AC RECEPTICALS

Paul McGowan: For those of us with long memories here’s a flashback. Remember when preamps sported rear-mounted AC receptacles to power the rest of the system? The first memory I have of the rear-mounted AC receptacle was on my father’s McIntosh C28 preamplifier. Note the use of switched and unswitched outlets. The idea was that […]

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CANNED HEAT: Live In Concert 1979 Parr Meadows Long Island (CD)

Live In Concert 1979 Parr Meadows Long Island There have been quite a few high profile events to commemorate the legendary 1969 Woodstock Festival, but one of the most interesting occurred when many of the original musicians who had performed at Woodstock converged in Long Island’s Parr Meadows to celebrate the 10th anniversary. Unlike later […]

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BENCHMARK MEDIA: Some observations about the Benchmark DAC1

IMO the DAC1’s true potential can only be realised when the extra bells and whistles (XLR output attenuators, physical volume pot) are switched off, and it is fed a digital signal that is attenuated, with dither at 24 bits, and upsampled well (e.g. SoX with -v) to 110.6kHz. If used via XLR, also the XLR […]

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“I like the rapid punch of solid-state for the bottom, and the rodent-gnawing distortion of the tubes on top” / John Cipollina

“To create his distinctive guitar sound, Cipollina developed this one-of-a-kind amplifier stack. All of his guitars, including the one here, were wired with two pickups, one for bass and one for treble. The bass pickup fed into the two Standel bass amps on the bottom of the stack. Each Standel was equipped with two 15-inch […]

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13th FLOOR ELEVATORS: Live Evolution Lost (2CD)

Live Evolution Lost: The 13th Floor Elevators Live at the Houston Music Theatre is the first ever release of the complete performance of the band?s legendary show from 18th February 1967 The trailblazing 13th Floor Elevators released the first ?psychedelic? rock album in America, transforming culture throughout the 1960s and beyond. Formed in late 1965 […]

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Gary Moore – Live At Bush Hall 2007 (CD) inc. track listing

The late Gary Moore was one of the finest and most respected guitarists of his generation. This show, recorded at London’s Bush Hall on 17th May 2007, was originally broadcast by Planet Rock radio. This is the first time the recording has been made available outside of this original broadcast. The concert features a number […]

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Why it’s time to end our Cold War view of Soviet music says Ivan Hewitt

Posterity is cruelly haphazard towards composers. A lucky few geniuses are recognised in their own lifetime. Beethoven, Josquin, Wagner, Mozart, all entered posterity wearing their laurels, and they stayed there, serene and untouchable. Others are not so lucky. Some fine composers wait decades or even centuries after their death to be rediscovered, like Charpentier. Some […]

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