Deadwax finds: Tape One, Townhouse, TelDec, Timtom

I spend an innordinate amount of time looking at the inscriptions on an LP's deadwax to discern who mastered a particular pressing, where it was mastered or pressed, and whether it was a first pressing. The pursuit is very much like train spotting or stamp collecting, but the goal is entirely sensual, the hunt for the breath of life in well-mastered recorded music.

The inscriptions are made by the cutting engineer, and amount to a signature of authorship. The one above is maestro Wally Traugott 'Wly' whose tag is a sign of quality. The cryptic notes that I add next to my LP purchases are typically transcriptions from the deadwax.

This week, I picked up a stack of vinyl from the Record & Tape Exchange (again), and have now exhausted that branch (time to move on to the other branches). All are UK pressings unless noted. A good few are mastered at Tape One by engineers like Bilbo (Dennis Blackham), 'JA' and 'Pound', although its hard to make out the last one, and I'm unclear which engineer that relates to.

David Bowie - Heroes [Bilbo Tape One] £2

David Bowie - Pin Ups [JA Tape One, 1u/1u] £2

David Bowie - Scary Monsters [Townhouse] £2

Echo and the Bunnymen - Porcupine [German] £1

Elton John - S/T [DJM] 10p.

Eurythmics - Touch [DMM Teldec Germany] 50p

Everything But the Girl - Eden [Tim Young, b a1/b2 Tim Tom/CBS, German] 50p

Frank Sinatra - The Concert Sinatra [Anxious] £1

Frank Sinatra & Count Basie [Reprise, anxious Frank, UK] £1

Genesis - S/T ['POUND Ta1PE'] 30p

Heart - S/T [No mention of TML or Mike Reese] 50p

Heaven 17 - Penthouse and Pavement [Bilbo Tape One, 1u/1u] £1

Hollies - Live Hits [Polydor 1976] 10p

Paul Robeson - The glorious voice of... [MFP]

Ry Cooder - The slide area [Strawberry - no mention of Bernie Grundman or A&M]

Tom Jones - At the talk of the town [Decca mono unboxed] 10p

Tom Jones - Delilah [Decca stereo unboxed] 30p

Tom Jones - This is Tom Jones [Decca] 10p

And in Exmouth Market, my local store marked down its £3 bin to £1, and I happened to arrive just as they'd finished making the change.

CDs
Anais Mitchell - The Brightness [Righteous Babe 2007] My son managed to soak this one in his toy sink, so I had to rinse of the dishwashing soap and let it dry before listening.
Anne McCue - Koala Motel [Cooking Vinyl 2006]
Arthur & Yu - In camera [Memphis Industries 2007]
Dave Fischoff - The Crawl [Secretly Canadian 2006]
David Sanchez - Coral [Sony 2004, SACD]
Erin McKeown - Sing you sinners [Nettwerk 2006]
Fever - In the city of sleep [Kemado]
Ghosty - Grow up or sleep in [Broken Horse 2005]
Igor Koshkendey - Music from Tuva [Secret World 1998]
Jackie Leven - Oh what a blow that phantom dealt me! [Cooking Vinyl 2006]

This ones a pleasure. Playful lyrics, confident, simple folk blues from Scottish veteran.
Lightning Seeds - Tilt [Epic 1999]
Liimanarina - Supermarket [Bad Vugum, Finland / Drag City 1995]

These lofi Fins were so ramshackle, that headphone listening was painful. There's not much on them, but the punk Fall / Half Man Half Biscuit shambolic production is intriguing, and of course, there being from Finland.
Maria McKee - Late December [Cooking Vinyl 2006]
Mark Eitzel - Candy ass [Cooking Vinyl 2005]
Richard Butler - Richard Butler [Koch 2006]
Rolling Stones - Bigger Bang [Virgin, Dutch 2005]
Simphiwe Dana - The one love movement. On Bantu Biko Street [Gallo 2006]
Undertones - Dig yourself in deep [Cooking Vinyl 2007] A satisfying listen. There's no "Teenage Kicks", but good powerpop.
Yppah - You are beautiful at all times [Ninja Tune 2006]