Ayal Senior jumped in a car with John Fahey and a couple of pretty girls and headed back to Fahey’s little room at the…
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If you’re a fan of John Fahey—a fan of his music, his writing, his thoughts on life, whatever—and especially if you’re sort of sad, like I am, about having never met him, then you’ll enjoy this disc. The Three Day Band is Fahey and musician Ayal Senior who, in addition to capturing Fahey on four-track here, also edited much of Fahey’s second collection of stories, Vampire Vultures. (Senior’s also got a bunch of good-looking cassettes available.)
It’s been nearly a week since PBS’ broadcast of the White House concert of music from the civil-rights era, and its sounds and images keep popping up in my brain.
The Blind Boys of Alabama (now old but still feisty men) singing “Free At Last,” the Freedom Singers testifying “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round,” Natalie Cole putting a surprisingly spirited cover on “What’s Goin’ On,” the very sight—shivering, for someone like me who remembers those times—of watching these people singing these songs a few hundred yards from where some of them sang in protest not quite a half-century ago…
Last night at Le Poisson Rouge,
Kieran Hebden made all the kids
slither and groove.
Kieran Hebden made all the kids
slither and groove.
There is love in you,
there is love in you, there is love in you,
there is love.
Through the rhythms and waves,
he reminded everyone.
The March 2010 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. Open it up and you’ll see that Steve Guttenberg has rediscovered his faith in vinyl. Hooray! What did it for him? A new turntable: the VPI Classic. “Coming back to vinyl,” Steve writes, “I now see that digital’s primary fault is that it encourages passive listening.”
Passive listening is the devil. Hallelujah, Steve has seen the light.
Deeper in, we have two excellent, intense features: Keith Howard’s “Arc Angels,” examining tonearm geometry, and Richard Lehnert’s “Finally, A Finale,” exploring the many odds and…
The relationship between the internet and music continues to evolve in new and bizarre ways. The latest is Guvera, a site that offers free music downloads, that the principals say uses the sponsorship model in new and they hope successful ways and keeps everyone—from artist to label to consume—happy. When you register for the site, they ask you a battery of questions about your likes and dislikes and then you’re free to search for a song or an artist. The site will then direct you to a channel or channels, sponsored by an advertiser, which has what you’re looking for. Using the…
The guitarist John Fahey was born on February 28, 1939, and died just days before what would have been his 62nd birthday, on February 22, 2001. Like so many other beautiful things that continue to have enormous impact on my life, Fahey’s music was introduced to me by Michelle. The album was 1997’s City of Refuge. We were in our second year at Fairleigh Dickinson University, in the second year of our relationship. Michelle had claimed the album from our campus radio station and brought it back to our dorm room and played it for me.
City of Refuge was John Fahey’s “comeback”…
Joanna Newsom’s third full-length LP, Have One On Me, is available today. You can stream the entire thing from NPR, if you’re interested. Today, after work, I will go out into the light rain and hunt down this album. The arrangements are as intricate as ever, but Newsom’s voice has never been so seductive, alluring, inviting. So far, I especially like the kindness and yearning of “No Provenance,” but the entire thing—three LPs, 18 tracks, and two hours long—is bewitching and rewarding.
The problem has not been solved.
I’ve been listening to a lot of compact discs lately. It’s okay, I guess. This situation, I mean. No, it’s actually really bumming me out. I want to listen to my vinyl records. I went for a long walk a couple of weekends ago and thought about life and took some pictures and stopped at Target and bought an ultrasonic humidifier. Being “ultrasonic” and all, you’d think it’d be quiet. But, no. It’s fairly loud.
(Then again, maybe it’s so much louder than I realize. Maybe that sound I’m hearing is just the purr of billowy wings as…
Consider this a wish list from someone who loves owning classic jazz albums reissued on clean, thick slabs of virgin vinyl, preferably cut at 45 rpm—but who’s weary of seeing the same titles pop up over and over again with each slightly new format (180g, 200g, single-sided 45, clarity, etc.). I understand the impulse: certain labels and titles have a mystique (e.g., Blue Note and Blue Train); they’re surefire winners; it’s an uncertain business, so go with the sure thing.
But there are other titles, by equally big-name artists, on the same vaunted labels, that somehow get passed over…
It’s alive! Nirvana brings nirvana to SM’s listening room.
So, yesterday afternoon, I sent a detailed e-mail to Steve Daniels at the Sound Organisation, US importer for Rega. Steve promptly returned my e-mail with a phone call. After reviewing the static situation, Steve asked me to send my Elys 2 cartridge to his office so that his team could take a good look at it. Maybe the static shocks that I had experienced while lifting the tonearm had done some damage to the cartridge’s inner workings. No problem, I said.
Back at home that night, I figured I’d give the ‘table…