Kitt, well what can you say. She was like sex on two legs. She wasn’t chosen to portray the second Catwoman (after Julie Newmar) in the old Batman TV series for no reason. And you have to love the fact that she made Ladybird Johnson cry because she went to a White House luncheon and spoke her mind about the then-raging Vietnam War. That bit has always puzzled me. So a woman who was married to Lyndon Johnson…
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Sorry to be a humbug, but it seems that Christmas is becoming a magnet for musician death. This year Eartha Kitt, Robert Ward and Freddie Hubbard all expired around the holiday.
These days, weekends seem to last entire lifetimes. Is it the same for you? So much happens that has almost nothing to do with Monday through Friday.
"Happy New Year, Steve! Welcome back."
"I never left."
The company gave us last Thursday and Friday off, but I came in anyhow because that's the kind of person I am, the kind of person I've always been—a bit obsessed, very dedicated, and always with the nagging feeling that I haven't done enough, that I'm forgetting something. What am I forgetting?
Last night, I crashed over Isaac and Anne-Marie's…
Ceramic Dog's Party Intellectuals wins the award for Best Album of 2008 That I Never Wrote Anything About.
I don't know why I never wrote about it. Probably because I couldn't. But Robert Baird wrote about it in our September 2008 issue, so you should read that. Robert filed it under "jazz," but it's not so much jazz as it is pretty straightforward New York City No Wave. I mean, as straightforward as No Wave can be, blending punk, funk, jazz, noise, and avant garde art, or whatever you want to call it.
Robert wrote:
About as close to jazz as anything…
I think you'll enjoy Tris McCall's 2008 Pop Music Abstract.
He shares his thoughts on pop music. All of it, from 50 Cent to Lykke Li to Weezer. For instance, this bit on Vampire Weekend:
Latest NYC export occasions as much animosity as the Strokes did, and for the same reason: they're a frat-rock band for wealthy postgraduates who believe themselves above frat-rock.Or this on Elvis Costello:
Cool beans: Steve Nieve has brought the Vox Continental out of mothballs. Homie can play anything with keys, of course, but it's always nice to dance with…
The show is about to begin, and John Atkinson is getting the annual Product of the Year awards ready for handout.
Last year PS Audio teased us with a prototype disc player called the memory link which never quite made it to production. Instead, the company evolved the idea further and created a new line of products branded PerfectWave.
First up is the PerfectWave Transport Memory Player, likely to run $2,999 when it hits the streets in March. The TMP is essentially an optical disc player that can play any resolution WAV file (including Reference Recordings' new high definition HRX format DVDs) and FLAC files. MP3 decoding may be added to the mix in the future, but SACD won't be possible, since…
PS Audio is also showing a prototype of the new PerfectWave DAC/pre, also slated for around $2999, and sporting a touch screen. There are four HDMI imputs on the back (only compatible with their I2S flavor of HDMI) and a touchscreen on the front for controlling volume and such.
On the back is a slot for the $500 "Bridge" which would enable the DAC/pre to interface with a NAS drive and iPhone/Touch controller and become a full-fledged music server. McGowan promises several future products to fillup the HDMI ports on the back.
I've always maintained that whatever the mass market selects, audiophiles then perfect. Meaning that we make silk purses out of the format sow's ears thrown our way.
Leave it to Muse's Kevin Halverson and Classic Records' Mike Hobson to flip the idea on its head and bring audiophiledom to the masses. They've formed a new venture called High Resolution Technologies to market products that don't quite fit in line with their own company's offerings.
First up are two USB to analog converters called the Music Streamer ($89) and Music Streamer Plus ($249). Both products hook up…
The recent marriage between Meridian and Sooloos didn't take long to bear progeny. They've started resorting the Sooloos line of media server products beginning with the Control:One touchscreen which is now the Control 10.
Next they've developed a tabletop touchscreen called the Control 20 which features a 15" screen (the Control 10 screen is still 17") and along with the 10, an interface on the back allowing it to be directly connected to Meridian's powered speakers and Comm S network.
The Control 20 will retail for $3,500 and is expected to be available in a couple months…
S/PDIF, Meridian Speakerline, Comm S, 12 volt triggers and assorted connectors on the back of the Control 20.