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I have a hunch that the overwhelming majority of Stereophile readers have pretty decent hi-fis, but they probably listen to a lot more music in their cars, or through computer speakers, or on the go with headphones. I'm in that last group, and log more hours listening to Jerry Harvey's astonishing JH13 Freqphase custom-molded in-ear 'phones than to my Magnepan MG3.7 speakers—but music moves me more through the 3.7s. I can fully savor the White Stripes only when I'm on the couch, letting Jack White's blistering guitar and Meg White's pounding drums rearrange my brain. I'm not just talking…
Aidan Baker: Already Drowning
Gizeh GZH 043CD/LP (CD/LP). 2013. Aidan Baker, prod.; Baker, Jonathan Demers, engs.; James Plotkin, mastering. ADD/AAA. TT: 54:54
Performance *****
Sonics **½
Gizeh GZH 043CD/LP (CD/LP). 2013. Aidan Baker, prod.; Baker, Jonathan Demers, engs.; James Plotkin, mastering. ADD/AAA. TT: 54:54
Performance *****
Sonics **½
Though classically trained in flute and exceedingly capable on a wide range of other instruments, including drums, trombone, piano, and various electronics, Aidan Baker is best known for his work on acoustic and electric guitar. A perusal of his unofficial discography on Discogs.com reveals some 80 full-length albums, and another couple dozen singles, EPs, and compilation credits. Beyond…
Listen, I rarely recommend some hazy, over-saturated indie rock played by a Crayola-hair-colored, geometric-patterned-vinyl-jacket-wearing, wide-eyed goon drinking a glass of red kool-aid to wash away his reverb and irony soaked introspection, but I think there's something special here. Something magical. Trevor Powers of Youth Lagoon might even be a wizard.
Just wait for the elevating chorus. He sets it up perfectly. There is both anticipation and nostalgia in his heavily-delayed vocals and warbling synth pads, and once he realizes you've had enough of his repetition and slight…
It's not easy to get Roy Gandy to look back. "I'm not a past person, I don't reminisce," he says. "But right at this moment I'm feeling very happy. We've not quite completed the launch of a whole new range of turntables and a new range of electronics, and I'm feeling elated."
As Rega Research plans to celebrate its 40th anniversary, Gandy has good reason to feel that way. Things have never looked better for the company he founded in June 1973 and still owns. Rega is a major beneficiary of what we still must call the vinyl revival, though that's only part of the story.
Rega began…
"So you've got this big rotating flywheel, rotating as a whole mass at the most constant possible speed. To make it do that, it needs to be stiff, hard, and heavy. If it's too heavy, it starts to affect the bearing. If it's too light, the bearing friction overtakes it and you start to get speed inconsistencies."
The platters in the more upmarket RP6 and RP8 turntables are made from Rega's traditional material, glass, but with a new approach. There'd been a long and happy relationship with the original supplier, but that ended when he retired. When Gandy found a new supplier, he also…
Aidan Baker. Photos: Leah Buckareff.
Aidan Baker’s Already Drowning is our “Recording of the Month” for June 2013. In preparation for our review, I asked Baker a few questions about the album. We discussed literary and musical influences, the songwriting and recording process, and the importance of sound.—SM
Stephen Mejias: The liner notes state that “lyrical conceits” were “gleaned from various folktales.” I haven’t read any of the books or stories mentioned in the liner notes. Can you tell me whether specific songs were inspired by specific books? If so, how?
…
This guy cares a lot about his headphones. Though ludicrous, the Beats tattoo is admirable. He's saying, “Music runs through my veins and the Beats pumps that blood.” Would you tattoo “Vandersteen” in cholo lettering in an arch across your back? Would you inscribe “S-O-U-N-D” and “S-T-A-G-E” on each of your knuckles so that if someone insulted your system, your beat-down would arrive in stereo?
How much do you care about your hi-fi?
This is a stupid question. Why? Because it does not put you in front of your system. Or in a record store. Or out with friends enjoying life outside…
Readers of this space know of my near-boundless admiration for Maria Schneider, the most accomplished and imaginative big-band composer of our time and high up in the pantheon for all time. Her swaying lyricism, muscular rhythms, and kaleidoscopic harmonic voicings—accented with both a Latin tinge and an airiness as spacious as her native Minnesota—rival and, in some ways, exceed the heights of erstwhile mentors, Bob Brookmeyer and Gil Evans.
Now, with Winter Morning Walks, Schneider leaps to still loftier terrain, fusing her jazz sensibility with classical idioms, while staying true to…
Register to win a set of Westone 4R In-ear Headphones (MSRP $599.99) we are giving away.
According to the company:
The Quad-Driver Westone 4R-Series with durable and removable EPIC cable take your listening experience to an entirely different level. Four symmetrically balanced armature drivers engineered into an advanced three-way crossover network deliver breathtaking clarity, realism, and imaging. Left and right earpiece responses are tested by each driver pack and matched to an extraordinarily tight +/- 2dB tolerance, delivering unparalleled balance and accuracy of sound-…
It was 10:10AM on Friday, 50 minutes before the start of the T.H.E. Show Newport Beach, and the lobby of the Hilton Irvine was abuzz with activity. Folks were standing 5–10 deep, in multiple lines, waiting to register or retrieve their pre-registration badges. Close by, at the entrance to the lobby, photographers for multiple publications and organizations were establishing turf, staking out the best spot for catching every smile, grimace, and nuance of the 10:30AM ribbon-cutting ceremony. And in the midst of it all, hotel visitors whose deepest association with audio is that it rhymes, more…