Audiophile Vinyl

David Forman
Who You Been Talking To
High Moon Records HMRLP022 (180g vinyl)

How did this gem disappear for 50 years? Singer-songwriter Forman, a protégé of legendary producer/arranger Jack Nitzsche, delivered this stunning 11-track set of his own compositions to Arista in 1977 but the label passed. The tapes were recently rediscovered, restored, remastered and are presented here with a 24-page booklet telling a tale with links to Mink DeVille, Aaron Neville and Marianne Faithfull, while backing Forman are Ry Cooder, David Lindley, Flaco Jiménez, Jim Keltner and other A-listers. The result? A staggering distillation of everything to adore in blue-eyed soul, the funk of Little Feat, the lyrics of Warren Zevon and the vision of Tom Waits. What a find! KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Santana
Moonflower
Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-558 (two discs)

Oddly, this 1977 double might serve as an ideal, if unusual introduction to Santana (the band, not the solo performer), or perhaps act as a rewarding one-off instead of the default purchase of a ‘Best Of’ package. Why? Because Moonflower’s two LPs mix representative live cuts recorded in Europe and studio tracks from back home in San Francisco. As with all Santana efforts, it’s a classy mix of Latino-rock and jazz-fusion, peppered with Carlos Santana’s sizzling guitar playing, while enough signature tunes – ‘Soul Sacrifice’ and cool covers of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Black Magic Woman’ and The Zombies’ ‘She’s Not There’ – are present for a dose of the familiar. KK

Sound Quality: 85%

The Stooges
The Stooges
Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-605 (two 45rpm LPs)

Huh? Raw, unfiltered Detroit punk, an exemplar of a genre not known even remotely for sound quality? That’s precisely why it deserves our attention. This 1969 debut of Iggy Pop and his band of reprobates is a milestone of snotty, gnarly rock (save for the gothic ‘We Will Fall’) which heralded/inspired everything from the entire UK punk movement – The Sex Pistols, The Buzzcocks, The Damned, et al – to The Ramones, The New York Dolls and Nirvana. This massacres my circa-’69 pressing, and the gutsy production by The Velvets’ John Cale is wide open, especially the imaging. ‘No Fun’ and ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ have never sounded so good. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Mal Waldron
The Quest
New Jazz/Craft CR00724 (180g vinyl)

Although described by one source as ‘the complex music (which falls between hard bop and the avant-garde)’, don’t let that put you off if, say, Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz leaves you bewildered. In practice this is stunning musicianship that carries you along even in its most challenging passages. Pianist Waldron must have been a generous soul because the cover of this ’61 recording gives prime billing as well to Eric Dolphy (clarinet, alto sax) and Booker Ervin (tenor sax); you need to flip it over to find a 25-year-old Ron Carter is there, too. Each enjoys plenty of solo time and the performances are truly alluring. Lacquers cut by Kevin Gray from the master tapes. KK

Sound Quality: 90%