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Things Are So Bad

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…

Safe Sex of the Highest Order

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…

Marc Ribot at Le Poisson Rouge

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…

Desire, Passion, Hunger (Duh)

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…

Marantz KI Pearls

I love the styling of the latest Marantz gear&#151strong 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,…

<i>Rhapsody</i> Remastered and Revitalized

Did you know that we recently remastered our Rhapsody? The album is a tribute to George Gershwin, conducted by pianist Hyperion Knight, and it's good, good fun on the hi-fi.

When it was time to repress the disc, John Atkinson (now wearing his audio engineer hat, which is a little like a baseball cap but with more sliders and knobs) decided to give the old songs a listen.

Somewhat surprisingly, he heard a few things that he didn't like, things that he knew could have been done better. After all, it has been over 12 years since the album was originally recorded, and maybe…

The KEF Blade

At last year's Consumer Electronics Show and Festival Son & Image, British loudspeaker manufacturer KEF caught a lot of eyes and ears with their shimmering, $140,000/pair Muon. Now the company has unveiled the Blade, an artful, sleek, stealthy looking thing, poised to draw similar attention.

KEF's engineers were given complete creative freedom and spent three years toiling over the development of the Blade. If you're thinking of buying it, however, hold your horses. And your checkbooks. And your horses' checkbooks.

The Blade is not for sale!

I guess that…

Rather Ripped

Audiophiles and music lovers may be interested in Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music, the new book from music critic and Sound Opinions cohost Greg Kot. The book is being billed as "the first definitive account of the digital music revolution," and takes an appreciative look at a world in which peer-to-peer file sharing and CD burning are commonplace tools. It can be argued that such technologies are not only blessings for independent musicians looking to gain wider audiences, but also gifts to the music lover who cannot get enough.

In fact, I like to see it…

Landslide

Intern Ariel Bitran sent this around the office today, in an e-mail titled "Crying in My Cubicle."

I have always, always, always loved this song, but of all the many excellent versions, I think this has to be my favorite. Can you believe the emotion in the faces and gestures of the children? And isn't it sort of profoundly sad to hear them sing those great, simple lines:

I've been afraid of changing
Because I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
And children get older
I'm getting older, too

Yes, it is heartwarming and…

Grizzly Bear: <i>Veckatimest</i>

Hello Jon.
I hope you had a great weekend.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the new Grizzly Bear record. It strikes me as being an important release. I am tempted to call it "timeless." At the very least, I get the feeling that the band was attempting to create an honest and lasting piece of art.

In fact, it seems to be an album about time. Or about the passing of time. And, of course, love. The futility of time in the face of love. Time is inescapable, except to love. The word "time" appears in several of the songs, and in others, the lyrics seem to suggest…