

Slowdive has arrived and wow what an album, amazing!

Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI

Must be the week of it, all my stuff has arrived early too:

Bright Phoebus via amazon Thanks Cooks

Linda Ronstadt Silk Purse RSD reissue on Varese Sarabande via discount CD in welly.

Dan Auerbach Waiting on a song via discount CD in Welly. Excellent service from these guys, arrived the day after I ordered.

Havent had a chance to play any of them yet.....

Aug 10, 2017 8:10:32 GMT 12 cooksferry said:

Just arrived this morning
Vic Chestnutt-Ghetto Bells
GillianWelch- The Harrow and The Harvest.

That's 4 new arrivals to tee up this weekend

Still no Welch...