AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
AAA 100% Analogue - 180 Gram Vinyl
100 Recommended All-Analog ressues Worth Owning - Michael Fremer Analogplanet 2019
Sound 10/10 Music 9/10 Michael Fremer Analogue Planet
Mastered by: Scott Hull at Masterdisk
The recording at Potterville International Sound, NY (Saft’s home studio) was live to 2-track ½” Ampex tape recorder with no EQ, nor compression, just “a little reverb” and no post-production effects. Previte’s drums placed in an isolation booth were miked with an overhead ribbon a pair of Beyer M-88s on the tom-toms and kick drum and a Neumann KM-184 on snare and high hat.
Beyer’s website describes the ‘60s era M-88 as having “earned its place in history in the Kick Drum….resulting in the tight ‘thump’ without the need for complex signal processing.” After you hear the monster kick drum sound on this record you will not need convincing of that!
Ferla some time ago switched from analog tape to DSD and 96/24 PCM but returned here to analog tape because this record is his engineering swan song: he called it quits after this record to concentrate on his guitar playing. What a way to go!
Seven of the mostly blues-based tunes on the double LP set are Saft’s. The others are collaborative improvisations that keep relatively swinging but not what I’d characterize as light grooves.
The goal is the production of thrust and power anchored by Swallow’s prominent, bass lines. The avant-garde, experimental music these guys play “downtown” are MIA on this set of straight-ahead tunes played with muscular swagger.
Saft is mostly light-handed on piano, hovering deftly on a chord and then rapidly “tickling the ivories” to produce a sonic shimmer (a move he repeats too often IMO) but when he switches to organ on “Blues Shuffle” he has a good time laying it on thick and sounding more like a rocker.
Previte’s drumming throughout is equally and pleasurably “thick and rich” and miked to take full advantage of the weight and power of his choices. This is a jazzy record that will shake your listening room. You’ll need but a few bars into the opener “Clarissa” to figure out that Swallow’s electric bass is plugged directly into the board and that Ferla’s not interested in creating an airy picture with strong L/R stereo spread.
The trio is centered and exceptionally well-focused on the stage with Previte’s drums sitting behind Saft’s keyboards—whatever the reality of the instrumental placement in the room. Only an occasional cymbal hit moves to the side yet there’s a palpable sense of space and three-dimensionality. The goal here is a combination of transparency and visceral power that the musicians and Ferla achieve fully.
Each listen reminded of a high-viscosity, far more dangerous and heavy sounding version of Modeski, Martin & Wood. Instead of The New Standard, they could have called this album No Pussyfooting, but the name’s already been taken.
This time not. The New Standard is definitely a record you’ll want to play for people who think vinyl can’t produce sensational deep bass and/or wide dynamic swings. You'll also definitely want to play it for your own pleasure.
