Ariel Bitran
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Ariel Bitran Jan 31, 2013 1 comments
Vladmir Lamm flips the record. The LP1 is on the top of the shelf to his left.

On Wednesday January 29th, 2013, Innovative Audio Video Showrooms hosted the NYC premier of the Lamm LP1 Signature phono preamplifier ($32,790).

Sweepstakes
Ariel Bitran Jan 28, 2013 0 comments
You would think that Stereophile.com user MtnBeachBum created his username to gain a winning edge in the Beach Boys box set sweepstakes, but per my records, this guy registered on Stereophile.com well before this contest was listed. So it just so happens that this randomly selected winner had the absolute perfect username. And it gets better...
Sweepstakes
Ariel Bitran Jan 22, 2013 0 comments
Congratulations to Scott Leslie of Portland, Connecticut winner of the Pat Metheny The Orchestrion Project Blu-ray Sweepstakes. Robert Baird named the original recording our February 2010 Recording of the Month. Scott's copy of this Blu-ray was signed by Pat himself. Everyone give a big hand for Scott! Now who wants some Fela Kuti?
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran Jan 05, 2013 3 comments
I'm running sound at a new DIY venue in Brooklyn called The LAB, and occasionally I snag some good tunes. Here's a sample…

*******

Kashka is a Canadian synth-pop duo formed by vocalist/lyricist Kat Burns and synth programmer and multi-instrumentalist James Bunton. The pair arrived by way of Toronto with stacks of keyboards, drum machines, and a laptop. After a show of reverb-drenched harmonies and airy synth patches, Kat handed me a purple colored tape of their most recent album Vichada. A tape? I didn't quite understand.

Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran Jan 04, 2013 4 comments

Her voice aches like a memory.

Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran Jan 04, 2013 3 comments
“Dude, I have a huge stack of records you should probably take a look at, tons from Tía Viví, Dad, Mom, and Bobe. There’s probably some stuff in there you can take with you,” Alberto advised.

“It’s fine bro. We’re gonna go record shopping on Saturday.”

“Dude. Just look!”

“I’m good for now. Trust me.”

My brother should not have tickled the monster’s belly.

Sweepstakes
Ariel Bitran Jan 02, 2013 0 comments
Congratulations to Timothy Brown in Omaha, Nebraska on winning the Ultimate Gift of Music from Sonos.
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran Dec 14, 2012 0 comments
I've already admitted I have a live music problem, OK? I don't need something awesome like GigFi making my addiction worse. Much much worse.
Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran Dec 13, 2012 10 comments

At its onset, screeching and chopped vocals, a melody cracked off like a piece of firewood from Crystal Castles "Pale Flesh" from their record (III), play catch up with with a deep rubber-band like bass pulse. Crystal Castles' shrieks echo of Lizzi Bougatsos tribal and petrified screams from Gang Gang Dance's Glass Jar, but as the snare guides you to the turnaround and into the verse, a crackling fire-pit of of diced synthesizers and reversed vocal loops, it becomes clear were dealing with something much more electro, something much more IDM-based than the primal screams indicated before.

Ariel Bitran
Ariel Bitran Dec 12, 2012 2 comments
Photos by Ariel Bitran

With its asphalt black casework, divine symmetry, and two front-facing gold-capped passive radiators, the gently-curved TDK Life on Record Wireless boombox screams thick gold chains and Adidas track-suits, but its elegant layout and sleek lines keep the design from being retro. At Pepcom, three whisky-sodas deep, the pulsing passive radiators beckoned me. I know this is Stereophile, a magazine committed to stereo listening, but how could I say no to a boombox I could hold on my shoulder at a basketball game at the Parade Grounds and actually look like I fit in. Well, maybe not me, but the boombox for sure.

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