Dire Straits Communique

Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-467

audiophile 2x 180g 45 RPM Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition

made in USA

new, factory sealed

With their second album "Communiqué", Dire Straits once again delivered relaxed rhythms and complex blues guitars. Mark Knopfler and his fellow musicians had established this sound with their debut and continued seamlessly. Even though "Communiqué" does not contain a hit comparable to "Sultans of Swing", it is a worthy sequel.

The remastering for the double LP with 45 rpm was done by Krieg Wunderlich, assisted by Shawn R. Britton. The limited edition with consecutive serial number appears in a gatefold cover.

Dire Straits Brothers in Arms

Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-441

audiophile 2x 180g 45 RPM Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition

made in USA

new, factory sealed

There are hit albums. There are blockbusters. And there's "Brothers in Arms." One of the world's best-selling albums, it catapulted Mark Knopfler and band to the top and won two Grammy Awards, including in the "Best Mixing" category. "Brothers In Arms" is the kind of epic album of which few appear in a decade. Always a reference work for audiophiles, MFSL is now releasing the sonic masterpiece as a 180-gram 45 rpm vinyl LP. "Brothers in Arms" has never sounded so realistic, balanced, dynamic and multi-layered as on this release. MTV may have contributed to the album's enormous success, but it is primarily the excellently crafted songs and the unforgettable instrumental playing of the musicians involved that make it a classic. Mark Knopfler's guitar riffs and Sting's vocals in "Money for Nothing" remain unmistakable to any music lover.

The remastering of the LP was done by Krieg Wunderlich for Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.

Gatefold cover with consecutive serial number in limited edition.

Dire Straits

Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-466

audiophile 2x 180g 45 RPM Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition

made in USA

new, factory sealed

"Dire Straits" is the product of a group of blues rockers who draw inspiration from jazz and country. Mark Knopfler's sparse guitar sounds and husky, distinctive vocals are the driving force behind this debut album. Thanks to the hit single "Sultans of Swing," the debut climbed straight into the Top 10.

Remastering for this double LP on 180-gram 45 rpm vinyl was handled by Krieg Wunderlich, assisted by Shawn R. Britton. The limited edition with consecutive serial number comes in a gatefold cover.

Curtis Mayfield Superfly

Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-481

audiophile 2x 180g 45 RPM Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition

made in USA

new, factory sealed

Curtis Mayfield's border-transcending Super Fly is much more than a soundtrack to a cutting-edge blaxploitation film. Recorded in 1972 to coincide with Gordon Parks, Jr's movie about a dealer attempting to divorce himself from the urban underworld, Mayfield's brilliantly orchestrated set ignited an entire genre, expanded the scope of R&B, and spurred dialogues surrounding significant social issues ranging from the unvarnished consequences of hustling to the realities of African-American lives in America. Rightly deemed by Rolling Stone "Marvin Gaye's What's Going On at a street level" and named the 69th Greatest Album of All Time by the magazine, Super Fly endures as an astonishing master stroke of boundary-crossing soul, lyrical smarts, and vital commentary. Mobile Fidelity's reissue brings it – and its of-the-moment contents – to life like never before.

1. Little Child Runnin' Wild

2. Pusherman

3. Freddie's Dead

4. Junkie Chase

5. Give Me Your Love (Love Song)

6. Eddie You Should Know Better

7. No Thing on Me (Cocaine Song)

8. Think

9. Superfly

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's world-renowned mastering system, cut at 45RPM for the first time, pressed at RTI, and limited to 4,000 numbered copies, this 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Super Fly presents Mayfield's vision with widescreen sonics worthy of its cinematic reach. The extra groove space afforded by the 45RPM edition changes everything and explodes the wealth of aural information. Separation between the seemingly countless instruments, the myriad timbres of Mayfield's voice, the ambitious breadth and crucial shifts of the strings, the probing reach of the lean albeit direction-leading bass: You've never heard Super Fly sound so vibrant, realistic, or immediate. Surpassing the status of an album, the 1972 effort comes across here as an audiophile-vetted cultural signpost – an epic on the order of Duke Ellington's Black, Brown & Beige, Miles Davis' A Tribute to Jack Johnson, and Gaye's aforementioned manifesto.

As Mobile Fidelity's restored version proves, few records mesh lush delicacy with such pressing urgency to the extent heard on Super Fly. Mayfield's arrangements now breathe and exhale with palpable air, revealing an astounding degree of openness and dynamics that places the musicians on a grand soundstage. On par with the finest big-studio productions of the 60s and 70s, Mobile Fidelity's Super Fly bursts with colors and details – with the mind-boggling array of individual threads forming a seamless tapestry involving guitars, woodwinds, horns, singing, and melodies. The presentation of the wah-wah effects, accenting rhythms of the brass rejoinders, and mood-setting aura of the strings are alone enough to make Phil Spector or Brian Wilson blush.

