The Ecstasy and Agony
Marantz America is supporting the launch of their attractive KI">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/marantz_ki_pearls/">KI Pearl components with a decidedly august hardcover book and matching dual-layer SACD. Like the KI Pearls themselves, both the book and SACD celebrate audio designer Ken Ishiwata's 30-year relationship with Marantz and offer insights into his life and work.
The Entry Level
A few things contributed:
The Erotic Downbeat of Wild Beasts
The elegant, languorous video for Wild Beasts’ “Albatross,” the first single from the band’s upcoming album, Smother, is filled with images that are like Wild Beasts’ music: surreal, delicate, physical, painful, and, at times, painfully lovely.
With its gentle dance rhythms, memorable melodies, and heavy, overcast skies, Wild Beasts’ 2009 album, Two Dancers, which was nominated for 2010’s prestigious Mercury Prize, continues to find a place near the front of my vinyl stacks. The girls like it, too.
Smother promises to fall even closer to my heart. From the press release:
The Eternal Return
...All configurations that have previously existed on this earth must yet meet, attract, repulse, kiss, and corrupt each other again.
— Heinrich">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Heine">Heinrich Heine
— Heinrich">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Heine">Heinrich Heine
The Farthest Thing from Perfect
On Saturday night, Don Fiorino, Mark Flynn, Chris Jones, and Stereophile’s Bob Reina came together, within the walls of Merkin Concert Hall, as Attention Screen. I sat in the audience, watching and listening as these four men exchanged ideas, made music. I'm not going to say it was beautiful. I'm not going to say it was interesting.
The Finger Button
JGH says hello.
The First Annual Collect-i-Bowl Record Show
At this moment in time, there’s honestly no way I can justify spending more money on sweet, wonderful, soul-stirring vinyl records. I just can’t do it. I have bills to pay. I have records at home that I haven’t listened to yet. I have laundry to do and groceries to buy. But, damn, am I tempted to go to the First Annual Collect-i-Bowl Record Show at Brooklyn">http://www.brooklynbowl.com/">Brooklyn Bowl this Sunday.
The Future of Musical Instruments
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The Glamorous Side
Here we are in Art Dudley’s listening room, preparing to load the Wilson Audio Sasha into the back of John Atkinson’s Land Cruiser. After removing the Sasha’s WATT head unit from its large Puppy woofer cabinet, we carefully tipped the Puppy onto its side, removed the spikes from its bottom plate, installed the dedicated casters in place of those spikes, hoisted the Puppy back into an upright position, and dressed it up in protective Saran-Wrap.
The Good News Is
Last week, we moved—from the sixth floor of 261 Madison Avenue to the fifth floor of 261 Madison Avenue. The good news is abundant: