<B>Johnny Cash: </I>American VI: Ain't No Grave</I></B><BR>
Lost Highways/American Recordings B0013954-02 (CD). 2010. Rick Rubin, prod.; David Ferguson, eng.; Greg Fidelman, Jimmy Tittle, Paul Fig, Dan Leffler, asst. engs. AAD.? TT: 32:23<BR>
Performance ****½<BR>
Sonics ***½
The Super Deluxe Mega Awesome Edition of the Rolling Stones’ classic <i>Exile On Main Street</i>, considered by some to be the greatest rock and roll album of all time—complete with two CDs, including ten previously unreleased tracks, two LPs, a DVD, and a 50-page book—is now available. Damn.
I’ve been reading Matthew Crawford’s <i>Shop Class As Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work</i>, which argues that an intimacy with manual trades may revitalize a connection to the material world lost to those who spend their lives in offices or cubicles, staring at computer screens for eight to twelve hours a day, unable to quantify exactly what it is that they <i>do</i>. I’m digging it. It aligns, in many ways, with a philosophy John Atkinson has shared with me: <i>Do doingfully.</i>
Oh, crap. This is good. Recently signed to <a href="http://www.4ad.com/ariel-pinks-haunted-graffiti/">4AD</a>, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti are poised to release <i>Before Today</i>, their first full-length album for the acclaimed indie label, on June 8th. Whee!
I’ve been infatuated with Damien Jurado’s new album, <i>Saint Bartlett</i>, due to be released on May 25th from <a href="http://www.secretlycanadian.com/onesheet.php?cat=SC192">Secretly Canadian</a>. Its twelve songs take us on an emotionally powerful trip, from the drunken sway of “Arkansas” to the jaunty swagger of “Wallingford” to the heavyhearted confessions of “Kansas City.” Altogether, <i>Saint Bartlett</i> is deep and beautiful and addictive.
When you think of his name on phrase comes to mind:
Sometimes wandering the streets of New York I hear whining about how “far from nature’ someone is; or how there’s too much concrete; or how the exhaust–filled air is hurting their lungs. Well, boo hoo. If it’s purple mountains majesties you seek, NYC ain’t the place. You come here for the human culture not the natural beauty—although now that I think of it, there are other, very compelling forms of natural beauty in NYC, if you catch my drift, wink, wink, nod, nod, say no more, but I digress.
It was late last year, when the leaves and the temperatures started to fall, that I first became interested in Effi Briest, the hypnotic and alluring all-female band performing out of Brooklyn, NY. Their video for “Mirror Eye” was <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/effi_briests_mirror_rim/">a dizzying, hallucinogenic trip</a> that matched their sound and their sense of style.
On Thursday, May 20th, Seattle’s <a href="http://www.resolutionaudiovideoseattle.com/">Resolution Audio Video</a> (5459 Leary Avenue NW) will host an evening with renowned <a href="http://www.passlabs.com/index.htm">amplifier designer</a> and <a href="http://www.passdiy.com/index.htm">DIY advocate</a>, the long-haired and white-bearded Nelson Pass. This event should be really cool and interesting; Nelson Pass doesn’t make many big public appearances.
Every audiophile is born sometime, somewhere. My audio birth happened on a family visit to my Uncle John's house, when he played Information Society's "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" through his brand-new Klipsch Heresy IIs. Uncle John did three things at this listening session that turned 12-year-old me into the audiophile I am today: he played music I liked, he played it really loud, and afterward, he took the time to explain how his system worked and why it sounded so good. His Klipsches were powered by Nelson Pass–influenced Nakamichi gear—I'd never before heard speakers play music with such ease or such startling dynamics. I was immediately hooked. In many ways, nothing I've heard since that day has impressed me as much, or been as revelatory of what home audio can do. That single experience set me on a path of caring about re-creating musical performances in my own home.