James Brown at B.B. Kings in New York on Friday night. Big semi-crazed shows, what they used to call <I>revues</I>, like the one Brown brought to town are fast becoming a lost art. The band featured three horns, three drummers, four female backup singers called Bittersweet (two black, two white) and four guitar players all of whom were killer and all of whom played in widely diverse styles.
When we were enthusing about Dr. John and the Lower 911's concert at <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/he2006/">HE2006</A>, John Atkinson exclaimed, "I can't believe he played a tango!"
Interestingly enough, this essay is <I>by</I> a woman. Sheesh, obviously only a guy would be qualified to handle this question. No, wait a minute, I 'm a guy and even <I>I</I> know better than to try to answer that one.
It's Johnny's birthday<BR>It's Johnny's birthday<BR>And we would like to wish him all the very best<BR>It's Johnny's birthday<BR>It's Johnny's birthday<BR>And it's so nice to have you back to be our guest.<BR><I>George Harrison: <B>All Things Must Pass</B></I>
Belt buckle? Jimminy Christmas, Sweet Couture is selling cassette tape belt buckles. It's $10 for a "We pick," $15 for your favorite brand. They don't offer <I>my</I> fave, the TDK-MAXG, however—which is a shame, because $15 wouldn't be an unreasonable price for one of those bad boys.
Trying to convince your friends you're a time traveler? Folllow these, ahem, timely tips.
All we really want to hear from our systems is the music, but sometimes there is still a little unwanted noise tagging along for the ride. Do you have any humms, buzzes, or other unwanted noises emanating from your audio system? What do you do about it?
Oh boy! This was one of my most eagerly anticipated auditions. At my first demonstration of an OLS loudspeaker system several years ago, I was bowled over not only by the demo, but also by the idea that OLS's Kharma line was topped by the $1,000,000 Grand Enigma system!
What makes a phono cartridge worth $3500 or $4000? Pride of ownership? Snob appeal? Sound? Tracking ability? Exotic materials? Styling? Labor cost for skilled artisans? Special ether? Cool wooden box? All of the above?
Small enough to fit in a shoebox, these little darlings from England almost manage to redefine the state of the art in very compact monitor design (footnote 1). Here's a speaker that isn't as neutral as the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361">BBC LS3/5a</A> compact monitor, but that does manage to equal or exceed that venerable design in most respects.