Shara Worden, My Brightest Diamond’s enchanting vocalist, explains: “In November, the great composer Gorecki died and I remember that weekend clearly, listening to the work and reading the lyrics in his beautiful Symphony No.3, the lament of a mother who has lost her son in war. This was the context in which I started writing ‘Be Brave.’”
“Be Brave” is the first single from My Brightest Diamond’s upcoming album, All Things Will Unwind, Worden’s response “to a world unwinding.” With the video, we gain a look into the recording process, but also a look into Worden’s heart and mind.
I’ve been playing games with myself, attempting to set limits and impose rules around my furious, nearly uncontrollable, record-buying spree. I told myself that for every dollar I spent on a record I would deposit a dollar into my savings account. (I tried it for a few days, but became bored. Saving is not nearly as much fun as record-shopping.) Then, a few weeks ago, after dropping a few hundred dollars during binges at Other Music and the Princeton Record Exchange, I told myself that I would impose a strict moratorium: No more records for me until after the New Year. With few exceptions, I had already purchased just about every new record I wanted, or so I tried to convince myself. But then the new Thundercat album hit stores and I had to have it. And then it was the new Girls record. How could I live without that?
Today, Peachtree Audio announced their new flagship asynchronous preamp/DAC, the Grand Pre, the first in a series of “Grand” products (a power amplifier and an all-in-one integrated amplifier will come later) and the first Peachtree component to have its design, final assembly, and final QC all take place in the US. For audiophiles hoping to "buy American," this should come as interesting news.
To celebrate today’s release of Girls’ sophomore record, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the band will make an in-store performance at Grimey’s in Nashville, Tennessee, at 5pm on Friday, September 16. You won’t want to miss this. If you can’t make it to Grimey’s, you can still enjoy the show because this will be the very first nationwide in-store: The performance will be streamed live, one time only, across the websites of our most cherished, influential, and important independent record stores.
Fred Mills reviews Beirut’s new record, The Rip Tide, in the November issue of Stereophile, due to hit newsstands on October 18th. The album, released by Zach Condon's Pompeii Records, is in stores now. Here's Sunset Television’s video for the lead track, “Santa Fe.”
MBL, the German manufacturer of lavishly constructed high-end gear, has been working hard to reinvigorate their corporate image, strengthening their bonds with existing customers while reconnecting with music enthusiasts in North America. Today the company releases its new corporate video.
Yes! The first track from Oneohtrix Point Never’s upcoming Mexican Summer release, Replica, is now available for our listening pleasure. Simultaneously playful and sensual, the track is called “Sleep Dealer” and showcases Daniel Lopatin’s knack for combining electronic and human sounds in distinct and curious fashion.
I love it! If “Sleep Dealer” is any indication of what Replica has to offer—and I think it is—we are in for a treat.
Replica is an electronic song cycle based around lo-fi audio procured from television advertisement compilations. These sample-based meditations are as lyrical as they are ecological, featuring repurposed “ghost vocals” which serve as narration for Lopatin’s signature amorphous, ambient passages.
Sounds about right. Replica will be released on November 8.
I’ve been enjoying Comet Gain’s upcoming album, Howl of the Lonely Crowd, 13 songs and 42 minutes of intelligent, heartfelt, poetic rock and soul—timeless, honest, and inspiring.
The album’s opening track, “Clang of the Concrete Swans,” is like something from Springsteen’s Born to Run, as it urges:
Find the forever in what you’re thinking
Find the forever in who you’re kissing
Escape, escape, escape into your dream
Escape, escape, escape right out of here
Howl of the Lonely Crowd will be available on October 4th from What’s Your Rupture.
The video for Colin Stetson’s “The Stars in His Head” (Dark Lights Remix), directed by Isaac Gale and Dan Huiting. Kinda lovely, kinda creepy, kinda perfect for this chilly, gray day.
Colin Stetson's powerful record, New History Warfare, Vol.2: Judges, available from Constellation Records, was reviewed in the July 2011 issue of Stereophile.
Here’s a new track from Zola Jesus’ upcoming record, Conatus, to be released by Sacred Bones Records on October 4. The track is called “Seekir” and suggests a more polished sound for Miss Nika Rosa Danilova. Combining elements of goth, industrial, pop, opera, and noise, Danilova seems to still be searching for her voice, which is exactly as it should be for a 22-year old with an extremely promising future.
Let her keep searching. I'll follow wherever she goes.
This morning, I walked right by electrician and idiosyncratic amplifier designer, Nori Komuro, and I didn’t say a word. Not even hello. Why didn’t I say anything? I don’t know. I had just emerged from the subway, and was walking up 32nd Street, toward Herald Square, and I wasn’t expecting to see an idiosyncratic amplifier designer. I was looking, instead and as usual, at the ground, at the sky, at high-heels and at skirts. I saw plenty of those. I was pulling a small handcart carrying a box of loudspeakers. Nori Komuro and I would have had something to talk about.
A look inside the impressive Emotiva ERC-2 CD player.
Audiophiles have been buzzing about Emotiva for a few years now. The attraction is no mystery: Emotiva’s products are solidly built and modestly priced, and the company takes pride in its strong relationships with customers. Yet, other than in the usual show report, Emotiva’s products have been absent from Stereophile’s pages.
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