Since we are all on the same page when it comes to wanting the accurate and enjoyable reproduction of music in our homes, it’s always startling to me how different stereo systems can sound. Visiting different rooms at a HiFi show is demonstrative of what I am referring to. Most rooms sound good and, happily, […]
Articles
Found 11257 results
No one, but no one, painted a picture in song of despair and desolation like the Thin Man from the West Plains, Porter Wagoner. Forget the Nudie suit and the pompadour; Waylon Jennings once said that Wagoner couldn’t go pop with a mouthful of firecrackers, and these 40 songs prove it. Sure, the hits – […]
Brought home some CJ preamp to audition perhaps 22 years ago. Noisy as anything and a turn off transient destroyed a tweeter (though years later i bought a CJ 17LS2 which I thought was the finest preamp I ever heard in my home) Auditioned a VPI table (HW19) in a store- the store just […]
The Dig 3 – Don’t SlipChris Martin – Flood WaterThe Durham Project – It Must Be LoveMartin Pugh- Steamhammer – Junior’s WailingJohn Németh – Sexy WaysMick Clarke – Can’t Stop Lovin’Superdownhome – Vacuity BluesRobert Hill Band & Joanne Lediger – Way Down In The HoleThe Mighty Soul Drivers – I Wouldn’t Treat A DogDetonics – […]
A great singer and a great song. Marking the centenary of Billie Holiday’s birth, four living jazz musicians and her biographer celebrate her extraordinary and dramatic life, along with her legacy and achievements, through the prism of one historic 12-bar blues. The song Fine and Mellow, which Billie Holiday wrote herself, was recorded in 1957 […]
They tell us…. Bad Company recorded four classic albums in as many years, giving rise to some of the most recognizable rock songs of the Seventies, including “Rock Steady,” “Run With The Pack” and the Grammy-nominated, “Feel Like Makin’ Love.” Run With The Pack (1976) and Burnin’ Sky (1977) have been newly remastered from […]
We are told: • Excellent performance live from the Kool Jazz Festival, New York • Includes the entire NPR Broadcast • Digitally remastered for greatly enhanced sound quality • Background liners Jaco Pastorius, live at the Kool Jazz Festival, New York on 27th June 1982. Jaco Pastorius established himself as one of the greatest electric jazz bassists before forming […]
During the divorce from his wife Beverly, John Martyn wrote and recorded songs which reflected his strong and emotional upheaval that he was experiencing at the time. These songs were so personal and unsettling that Island Records didn’t want to release the album at first and waited for a year to do so. Right from […]
One of my readers commented that “it sure is easier to just put a record on the turntable and play it” in response to trying to understand the complexity of sending music out of a computer. Well, sure it is – just as it’s even easier to put a CD into a CD player. But […]
Do you fall into the trap of judging things based on a preconception? Do you buy into stereotypes? I do. All the time. I think it’s in our nature as humans to categorize life’s complexities based on our experiences: cables make a difference/cables can’t make a difference. Electrostats are transparent sounding/electrostats require your head in […]
CHEAP TRICK 1995 BROADCAST FROM LAS VEGAS Cheap Trick left Epic records, the label with which they had had their biggest successes, in 1991, after the disappointing sales of the album Busted. They signed to Warner Brothers in 1993 and released Woke Up With A Monster the following year. Produced by Warner’s Ted Templeman, best […]
Formed in 1985 in Minneapolis The Jayhawks honed their skills amid the Twin Cities music scene of the late 80’s. After the albums ‘Jayhawks’ on Bunkhouse Records in ’86 and ‘Blue Earth’ on Twin Tone in ’89 our heroes were netted by Def Jam, releasing ‘Hollywood Town Hall’ in ’92 to acclaim and commercial success. […]
Quality Control, For A Quality Sound Pictured is an image from the late ’50s of the final hand-finished assembly process after mylar stretching and cabinet construction. Although manufacturing is achieved today on a much larger scale, the same approach to quality has never faltered. Many processes from circuit board assembly to piano gloss finishing use […]
The 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking fusion album Bitches Brew offers an opportunity to expand upon the context of its original unveiling. The impact of this recognition can’t even be mitigated by a collision of commerce and creativity that echoes some of the furor over the original 1970 release. MORE
This package contains two performances from Grammy Winner Bonnie Raitt’s early career including a rare solo acoustic performance•Includes staples of Bonnie Raitt’s early career including songs from Randy Newman Steve Winwood Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt •Rarely Seen Photographs •Liner notes by Broadcaster/Author Jon Kirkman •Presented In Cardboard Gatefold Sleeve, Grammy award winning artist Bonnie Raitt began […]
The mesmerizing new album from L.A.’s premiere psych rock band, The Warlocks, offers some of founder/vocalist Bobby Hecksher’s most captivating compositions in years! Features the hypnotic lead single “Lonesome Bulldog,” plus the subtly seductive album opener “Only You,” and a woozy ode to alcohol in “Drinking Song!” “Lonesome Bulldog” made its debut on Spin magazine’s […]
It has been said that break-in, the phenomena of equipment improving its sound quality with use, has more to do with breaking in the user’s ears than the kit. I think that opinion is misleading. There is a difference in equipment performance with break-in. Of this I am certain. I can almost always tell when a unit […]