Music and Recording Reviews

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Robert Baird, Phil Brett, Ray Chelstowski  |  Jan 12, 2024  | 
Grateful Dead: Wake of the Flood, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition; Betty Davis: Crashin' From Passion; X-Ray Spex: Conscious Consumer; Cat Power: Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert.
Thomas Conrad  |  Jan 12, 2024  | 
Adam Birnbaum: Preludes; Simón Willson: Good Company; Joshua Redman: Where Are We.
Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta  |  Jan 12, 2024  | 
Weinberg: Dawn, Op.60, Symphony No.12, Op.114; Nielsen: Violin Concerto, Flute Concerto, Clarinet Concerto; Walker: Sinfonias 1–5.
Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta  |  Dec 08, 2023  | 
Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein: Oklahoma!; Postcards From Italy: Italian Music for Film; British Piano Concertos: Works by Jacob, Addison, and Rubbra; Bruckner: Symphony 7; Tan Dun: Buddha Passion.
Robert Baird, Phil Brett, Ray Chelstowski, Tom Fine  |  Dec 08, 2023  | 
The Beatles: Now & Then (single); Teenage Fanclub: Nothing Lasts Forever; Devendra Banhart: Flying Wig; Ariel Posen: Reasons Why.
Thomas Conrad  |  Dec 08, 2023  | 
Johnathan Blake: Passage; Mark Turner Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard; Darcy James Argue's Secret Society: Dynamic Maximum Tension.
Alex Halberstadt  |  Nov 27, 2023  | 
To misquote Morrissey, some knobs are better than others. The Manley Neo-Classic 300B amplifiers that I've been listening to, for example, have a knob marked "feedback" that goes from 0 to 10. I've learned so much from using it that I've come to believe that if your amp doesn't have such a knob, it should. You see, the higher you set this control, the better the amp will measure. Applying more global negative feedback to these amps lowers their nonlinear distortion and noisefloor, increases their bandwidth, renders them less sensitive to the speaker's impedance variations and otherwise makes them more stable and efficient. In fact, by applying lots of feedback to an amplifier, it's possible to reduce distortion to barely measurable levels.

So what's the problem? Well, a few turns of the knob suggest that negative feedback isn't as useful as it appears on paper.

Robert Baird, Thomas Conrad, Larry Birnbaum  |  Nov 09, 2023  | 
John Scofield: Uncle John's Band; Mort Garson: Journey To The Moon And Beyond; James Brandon Lewis/Red Lily Quintet: For Mahalia, With Love; Alan Ferber Nonet: Up High, Down Low; Greg Foat & Gigi Masin: Dolphin; Avishai Cohen & Abraham Rodriguez Jr.: Iroko.
Robert Baird, Phil Brett, Ray Chelstowski  |  Nov 09, 2023  | 
ABC: The Lexicon of Love; Buddy & Julie Miller: In The Throes; Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO.
Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta  |  Nov 09, 2023  | 
Hermitage Piano Trio: Spanish Impressions; Mahler: Symphony No.1; Maurice Ravel: L'Heure espagnole • Bolero; Melody Moore: Remembering Tebaldi.
Thomas Conrad, Andrey Henkin  |  Oct 06, 2023  | 
Diskonife: Audible Spirits; John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy: Evenings at the Village Gate; Joe Henderson: The Complete "An Evening with Joe Henderson"; Matt Otto: Kansas City Trio.
Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta  |  Oct 06, 2023  | 
Dvořák: Takács Quartet; Johan Dalene/Christian Ihle Hadland: Stained Glass; Herrmann: Wuthering Heights Suite & Echoes for Strings
Phil Brett, Ray Chelstowski  |  Oct 06, 2023  | 
Pet Shop Boys: Smash: The Singles 1985–2020; R.E.M.: Around the Sun and Collapse Into Now; Hot Tuna: Live at Sweetwater 1, Live at Sweetwater 2, Live in Japan.
Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta  |  Sep 08, 2023  | 
C.P.E. Bach: Württemberg Sonatas (6), Wq. 49, Keith Jarrett, piano; Mahler: Symphony No.5, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Rafael Payare, cond.; Schubert: Symphonies Nos.5 & 7 (Unfinished), Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado, cond.; Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe • Kerner Lieder, Florian Boesch, baritone; Malcolm Martineau, piano.
Thomas Conrad, Andrey Henkin  |  Sep 08, 2023  | 
Arne Jansen/Stephan Braun: Going Home; Joe Farnsworth: In What Direction Are You Headed?; Darcy James Argue's Secret Society: Dynamic Maximum Tension; Dave McMurray: Grateful Deadication 2.

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