David Dalle
Thursday September 8th, 2022 with David Dalle
Sarathy Korwar Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc Sessions; Music of Derrick Skye.

Sarthay Korwar released the double lp "Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc" late in 2020. Whether you listen to vinyl or not, I am sure you have all heard the claim that music on vinyl sounds best. That is not strictly true, and flimsy lps from the 80's can sound weak. And the source material is extremely important--the mastering and recording quality. Also, some unscrupulous quasi-legal vendors have put mp3s on seemingly high quality vinyl... the result is not good. However, when done well, vinyl can sound superb! When I received this album, I was astonished by how great it sounded. Closing my eyes listening to it on stereo, I could imagine the musicians were playing right in front of me. This album is the best sounding recording I have heard, so yes, vinyl can be the best medium for recorded music! Of course, the quality of the music is the first priority, and Sarathy Korwar and his Upaj Collective is fantastic: Kowar on drums, Tamar Osborn on sax , Achun Sripathamanthan on violin, Giulliano Modarelli on guitar, and Alistair MacSween on keyboard. The four pieces were completely spontaneous and improvised and recorded in a single-take (which it had to be for the unique direct-to-disc process, where the vinyl master is cut in real time). Wonderful music! I played this album from downloaded .wav files in January 2021, and I promised I would play the vinyl once I am back in studio, so today we hear it! I don't know how well this superb vinyl quality will translate on FM, but the music is so good regardless, it deserves many hearings.