Jon Iverson
BUZZCOCKS: A Different Kind of Tension
Nettwerk 30247 (CD). 1979/2001. Martin Rushant, prod., eng.; Martin Hannett, prod. AAD. TT: 40:18 There was a time when bands could create concise punk-pop tunes that poked at society's excesses without sounding as though the music had been contrived to reach a target market of "rebel youth." This disc is from that era (1979) and perhaps sounds a bit bright, but what a great batch of catchy, well-crafted songs full of caustic wit. For example, the title track takes aim at the mixed messages we're bombarded with in the media, coupling…
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Fred Mills
FREE: Tons of Sobs
Island IMCD 281 (CD). 1968/2001. Guy Stevens, prod.; Andy Johns, eng. AAD? TT: 70:30 Everyone has an early musical mentor. Mine was Cotton, a high-school senior who fit the longhaired, pot-dealing, hippie-delinquent mold to a T. When he turned me on to Free's 1968 debut album, my teenage mind fissured, steamed, and gurgled like a flow of hot lava. From Paul Rodger's cock-rock vocal strut to Paul Kossoff's sensual guitar leads to the efficient bottom end of Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke, well, suffice it to say that, after Free's coming, the British blues…
FREE: Tons of Sobs
Island IMCD 281 (CD). 1968/2001. Guy Stevens, prod.; Andy Johns, eng. AAD? TT: 70:30 Everyone has an early musical mentor. Mine was Cotton, a high-school senior who fit the longhaired, pot-dealing, hippie-delinquent mold to a T. When he turned me on to Free's 1968 debut album, my teenage mind fissured, steamed, and gurgled like a flow of hot lava. From Paul Rodger's cock-rock vocal strut to Paul Kossoff's sensual guitar leads to the efficient bottom end of Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke, well, suffice it to say that, after Free's coming, the British blues…
David Sokol
NRBQ: Peek-a-Boo: The Best of NRBQ, 1969-1989
Rhino R2 70770 (2 CDs). 1990. Terry Adams, Joey Spampinato, others, prods.; Bill Inglot, CD prod.; various engs. AAD? TT: 107:26 The world's best club band has been thrilling crowds for more than three decades with its quirky but wonderfully tuneful blend of rock, country, r&b, you name it. Like the Beatles, NRBQ comes across as more than its individual parts. The foursome's lineup was stable throughout most of the time-frame covered here, so it's a blast to compare keyboardist Terry Adams' elegant songs with those of…
NRBQ: Peek-a-Boo: The Best of NRBQ, 1969-1989
Rhino R2 70770 (2 CDs). 1990. Terry Adams, Joey Spampinato, others, prods.; Bill Inglot, CD prod.; various engs. AAD? TT: 107:26 The world's best club band has been thrilling crowds for more than three decades with its quirky but wonderfully tuneful blend of rock, country, r&b, you name it. Like the Beatles, NRBQ comes across as more than its individual parts. The foursome's lineup was stable throughout most of the time-frame covered here, so it's a blast to compare keyboardist Terry Adams' elegant songs with those of…
Recordings of December 1996: <I>Portraits</I> & <I>The Mercury Blues 'n' Rhythm Story, 1945-1955</I>
EMMYLOU HARRIS: Portraits
Reprise Archives 45308-2 (3 CDs only). Gregg Geller, prod.; Keith Blake, eng.; Jo Motta, project coordinator. 1996. TT: 3:42:11
Reprise Archives 45308-2 (3 CDs only). Gregg Geller, prod.; Keith Blake, eng.; Jo Motta, project coordinator. 1996. TT: 3:42:11
VARIOUS: The Mercury Blues 'n' Rhythm Story, 1945-1955
Mercury 314 528 292-2 (8 CDs only). Bill Levenson, exec prod.; Jim Fishel, Barbara Lynn Micale, prods.; Suha Gur, eng. 1996. TT: 8:31:05
The rush to make a CD boxed set for every artist and genre is in the home stretch. Over the past five or six Christmas seasons, labels have nearly exhausted all the obvious choices. Instead of who's been boxed, the question now is…
