Kevin Borich : Totem

 

44.1kHz/24-bit FLAC, own label (no catalogue number) (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Borich has four decades of work behind him, including supporting the likes of Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy and appearing with Bo Diddley, Taj Mahal and Joe Walsh. What’s on offer here is a no-nonsense mix of mainstream rock/blues, and if that has you thinking you know what to expect, you’re probably bang on the money. There’s something very old-fashioned (classic?) about this set, from the content to the recorded sound, which is all great swathes of grumbling bass, distorted guitars, tub-thumping drums: one minute it’s all a bit ‘Smoke On The Water’, the next it’s attacking weasel politicians and bankers on the revealingly-titled ‘SoapBoxBitchinBlues’. If you’ve a hankering for an album sounding like it was recorded in the ’70s, this is it – just don’t be too confused by the last three bonus tracks as it all goes at turns jazzy and then gets deeply, oddly New Age. AE

Sound Quality: 75%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

When an album is recorded this loud it really doesn’t matter whether the download is 16-bit or 24-bit! So every Hz of this 44.1kHz FLAC is used but a pity the dynamic range is squeezed with unnecessary ~0dBFs peaks. PM

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