Keeping fans satisfied but also looking forward is an effective marketing tool, one that Ernst Mikael Jørgensen, the guru of all things…
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FLASH! Record Business Conquers Death! Musicians Live Forever! There is life after death in the world of recorded music. Elvis left the building 46 years ago. Jimi Hendrix has been absent for 53 years. Yet both continue to release albums of unreleased material. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Bruce Springsteen wisely recorded much of their music throughout their careers, live and in the studio; they'll continue to release "new" music long after they pass.
In 2009, Robbie Fulks decided to make a change. For almost 20 years, the singer/songwriter had led a series of hard-hitting country-rock bands across America and beyond, his blistering guitar chops and madcap levity (the latter frequently testing, if not violating, standards of taste) winning him a modest-sized but ardent fan base.
"I was fatigued from what I'd been doing," Fulks told me recently via Zoom, sitting in his kitchen in Atwater Village, a Los Angeles neighborhood between Glendale and Burbank. "Me on acoustic guitar, with electric guitar, bass guitar and drums, that was my…
Photo by Will Byington
2001's Couples in Trouble, which he released on his own Boondoggle Records, was offputtingly eclectic. Even as The Washington Post's Geoffrey Himes hailed the record as Fulks's "most intimate, most ambitious work," Himes all but warned off potential buyers. "Before the record ends, the singer will try his hand at new-wave pop, art song, show tunes, troubadour folk, synth noise and honky-tonk." Sorry, too rich to digest. Fulks set out on a multi-album journey through classic hard country with 2001's ironically titled 13 Hillbilly Giants; its perverse conceit is…
Sidebar: Fulks's Choice
When an artist has written hundreds of songs, it seems a logical request that he list the 15 or so that, as Fulks put it, “don’t embarrass me.” Would he consider this list “The Essential Robbie Fulks”? “Sure,” he said, “it’s fine if you want to say that.” Here they are, from the most recently released to the earliest, with the albums on which they appear.
"Angels Carry Me": Bluegrass Vacation (Compass, 2023)
"Molly and the Old Man": Bluegrass Vacation (Compass, 2023)
"I Just Lived a Country Song": Wild! Wild! Wild! with Linda Gail…
Laurie Styvers: Gemini Girl: The Complete Hush Recordings
High Moon (auditioned as CD). 2023. Various prods., engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
High Moon (auditioned as CD). 2023. Various prods., engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
High Moon Records is on a mission. Used-record crate diggers and musical anthropologists at heart, they have introduced lost artists like Ace of Cups and Sons of Adam to a new audience of fans. Their latest project may be their best yet.
Gemini Girl augments the out-of-print Laurie Styvers releases Spilt Milk (1971) and The Colorado Kid (1973) with previously unreleased material including demos, alternate takes, and original…
Ingrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place
Laubrock, tenor and soprano saxophones; Mazz Swift, violin; Tomeka Reid, cello; Brandon Seabrook, guitar; Michael Formanek, bass; Tom Rainey, drums
Pyroclastic PR24 (auditioned on CD). 2023. Laubrock, prod.; Nick Lloyd, eng.
Performance ***½
Sonics ½
Laubrock, tenor and soprano saxophones; Mazz Swift, violin; Tomeka Reid, cello; Brandon Seabrook, guitar; Michael Formanek, bass; Tom Rainey, drums
Pyroclastic PR24 (auditioned on CD). 2023. Laubrock, prod.; Nick Lloyd, eng.
Performance ***½
Sonics ½
Ingrid Laubrock is representative of what might be called the New Jazz Avant-garde. What is new is that, unlike the older version (Coleman, Ayler, late Coltrane, etc.), it is less noisy and more analytical. But it is no less challenging. Laubrock's imagination is radical.
The Last…
Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs; Final Scene from Capriccio
Rachel Willis-Sørensen, soprano; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons, cond.
Sony 824105 (CD, heard as 24/96 WAV download). 2023. Friedemann Engelbrecht, prod. & eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
Rachel Willis-Sørensen, soprano; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons, cond.
Sony 824105 (CD, heard as 24/96 WAV download). 2023. Friedemann Engelbrecht, prod. & eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
Strauss's sumptuous, late-career Four Last Songs are the final flowering of his romantic genius. Paired on this recording with the Final Scene from his last opera, Capriccio: A Conversation Piece for Music, these four orchestral songs ponder life's eternal mysteries as they swirl, soar, then climax in sound…
The Momentum M400 MxV Mono amplifier ($79,500/pair; footnote 1) is the latest iteration of Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems' debut amplifier of 2011, the Momentum Mono amplifier. Weighing 95lb, it is smaller and lighter than its entry-level sibling, the more powerful, 125lb Progression M550 Mono amplifier ($47,500/pair), and is veritably dwarfed by some other monoblocks, including the flagship D'Agostino Relentless Epic 1600 (570lb) and the Karan Acoustics POWERa mono (231lb), which I reviewed in May 2023. But if the M400 MxV's rock-solid look and feel and its exquisite aesthetics—a sleek…
Sonic and musical epiphanies
I had certain expectations about what I would hear when I began my audition. I anticipated that the Momentum M400 MxV would have a similar top-to-bottom sonic signature to the Progression M550 but that its bass would be less impactful, less dynamic. Most differences, I expected, would probably be best described as refinements of that house sound Dan had mentioned. Considering that the Momentums cost some $30,000 more than the Progressions, I hoped for a great deal of refinement.
I had certain expectations about what I would hear when I began my audition. I anticipated that the Momentum M400 MxV would have a similar top-to-bottom sonic signature to the Progression M550 but that its bass would be less impactful, less dynamic. Most differences, I expected, would probably be best described as refinements of that house sound Dan had mentioned. Considering that the Momentums cost some $30,000 more than the Progressions, I hoped for a great deal of refinement.
I'm always amused when my expectations are proved wrong. The strength…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid state, fully balanced class-AB monoblock power amplifier. Inputs: 1 pair balanced (XLR). Outputs: 1 pair binding posts. Power output: 400W into 8 ohms (26.0dBW), 800W into 4 ohms (26.03dBW), 1600W into 2 ohms (26.04dBW). Frequency response: 1Hz–200kHz, –1dB 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.1dB. Input impedance: 1M ohm. Output impedance: 0.11 ohm. Signal/noise ratio: 115dB, unweighted. Distortion at 400W, 1kHz into 8 ohms: 0.09%.
Dimensions: 12.5" (317mm) W × 21.5" (546m) D × 5.25" (133mm) H. Weight: 95lb (43.1kg).
Finish: Silver or black with copper trim…