Mr. McMurtry is on top form here ...
As a record buyer. I have always been wary of 'industry standard' U.S. vinyl pressings, particularly in the current era, the second coming of the vinyl record. I think it is fair to say that pressing quality was often abysmal in the years from 2010 to 2021. 'Non Fill', that most egregious of pressing errors, was everywhere, even here in Europe. Something happened however from around 2021 onwards. The new generation of press operators finally got to grips with the 'black art' of pressing quality vinyl records. This has been especially evident with U.S. vinyl, which now, is almost on a par with the best European plants.
This 2021 album by James McMurtry is a case in point. Once professionally cleaned, the two records in this set are absolutely flawless and play extremely well on my high-end vinyl system. I should mention, that as per normal with U.S. records, in my experience, both records were warped out of the sleeve. Shrink wrapping doesn't help, of course. I am in the lucky position of owning a Japanese ORB Flattening device, which takes the misery out of dealing with warped records. Both records are now 'pan flat' and are a joy to hear. Mr. McMurtry is on top form here, accompanied by a stellar cast of Texas' finest musicians including the wonderful David Grissom, guitarist extraordinaire. I am very glad to have got this album. Apart from the continuing warping issues on U.S. vinyl, I feel a lot more confident these days ordering U.S. pressed vinyl.
