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Audiophiliacs'

Delight

Half-speed remastered and digital recordings for the discerning ear. Reviewed by Crispin Cioe

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William Ackerman: Passage William Ackerman, producer Digitally recorded (Windham Mili WHSD C 1014 Box 9388, Stanford, Calif. 94305)

William Ackerman is an acoustic guitar-ist whose folk-based instrumental musie makes frequent use of open tunings. He is also the founder of Windham Hill Records. a smali West Coast independent label whose limited roster of superb instrumentalistscould make it America*s answer to Germany*s ECM. With a pick-ing style reminiscent of John Fahey*s. the soloist receives fine backing from Robert Hubbard on English horn. cellist Dan Reiter. violinist Darol Anger(of the David Grisman Quintet). and. fellow Windham soloist. pianist George Win-ston. “Passages” was recorded digitally and pressed on Vitec*s new Quiex vinyl compound. It’s a remarkably intimatc. unobstructed listening experience and one that*s surę to please any fan of richly resonant acoustic strings. (For an in-depth review of “Passage." see page 98.)

Blondie: Paralle) Lines

Mikę Chapman, producer Half-speed remastered Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab MFSL 1-050

“Parallel Lines.” as first released in 1978. isone of the reasons that Mikę Chapman is considered a pioneer of the high-tech rock production style that is an integral part of today*s pop aural aesthetic. The stvle. essentially a sonie mixture of old and new. is best defined as garage-band-meets-futuristic-synthesizer-on-dance-floor. At this stage in its career. Blondie w'as still very much an authentic rock band with a fairly primitive instrumental blend. Such aspects as heavy guitar dis-tortion make it a little difficult to deter-mine exactly what has been enhanced in the half-speed remastering process. For

better or worse. Debbie Harry*s voice

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rings through with inereased clarity. al-though it was consistently high in the mix on the original. On rockers like One Way or Anoilier. her legendary cool and otfhanded delivery lloats limpidly above the band.

Erie Clapton: Just One Night

Jon Astley, producer Half-speed remastered Nautilus NR 32 (two dises)

Erie Clapton and band turn in several in-spired cuts on this live double album from a ’79 concert at Tokvo's Budokan I heater. As with any livc performance recorded in a huge hall. the mix occa-sionally tends to favor guitar and lead vocals. WTiile the ambience here is gen-erally good. the cpiestion again arises: Is this the kind of recording that is worth the remastering efTort and its attendant higher price tag? For Clapton fans. 1 sup-pose the answer is yes. On blues shuffles like Furt her on Up the Road. his guitar bursts with passion. helped along by the extended frequency response. T he band also plays with an imprcssive tightness. which is morę evident here than on the original release.

Eoreigner: Double Yision

Keith Olsen. Mick Jones.

& lan McDonald, producers Half-speed remastered MFSL 1-052

Whether you like the band or not. For-eigner on record is a near-perfect ex-ample of what a contemporary heavv metal band\ sound should be: Mick Jones's guitar leads growl without peak-ing in the high end. Lou GramnTs some-times-snarling. sometimes-pleading vo-cals ride neatlv within the instrumental mix. and the rhythm tracks arc rock solid. Lngineer/coproducer Keith Olsen

Ackerman: remarkably intimate captures the band's raw ness in the dean-est possible way. giving extraordinary presence to songs like Hot Rlooded and Spe/lbinder. Benefitting from his superior original production. “Double Yision” weiuhs in as one of the better hard-

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rock remastering eflbrts.

J. Geils Band: Love Stinks Seth Justman, producer Half-speed remastered Nautilus NR 25

With keyboardist Seth Justman assum-ing total production and arranging dutics for the first time, last year’s ‘‘Love Stinks” was the J. Geils Band’s most suc-cessful album to dale. The group*s char-acteristically sardonic and biting mes-sage benefits from clean and modern instrumental sounds. lots of well-inte-grated synthesizer parts. and. at the core. the gutsy rock combo blend that has al-ways been the J. Geils calling card. The hiahs on this remaster are substantiallv

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morę resonant. best cxemplified by the rolling guitar-synthesizer cxchangc at the end of Come Rock. Again. a carefully produced original recording makes its remastered counterpart well worth the ticket.

Keith Jarrett: Imocations/

The Moth and the Elame

Manfred Eicher, producer Digitally recorded EC M D-1201

On *Tnvocations.” Keith Jarrett plays pipę organ and soprano sax: on “The

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HIGH FIDELITY