Generally speaking, my teenage daughter couldn't care less about headphones. But when I brought home a pair of purple Philips Citiscape Downtown headphones, she was almost breathless as she said, "Oh dad! Purple is my favorite color. Those are so cool!" Later, I peeked into her room; she was laying on her bed, knees up with legs crossed, one foot happily tapping the air.
It was with both pleasure and dismay that I realized I had just more fully enabled her connection to Justin Bieber.
But I also make music with my dear friend, Todd.
Ken Kessler's latest "coffee-tabler" (my favorite publishing-industry insider neologism) celebrates the 50th anniversary of the founding of KEF Electronics by documenting the history of the venerable loudspeaker manufacturer. While the book doesn't quite start with a bang, it does start with an evocative vignette. The year was 1979, the place the ballroom of Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty the Queen, about to present KEF's founder, Raymond Cooke, with the medal representing his having been made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), inquired, perhaps formulaically, "This is for loudspeakers?"
Saturday, February 11, 11am–4pm: Audio High (165 Moffett Boulevard, Mountain View, CA) will host a vinyl sale to benefit the Friends of Palo Alto Library. Hundreds of vinyl LPs ranging from rock to jazz to classical to “just plain weird” will be available, with prices starting at $2.00. An original pressing of Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue will be offered.
Saturday, March 17, 16pm: Fidelis AV (14 E. Broadway, Derry, New Hampshire) will host an open house to introduce loudspeakers from Stenheim and Zellaton and turntables Holborne. Gideon Schwartz of Audioarts, US importer for the brands, and Walter Swanbon of Fidelis AV will be on hand to answer questions. Refreshments will be served. For more info, e-mail info@fidelisav.com or call (603) 437-4769.
Sunday, March 11, Time TBA: Classic Album Sundays, Colleen Murphy’s popular UK event, makes its US debut at the new Bellwether venue (594 Union Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn).
With Classic Album Sundays, Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy shares her passions for great music and high-quality sound, inviting guests to listen to an entire record, from beginning to end, on vinyl.