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The Chemistry of Common Life, Live
Love Comes Close Again
Yesterday was the official Matador Records re-release of Cold Cave’s excellent debut LP, Love Comes Close. I attended the listening party at powerHouse Arena, a cavernous performance and retail space nestled between the mighty Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges in the cobblestoned and awe-inspiring DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn. It was a good time. Pabst Blue Ribbon tastes better than I’d remembered.
Atocha Design’s Autumn Sale
Live Versus Recorded
Friday–Saturday, November 6–7, 6pm: Stealth Audio (17600 Bowie Mill Road, Derwood, Maryland) will host a “Live Versus Recorded” music recital. In the “Live” corner, pianist George Vatchnadze will tickle the ivories of a Steinway Model D. In the “Recorded” corner, Stereophile editor John Atkinson will be packing the usual heat: mics and DACs and cables and stuff. Vatchnadze will play and Atkinson will record. Guests will first be entertained by the live performance, then get to hear the recorded version through a hi-fi made of Esoteric’s reference playback system, Convergent Audio Technology amplification, Vivid Audio Giya loudspeakers, and Stealth cables. The point? I don’t know. It’s all for fun! Maybe Vivid’s Philip O’Hanlon will wear a bowtie and play some tunes. Maybe Convergent’s Ken Stevens will talk about tubes. Maybe JA will tell some jokes. Maybe there will be booze. Seating will be limited, so it’s a good idea to RSVP: (517) 755-6651 or george@kyomiaudio.com.
Super-Special-Ultra-Mega
I’ll tell you what gives: This version of Cold Cave's Death Comes Close EP is a pretty-much-impossible-to-get-super-special-ultra-mega-limited edition, and I just happened to blink while it was getting sold out. What?! Don't look at me like that. Sometimes a dude has to blink. You'd think by now I would have people on the case for me, like a bunch of elves, or something, that would ease my weary mind and hook me up. But no. GAH! At least we have a video. Visit Stereogum to check it out.
Bleach Deluxe
Don’t miss out because it’ll be gone before you know it, swooped away by a bunch of vultures who’ll nibble on the edges of the outer sleeves and then sell them on eBay for ridiculous amounts of your hard-earned dough.
TV Noir / La Vie
The four previously unreleased tracks were originally recorded from 1981 to 1984 and are pressed on luscious purple marbled vinyl. The sound is some sort of German/French industrial sex pop. Yum! Listen here and then buy it. I mean, if you want to. Though I’m not sure why you wouldn't.
Effi Briest's "Mirror Rim"
Effi Briest sort of reminds me of Gang Gang Dance. And I like that. Check out this dizzying video for "Mirror Rim."
If you dig that, keep your tired eyes peeled for a full-length LP to come from Sacred Bones.
When I'm Gone
I was sort of kicking myself for scheduling a trip to Puerto Rico while, back in New York City, friends and neighbors would be swimming in vinyl at the WFMU Record Fair and getting down and dirty at the CMJ Music Marathon. WTF? Duh, dude. What was I thinking? Tropical sun, beaches, empandas, ice-cold cans of Medalla…whatever.
Verity Audio Finn
I first heard the adorable little Finn at Montreal’s Salon Son & Image. Paired up with an Audio Research VSi60 integrated amplifier and CD8 disc player, the Finns produced some of the most exciting, detailed, and musical sounds I heard in Montreal (other than that divine music of high heels tapping and tinkling against marble floors).
Bring Your Hips to Me
This is what my life will be like starting this Thursday and ending next Tuesday. I should’ve been in this video, though. I mean, seriously: Thao, give me a call next time. What’s up?
Thao and The Get Down Stay Down with the video for “When We Swam” from their album, Know Better Learn Faster. Get it now from Kill Rock Stars. The beautiful vinyl comes with a free digital download and costs $1 less than the ordinary compact disc. Makes no sense! Gotta love it!
Now on Newsstands: Stereophile, Vol.32 No.11
Also in November, we have reviews of the Paradigm Reference Studio 60 v.5 loudspeaker (which seems a bargain at just $1998/pair; v.3 review here); Convergent Audio Technology SL1 Renaissance preamplifier ($9995 with phono stage; an extraordinary 20 pages of coverage on the original SL-1 begins here); HRT Music Streamer + USB D/A processor ($299; standard version costs $99); and Follow-Up reviews on the PSB Imagine T ($2000/pair; earlier reviews by Sam Tellig and Kal Rubinson can be found here) and the Aerial Model 5B ($2200/pair; review of the original Model 5 is here, while John Marks’ coverage of the B can be found here). We try to be thorough. Even I’m impressed by the amount of information we offer for free in our online archive.
Espers: III
The opening track, “I Can’t See Clear,” features an arrangement that moves easily, seamlessly, from luminous tranquility to an utterly dark ardor, trepidation bordering on fury; and, in doing so, proves symbolic of the whole: III, in all its darkness and light, flows constantly, assuredly, and gracefully. Tracks float from one to the next, like breaths, like old stories to be shared, without hesitation or end, and in circular patterns. Indeed, III was recorded with the vinyl LP in mind, recorded to analog tape at the start and mixed to analog tape again at the end, forming a complete and certain vision. It’s been too long since we last heard from Espers.
That Which Darkly Thrives
Type Recordings
And, my god, look at those lips!
Little Girls and Lo-Fi
Shadows in Daylight
I started at around 9am with Ron Carter’s Where?, which was a present from Michael Lavorgna, and has become the album I turn to every Sunday morning. It’s happy and beautiful and easy on the ears: A good way to start a day.
Love Comes Close
Alright, I’ll also say that I tried to be strong. While everyone else was going cuckoo for Cold Cave, I tried to maintain my composure. What’s the big deal, I wondered. This is nothing new. It reminds me of so many late Nineties sounds from the Mute label. It reminds me of Erasure, and so many dark Eighties pop bands. Ah, but wait, it also sort of reminds me of Bad Moon Rising–era Sonic Youth. And, shit, it reminds of Serge Gainsbourg, too. Who the hell is in this band, anyway?
Death Comes Close
Ducktails: Confetti For Memories
I listened to Ducktails’ Landscapes again just a few days ago. Somehow, between that first time and now, the album’s mellow charms and sweet melodies found their way into my chest and into my mind, planted themselves there, to reappear suddenly, without calling first, like old friends after months or even years apart, like memories stirred by nothing in particular, showing themselves to be more beautiful than ever, and, thankfully, still the same. Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with my brain.
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