The land and culture Ry Cooder is speaking of are Cuba's. Whether it was luck (as he would have it), or his canny sense of the larger world being ready for something real, the always adventurous Cooder, who had a long and distinguished career prior to 1997, will now always be remembered as the man behind the breakout success of Buena Vista Social Club. His…
search
"Where can you go in the world anymore where you can be in any kind of atmosphere other than the post-media, post-consumer world that we live in now—one that's available and that's musically rich? So it's very attractive in that way."
Since the late '70s, Cooder has also provided music for a number of films, including The Long Riders, Cocktail, Steel Magnolias, and Paris, Texas. In 1992, he was briefly in a latter-day roots-rock "supergroup," Little Village, which tried unsuccessfully to re-create the magic that the same four players (Cooder, John Hiatt, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner) had tapped into while making Hiatt's Bring the Family in 1987. His venture into world music began in 1993, when he recorded A Meeting by the River with V.M. Bhatt for Water Lily Records, an independent audiophile world-music label. And in 1994…
"Either it's very flat and down on top of you like modern records are, which are totally unemotional—all that is is product and I don't like it—or it's got some environment to it, but they neglected to trap the harmonics up here and so it feels weak.
"The bubble is the thing. You're in it and the music is in it, and if you really go for this and really get this, then the listener will feel it too. I'd say to Jerry Boys, 'I don't hear the bubble.' During the Buena Vista [sessions], we were just getting acquainted, you know, and he'd look at me: 'Bubble, hmmm'.
"'Bubble!' I'm going…
K.D. LANG: Hymns of the 49th Parallel
Nonesuch 79847-2 (CD). 2004. k.d. lang, Ben Mink, prods.; David Leonard, John Morrical, engs. AAD? TT: 47:24
Performance ****½
Sonics ****
Nonesuch 79847-2 (CD). 2004. k.d. lang, Ben Mink, prods.; David Leonard, John Morrical, engs. AAD? TT: 47:24
Performance ****½
Sonics ****
The trajectory of Kathy Dawn Lang's career has been unlike any other in the musical history of the last two decades. But that's no surprise when you consider that lang, more than any other pop vocalist of the last few generations, has an instrument whose tone, volume, and range are without equal. One listen to "Pullin' Back the Reins" (from Absolute Torch and Twang), "Season of the Hollow Soul" (from…
Bonnie and I decided to avoid the crowds last weekend, and instead settled in at home to watch the recent remake of Great Expectations, with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow. It seemed like a pretty good movie, but before long I found my thoughts drifting to the review I had in progress: my audition and analysis of the Magnepan Magneplanar MG3.6/R. True, Great Expectations is a little slow, and a few explosions or car chases might have better held my attention, but if ever there was an audio product to which the phrase "great expectations" applied, it's the Magnepan 3.6/R.
The MG3.6/R's…
System and Setup
I did all of my listening in my main 17' by 23' listening room, with the Maggies firing across rather than down the room's length. The setup put them approximately 3.5' out from the front wall, and the speakers' outer edges approximately 7' 10" from the left wall and 4' 11" from the right. The speakers' inside edges were about 5' 8" apart, their centers each about 13' from my listening position. I settled on a slightly toed-in configuration, with the speaker axes crossed at a point approximately 6' behind the listening position.
I did all of my listening in my main 17' by 23' listening room, with the Maggies firing across rather than down the room's length. The setup put them approximately 3.5' out from the front wall, and the speakers' outer edges approximately 7' 10" from the left wall and 4' 11" from the right. The speakers' inside edges were about 5' 8" apart, their centers each about 13' from my listening position. I settled on a slightly toed-in configuration, with the speaker axes crossed at a point approximately 6' behind the listening position.
My past experience with Magnepans led…
With the MG3.6/Rs, there was also a continuous ambience field that stretched from the side walls down into the front-to-back spaces between singers, who were clearly and obviously moving around within a single, defined acoustic envelope. I often felt as if I could actually enter the recording's acoustic environment and wander around among the performers. Even on good studio recordings, where there's no real "stage" per se, the soundstage and images were so tangible that it seemed as if I was almost able to get between and behind the performers.
Great Expectation No.2: Pinpoint precision…
The MG3.6/R's highs were nothing short of superb. Piccolos were pure and clear, and maintained all their detail and sharp metallic cut all the way to the top of their range—and without getting hard or steely. Solo violins were delicate and sweet, and high, massed violin crescendos had tremendous power and presence, but never crossed over into a hard, unnatural screech. Cymbals are perhaps the best example, and the Maggie unfailingly had exactly the right balance: a rich, bell-like tone at the center, a palpable sense of waves of overtones emanating from the cymbals' vibration, and,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, floorstanding, planar dipole loudspeaker. Drive-units: 500-in2 planar-magnetic bass driver, 199-in2 planar-magnetic midrange driver, 0.16" by 55" ribbon tweeter. Crossover frequencies: 200Hz and 1.7kHz. Frequency response: 34Hz-40kHz, ±3dB. Impedance: 4 ohms nominal, constant, resistive (4.7 ohms bass, 4.2 ohms midrange/tweeter, 3.3 ohms tweeter only). Sensitivity: 86dB/2.83V/m. Recommended power: 75-250W.
Dimensions: 71" (1800mm) H by 24" (610mm) W by 1.625" (42mm) D. Shipping weight: 145 lbs/pair.
Finishes: white, off-white,…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: VPI TNT Mk.IV turntable, JMW Memorial tonearm, Grado Reference cartridge.
Digital source: SimAudio Moon Eclipse, Oracle CD players.
Preamplifier: VAC CPA1 Mk.III.
Power amplifiers: VAC Renaissance 70/70, VTL Ichiban, Mark Levinson No.20.6, Classé CAM-350.
Cables: Nirvana S-X, Kimber Bi-Focal XL, Synergistic Research Designer's Reference.
Accessories: Bright Star Rack of Gibraltar and isolation systems; Tiptoes; PAC Super IDOS; MIT Z System and Z Center, Nirvana AC systems; Synergistic Research A/C, Reference Master Couplers;…