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Records to Die For 2018 Page 3

Thomas Conrad

Stefano Battaglia: Pelagos
Stefano Battaglia, piano, prepared piano
ECM 2570/71 (2 CDs). 2017. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Stefano Amerio, eng. DDD. TT: 2:11:59

With regard to R2D4 eligibility, my rule has been that albums are like wine: They must be allowed to age before they can achieve distinction. Stefano Battaglia's new solo recording is a necessary exception. It is a single imaginative arc, motivated by the plight of the refugees who have been flooding into Europe from Africa and the Middle East, fleeing war, oppression, and famine. Many…

Records to Die For 2018 Page 4

Michael Fremer

Cécile McLorin Salvant: Dreams and Daggers
Cécile McLorin Salvant, vocals; Aaron Diehl, piano; Paul Sikivie, bass, arr.; Lawrence Leathers, drums. With: Sullivan Fortner, piano; Catalyst String Quartet.
Mack Avenue MAC 1120 (3 LPs). 2017. Cécile McLorin Salvant, Al Pryor, prods.; Todd Whitelock, Damon Whittemore, engs.; Kevin Gray, disc cutting. DDA. TT: 112:11

Jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant "arrived" by winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition (after almost not submitting an entry), after which she released two superb…

Records to Die For 2018 Page 5

David Lander

George Crumb: Complete Crumb Edition, Vol. 18
The Yellow Moon of Andalusia, Eine kleine Mitternachtmusik, Celestial Mechanics, Yesteryear

Tony Arnold, soprano; Marcantonio Barone, piano; Steven Beck, Susan Grace (Quattro Mani), piano four hands; Bernie Brink, piano; David Nelson, William Kerrigan, percussion
Bridge 9476 (CD). 2016. David Starobin, prod.; Adam Abeshouse, eng. DDD. TT: 67:56

Complete Crumb Edition, Vol. 13
American Songbook II: A Journey Beyond Time. American Songbook IV: The Winds of Destiny.
Barbara…

Records to Die For 2018 Page 6

Stephen Mejias

Aldous Harding: Party
4AD 4AD008 (LP/CD/WAV). 2017. John Parish, prod.; Oliver Baldwin, eng.; Ali Chant, Parish, mix. DDA? TT: 38:45

The album's title is perhaps misleading. There are no brightly colored balloons or cràpe-paper streamers here. Aldous Harding is demented. Her voice is a tiny bird on fire, then a playful poltergeist—sometimes terrifying, always enchanting. "He took me to a clearing," she calmly sings in the title track. "The grass was warm / And the air was soft / He had me sit like a baby / I looked just 12 / With his thumb in…

Records to Die For 2018 Page 7

Herb Reichert

Mascara Quartet: Barco Negro
Polona Udovic, vocal, violin; Timi Krajnc, guitar; Matjaz BoZo Banovic, bandone¢n; Mitja Rezman, bass guitar; Vid Usenicnik, percussion; Bozo Banovic, Peter Urek, Sasa Bastallec, arr.
Sazas Biem VVE LP 001 (LP). 2017. AAA. TT: 43:03

Imagine Argentine tango, Portuguese fado, and Latin milonga, all wrapped in artful musical extrapolations—from Slovenia. Picture the tall, enchanting presence of Polona Udovic doing her best to channel the sorrowful spirit of renowned fadista Amália Rodrigues singing "Barco Negro."…

Vandersteen's Richard Vandersteen Talks Loudspeakers

"Richard Vandersteen doesn't look like a typical loudspeaker designer," wrote Ken Kessler when he interviewed Vandersteen in the July 1988 issue of Stereophile, adding "His presence suggests somebody who'd be played by Gene Hackman." But Richard Vandersteen is one of the most successful loudspeaker designers working in high-performance audio. His Model 2, in its various incarnations, has been a best-seller since its introduction in 1977 and the Model 7 Mk.II, which John Atkinson reviewed in May 2016, is a ground-breaking, full-range design.

JA talked speakers with Richard at the 2018…

Marianne Crebassa's Secret is Out

In 2016, when I received Oh Boy!, the first solo album from mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa, I thought, "What a cute title for a compilation of male operatic roles that were written for female singers"—"trouser roles" in operatic parlance—and put it aside. Now, having heard Crebassa's newest album, Secrets: French Songs, I realize that I made a big mistake. Crebassa is a major artist, with a sound and temperament that make Secrets a must-listen for lovers of vocal artistry.

Crebassa's superbly vocalized rendition of Debussy's disarmingly sensual Trois Chansons de Bilitis (Three Songs of…

The 2018 Grammies: Missing the Point

It is a given these days that the Grammy Awards telecast has devolved into a not very interesting TV variety show. And that most of the really interesting awards are given out off-camera the day before. Entertainers rather than musicians have become the focus of the entire affair. And while the annual grumbling about who did and did not deserve their award is nothing new; trends over the past several years are growing downright embarrassing. Bruno Mars over Kendrick Lamar? And Leonard Cohen winning Best Rock Performance?

In the They-Got-It-Right category, War on Drugs deserved the Best…

IsoAcoustics Orea Audio Equipment Isolators

After I'd concluded my critical listening sessions with the PS Audio Stellar M700s that I review elsewhere in this issue, I got a call from Dave Morrison of IsoAcoustics, in Markham, Ontario, makers of the Gaia loudspeaker isolation feet. He told me that they had a new product, the Orea, that applies to audio electronics—preamps, power amps, DACs—the isolation technology used in the Gaia. (Orea is a simplified form of Ourea, for the nine primordial mountain gods of Greek mythology, all progeny of Gaia: the Earth.) He suggested that I try the Oreas under the Stellar M700s. My experience with…

Listening #182: Audio-Creative GrooveMaster II tonearm

In my youth, I unwittingly trained myself in the art of deferred pleasure. I did this by investing my allowance in every mail-order product that caught my eye—things I saw in the back pages of the magazines and comic books I loved—then settling in for a wait that always seemed interminable. This happened most often in summer months, when extra chores brought extra cash, and when school didn't interfere with keeping vigil at the mailbox. Surely the screen door of our old house still bears the imprint of my nose, stamped as I waited for the mailman to deliver booklets on the secrets of the…