"Capture my good side, or I'll eat you."
(I'm just kidding!)
Eric met with Wilson's John Giolas at Wilson's warehouse where they had all of the necessary tools for the shoot.
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The Wilson MAXX 3 loudspeaker gets the star treatment. Our cover photographer, Eric Swanson, tells me she was sort of a demanding diva.
We flew cover photographer Eric Swanson to Salt Lake City to shoot the impressive Wilson MAXX 3 loudspeaker. His flight was delayed, of course.
This cream-colored version was my first choice for our September issue cover. Though it has a certain quiet elegance, we decided to go with the bolder, less subtle combination of yellow, red, and gold. I think we made a good choice, but I still sort of love the cream version.
Which version do you prefer?
The September 2009 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. What do you think of the cover? Is it exciting enough for you? Does it make you want to rescue our darling magazine from the clutches of the ungodly newsstand and kiss it? Did we obscure too much of our logo with the big Wilson MAXX 3? Did you think that our magazine was called Stereop?
I'm not kidding. These are serious concerns. The Wilson MAXX 3 is a serious speaker. It's so big and heavy that it was easier for us to ship our photographer, Eric Swanson, to it than to have it shipped to Eric. I know, I know: You…
I know that every time someone dies, it’s now customary to intone about what a hero they were, how much they were always had a smile for everyone, how they were great family men, husbands, fathers, etc. etc. etc. Speak no ill of the dead, I get it.
Les Paul who died last night in White Plains, NY was one amazing pioneer of both the electric guitar and recording techniques like overdubbing, phasing, multi-track recording, use of delays have all, for better or worse, become a very regular parts of making records. He is also the brains behind prodding Ampex into building the first 8 track…
Web Monkey, Jon Iverson, has informed me that today is the 40th birthday of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York. I really don't know much at all about Woodstock. I haven't read any of the books or watched any of the movies. I know that Richie Havens opened (and played and played until he couldn't play anymore), but I've only just recently acquired that bit of knowledge. I know that Jimi Hendrix tore through an angry version of the "Star-Spangled Banner." I know that Janis Joplin was there. I've seen that funny video of Joe Cocker…
On August 17, 1959—50 years ago exactly—Columbia Records released Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, which became not only the best-selling jazz album of all time but also one of the best jazz albums, period, the spearhead of the “modal” revolution.
For an elaboration of why Kind of Blue is such a great and revolutionary recording, see my column in Slate today (with illustrative sound clips included).
But for you readers of Stereophile blogs, most of whom know a lot about that sort of thing anyway, let’s deal with the important question: which LP and CD pressings of this album are the…
I now own it on vinyl, too, of course, but four years ago, John Atkinson presented me with the SACD/CD dual-disc. It quickly cured my headaches and has remained one of my very favorite albums. Listening to it at least once a month keeps my mind and body healthy.
The Jazz Messenger informs us that today is Kind of Blue's 50th birthday. The album was released on August 17, 1959. (Fred Kaplan knows just about everything there is to know about 1959, by the way.) Happy birthday, Kind of Blue.
For last year's 50th Anniversary set, Legacy Recordings put together this nice…
The sky over Madison Avenue is a sliver of summer blue. Steam sighs and whirls up and out from the old street like a thin white curtain in the wind. A few things, quickly, then:
1. We're working on the Buyer's Guide. By around 7pm tonight, I will be blind with numbers and bullets, "Y"s and "N"s and dollar signs spotting my vision like black and white floaters. Times like this, I really need an assistant.
2. Our summer intern, Ariel Bitran, left us a few months ago. Got a full-time job out in Brooklyn somewhere, doing something surprisingly similar to what he used to do…