search

Michael Fremer Boings Back

Michael Fremer, Stereophile's senior contributing editor, has been everywhere lately. First he was Gizmodoed, then he got Boing-Boinged, and now he's boinging back.

Michael begins:

My wife handles our Cardigan Welsh Corgi in the show ring. I love the dog and though I'm not much into the "dog world," occasionally I go to a show to watch. The judge has to check each dog's confirmation to see how close it comes to the breed standard. If it's a male dog he's got to feel the dog's balls to be sure both have descended. That's part of his job.

And it only gets better…

Distance, Time, and Communication

At around eleven o'clock this morning, I was ready for a beer.

"Is it too early for a beer?" I had asked our production dude, Phil McRae. Of course, I'm here in New York City and Phil's out on the west coast, so it took him a couple of hours to respond. "It's only too early if you're drinking alone," he finally replied.

"Cheers!" I shouted.

We've been shipping our July issue to our pre-press people, wherever they are, (in California). First, I exchange e-mails and information with our graphic designers, Pillippa Tannenbaum (who works from home in Park Slope,…

Rhythm-a-ning with Branford

It’s been several years since I saw Branford Marsalis play live, but if tonight’s late set at the Jazz Standard is anything to go by, let’s just say that his last few albums don’t begin to capture the peaks he’s scaling. He started the set with a slow pure-tone simmer of “Violets for Your Furs,” switched to a raucous original, and, at one point, lit into long, zigzag takes on Monk’s “Rhythm-a-ning,” treating it alternately as a funk fizz, a samba, a syncopated frenzy, and a straightforward Monk tune, each switch ripe with wit, adventure, and wry references reminiscent of Dexter Gordon’s (the…

A Fool for Everyone

Though he, like many others, moved to New York City as soon as he could, Mike Bones is from New Jersey. Bloomfield, or Belleville, or maybe Bayonne. Somewhere around there&#151somewhere not far from a good view of the Manhattan skyline. You can hear it in his lyrics. Only a boy from New Jersey could write and sing a song called "Today the World Is Worthy of My Loathing."

It's the first track from his recently released album, A Fool for Everyone, and it starts with a guitar solo. The solo is played well and doesn't last too long. We get to hear it again later in the song,…

Where the Bad Word Would Be

While putting together yesterday's entry, I stumbled upon this video of Mike Bones performing a version of Grinderman's excellent "No Pussy Blues." This was back in the summer of 2007, during a music festival in New York City's East River Park. I wasn't there.

Bones does a good job, I think, and displays the fine guitar work that he's become known for. But, when compared to the original Grinderman track, Bones's rendition comes off as being a bit sappy, a bit wishy-washy, a bit emasculated. Perhaps it is unfair to compare Bones's version to the original.

…

Silver Rocket

I'm telling you: Matador's Buy Early Get Now plan is the gift that keeps on giving. First of all, I've been streaming The Eternal every day for the last couple of weeks. It's great. Then, with the pre-sale ticket offer, I scooped up four seats (Orchestra, Row C) for Sonic Youth's July 3 performance at the United Palace Theater in Manhattan. Now, I'm freaking out to this shredding, blazing train wreck of "Silver Rocket" from last year's Fourth of July River to River Festival held at Battery Park. I wasn't there.

I've listened to it three times in a row. It's the first…

In Shades of Orange

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.

Still, I do love the green, and I think we made the right choice.

Now on Newsstands: Stereophile, Vol.32 No.6

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…

Dark Night of the Soul

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."

Doug and Gaff

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…