Audiophile Digital

Anthony Gomes
Peace, Love & Loud Guitars
Up 2 Zero U2Z1135

It’s not common for albums to be remixed after a mere eight years, but this 2017 hit-on-the-blues-circuit release has been given the treatment to make it louder, raunchier and even more likely to incite air guitar playing than it was before. This is Gomes’ 15th in 25 years; of late he’s been using Instagram to sell his wares, which is why I bought my copy from www.anthonygomes.com and immediately ordered more from his back catalogue. A Canadian who can pass for a Texan, he extracts from his Gibson Flying V a sound somewhere in the realm of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Winter, with a heavy dose of ZZ Top. Cue straight to ‘The Whiskey Made Me Do It’ if you need proof the blues are still alive and well. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Steely Dan
Katy Lied
Analogue Productions CAPP137SA

If, because you prefer digital, you’ve not been tempted by the recent vinyl reissue nor Analogue Productions’ 2x45rpm UHQR LP, you haven’t been forgotten, nor under-served. This SACD edition of Steely Dan’s fourth album, from 1975, sounds simply sensational: clean, crisp and – yes – ‘analogue-ish’. I’d forgotten how many superior numbers it contains: ‘Black Friday’, ‘Daddy Don’t Live In That New York City No More’, ‘Everyone’s Gone To The Movies’, ‘Doctor Wu’ and six more jazzy stunners. As you’d expect, the lineup of musicians is stellar (Rick Derringer!), and its elevated place in the audiophile pantheon is a no-brainer. For my money, it slaughters Aja. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Fat Mattress
How Can I Live?
Grapefruit CRSEG3BOX155 (three discs)

Here’s one for Hendrix completists, though Jimi is not present save for percussion on one track. Subtitled ‘Complete Recordings’, this set contains everything produced by the band bassist/guitarist Noel Redding, formed while The Experience was nearing its demise. The UK mix of their eponymous debut fills CD1 and Fat Mattress II occupies CD3, but CD2 gives us the quite different US mix of Fat Mattress. All three add a total of 20 bonus tracks including radio and TV sessions, singles, outtakes and cuts from their unreleased third album. Clearly of its time, 1969-1970, it’s one for fans of psychedelia, though not as raw or heavy as Redding’s work with Hendrix. KK

Sound Quality: 85%

Louisa Amend Quartet
Live At The Muse Performance Space
Octave Records OCT-0057

Between writing ten volumes of hi-fi knowledge totalling 3000 pages (!) and running PS Audio, Paul McGowan continues to produce a steady flow of SACDs showcasing Colorado’s rich motherlode of talent. This time, it’s a superb quartet demonstrating everything McGowan champions in his books, exhibiting such spatial authenticity that it could have been released in his The Art Of HiFi series (sans hyphen!). Featuring Amend’s immaculately recorded vocals on her debut, she’s backed by upright bass, drums, and piano, interpreting an interesting mix of songs from Chick Corea, Joni Mitchell, Allen Toussaint, Styne & Cahn and more. KK

Sound Quality: 90%