I started at around 9am with Ron Carter’s Where?, which was a present from Michael Lavorgna, and has become the album I…
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Although it was a really lovely autumn Sunday with soft blue skies, abundant sunshine, and a crisp breeze, I was still feeling rather worn out from shipping our December issue. Instead of finding a place to watch the Giants demolish the Raiders, I decided to stay inside and listen to records. I considered taking notes to accompany each album, but doing so would have felt too much like more work, so I opted to simply listen and deal with the subsequent guilt.
My problem is intensified a million times over by the fact that many of these releases are severely limited. I’m talking as few as 300 (or even just 250!) copies of a certain album are pressed on delicious vinyl, and that’s it. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. Thank the holy lord up above that I live in the New York City area and I can get my hands on just about anything I want. A trip to Other Music or Hospital Productions takes just a few minutes. Of course, I could always purchase these titles online, but where’s the fun in that? Actually going to the record shop and finding a…
I had been curious about the gorgeous releases from UK indie label, Type Recordings, but because I knew none of the artists, I held back. Invariably, however, I would be drawn to their albums, simply taken by the quiet, thoughtful cover art and album titles like I Could Not Love You More and Your Eyes The Stars and Your Hands The Sea. How could I not be attracted to this?
And, my god, look at those lips!
Now that I’ve gotten to know the label a bit better, I wish I hadn’t held back. The sounds inside are as lovely as the images that contain them. If you click on any one…
Keith Jarrett’s Paris/London: Testament (on the ECM label), a three-CD set consisting of two live solo concerts, is a stunning album, a career peak.
I’ve seen Jarrett play solo at Carnegie Hall twice in the past few years and my jaw dropped at both. (Both concerts were recorded; one was released as an album in 2006, which I listed as the second-best of that year, topped only by Ornette Coleman’s Sound Grammar.) But those New York dates were nothing compared to what Jarrett ekes from the keyboard here.
All of the music is totally improvised, not in the sense of typical jazz…
Espers (from left): Meg Baird, Helena Espvall, Greg Weeks, Brooke Sietinsons. Photo: Daniel Coston.
Right from the start—from the very first musical moment—it’s the gorgeous, spacious sound we’ve grown to love from Espers’ Greg Weeks and his Hexham Head Studio in Philadelphia. While III’s rather straightforward instrumentation (churning, scintillating acoustic guitars, appropriately warm, round bass, and steady, impactful drums) marks a subtle departure from the doumbek and dholak of II, the quality of sound is no less complex or stirring. We hear the sounds of wood and brass meeting with flesh and skin, of bow hair as it courses along cello strings, of cello moan…
It’s that kind of place. Despite it’s economic distress, the empty streets, the half–assed Bourbon Street mess that Beale Street has become (goddamned is it bad!), and what seems to be a full on crime wave in certain parts of town, in Memphis you cannot keep the music out of your head. It may be the wash over that comes from being so close to the Delta, but I couldn’t keep, “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohen or the words to one of John Hiatt’s greatest songs, (and that my friends is truly saying something because John Hiatt has written a shitload, okay, like 25 genuinely great songs) “Memphis…
The November 2009 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. On the cover, you’ll see a close-up of the Aerial Acoustics Model 20T V2 loudspeaker, which John Atkinson praised for its silky treble and weighty, well-defined bass. An interview with Aerial’s designer, Michael Kelly, appears here, while Michael Fremer’s review of the original 20T can be found here.
Also in November, we have reviews of the Paradigm Reference Studio 60 v.5 loudspeaker (which seems a bargain at just $1998/pair; v.3 review here); Convergent Audio Technology SL1 Renaissance preamplifier ($9995 with phono…
This is what my life will be like starting this Thursday and ending next Tuesday. I should’ve been in this video, though. I mean, seriously: Thao, give me a call next time. What’s up?
Thao and The Get Down Stay Down with the video for “When We Swam” from their album, Know Better Learn Faster. Get it now from Kill Rock Stars. The beautiful vinyl comes with a free digital download and costs $1 less than the ordinary compact disc.
Makes no sense! Gotta love it!
Still on the road in Memphis. At the center of any music trip to Memphis is the odd but very telling juxtaposition of Graceland and the relatively new Stax museum. Elvis was always very up front about where his influences came from—black blues and R&B, along with gospel music, both white and black, and Tin Pan Alley—’ most of which is honored in the Stax museum. And for the record let me say that I will never understand how Memphis, THE big city for all the delta blues pioneers, not to mention the town’s subsequent musical history, B.B. King, Elvis, Alex Chilton, Ardent Studios,…