Geary Kaczorowski
BUTTHOLE SURFERS: Independent Worm Saloon
Capitol 98798-2 (CD). John Paul Jones, Butthole Surfers, prods.; Pat McCarthy, eng. TT: 62:21 The cream of an already wonderful oeuvre. It's all here: the twisted banjo tunes, the sonic riff-rockers, the humor inherent in songs with titles like "Dog Inside Your Body." Vocalist Gibby Haynes is at his howlingly sarcastic best, and the band behind him plays every smarmy note to the hilt. Paul Leary's guitar has never sounded scarier or more pleasing as he piles on the solos, and King Coffey's drumming is topnotch, fill-…
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Guy Lemcoe
NINE INCH NAILS: Downward Spiral
Nothing/TVT/Interscope 92346-2 (CD); PR 5509 (2 LPs, domestic); Island ILPSD 8012/522 126-1 (2 LPs, import). Flood, Trent Reznor, prods.; Alan Moulder, Bill Kennedy, Sean Beavan, Chris Vrenna, Brian Pollack, John Aguto, engs. AAA/AAD? TT: 65:10
Painfully dark, ominous, and menacing, this music gnaws incessantly at your insides like a mutant tapeworm. The rude, vivid lyrics are chilling testimony to a society (or an individual) on the verge of collapse. And don't look to the brief, unsettlingly quiet and melodic interludes for comfort…
NINE INCH NAILS: Downward Spiral
Nothing/TVT/Interscope 92346-2 (CD); PR 5509 (2 LPs, domestic); Island ILPSD 8012/522 126-1 (2 LPs, import). Flood, Trent Reznor, prods.; Alan Moulder, Bill Kennedy, Sean Beavan, Chris Vrenna, Brian Pollack, John Aguto, engs. AAA/AAD? TT: 65:10
Painfully dark, ominous, and menacing, this music gnaws incessantly at your insides like a mutant tapeworm. The rude, vivid lyrics are chilling testimony to a society (or an individual) on the verge of collapse. And don't look to the brief, unsettlingly quiet and melodic interludes for comfort…
Peter W. Mitchell
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto 2,The Isle of the Dead
Earl Wild, piano; Jascha Horenstein, RPO
Chesky Gold Series CG902 (CD). Charles Gerhardt, prod.; Kenneth Wilson, eng. ADD. TT: 50:32
SIBELIUS: Symphony 2
Sir John Barbirolli, RPO
Chesky Gold Series CG903 (CD). Charles Gerhardt, prod.; Kenneth Wilson, eng. ADD. TT: 44:22 Illness prevented me from participating in R2D4 last year, so my first entry this year is a two-disc recommendation. Recorded three decades ago in London's Walthamstow Town Hall by the Decca/London team of Gerhardt and Wilson, and…
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto 2,The Isle of the Dead
Earl Wild, piano; Jascha Horenstein, RPO
Chesky Gold Series CG902 (CD). Charles Gerhardt, prod.; Kenneth Wilson, eng. ADD. TT: 50:32
SIBELIUS: Symphony 2
Sir John Barbirolli, RPO
Chesky Gold Series CG903 (CD). Charles Gerhardt, prod.; Kenneth Wilson, eng. ADD. TT: 44:22 Illness prevented me from participating in R2D4 last year, so my first entry this year is a two-disc recommendation. Recorded three decades ago in London's Walthamstow Town Hall by the Decca/London team of Gerhardt and Wilson, and…
Russ Novak
GATO BARBIERI: Last Tango in Paris(original soundtrack)
Gato Barbieri, tenor sax; Oliver Nelson, orchestral arrangements
United Artists UA-LA045-F, (Spanish) Liberty 29 (both LPs, nla). AAA. A haunting theme, sensuous orchestration, dense rhythmic textures, tango-influenced jazz. Good, not great, sound; but remember, it's the performance that counts.
GATO BARBIERI: Last Tango in Paris(original soundtrack)
Gato Barbieri, tenor sax; Oliver Nelson, orchestral arrangements
United Artists UA-LA045-F, (Spanish) Liberty 29 (both LPs, nla). AAA. A haunting theme, sensuous orchestration, dense rhythmic textures, tango-influenced jazz. Good, not great, sound; but remember, it's the performance that counts.
