Oneohtrix Point Never: Returnal
Returnal (Editions Mego EMEGO 104), the fourth full-length release from Oneohtrix Point Never, explodes into the listening room (or out from the speakers or out from the headphones) with real violence and penetrating force. We are thrust into a heavy storm, a maelstrom; we find ourselves standing beneath an ocean of falling glass, falling sky, falling electronic haze. If instruments could scream, their screams might sound like this, like the opening few moments of Returnal, moments that don’t seem like an opening at all, but someplace else, some other time that escaped us, that started without us, before we were ready. I don’t mean scream in the way that guitars and saxophones and other instruments can and do scream. I mean that if instruments could be dealt such pain that they were brought to life, given sentience, to wail with wonderful suffering, it might sound like this, like the opening few moments of “Nil Admirari.”
Onkyo TA-RW255
The Onkyo">http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=TA-RW255&class=Cassette&p=i">Onkyo TA-RW255 dual auto-reverse cassette deck plays tapes(!), offers all sorts of unnecessary conveniences (like Fast-Forward and Reverse), costs $199, and is available NOW.
Only Casual, Maybe
I've been listening for fun. With fun in mind, I mean. And it has been fun. I find myself, sitting there, chasing the sounds across the space in between the speakers. My eyes racing, images forming left and right, too much for me to keep up with.
Only One
It's almost a shame. There's room for only one.
Open to Differences
At Salon Son & Image, I had my ears opened to the">http://blog.stereophile.com/ssi2009/the_nordost_difference/">the differences cables can make when Nordost's Bruno de Lorimier demonstrated several of the company's interconnects, from the popular Blue Heaven ($230/1m pair) to the hallowed Valhalla ($5000/1m pair). I wrote:
Opening Day, Grand Opening, DRM-Free! What?
I have no idea how thishttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/technology/03music.web.html?hp">this<…; is going to impact the world of digital music.
Opposite But Equal To
I've heard some of the guys — John Atkinson, Wes Phillips, Art Dudley — talk about a certain feeling. It's a strange kind of, mildly irrational, but altogether real, bit of sadness topped off with a touch of guilt and/or regret that sneaks up on the audio reviewer when the time comes to return a piece of gear to its manufacturer.
Orange
Smile opens to this nightmarish orange scene of rocket ships and industrial revolution. Or something.
Our Endless Numbered Ping-pong Match, Or: Music for Frustrated Lovers, Or: The Subliminal Baton
Part of the problem is that I'm almost always thinking about what I should, or could, be writing here on the blog. I'll be in the shower, thinking: "Man, I haven't written anything good lately. Haven't written anything that's inspired discussion. Maybe, today, I'll write about my father and how his alcoholism relates to speaker cables…."
Out of the Office
On a clear, bright day, when the blue of the sea rivals the blue of the sky, one sees the hawk, the eagle, the buzzard soaring above the still, hushed canyons. In summer, when the fogs roll in, one can look down upon a sea of clouds floating listlessly above the ocean; they have the appearance, at times, of huge iridescent soap bubbles, over which, now and then, may be seen a double rainbow. In January and February the hills are greenest, almost as green as the Emerald Isle. From November to February are the best months, the air fresh and invigorating, the skies clear, the sun still warm enough to take a sun bath.
—Henry Miller, Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch
—Henry Miller, Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch