Audiophile LPs and the Dollar Bin

pic. Worth anything to you? Johnny Hodges needs no introduction. The incomparable Hollywood String Quartet and Edwin Fischer are also in mono. Stoika Milanova is an underated Bulgarian virtuoso and pedagogue and this is a beautiful disc.

NY Diary (19-9): Wanderlust
Talk Vinyl: Audiophile LPs and The Dollar Bin, Triumph and Disappointment

Here we are not talking about the audiophile's well known lust for gears - we are talking about the lust for desirable software. But then, what exactly is desirable? Most of this article shall be on vinyl, but the psychology can be equally applied to digital physical media (CD/SACD, etc).

Audiophile Certified
HP's Super LP List Harry Pearson was the first to compile a so-called super list. This is highly unfortunate, as it became Bible and almost every audiophile (particularly in the East) is looking for the same thing. The worst aspect of this is that in not a few the music-making itself is not particularly inspiring. Examples: 1) Beethoven/Enescu (Wilson), this LP commands a hefty sum, but the music is better done by numerous others. I don't even find the recording particularly outstanding but I have been made to hear it many times in HK; 2) HiFi a la Espanola (Mercury) - downright dull musically! 3) Sheffield Records direct-to-disc - unexceptional musically and even sonically; 4) La Fille Mal Gardee (Decca), not even close to top flight ballet music. Not too Serious, please! Perusal of the list show the selection is lopsided - mostly for the sonic aspects, not for more. In classical, they are mostly from the romantic and post-romantic era, i.e. employing large orchestras. Theatrical music (the Chabrier mentioned below is a good example) greatly outnumber "simpler" or grimmer stuff. Unthinkably, much music of the greatest beauty, Bach and Mozart in particular, are conspicuous for their absence, surely because the music is more sparsely scored. Mahler 1 and 3 made the list, but his more churning stuff (like 5, 6, 9) did not. For someone like me, nothing elevates me more than Bruckner, and he is absent, undoubtedly because his music requires patience and a spiritual bend to get through, yet no music, not even Mahler and Shostakovich, better showcase orchestral opulence, indeed transcendence (think No. 8).

Wilkinson Quite a few of the Decca LPs on the list were recorded by Kenneth Wilkinson, but this great engineer recorded so many others of equally good sound (including those for Reader's Digest) that singling a few out is absurd. As an example, Ansermet (of whom I am a fan) recorded a ton of ballet music, all more complete and sonically resplendent, so why pay an arm and a leg for the Ansermet/Royal Ballet (RCA), an album of short excerpts? Ansermet's Chabrier LP sells for good money in Taiwan because it is on a list there, but I just recently found one in a dollar bin here. Rudy Van Gelder ditto for him, singling any album out for best sound is just pure hype. Most of them, and that means most of the classic jazz catalogue, are excellent.

HP's Offsprings Judging by the price of LPs, the influence of HP's list is vast, but it stopped there. TAS has for a long time added items to the list, but most of the post-HP additions did not perform well (testament to the lackluster personalities of the current staff, be it JV or RH). HP's list spawned many others, including Stereophile's "Records to Die For", which is just as unsuccessful (though that magazine's music section is always more interesting). Chinese Descendants The Chinese hi-end was, and is, a lot more successful in creating their own lists (which include Chinese albums). How could it not be, given its huge base of musical novices, whether in HK, Taiwan or PRC, non-fluent in English ! Many recordings skyrocketed in value because of this (like the Rossini mentioned below). Given the Chinese penchant for smaller scaled music, these lists include a lot more smaller scaled music. And "sparser" music, like Dire Straits.

Home Visits When you make home visits, audiophiles want to show you their "best", so in HK I was frequently "treated to" things like the aforementioned "Royal Ballet", or things like Rossini's "Sonata a Quattro" (Accardo et al, Philips, oop, very expensive). I have even met audiophiles who know little about music but have everything on HP's list, that is how influential it is. This is understandable, as they also want to play you something that you have heard - this way we audiophiles listen again and again to unworthy things (like Gary Karr, what a bore!) I don't do this to my visitors. Yes, I have played that Prokofiev Scythian Suite, but that is before I knew it is on the list and mine is a Philips Import, not original Mercury. Yes, that is great stuff, but I have never encountered another audiophile who played some Prokofiev, except Andy.

The Dollar Bin
No matter where I go, I always go through the dollar bins. Unfortunately, there are less dollar bins (many start at 2-3 dollars) these days and the pickings are much slimmer compared to many years ago. In the past I'd look at the regularly priced stuff too, but these days I have gotten cheaper - almost exclusively dollar bins. The reason is, I already have too many LPs and there is nothing I must have.

Superdiscs Mind you, I have a few of the albums that are on HP's List, and some of those were acquired long before I knew of the list (like the Prokofiev/Maazel). And I also own some in the form of later re-issues. London and Living Stereo I have long been a fan of London (Decca) recordings, both for the sound and the artists (like Ansermet). I have a lot more budget STS than London's simply because they are cheaper and frequently found in dollar bins. ditto I have a lot more Victrola's than Living Stereo's as the price difference if too huge. Current Re-issues I don't buy them. Aside from a couple of companies, most are awful and likely pressed from digital masters. Many sound bad. And then there is the price. The most extreme is The Electric Recording Company, whose offerings of Kogan were immediately sold out (most of it probably went to Asia). I got to hear the Tchaikovsky in HK and was not particularly impressed. At GBP 500 each disc, I was expecting to be dazzled, my heart fluttering and my mouth drooling, but it did not happen. Not sour grape, but I will stick with my Seraphim equivalents from the dollar bin.

First Pressings It is a fact first pressings sound better, but they are more expensive. I have collected almost all of the Ansermet recordings, but that was because most of it is on STS (still English pressing) and from the dollar bin. Do you know there is a parallel trend in used CDs? There is a thriving market in HK and China for the equivalent of 1s/1s LP's - CD first pressings, can you imagine? Certain pressing plants, like German Sonopress, JVC and Nimbus are particularly prized.

Others Regardless of what they sound like or are worth, I love finding recordings that I like in the dollar bin. Bruckner of course! These days, increasingly, I dig mono recordings by lesser known artists, such as many found in early Westminster. I do not exclude an LP because it doesn't sound good, but a friend does; he only likes London and shaded dog, no later RCA's, Angels and Columbia's for this man - imagine how many artists he excludes!

Adrenalin Rush Ultimately, buying too many from the dollar bin is not sensible, but sense is not something audiophiles are famous for (see my article on music lover vs audiophile). Perhaps it is better to buy exactly what you want and not what are bargains, but then you will not get the adrenalin rush as when you pull out a prized item out of a dollar bin. I am still waiting for the moment I pull out the Royal Ballet or Casino Royale (Aside from The Look of Love, does anyone play the rest of the music?). Dream on...

Wandering from Dollar Bin to Dollar Bin, one gets tired bending down. Most of the time, you score nothing much, so you owe it to yourself to have a pint at a local bar after you wash the dirt off your hands. Ah, that Hootie ain't bad, especially when it is nearly 100 degrees outside.