Vinyl you may not know that should be in your collection.
If you visit the top vinyl sales websites such as Elusive Disc, Soundstage Direct, Acoustic Sounds among others, the quality vinyl lists are fairly similar. All the familiar suspects—RCAs, Lyritas, EMIs, Mercurys, Blue Notes, Argos, Deccas—populate the must haves. And many fabulous reissues also are cross referenced (Testament, Speakers Corner, Classic Records, etc).
I’ve been reviewing lots of cartridges and phono stages lately and have been deep diving into my vinyl collection to add a little more spice to the reviewing process.
Finding the following LPs in their original form may be difficult or expensive (vinyl as an inexpensive medium is long gone). A few, however, are on high quality 180g reissues.
Several of these LPs I discovered in the collections of other audiophiles. Basically, listen, be gobsmacked, run home like a wounded audiophile and hit Discogs hard 'till the vinyl was found. Some I even found on Amazon. Rest assured, the recordings are superb and the performances fabulous. Just be careful with price/quality ratio of originals if buying on the web.
Enjoy!
Let us know your desert island unknown vinyl in the Comments section below. In no particular order.
Superlative performances of underrated music by a little known conductor and 'C' orchestra from Germany. Recording is open, with powerful dynamics and wonderful instrumental timbre.
I was knocked out by this performance and recording. I've never heard the LSO recorded better. I was expecting a trendy 'collaboration' so popular in the '70s. What I hear is wonderful music, performed passionately with perfect EMI engineering.
Simple, passionate blues and swamp rock in superb sound. 'Catchy' isn't the word.
Nice one, Roksan, for releasing this absolute blues gem. And in amazing sound.
One of my favourite jazz albums. Quite superb sound from a live set at Montreux. The late, great Michel Petrucciani's stunning musicianship is matched by Wayne Shorter and Jim Hall. The opening track Limbo is remarkable in every musical and audiophile way.
Another personal favourite with essential Bill Evans and Jeremy Steig's way out fluting. When you hear whistle tones as clear as this, you know the Verve guys got the recording right. This one is hard to find.
Stage bands do not get better than this. The top Toronto jazzers/session musicians under the guidance of Rob McConnell. Canadian musical royalty.
A beautifully recorded Hyperion with superb singing and wonderful repertoire.
An extraordinary recording and performance by my dear old mate, John Bingham. Rarely recorded repertoire that sounds fabulous.
You'll come for the Rodrigo, which is fantastic, BTW, but the gem is the Lennox Berkeley Concerto played with the utmost virtuosity by Julian Bream. Recording is exceptional.
A fine English symphony played brilliantly by the Philharmonia and recorded with exceptional clarity and dynamism by Lyrita engineers. Ted Downes is a hugely underrated conductor.
Two of Michael Tippett's more accessible works played to perfection by the LSO and Barry Tuckwell's Horn Quartet. The recording is even better than the performance, if that's possible?
Another superb LP by an old mate. Valda didn't record a lot, but when she did, pow! This EMI recording captures the genius of Scarlatti and Valda's brilliant musicianship.
Rare. Basically, a London borough's brass ensemble captured superbly by EMI. You won't believe the quality of the playing by these youths. Many are now regulars in London orchestras. Definitely worth the hunt.