MIGHTY SAM McCLAIN: Keep On Movin'
AudioQuest Music AQ-1031 (LP/CD*). Joe Harley, prod.; Michael C. Ross, Andrew Page, Scott Gormley, engs. AAA/AAD. TTs: 49:48, 54:27*
AudioQuest Music AQ-1031 (LP/CD*). Joe Harley, prod.; Michael C. Ross, Andrew Page, Scott Gormley, engs. AAA/AAD. TTs: 49:48, 54:27*
My God, I thought, halfway through listening to a test pressing of Keep On Movin', Mighty Sam McClain's second album of killer R&B; It's better than the first album. John Atkinson and I named Give It Up to Love "Recording of the Month" in October 1993—it was one of the easiest choices we ever made, and one of the easiest reviews I ever wrote. Every cut is so good that, by the end of the album, the question asked…
OLU DARA: In the World, from Natchez to New York
Atlantic 83077-2 (CD). 1998. Yves Beauvais, Olu Dara, prods.; Danny Kopelson, eng. Tom Schick, asst. eng. AAD? TT: 47:03
Performance ****
Sonics ****(But see final paragraph.)
Atlantic 83077-2 (CD). 1998. Yves Beauvais, Olu Dara, prods.; Danny Kopelson, eng. Tom Schick, asst. eng. AAD? TT: 47:03
Performance ****
Sonics ****(But see final paragraph.)
"New Orleans jazz runs headlong into Mississippi Delta blues as Olu relates any number of autobiographical tales over a gumbo of Caribbean and African rhythms."—From the press release for Olu Dara's In the World
Statements like that make me want to run. The problem with most multicultural musical experiments is that, no matter how…
I find it astonishing that two products built on completely opposing engineering principles can both have musical merit. Design goals exalted by one company are considered anathema by another, yet both components produce superb sonic results.
The two products I'm referring to are the $8500 Mark Levinson No.31 Reference CD transport I reviewed last month and the new C.E.C. TL 1 belt-drive transport that's the subject of this review.
No two transports could be more different. Where one design team went to great lengths to minimize a certain parameter, the other company went through…
Specifically, the TL 1 had a midrange presentation that can only be described as lush. That's a description I've never used for a CD transport, but the TL 1's rendering of instrumental textures was so warm, sweet, and natural that the term is appropriate. There was a complete lack of grain, coarseness, or stridency overlaying musical textures. The music had a velvety softness reminiscent of good analog. I was particularly struck by the naturalness of the flute on the excellent Gary Schocker, Flutist (Chesky CD46). It was nicely set back in the soundstage and had a beautiful roundness and…
Sidebar 1: System
The C.E.C. TL 1 took a place in my rack alongside the $8500 Mark Levinson No.31 transport and the $2500 Proceed PDT 3 (both are made by Madrigal Audio Labs). The No.31 sets a benchmark in transport performance, and the PDT 3 is, in my opinion, the transport to beat at the $2500 level (along with the Theta Data). I thus had two serious contenders for comparison with the TL 1. At $4650, the TL 1 costs more than the PDT 3, but is significantly less expensive than the No.31.
Digital interconnects included C.E.C.'s supplied coaxial cable, an Aural Symphonics Digital…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Belt-drive CD transport with remote control. Outputs: Two coaxial (one RCA jack, one BNC jack), one TosLink optical, one AT&T ST-type optical. Power consumption: 20W.
Dimensions: 14.2" W by 5.5" H by 16.5" D. Weight: 37.4 lbs (17kg).
Price: $4650 (1993); no longer available (2006). Approximate number of dealers: 9.
Manufacturer: Chuo Denki Co., Ltd., 1919 Nagayatsu Yoshimi-Mach i Hiki-gun, Saitama-Ken, Japan. US distributor: Parasound Products Inc., 950 Battery St., San Francisco, CA 94111. Tel: (415) 397-7100. Fax: (415) 397-0144. Web…