-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: Sgt. Pepper — 1981 Blue Box vs. 1983 Canadian vs. 2017 Giles Martin remix
Let me apologize in advance for what is an overly complicated, utterly indecisive shootout. Burdened, like so many Beatles fans, which a bunch of Pepper pressings, I wanted to know which of them sounded best. Instead, I found that they all sound okay, and quite different — but, shockingly, none sound quite as good as…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: Charles Mingus, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus — 1968 ABC Impulse! vs 1979 MCA Japan
Surprise, surprise (surprise, surprise, surprise): Mingus, an early Impulse! pressing, a later Japanese reissue… My Best Pressing Shootouts are already stepping on their own toes. I revisited this many months later in a much better setup… and the results were overturned! Sorry, those of you who rushed out and purchased bargain Japanese pressings of this…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: Charles Mingus, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady — 1963 Impulse vs. 1963 Sparton vs. 1972 Impulse Japan (Toshiba) vs. 2019 Vital Vinyl
Yes, this is one of the big, massive, ridiculously oversubscribed Best Pressing Shootouts I’ve been planning for months. (There are a couple of others to come!) Four copies of one record! What am I thinking? Let me break it down for you. I’ve revisited this comparison with my fancy new loudspeaker setup… and the results…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: Eric Dolphy, Out to Lunch — 1977 King Japan vs. 2015 Music Matters 33
Japanese pressings in general, and King Records pressings in particular, have been faring very well so far in my Brest Pressing Shootouts. Now it’s time to bring in another of the vaunted “best reissues” series: the recent Music Matters pressings. They’re expensive as hell, they’re hard to get into Canada — but no less an…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: The Ornette Coleman Trio, At the “Golden Circle” Volume One — 1966 New York USA Blue Note vs. 1977 King Japan
In the first of an exciting new series of “Best Pressing Shootouts,” I compare two pressings of an amazing-sounding live disc: the Ornette Coleman Trio At the “Golden Circle” Volume One. See red text below for the “revisited” account of this BPS! Why am I starting here? Three reasons. First, I love the music. No,…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout: Eric Dolphy, Out There — 1969 Prestige Blue Trident Stereo vs. 1968 Xtra UK Stereo vs. 1975 Toshiba-EMI Japan Stereo vs. 1977 Victor Japan Mono
Yes, that’s right, my friends. I have gone to absurd lengths to find you the finest (stereo) pressing of this very very fine record. Actually, I’ve gone a little further than even the title suggests. Time for the Best Pressing Shootout I’ve been planning the longest… Background Some time in the winter of 2018, when…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout: Can, Tago Mago — 1971 (?) UK First Pressing (?) vs. 1981 Celluloid French Reissue
When I realized sometime last summer that vinyl really did (or could) sound better than digital, I was thrilled and horrified at all the records I had to track down. In my digital days, I would smugly think how economical streaming was — but deep down inside, miss the fun of tracking down those big…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout: Pentangle, Sweet Child — 1968 Transatlantic UK vs 1970 Reprise USA
In this Best Pressing Shootout, I look at two copies of Pentangle’s 1968 classic Sweet Child. Oh how I love this record. I might like it just a touch less than their self-titled début (with liner notes by a young John Peel) — but I definitely like it way more than any of the sort…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout: Rolling Stones, Beggars Banquet — 1970s Decca UK vs. 2003 DSD Reissue
Best Pressing Shootout time. I came to The Rolling Stones fairly late. In the early 2000s, while I was an undergraduate student in London, Ontario, I ran out of indie rock to listen to and so started going backward: finding out about the Fall via Pavement, about Gang of Four via the Rapture, about Joy…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout: Yo La Tengo, Painful — 1993 Matador First Pressing vs. 2011 Reissue
Bit of a deep cut, here — not sure how many people are debating between these two particular copies of this record. But hey, I love this record, and I have two copies of it, and I want to know which one to keep. So: Best Pressing Shootout! Since installing the Mober DC power kit…