No prior R&B work simultaneously crossed as many lines, painted such vivid portraits, and maintained such streetwise cool. No wonder Super Fly kickstarted the genre of blaxploitation music. Yes, Isaac Hayes' Shaft arrived nearly a year earlier. Apart to their fundamental relationship to the style, however, the records are worlds apart. Mayfield's creation stands as a fully realized track-by-track immersion into urban neighborhoods, mindsets, and lives that doubles as both boots-on-the-ground reportage and an emotionally loaded wake-up call. Primarily singing in a light falsetto that underscores the conflicting feelings of sympathy, anger, sadness, sensuality, toughness, desperation, and fear harbored by the protagonists, the Chicago native dispenses hard truths and critical perspectives without ever preaching or taking sides. The results pulse with the same vitality as they did four decades ago, with Mayfield's narratives echoing with biographical and descriptive details rather than choosing a celebratory or exploitative route.

As skillful as Mayfield's words remain, the music blows them away. Super Fly works on multiple levels – a record whose deep grooves and avalanche of funk-derived riffs express basically everything that needs to be said. Each song inhabits its own geographical and personal landscape, their lasting appeal a testament to the album becoming one of the few soundtracks to out-gross its accompanying film. Shortly after release, Super Fly spent four weeks as at the top of the Billboard Pop charts and yielded a pair of two-million-selling singles, "Freddie's Dead" and the title track, both pregnant with the powerful imagery and tell-it-straight approach that define every moment of the record. Mayfield's direct connection to the material remains evident.

"I could relate with a lot of [the script for Super Fly], because I lived enough throughout the city to sense...what a 'Superfly' was," he once explained to writer Bob Pruter. "[The script] allowed me to get past the glitter of the drug scene and go beyond it." And go beyond he does – in every practical facet – from the entrapment and danger conveyed by "Little Child Runnin' Wild" to the bleak albeit mesmerizing, greasy funk of the blunt "Pusherman" to the escapist sensuality of the smooth "Give Me Your Love (Love Song)." Super Fly is an American institution – and a work everyone should experience in full-range sound. Mobile Fidelity's ultra-clean pressing makes it all possible.

Santana

Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-45012

audiophile 2x 180g 45 RPM Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition

made in USA

new, factory sealed

Carlos Santana catapulted himself into the Hall Of Fame of rock music with his music and created his very own fusion style. No one could really copy him and until today he is directly associated with the name Santana. On the album of the same name, the guitarist combines Latin with rock, blues-rock, psychedelic, jazz and soul, creating his distinctive rhythms. In August 1969, Carlos Santana performed at the legendary Woodstock Festival, putting him in the spotlight of the international music scene. The subsequent release of his LP "Santana" was a real hit. It remained in the charts for over two years, giving the 22-year-old a huge success with several million records sold. On this fantastic disc, which should be part of the basic stock of every ambitious music collection, you can find hits like "Evil Ways" or the great "Jingo", not to forget also "Waiting" and "Soul Sacrifice"!

Collectors will remember that this title with the item number MFSL 1-303 was already released in December 2007 as a 33-rpm version. The new version as 45-rpm edition is cut by Shawn R. Britton. Since then, the studio system at Mobile Fidelity in Sebastopol has actually improved again and the 45 really sounds better. The double LP now comes in a gatefold cover, which was sorely missed by collectors at the time. If you look closely you will see that the lettering on the top of the cover is now black and no longer white.

Santana Abraxas

Mobile Fidelity MFSL 1-305

audiophile 180g Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition # 7867

made in USA

new, factory sealed

Abraxas remains the consummate Latin rock album. The confident sound of Santana stretching out and carving out a distinctive new genre, the 1970 set is daubed with psychedelic accents and Afro-Latin grooves. Abraxas immediately captured the public's ear, spending six weeks as the nation's #1 album and spawning the cosmic "Black Magic Woman" as a Top 5 single that's since become one of the most widely recognized songs in history. Befitting such a classic, Mobile Fidelity's 180g vinyl of this epic work presents the music in stunningly rich, incredibly dynamic and realistic sound.

