Still, I do love the green, and I think we made the right choice.
search
This was my initial choice of cover motif for our June 2009 issue. We were concerned that these colors, however, would appear too similar to those used for our May issue. One goal in designing a cover is to make it look as different as possible from the cover preceding it. So that buyers don't get confused, or something, I guess. While I understand the point, I must say that the Klipsch Palladium P-39F loudspeaker looks nothing like the SME 20/12 turntable.
The June 2009 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. At first, I was against the green border and font for the front cover, favoring a red and orange motif instead, but I now think the green treatment looks excellent. It is appropriate for spring, and the Klipsch Palladium P-39F loudspeaker seems to leap right from the page. Like a (really freaking) gigantic squirrel leaping from the branch of a blossoming tree.
Like a majestic ocean liner navigating powerful waves on the great green sea.
The Klipsch is big. It stands nearly five feet tall and two feet deep, and…
Pain: I guess it's a matter of sensation
Been listening to this all afternoon. And loving it! What an interesting concept. A collaboration between Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, and director David Lynch, an intelligent marketing scheme, a creative way of getting people excited about music.
Music editor Robert Baird happens to have a reviewer's advance copy of Dark Night of the Soul. Let's see if I can get him to consider it as an upcoming "Recording of the Month."
Tribute records are only as good as the person being feted. Their success or failure is also directly linked to how much energy the performers put into the project. Most tributes operate via telephone and UPS, meaning everyone uses the telephone to figure out what song they want to cover, and then UPS (or if you’re really sexy and rich, Fedex) delivers the finished tape. Actually, in some really impersonal cases, the music might be sent via email. Gee, ain’t this `ol digital world great?
Anyway, the point here is that most tribute records never include any live recording. None of the…
It’s one of those lineups that almost promises too much: McCoy Tyner, the pianist from Coltrane’s “classic” early-‘60s quartet, leading his own quartet with Ravi Coltrane, John’s son, sitting in on tenor sax. And yet, at tonight’s first set, they pulled it off, which is to say, they seemed natural, the music was simply very good--better than that--and not some cockeyed freak show like, say, Paul McCartney teaming up with Sean Lennon. The band was playing in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Allen Room—a wonder of concert-hall architecture, at once spacious and intimate, with a grand view overlooking…
And earlier in the night, I listened to an old Yazoo title: St. Louis Blues (1929-1935): The Depression, which has some amazing, moving cuts from Henry Townsend, Charley Jordan, Georgia Boyd, Peetie Wheatstraw, and Hi Henry Brown. Such pure, raw sounds are timeless, and are perhaps especially meaningful today.
Kurt Vonnegut had this to say:
During the Great Depression, African-American citizens were heard to say this, along with a lot of other stuff, of course: "Things are so bad white folks got to raise their own kids."It made me laugh. Kurt Vonnegut knew how…
And later in the night, I listened to Archie Shepp's Three For A Quarter, One For A Dime, which I understand is the darker, angrier, wilder side of a performance held at San Francisco's old Both/And Club on February 19, 1966.
February 19, 1966. What sort of world was this in 1966?
The music boiled from the hi-fi and spilled all over my listening room. Archie Shepp plays tenor sax and piano, Donald Garrett and Lewis Worrell are on bass, Beaver Harris rocks the drums, and Roswell Rudd works the trombone. With all of its yearning and moaning and relentless beauty, Three For A…
For a long time, I wasn't sure if I would go to the show. Finally, on the day of the show, I decided I would go. I made the right decision. Marc Ribot, celebrating his 55th birthday at Le Poisson Rouge, was something to remember. Little did I know he had played every night of the week, performing old and new material with several different bands at various venues throughout New York City.
Now I'm kicking myself for not attending the Wednesday night show with Spiritual Unity, a group named after Albert Ayler's magnificent album and "dedicated to re-creating and re-imagining the…
Fans of Shindo's gorgeous green and gold tube amplifiers will be excited to know that the Japanese manufacturer has just introduced (or re-introduced, I'm not sure) a new (or re-new, as the case may be) integrated amplifier.
Oh shit, an integrated amp? (That's a power amp and preamp united in one compact chassis.) And, oh shit, it is called the Apetite.
The Apetite! And I was all like, "It's called the Apetite?! OMG, did they make it just for me? I need it."
I wrote immediately to Art Dudley, proud owner of Shindo gear. "Art," I said, "have you, did you, are…
I love the styling of the latest Marantz gear—strong and masculine without being overblown or audacious. Though the late '80s through early '90s saw Marantz move away from their high end roots, the last decade has been a return to form. Under the ownership of D&M Holdings, the respected audio company seems to be embracing their cherished past. In May 2008, Michael Fremer was extremely impressed by their SM-11S1 Reference power amplifier. He wrote:
Considering the SM-11S1's superb build quality inside and out, its fit'n'finish, its fully balanced architecture,…