Solid Air [VINYL]

Product Information

Cream ‘Disraeli Gears’ – Cut from digital transfers made from the original ¼” MONO masters (with edits) from Atlantic Studios NYC, 1967 – transfers were made at Sterling Sound, NYC, in 2013 Abbey Road’s engineers have been cutting grooves into discs since the studios first opened their doors in 1931. In 2013, award-winning engineer Miles Showell joined their existing mastering team, bringing a wealth of disc-cutting experience with him. Released by Universal Music on 6 May 2016 (delayed from 15 April 2016) on high quality audiophile vinyl. Go Down Easy and Don’t Want To Know proved to be chill-out masterpieces decades before the phrase had ever been invented. I’d Rather Be The Devil is viciously wild with echo drenched guitar, however Martyn will always be remembered for May You Never, a delightful song of kindhearted advice that he recorded in one take at two in the morning accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. The translucent green Solid Air must have sold well for HMV and so they decided to have another go, this time on blue vinyl! The exclusive HMV store release of Solid Air on translucent blue vinyl was released 13 October 2018.

Considered by many to be his finest, and without doubt his most famous album, the enduring theme of love epitomizes Martyn’s philosophy on life. Simple Minds ‘New Gold Dream’ – Cut from a high-resolution digital transfer from the original ½” analogue masters The album has come to be considered one of the earliest examples of chill out music and is thoroughly deserving of the accolade. By way of complete contrast the album’s second song, ‘Over the Hill’ is more in keeping with traditional British folk, featuring the Fairports’ Richard Thompson (who is no relation to Danny) on mandolin and Simon Nicol playing autoharp. The vinyl L.P. is an analogue sound carrier. Therefore the size and shape of the groove carrying the music is directly related to whatever the music is doing at any particular point. By reducing the speed by a factor of two the recording stylus has twice as long to carve the intricate groove into the master lacquer. Also, any difficult to cut high-frequency information becomes fairly easy to cut mid-range. The result is a record that is capable of extremely clean and un-forced high-frequency response as well as a detailed and solid stereo image.

With mellow jazzy flourishes and warm acoustic sounds, Solid Air is the musical equivalent of a reassuring hug… a quiveringly sexy folk record.” (Q, 1999 voting Solid Air as one of the best chill-out albums of all time) Free ‘Fire and Water’ – Cut from digital transfers from the original ¼” tapes, recently prepared by Free remastering engineers Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham Of course, it is not as simple as running everything at half rate. There is an EQ curve applied to all vinyl records and by running the lathe at half speed, all the frequencies are wrong. However, the technical staff at Abbey Road have had new custom built filters installed which allow Miles to practice half speed cutting to the full on a modified Neumann VMS-80 lathe. Further details are provided in the press release kit (below) which includes a detailed explanation of the mastering process. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.

On stage he would transmute his solo entity into thunderous aural multitudes – a Niagara Falls of abstract sonic textures, which could bathe you and bend you like Jah Shaka’s thunderous dub at the reggae sound systems. Martyn’s continued “cool factor” was due in part to his deft deployment of the then still new-ish foot-controlled pedals, phasers and pedals to aerate and implode conventional guitar sounds. Also, as this was an analogue, vinyl only high quality release, I did not apply any digital limiting. This is added to almost all digital releases to make them appear to be loud and is responsible for “the loudness war” and in almost every case is anything but natural and pure sounding. Cut by Miles Showell, one of the world’s leading exponents of half speed cutting, these are among the very finest vinyl pressings that these albums have ever received. Half speed mastering has resulted in “superior high frequency response (treble) and very solid and stable stereo images”, and pressed to a very high standard in Germany, ensuring top notch sound quality. i have a few now , this one , john martyns bless the weather and one world , and a free tons of sobs Solid Air…if I had to decide, would probably rank as my favourite of the whole lot.” (Andy Childs, ZigZag No.41)This album was cut from a high-resolution digital transfer from the best known analogue tape in existence. Only minimal sympathetic equalisation was applied to the transfer to keep everything as pure as possible. Also, as this was an analogue, vinyl only high quality release, I did not apply any digital limiting. This is added to almost all digital releases to make them appear to be loud and is responsible for “the loudness war” and in almost every case is anything but natural and pure sounding. Free / Fire and Water (half-speed mastered vinyl) HMV Press release, “LIMITED EDITION GREEN VINYL LP, 500 ONLY, HMV EXCLUSIVE AVAILABLE FOR ONE DAY ONLY ON 18TH JUNE 2016. Unlike previous re-issues the album was cut at half-speed at Abbey Road Studios. This technique results in the very highest quality sound reproduction. This album was cut from a high-resolution digital transfer from the best known analogue tape in existence. Only minimal sympathetic equalisation was applied to the transfer to keep everything as pure as possible. Also, as this was an analogue, vinyl only high quality release, I did not apply any digital limiting. This is added to almost all digital releases to make them appear to be loud and is responsible for “the loudness war” and in almost every case is anything but natural and pure sounding. Released by Universal Music on 6 May 2016 (delayed from 15 April 2016) on high quality audiophile vinyl. Unlike previous reissues the album was cut at half-speed at Abbey Road Studios. This technique results in the very highest quality sound reproduction.