1. Singing Winds

2. Crying Beasts

3. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen

4. Oye Como Va

5. Incident at Neshabur

6. Se a Cabo

7. Mother's Daughter

8. Samba Pa Ti

9. Hope You're Feeling Better

10. Nicoya

Mastered from the original master tapes, this collectible vinyl overflows with information, textures, and colors. The result: Spacious, airy, and you-are-there sonics. Experience Abraxas the way it is meant to be heard, with the instruments and musicians placed in the proper channels. In addition to correcting the imaging, Mobile Fidelity's collectable version captures the full tonal range of Santana's guitar and nuances of his distinctive touch. Every imaginable detail is brought to the forefront and properly scaled, bringing you closer to the music and enhancing your emotional connection to this legendary record. A confluence of celebratory vibes, bluesy jams, mellow vocals, and hip-shaking grooves, Abraxas is a cornerstone of any music collection. Picking up on the momentum of its excellent 1969 self-titled debut and drifting into more versatile territory, Santana reimagines what's possible in melding various disciplines and styles. Mysticism and spirituality abound amidst cohesive performances involving a vibrant mélange of purring organs, conga beats, and fluid bass lines. And that's to say nothing of the bandleader's extraordinary playing. Wild, free, and loose, the group conjures the feeling of mountains and rivers on the lead-off instrumental "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts," leads a salsa parade on the definitive version of Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," and explores its sensual side on the stellar showcase "Samba Pa Ti," a tune indicative of the album's Latin vibes and percussion. Sonically, Abraxas takes advantage of studio techniques such as cross-fading and mixing lacking on its predecessor. As stated in The Mojo Collection: "Dissatisfied with the sound of their debut, the group brought in as a co-producer veteran jazz engineer Fred Catero, whose skills proved invaluable in balancing the new range of musical flavors Santana [was] bringing into its sound: the result was a giant step on from [the band's] debut." But just like 1969's equally essential Santana, Abraxas lays claim to one of the biggest (and unfortunate) production gaffes in music history. Until Mobile Fidelity fixed the error with its releases, Abraxas had never been heard correctly. For nearly four decades, copies were produced with the left and right channels reversed, meaning that everything was placed in a backwards manner. This even extended to compilations on which individual songs from Abraxas were included. Rest assured that, in addition to boasting reference audiophile sonics, this vinyl edition gets all the specifications exactly right.

Santana

Mobile Fidelity MFSL 1-303

audiophile 180g Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition # 5578

made in USA

new, factory sealed

Carlos Santana catapulted himself into the Hall Of Fame of rock music with his music and created his very own fusion style. No one could really copy him and until today he is directly associated with the name Santana. On the album of the same name, the guitarist combines Latin with rock, blues-rock, psychedelic, jazz and soul, creating his distinctive rhythms. In August 1969, Carlos Santana performed at the legendary Woodstock Festival, putting him in the spotlight of the international music scene. The subsequent release of his LP "Santana" was a real hit. It remained in the charts for over two years, giving the 22-year-old a huge success with several million records sold. On this fantastic disc, which should be part of the basic stock of every ambitious music collection, you can find hits like "Evil Ways" or the great "Jingo", not to forget also "Waiting" and "Soul Sacrifice"!

Santana III

Mobile Fidelity MOFI 1-039

audiophile 140g Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition

made in USA

new, factory sealed

The third studio album by Latin rock band Santana is also the last with the legendary Woodstock band, consisting of Carlos Santana, organist Gregg Rolie, drummer Michael Schrieve, bassist David Brown and conga player Michael Carabello. New members included young guitar virtuoso Neal Schon, who was discovered by the band at the age of 15 in a Palo Alto club, and percussionist Thomas 'Coke' Escovedo, who filled in for the ailing Chepito Areas. The three-man percussion section with cymbals, congas, drums, tambourine, vibraphone and the new discovery Schon fit perfectly into the existing band. "Santana III" (also The Third Album) is musical chemistry with a perfect outcome - an album unjustly overshadowed by its predecessor "Abraxas".

The remastering by Paul Stubblebine for Mobile Fidelity breathes warmth and is breathtakingly natural. The deep stage and extensive dynamics leave no audiophile wishes unfulfilled. "Santana III" belongs in every vinyl collection. The 140-gram vinyl LP is released in limited edition with consecutive serial number in gatefold cover.

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Silver Label

Under the product name Silver Label, MFSL has been releasing a new series of LPs since early 2011. These are remastered and cut at Mobile Fidelity on the mastering chain designed by Tim de Paravicini and pressed on 140g vinyl at RTI in Los Angeles. The packaging meets the same high standards as the well-known Original Master Recording series with a lined rice paper inner sleeve, a protective intermediate sleeve and a sequential serial number on the outer cover. Mobile Fidelity is planning a series of experimental releases as well and is willing to make do with a copy of the master tape in this series if the original tape cannot be provided. All LPs will be released as limited editions and are likely to become sought-after collector's items.

Iron Butterfly In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Mobile Fidelity MFSL 1-368

audiophile 180g Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition # 2950

made in USA

new, factory sealed

Dead Can Dance Into the Labyrinth

Mobile Fidelity MOFI 2-001

audiophile 2x 140g Vinyl LP

limited numbered edition # 5019

made in USA

new, factory sealed