New favorite VINYL Album?

Lately I've been enjoying an album quite immensely, that I have had since the 80s. However, I am just getting back into vinyl this year after a long hiatus.

Matthew Locke
Incidental Music to The Tempest
The Academy of Ancient Music
L'Oiseau-Lyre (Decca) DSLO 507, 1977

I can't tell you how fantastic this is. Awesome performances and excellent sound and recording quality. Plus the angelic, pure voice of a young Emma Kirkby.

And now it's even better with the Naim NAP 250-2 I just bought. :-)

Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues: this is a weird album reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel and My Morning Jacket, but very compelling - it really grabbed me on just the first listen. It's recorded well, too.

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, Marble Son. The double LP comes with a CD, but without the vinyl you'll never know how wwll she does like a young Marianne Faithful backing wicked psychedelic R&R. Among the year's best.

John Hiatt, Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns. He's been on a roll with his last few albums, but this one is closest in importance to the seminal period that produced Bring the Family, Stolen Moments, and Slow Turning. "When New York Had Her Heart Broke" is a perfect hymn to 9-11, straight-forward, wonderfully crafted, and unexploitative. Like every bit of this album, it's free of the bluesman affectations that occasionally weaken Hiatt albums. He's on his third wind as an artist-- one of the precious few bridges to the '70s who remains seriously relevant. Excellent New West production on three sides of a double LP.

If you are a fan of Jesse Sykes (I just got my copy of Marble Son) you may wish to consider Nicole Atkin's newest LP " Mondo Amore." I like side B the most. It is similar to "Neptune City" if you are already a fan of Nicole.