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In the late 1970s, I walked into a university-area bookstore in Tucson, Arizona, and heard a clawhammer banjo chiming out a catchy melody. The tune was familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. "Ever since I was a young boy I played the silver ball," a twangy woman's voice intoned. "Holy crap!" I realized. "It's 'Pinball Wizard'!" It was as if I was hearing that anthem of my boyhood for the first time. A serious Who fan, I…

For 37 years I failed to approach this germinal prog-rock opus with the one thing it most deserves: a mind open to the possibility that King Crimson had a sense of humor. My loss—but a pleasant "new" discovery as I move through a time that often seems bereft of same. The music is beautifully colored and played with muscle, and the lyrics hark back to a more innocent (and thus acceptable) kind of pretentiousness…

The alt-country genre doesn't need more sad-sack guys with guitars or lonesome, pining cowgirls. What makes Lost in Revelry so engaging is that it plays out like an epic lovers' quarrel, the aggrieved parties hurling insults at one another across the bar. All the shame and blame is doled out by singers Tim Bracy (a Dylanesque rambler), Shannon McArdle (a twangy, sassy siren), and Pete Hoffman (a liltingly melodic…

BILL EVANS: Waltz for Debby
Bill Evans, piano; Scott LaFaro, bass; Paul Motian, drums
Riverside 9399 (original LP), Analogue Productions APJ-009 (LP). 1961/1997. Orrin Keepnews, prod.; David Jones, eng.; Doug…

If you want to know why I really love this album, it's because it was the first gift given to me by my sweetheart. The woman's got good taste. If that's not reason enough, then you should know that every track on The Back Room is a dark, beautiful hit. Deceptively simple songs are built around hypnotic and infectious bass lines, while reverb-drenched guitar riffs, syncopated drum rhythms, and layers of breathy, passionate vocals intersect at…

Any new recording by Robert Silverman is an event worth celebrating, but his traversals of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and 32 Variations on an Original Theme are worthy of a national holiday. Boldly assertive, Silverman's playing seems to…

One of my favorite discs at the moment, this collaboration is a musical meeting of two of the world's great musical traditions, the Arabian and the Indian. A single work that runs the entire length of the CD takes you on a slow journey. The interplay is cautious, maybe even tentative at first, but gains confidence and pace as it develops. The…

When it comes to pop music for the new millennium, it doesn't get any better than this. Even if you weren't in love with "Stacy's Mom," a wistful, lustful teenage fantasy that was a surprise radio hit, there's lots to love here. I can't drive over the Tappan Zee Bridge without hearing "Little Red Light" (about how technology can't fix everything), and I smile every time I hear the opening lines of "…

I was allowing listeners to compare the 24-bit/88.2kHz-sampled master files for some of my Stereophile recordings with "Red Book" (CD) versions and MP3s encoded at various bit rates. No one had a problem hearing differences between the different versions of these recordings. Yes, I was using a reasonably high-end system assembled by Roy Gregory, editor of UK magazine HiFi+ (see ), but the speakers…