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The Erotic Downbeat of Wild Beasts

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…

Recording of April 2011: Mozart Piano Concertos 22 & 25

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 *****

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,…

The Entry Level #4

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…

The Entry Level #4 Page 2

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'…

The Entry Level #4 Page 3

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…

The Entry Level #4 Contacts

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) (…

Axpona: the East Coast's Major Audio Show Starts Friday

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…

Ambrose Akinmusire

Every few years, a young jazz musician comes along and sets off some buzz. Usually, the excitement soon cools—the kid can’t sustain the initial stir, he turns out to have more technique than depth—but now and then, it turns out there’s something really going on. In the past decade, Jason Moran has been the most prominent of these upstarts who’s the real thing. The latest, I’m pretty sure, is a trumpeter, just shy of 29 years old, named Ambrose Akinmusire.

His debut CD on Blue Note, When the Heart Emerges Glistening, is co-produced by Moran, who heard him play and urged the label’s…

Plinius Audio SA-103 power amplifier

Audio reviewers are kinda slutty. Not sexually, of course, but in the way we promiscuously go through equipment. Like the most popular girl in school, or Tiger Woods, we have our choice of any hot thing we want, whenever we want it. Heck, reviewers don't even have to pick up equipment at bars or clubs: the stuff is delivered right to our homes. We use the gear for a few months, then send it packing once the next hottie comes over to play in our room.

One of the dangers of being a sexually promiscuous person, besides strange spots on your privates, is that it can lead to a perpetual state…

Plinius Audio SA-103 power amplifier Page 2

That's the Power of Love
Setup was very straightforward: Lug the beast into place, attach the speaker and interconnect cables, select the mode and input, and switch on the main power toggle on the rear panel. The SA-103 turns on in muted standby mode. You then press the Mute button on the front panel; the SA-103 will now play music, but in class-A/B mode. You can also use Mute to swap out input and speaker cables while the amp is on—a nice tool for reviewers. To switch to class-A, hit the button so labeled. I listened to the SA-103 only in balanced stereo mode.

Plinius intends for…