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Winners 12-7

TWELVE
From: Dennis Wenner

1) Elgar: Nimrod from Variations on an Original Theme for orchestra, Op. 36 ("Enigma"), Pierre Monteux.

The "burning bush" of music—three minutes of inspirational music that can last a lifetime.

2) Beethoven: 6th Symphony, 4th movement, Norrington.

This movement follows the "storm," and reminds us there is light following the storm.

3) Enya: "On Your Shore" from Watermark speaks to the mystical power of love.

4) Joni Mitchell: "A Case of You" from Blue speaks to love and its power over us.

5) Jennifer Warnes: "…

Winners 6-1

SIX
From: Neal Miller

Hi John,

These are my favorites that bring back the best memories for me.

Here goes:

1) Steely Dan: Aja.

This one jumps out because at first I really could not stand it—it felt kind of jarring and almost atonal to me, so I put it away. After hearing "Black Cow" on the radio some months later, and realizing that it came from Aja, I gave it another spin, and the light went on! It's been one of my favorites ever since.

2) Doobie Brothers: What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits.

Not only was the rock and roll great, more…

Special Award for Best Poetry

John Marks' Personal "hors de concours" award for best entry that broke the rules.

Special Award for Best Poetry Bob Bray

Dear Mr. Marks,

Here are my five "aural madeleines" for the contest:

1) Gloomy Sunday (sung by Billie Holliday).

2) Dvorak: "New World" Symphony (by I think the Columbia Symphony Orchestra).

3) Give a Little Bit by Supertramp.

4) Wagner: "Wotan's Farewell" from Die Walküre.

5) Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

Now I know what you said about annotations! But please take a look at the…

Special Award for the Most Poignant Single Pick

Finally, John Marks' Personal "hors de concours" award for best mystic chord pick that did not actually enter:

Special Award for the Most Poignant Single Pick James Pritchett

Someone who did not actually enter the contest got the biggest "Mystic Chords" emotional reaction from me.

There is a YouTube video of Peter, Paul and Mary singing Gordon Lightfoot's Early Morning Rain. It's a great performance of a great song. You must hear it.

YouTube member "jstrytllr" (James Pritchett) posted this recollection:

"Standing at the end of the flight line at Cam Ranh…

Spectator Sports, Good and Bad

There is something about the performance of music that is in the nature of a spectator sport. By this I do not mean big-arena stagecraft and lights and fireworks and dance routines. I mean the actual making of the music.

To see Eric Johnson's fingers flying over his Fender Stratocaster as he hits "Cliffs of Dover" out of the park one more time is to enjoy something that is every bit as much an athletic performance and a spectator sport as baseball is. There is a thrill to watching people do difficult things exceptionally well, things that most of us can only take random sidelong swipes…

Recording of December 2010: <I>Blood/Candy</I>

The Posies: Blood/Candy
Rykodisc RCD 11094 (LP). 2010. Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow, prods., engs.; Paco Loco, Scott Greiner, others, engs.; Greg Calbi, mastering. AAA? TT: 42:39
Performance ****½
Sonics ****

Having a long career in the temporal world of indie rock, as the Posies have, has its drawbacks. Before I wrote this review, someone sent me a quote about Blood/Candy from the all-powerful world of Internet music criticism, where speed trumps knowledge. "A collection that's thankfully a world away from their largely charmless and invariably dull nineties output for Geffen…

Peachtree iDecco D/A integrated amplifier

As with so many other things, from cell phones to soy milk, the idea of a portable MP3 player was something I at first disdained, only to later embrace with the fervor of any reformed sinner. But not so the idea of a high-fidelity iPod dock: Given that I now carry around several hundred high-resolution AIFF files on my own Apple iPod Touch, the usefulness of a compatible transport seemed obvious from the start. Look at it this way: In 1970, whenever I bought a music recording, I could enjoy it on any player, in any room in the house. In 2010, why shouldn't I enjoy at least that degree of…

Peachtree iDecco D/A integrated amplifier Page 2

The rear panel is nicely laid out, with inputs for four of the five sources—USB digital, coax and optical S/PDIF digital, and line-level analog—plus one pair of preamp outputs for subwoofers or other ancillaries, and a pair of line-level outputs for those who might wish to use the iDecco as a standalone DAC to drive some other preamp or amp. Two other items deserve mention: a two-position switch for choosing between soft and steep digital filter slopes, and a Jitter Bandwidth control, with Narrow and Wide settings (think of them as fine and coarse sieves, respectively), for use with the S/…

Peachtree iDecco D/A integrated amplifier Page 3

The results weren't always what I expected. The distinctions weren't huge, by any measure, and they confounded me further by being somewhat music-dependent. For the most part, I slightly preferred the iMac-to-USB route, for a number of reasons: That approach not only rewarded me with the most open, least opaque treble performance of which the iDecco seemed capable, but also with the Peachtree's best sense of note-to-note flow—which was considerable. The beautiful, sun-dappled melodies that fill Elgar's Nursery Suite, as performed by Paul Goodwin and the English Chamber Orchestra (ripped…

Peachtree iDecco D/A integrated amplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with built-in D/A converter, USB interface, and digital iPod dock. Inputs: 1 line-level analog, 2 S/PDIF digital (1 coax, 1 optical). D/A signal/noise ratio: 118dB. Preamp output impedance: <30 ohms. Amplifier output power: 40Wpc into 6 ohms (14.8dBW) at <1.0 % distortion.
Dimensions: 14.75" (380mm) W by 5" (130mm) H by 14" (360mm) D. Weight: 23 lbs (10.5kg).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 0004184, firmware v1.1.
Price: $999. Approximate number of dealers: 104.
Manufacturer: Signal Path…