Audiophile: Digital, January 2021

hfnalbum.pngFiona Boyes
Blues In My Heart
Reference Recordings FR-740

A 20th anniversary remastering of her live-to-analogue-tape release of 2000, this acoustic blues set is one of those rare 'audiophile' titles which defies the usual great-sound-shame-about-the-music curse. Though it reminded me at first of Rory Block (for whom I have a near-obsessive adoration), and a bit of early Bonnie Raitt, Boyes is less the fire-breathing purist that implies. Don't get me wrong: I revel in Block's and Raitt's pedantry, but Boyes's approach makes me imagine what a blues album recorded by Julie London night have been like. A mix of traditional numbers and originals, a liquid voice, sublime harmonica at the back of the room: this is both intimate and audiophilic, up there with the Eric Bibb CDs on Opus3. KK

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Victoria Alexandra With Mike Skid Wroe
The Best View In The World
STS Digital STS6111192

Released to mark STS's 40th anniversary, this CD – bereft of liner notes – is worth finding because the sound is exquisite. As is the jinx with all audiophile labels except those reissuing works by known artists, you'll consider this a punt, taking my word for it. So let me be blunt: I know nothing about Ms Alexandra beyond hearing a heart-breakingly sweet voice somewhere between Mary Hopkins and the late Minnie Riperton. This is as fragile a performance as I have ever heard, accompanied by gentle guitar and recorded with finesse. She wrote all the material. Maybe next time she'll get to write some liner notes. KK

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Buddy Miles Express
Booger Bear/Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live!
Vocalion 2CDSML8560 (two discs)

Hugely prolific, one of those musicians who played with just about everyone who mattered, drumming powerhouse Buddy Miles was a solo artist due for reassessment, rather than being remembered only as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band Of Gypsys. This welcome 2CD set pairs a 1973 Buddy Miles Express release with a live-in-'72 collaboration with Carlos Santana, both in quadraphonic sound. As expected, the drums are prominent, but that's a good thing: these are show-off CDs bursting with virtuoso playing. You have to admire Miles' high-funk cover of The Kinks' 'You Really Got Me', while familiarity enriches the live disc, via 'Evil Ways' and 'Them Changes'. KK

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Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge
Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2210 (mono SACD)

Scholars acknowledge that some mono mixes differ enough from the stereo to warrant reissuing; most don't. This reissue, however, will delight fans dissatisfied with the overall sound of one of the most important albums of the mid-1960s because, according to legend, parts of the original 'stereo LP' were in mono, despite the then-novel ascent of stereo. Whatever, the remastering here is the best I've ever heard of this monumental, influential, early psychedelic classic. Slowed-down, inventive covers ranging from The Supremes' 'You Keep Me Hanging On' to The Zombies by way of The Beatles: it's a vivid taste of 1967 (also on two 45rpm LPs: MFSL2-491). KK

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