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I was never happier to be an audiophile than when my train stopped at the US/Canada border on my way home. The customs officers who boarded our train were quite serious-minded, and as I waited in my seat I heard them grill other passengers regarding the precise nature of the Canadian goods they harbored. When it came my turn, a surly-something man in a black uniform examined my Customs Declaration, saw that I was bringing some new LPs into the US, and broke into a friendly smile: “What vinyl did you get?” We chatted amiably for a moment about old Quads and Garrard 301s before he went on to…
It was a really good show. That was the opinion of the people I spoke to at the 2011 SSI, including veteran as well as first-time exhibitors, and members of the public. Even the Trade Day, which in the past was not very popular, was busy enough that it felt like it almost could have been one of the public days. The Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony was extremely well-attended, as the above photo illustrates. There was a kind of back-to-the-basics feel to the show, with a strong emphasis on music presented in two-channel stereo, and almost nothing in the way of surround sound. (Sorry, Kal…
Kristen is hot. I mean, seriously: smoking, sizzling, flame-broiling, momma-said-knock-you-out, one-hundred-and-fifty-five-degrees-in-the-shade, incomprehensibly, impossibly, unavoidably, uncomfortably hot. (Yow!) But that’s not what I meant to write about.
Let me start again.
Kristen (who is incredibly hot) owns and operates Kanibal Home, a thriving little shop located in the heart of Downtown Jersey City, filled with treasures new and old, handmade and lovingly restored. Even though there are no records for sale, I enjoy walking into Kanibal Home and browsing the…
The elegant, languorous video for Wild Beasts’ “Albatross,” the first single from the band’s upcoming album, Smother, is filled with images that are like Wild Beasts’ music: surreal, delicate, physical, painful, and, at times, painfully lovely.
With its gentle dance rhythms, memorable melodies, and heavy, overcast skies, Wild Beasts’ 2009 album, Two Dancers, which was nominated for 2010’s prestigious Mercury Prize, continues to find a place near the front of my vinyl stacks. The girls like it, too.
Smother promises to fall even closer to my heart. From the press release…
MOZART: Piano Concertos 22 & 25
David Fray, piano; Jaap van Zweden, Philharmonia Orchestra
Virgin 5099964196404 (CD). 2010. Etienne Collard, prod.; René Möller, eng. DDD. TT: 66:04
Performance *****
Sonics *****
David Fray, piano; Jaap van Zweden, Philharmonia Orchestra
Virgin 5099964196404 (CD). 2010. Etienne Collard, prod.; René Möller, eng. DDD. TT: 66:04
Performance *****
Sonics *****
From 1782 to the end of 1785 were successful, fertile years in Vienna for Mozart. He was sought by the aristocracy and the upper classes as a pianist, teacher, and composer. Throughout this period—and the following year, during which he ran out of money—he composed piano sonatas, songs, marches, wind serenades, a horn quintet, Die Entführung aus dem Serail,…
Dinner with Natalie and Nicole was still three hours away and, thanks to the Okki Nokki record-cleaning machine that I wrote about last month, I had a half-dozen newly cleaned LPs begging to be played. A gray and listless day had somehow blossomed into a clear, brilliant night filled with promise and anticipation. Outside, tattooed against the dark violet sky, a strange, enormous moon hovered over Jersey City, and flooded my listening room with enchanting white light. It was time to enjoy my new records and better acquaint myself with the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 loudspeakers ($350/pair), and…
Indeed, the Soft Machine seemed to have become a tighter unit, as if they'd been on the road for a couple of weeks honing their skills. In the process, however, they'd lost some of their power and urgency, forfeited some of the danger and madness that is essential to any good rock band. Through the Wharfedales, there was more nuance, detail, and resolution to the sound, but less rock'n'roll: The Soft Machine had become jazzy.
This was an interesting and unexpected development, and it wasn't exactly wrong—after all, the Soft Machine's sound contained jazz elements, most notably in Wyatt'…
But wait . . . Neeno is the name of Natalie's dog. I was definitely getting hungry. I checked the time: 45 minutes till dinner. I sent Natalie a text.
ME: I'm sitting here attempting to hear differences between two very similar turntables. Frustrating. Listening to a song called "Nero's Expedition," but I keep hearing "Neeno's Expedition."
NAT: Ha! You've got Neeno on your mind.
ME: It's true, but can you blame me?
NAT: Nope, he's always on my mind.
Goddammit, I thought, that Neeno is a lucky guy.
It was time to focus, and to do that, I would…
Sidebar: Contacts
PSB Speakers International, 633 Granite Court, Pickering, Ontario L1W 3K1, Canada. Tel: (888) 772-0000, (905) 831-6555. Fax: (905) 837-6357. Web: www.psbspeakers.com.
Rega Research Ltd., 6 Coppers Way, Temple Farm Industrial Estate, Sothend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 5TE, England, UK. Web: www.rega.co.uk. US distributor: The Sound Organisation, 1009 Oakmead Dr., Arlington, TX 76011. Tel: (972) 234-0182. Fax: (972) 234-0249. Web: www.soundorg.com.
Wharfedale, IAG UK Ltd., IAG House, Ermine Business Park, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE29 6XU, England, UK. Tel: (44) (…
Now in its second year, and almost double the size of its launch, AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) is set to make a major impact on East Coast audiophiles when it opens to the public on April 15. Sponsored by Stereophile, the annual show, which runs April 15–17 in the beautiful, centrally located Sheraton Downtown Atlanta, promises at least 70 exhibit rooms alive with gear from at least 250 individual manufacturers.
With quadruple last year's square footage, including three 10,000 sq. ft. ballrooms, the show promises an exhibit from Goldmine magazine; a special Analogue Ballroom showing…