LATEST ADDITIONS

Revinylization
Revinylization #25: The Rolling Stones' Tattoo You—What's the Point?
Tom Fine  |  Dec 21, 2021  |  10 comments
Tattoo You is near and dear to me. It came out in August 1981, just before I entered 10th grade, the age when a person's rock'n'roll aesthetic begins to take shape. This album was formative.

I knew about the Rolling Stones mainly through the Hot Rocks compilation, from listening on radio to hits from Some Girls (which came out when I was too young and sheltered in leafy suburbia to understand the urban grit and decadence described in its lyrics), and from Emotional Rescue, which I owned, and which I thought (and still think) lacks interesting music in the grooves to match the cool cover. I figured the Stones might already be too old to rock.

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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Series 804 D4 loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Dec 17, 2021  |  32 comments
The boxes sit there in our storage unit, opposite the 20 banker's boxes that hold 33 years' worth of product-measurement workbooks. The two large boxes are for the Bowers & Wilkins Matrix 801s my wife owned when we got married in 1987 (footnote 1). The four smaller boxes are for the B&W John Bowers Silver Signatures and their stands, which I purchased after reviewing them in June 1994. Both pairs of speakers gave superb sound quality back in the day, but now they sit there in the storage unit, their boxes giving me recriminatory looks when I visit.
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As We See It
Some new rock music
Jim Austin  |  Dec 16, 2021  |  17 comments
My As We See It column in the November 2021 issue of Stereophile was a sincere expression of regret over my inability to connect with current rock music. It ended with a request for recommendations. I got 'em. What's more, most (but not quite all) of those who responded found themselves inthe same situation: They too found most current rock'n'roll difficult to relate to.
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Turntable Reviews
Acoustic Signature Montana NEO turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 15, 2021  |  10 comments
You may be moving to Montana. Acoustic Signature is not an overnight sensation, nor are its turntables driven by dental floss. If you're not a Frank Zappa fan, you probably have no idea what any of that means, so please Google it. I'll wait till you get back.
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Recording of the Month
Recording of January 2022: Sofia Gubaidulina: Orchestral Works
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Dec 14, 2021  |  5 comments
Sofia Gubaidulina: Dialog: Ich und Du; The Wrath of God; The Light of the End
Vadim Repin, violin; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons, cond.
Deutsche Grammophon 4861457 (auditioned as 24/96 WAV). 2021. Everett Porter, Bernhard Güttler, prods.; Porter, Sebastian Nattkemper, Benedikt Schröder, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics *****

At 90 years of age, Sofia Gubaidulina has honed her musical language amidst conflict. Since 2003, the profoundly religious, visionary, and visceral Russian composer has written three huge, prescient works that depict in musical terms a standoff between God and humankind. All receive their world premiere "live" recordings in this sensational-sounding, system-demanding outpouring from Andris Nelsons and the venerable orchestra that Felix Mendelssohn once led, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

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InterviewsMusic and Recording Features
Tom Fine: Finding The Way Home
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Dec 10, 2021  |  7 comments
Rabbits figure frequently in chats with Tom Fine—not the little creatures per se but the holes they burrow into. Because when you question Fine about matters present and past, his encyclopedic memory and fascination with all things great and small take you down what he calls "rabbit holes."
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Music and Recording Reviews
December 2021 Classical Record Reviews
Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta  |  Dec 10, 2021  |  1 comments
Brahms: Symphony No.4, Florence Price: Symphonies Nos.1 & 3, Schumann: Arabeske, Kreisleriana, Fantasie and Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues Op.87.
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Music and Recording Reviews
December 2021 Jazz Record Reviews
Thomas Conrad, Fred Kaplan  |  Dec 10, 2021  |  2 comments
The Cookers: Look Out!, David Sanford Big Band: A Prayer for Lester Bowie, Orrin Evans: The Magic of Now and Marcin Wasilewski Trio: En Attendant.
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Music and Recording Reviews
December 2021 Rock/Pop Record Reviews
Phil Brett, Anne E. Johnson, Fred Kaplan  |  Dec 10, 2021  |  3 comments
Steely Dan Live: Northeast Corridor, Saint Etienne: I've Been Trying to Tell You and Adia Victoria: A Southern Gothic.
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Sponsored Webinar
Getting Better Bass From Your Loudspeaker System - Live Discussion Presented by Sonus faber
Stereophile Staff  |  Dec 09, 2021  |  0 comments

LIVE: Thursday, December 16, 2021 - 12:00PM ET

Sonus faber’s American Branch Manager, William Kline, and Product Marketing and Experience Director, McIntosh Group, Joshua Dellinger, discuss how to extract the best bass performance from your loudspeaker system.

UPDATE: This webinar is now available for replay!

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