Did Shuffle Kill the Music Industry?
I stayed up late last on April 2—late for me, anyway: 11pm. I watched the last episode of <I>ER</I> in real time. (Hang in there, peeps, there will be an audio point after the jump.)
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Do you perform blind listening tests when evaluating audio equipment?
In our <A HREF="http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=64883">for…;, reader Ethan Winer brings up the concept of "listening blind when assessing audio quality." Do you perform blind listening tests when evaluating audio equipment?
Anniversaries, Auditions, Advertisers
A couple months back, a question from a dealer set me back in my chair: "Are you guys <I>really</I> going to put out <I>Stereophile</I> on a monthly basis?" I was surprised—when he put the question, we were just starting production work on the issue you hold in your hands, the twelfth to hit the stands since we started publishing monthly. Beginning with Vol.10 No.5 in August 1987, a <I>Stereophile</I> has gone in the mail every month, pretty much on time despite having gone through the trauma of changing printers last December on one issue's notice.
Carla Bruni
Not the least astonishing moment of President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Europe (and for my more serious thoughts on that diplomatic voyage, click <A HREF="http://www.slate.com/id/2215264/"> here</A>) was when Michelle Obama met Carla Bruni and appeared her peer in every way, not at all outclassed. Ms. Bruni, of course, is the Italian-born French model and <I>chanteuse</I> who last year married French President Nicolas Sarkozy and, soon after, dazzled, nay seduced, every world leader she met at diplomatic <I>soires</I>. Mrs. Obama’s one-upmanship in London in no way shoves Ms. Bruni aside—the pairing marked, more, the reemergence of a French-American cultural <I>entente</I>, and we are all the headier for it.
Louder...or at Least Easier on the Eyes Than Words
There wasn't space in the May issue of Stereophile for all these photos of the gorgeous and very talented Eliane Elias so here are a few more to ogle. And while you do, I know you'll all be doing it because you respect her as an artist. Seriously though, her new record <I>Bossa Nova Stories</I> is wonderful.
Recording of April 2009: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
<B>JASON ISBELL: <I>Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit</I></B><BR>
Lightning Rod/Thirty Tigers LRR-99682 (CD). 2009. Jason Isbell, prod.; Matt Pence, prod., eng. AAD? TT: 52:09<BR>
Performance ****½<BR>
Sonics ****
How high do you want your fi?
Would you really <I>want</I> a perfect hi-fi?
Back In Action
Alright, back in action. Montreal was a blast. Seriously the most fun I've ever had at a hi-fi show. This was due partly to the fact that we didn't have to adjust to a different time zone, partly to the overall laidback, friendly atmosphere, and partly to the smaller, less demanding size of the show. And I didn't even get sick!
"Jazz Ambassadors" photo show
I’m appallingly late with this, but the photo show “Jam Session: America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World” is up for a few more days (through April 12) in the arcade of Jazz at Lincoln Center (on Broadway and 60th Street, 5th floor, New York City)—and, if you’re in the area, go see it.
How was the Show for you?
It did not require great perspicacity to predict that SSI2009 would not be as well attended as last year's show. Things are tough all over. In any case, as I write this, on Saturday evening on a train en route to Toronto—yes, I manage to catch the train this time!—the show still has another day to go, and, as Michel Plante, with Sarah Tremblay the SSI's organizers, admitted, what often makes or breaks a show like this is the Sunday attendance.