Carlitos Guzmán comes to us by way of Puerto Rico. An unabashed fan of analog tape, we hope he will be joining us more regularly once the US Government remembers that PR is actually a US Territory and restores power to the island.
In the meantime, please check out his recent audioimpressions blog post on Analogy Records, an analog tape outfit coming out of Italy (note: they have really nifty take-up reels for sale, too).
Yes, analog tape is expensive and hard to find. But for those with the will and the way, the rewards can be spectacular. Looks like Analogy might be one of those places to add to the shortlist. Enjoy — I plan to. My sampler is now on the way.
Pre-recorded tapes are now the new kid on the block for audiophiles. Fancy reproductions running on fully restored 30 years old decks is something you could never predict 5 years ago. The revival of the open reel and audio cassette tape was something more obscure than a urban legend. Now it’s a reality and it’s stronger than ever. Unfortunately, the unavailability of new decks, the cost of restored TOL decks and the scarcity of new popular music available on these media make it difficult to be adopted by the masses. Some attempts have been trumpeted by few companies about coming with a new open reel deck, like the failed Revox project and the unaffordable Ballfinger, but I’m afraid that’s not enough.
Besides all these shortcomings, not many people are able to pay over $250.00 for an unknown artist. John Q Public is looking for his favorite group and not for an equipment demonstration costly tape. At least the music recorded by Analogy Records is more contemporary and has not been castigated by the same “strange” music selections, without any animadversion, of other similar companies. If you want this saga to be successful among new public, you better change the idea and concept. It’s hard to sit a young guy in front of a system and induce him to listen exotic music from drums and mallets which are more suitable for audio demonstration than for real listening! The music I heard from these masters are not only meritorious of demonstrate the virtues of any system, but it’s also the kind of music anyone can listen to. Compared to those copies made from production tape masters, these from Analogy are a kind of lean and with less body on the lower regions but not by far. They are clean, fast and with a lot of impact. The recording level is not shy and as far as your machine is well aligned, prepare yourself for a paean experience! Robbo Vigo and Analogy Records are on the right track for sure.
