JOHN HIATT: Mystic Pinball

  The tone and pace shifts throughout John Hiatt’s Mystic Pinball, the 60-year-old’s 21st album. Of the fast, ‘rockier’ songs, the opening track We’re Alright Now and It All Comes Back work well, although the perfunctory groove of Bite Marks detract from the sassy lyrics. MORE

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NIRVANA: Live On Air – Nirvana (4CD)

We are told ….. Disc 1 1.Intro 2.Drain You 3.Aneuysm 4.School 5.Floyd The Barber 6.Smells Like Teen Spirit 7.About A Girl 8.Polly 9.Sliver 10.Breed 11.Come As You Are 12.Lithium 13.Territorial Pissings 14.Love Buzz 15.Floyd The Barber 16.Downer 17.Mexican Sea Food 18.Spank Thru 19.Hairspray Queen 20.Pen Cap Chew Tracks 1-13 Pat O’ Brian Pavillion, Del Mar […]

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KUZMA: 4Point tonearm – test review

No one has ever accused Franc Kuzma of designing glamorous audio jewelry. His turntables and tonearms are industrial-strength examples of engineering know-how and machining excellence. But to those who appreciate such things, his products are truly beautiful, even if they’re not adorned with chrome, wood, and sleekly polished surfaces. And if looking at the 4Point […]

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Playing right now

  Funny how one’s misconceptions can occasionally be confounded rather than the more usual way of having them confirmed. I pretty much thought I didn’t like jazz – despite the fine efforts of my friend of many years standing; Graham Mitchell. GM has a vast collection of Jazz CDs. Very few appealed to me. And […]

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From our archives: The amplifier designer hall of fame / John Curl, Mark Levinson (again), Dr. Richard Bews, Bob Stuart (again)

Hmm. Okay So anyway, a little while later were ushered into the listening room and were confronted by man-sized monoliths we later came to know as The Apogee, from Apogee. And a pair of the previously mechanically buzzing power amps, powered up with the preamp at max without a source playing and mechanically silent. Seeing […]

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PREMATURE DEATH: Is the Audiophile dying in the UK … or not?

Hi guys…this question I’m going to pose is not intended to russel up anyone’s feathers, moreover, I ask this question because I have (in recent years) noticed a significant change in the downward trend of attitude/outlook/customer service/passion/integrity/motivation/product knowledge/politeness, and so many other elements from the very people who are serving to sell companies products to […]

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AMPEX: What happened?

Gentlemen, I found some Ampex ads and it looks like they made terrific gear (if the marketing talk is to be believed) and then they disappeared. Can you shed any light? Well, this is what we’ve found so far. “Ampex Electric and Manufacturing Company. Named after its founder Alexander M. Poniatoff who started the company […]

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CLAIM YOUR FREE RECORDING:

Celebrate this year’s best recordings with Gramophone’s Awards issue!  With this special offer, we’ll send you a category-winning album from this year’s Gramophone Awards when you purchase an annual subscription. Choose from:  Recording of the Year (DVD): Korngold, Die tote Stadt / Kirill Petrenko, Bayerische Staatsoper (BSO Recordings)  Piano category winner (CD): Beethoven, Diabelli Variations / Mitsuko Uchida (Decca)  Instrumental category winner (CD): Ysaÿe, Sonatas for Solo Violin […]

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ARROw

Video of the Day: La Bohème, for violin and piano, ‘Si sente meglio’ and ‘Che gelida manina’

Video of the Day brings an excerpt of the live performance of Puccini’s opera La Bohème, performed in its entirety by violinist Mathieu van Bellen and pianist Mathias Halvorsen from the Beethoven-Haus Bonn. Arranged by the musicians themselves, the work brings together the parts of the soloists, the choir and the orchestra into a virtuosic piece for just […]

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MILES DAVIS: The Original Mono Recordings (9CD Box (Mini Replica Jackets)

Landmark box set presents nine albums remastered in original, brilliant sound, as they were intended to be heard in the 1950s and ’60s Nine of Miles Davis’ earliest albums on Columbia Records, encompassing music that he recorded for the label in monaural sound from 1956 to 1961 (and released from 1957 to 1964), will be […]

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BERT JANSCH: A Man I’d Rather Be (Part 2) (4CD Book)

We are told: Limited edition 4LP/4CD case-bound 24 page book-back box set. A Man I’d Rather Be’ (Part II) comprises Jansch’s late ’60s and early ’70s output, an under-rated era, no doubt influenced by the now well-established Pentangle sound. Bandmates Danny Thompson (bass) and Terry Cox (drums) regularly feature among the musicians as well as […]

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