For classical Latin arrangements of popular tunes, superb sound, and perhaps the best digital recording yet, get Orquesta Nova's Salon New York (Chesky JD86). Tango is the music of regret, and both of these recordings…
Michael Ross
JAMES McMURTRY: Too Long in the Wasteland
Columbia CK 45229 (CD only). Ross Hogarth, eng.; John Mellencamp, prod. AAD. TT: 44:47
If the last name is familiar, it's because dad is author Larry McMurtry (The Last Picture Show, Lonesome Dove)---of interest only because Mac fils has inherited Mac pere's penetrating knack for nailing American life to the wall in disarmingly simple language. Small-town vignettes are delivered in dead-pan Lou Reed style, and brilliantly supported by Mellencamp's production (his true talent) and the creative drumming of Kenny Aronoff.…
JAMES McMURTRY: Too Long in the Wasteland
Columbia CK 45229 (CD only). Ross Hogarth, eng.; John Mellencamp, prod. AAD. TT: 44:47
If the last name is familiar, it's because dad is author Larry McMurtry (The Last Picture Show, Lonesome Dove)---of interest only because Mac fils has inherited Mac pere's penetrating knack for nailing American life to the wall in disarmingly simple language. Small-town vignettes are delivered in dead-pan Lou Reed style, and brilliantly supported by Mellencamp's production (his true talent) and the creative drumming of Kenny Aronoff.…
Don Scott
MICHAEL MURRAY: Music for Organ, Brass, & Percussion
Music of Dupré, Telemann, Purcell, Hovhaness, others
Michael Murray, organ; Empire Brass
Telarc CD-80216 (CD only). Jack Renner, eng.; Elaine Martone, Jack Renner, Robert Wood, prods. DDD. TT: 62:04 Alan Hovhaness's interests in Armenian music and Far Eastern cultures has led him to incorporate unusual rhythmic material into his work. "The Prayer of Saint Gregory" has a dominant theme of mysticism coupled with simple harmonies. Exquisite trumpet solos by Rolf Smedvig are joined by other brass and organ.…
MICHAEL MURRAY: Music for Organ, Brass, & Percussion
Music of Dupré, Telemann, Purcell, Hovhaness, others
Michael Murray, organ; Empire Brass
Telarc CD-80216 (CD only). Jack Renner, eng.; Elaine Martone, Jack Renner, Robert Wood, prods. DDD. TT: 62:04 Alan Hovhaness's interests in Armenian music and Far Eastern cultures has led him to incorporate unusual rhythmic material into his work. "The Prayer of Saint Gregory" has a dominant theme of mysticism coupled with simple harmonies. Exquisite trumpet solos by Rolf Smedvig are joined by other brass and organ.…
Steven Stone
TORI AMOS: Under the Pink
Atlantic 82567-2 9 (CD), East/West 7567-82567-1 (German LP). Tori Amos, Eric Rosse, prods.; John Beverly Jones, Paul McKenna, Eric Rosse, Kevin Killen, Ross Cullum, mix; Bob Ludwig, LP mastering. ADD/ADA. TT: 56:52
Tori Amos's second solo release proves that she's certainly more than a one-shot phenomenon. State-of-the-art production values coupled with material and arrangements that reveal deeper layers of meaning and beauty on repeated listenings make this release just the sort of thing you need if stranded on a desert isle, or taking…
TORI AMOS: Under the Pink
Atlantic 82567-2 9 (CD), East/West 7567-82567-1 (German LP). Tori Amos, Eric Rosse, prods.; John Beverly Jones, Paul McKenna, Eric Rosse, Kevin Killen, Ross Cullum, mix; Bob Ludwig, LP mastering. ADD/ADA. TT: 56:52
Tori Amos's second solo release proves that she's certainly more than a one-shot phenomenon. State-of-the-art production values coupled with material and arrangements that reveal deeper layers of meaning and beauty on repeated listenings make this release just the sort of thing you need if stranded on a desert isle, or taking…
Stephen Francis Vasta
BEETHOVEN: Symphony 9
Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, James King, Martti Talvela, Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
London OSA 1159 (LP only). AAA. TT: 77:55
HANDEL: Messiah
Heather Harper, Helen Watts, John Wakefield, John Shirley-Quirk, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Colin Davis
Philips 420 865 (2 CDs only). ADD. TT: 2:23:45
HAYDN: Symphonies 93-104
Eugen Jochum, London Philharmonic Orchestra
DG 437 201-2 (4 CDs only). Gunther Breest, prod.; Klaus Scheibe, eng. ADD. TT: 5:06:19
…
BEETHOVEN: Symphony 9
Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, James King, Martti Talvela, Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
London OSA 1159 (LP only). AAA. TT: 77:55
HANDEL: Messiah
Heather Harper, Helen Watts, John Wakefield, John Shirley-Quirk, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Colin Davis
Philips 420 865 (2 CDs only). ADD. TT: 2:23:45
HAYDN: Symphonies 93-104
Eugen Jochum, London Philharmonic Orchestra
DG 437 201-2 (4 CDs only). Gunther Breest, prod.; Klaus Scheibe, eng. ADD. TT: 5:06:19
…
It was the road signs alongside I-44 that first caught my attention, each with its twin supports neatly snapped halfway up. Then I saw the outlet center east of Oklahoma City, smashed flat as if struck by the mother of all baseball bats swung by a careless god.
I was driving back from HI-FI '99 in May, following the old Route 66 to Santa Fe, musing on all that I'd seen and heard in Chicago. And unlike the specific targets for the 318mph tornadoes that struck the Midwest in April, the current malaise that has afflicted high-end audio could have been foreseen.
In this space in…
Dennis Had's "Manufacturers' Comments" Letter:
Cary on Two-Channel Audio
Editor: We have all heard from numerous sources that two-channel audio is dead. In fact, some are proclaiming that "High-end audio is on its way out...." It never ceases to amaze me how industries and industry leaders can bring on a self-fulfilling prophesy of gloom and doom. I further find it almost comical that the naysayers, just about without exception, own or run "stale," lifeless companies. It takes no talent to be a critic. It takes a great deal of talent and courage and desire to keep a company…