 Site Links
Recent Additions
Budget Components Audacious Audio J. Gordon Holt
Loudspeakers
Amplification
Digital Sources
Analog Sources
Accessories Listening / Art Dudley The Fifth Element / John Marks Music in the Round / Kal Rubinson Fine Tunes / Jonathan Scull Special Features Reference Interviews Think Pieces Historical Recording of the Month Records 2 Die 4 Music/Recordings Stephen Mejias Robert Baird Fred Kaplan Wes Phillips Audio News Past eNewsletters RMAF 2009 SSI 2009 CES 2009 RMAF 2008 FSI 2008 CES 2008 RMAF 2007 CEDIA 2007 HE 2007 FSI 2007 CES 2007 China 2006 RMAF 2006 HFN 2006 CEDIA 2006 HE 2006 FSI 2006 CES 2006 Forums Galleries Vote Previous Votes AV Links Audiophile Societies Contact Us Customer Service New Subscription Digital Subscription Renew Give a Gift Sub Services Recordings Backissues More . . . Phono Preamp Hi-Fi Phono Cartridge Amplifiers Stereo Speakers |
 |
|
|
Betty Davis Tees
Remember: American Apparel shirts are super-soft and yummy-feeling, but fit a bit snug around the chest and midsection. So, if you’re an especially advanced audiophile, you might want to go for the XXXL. (I'm just kidding. They don't come in XXXL.) Also: Be sure to check out the new Betty Davis release, Is It Love or Desire, from Sundazed, as well as other nasty releases from Light In The Attic.
Tweet, Tweet
Well, now’s your chance to find out! Are any of you guys on Twitter? Stereophile is on Twitter. Come follow me, I mean, us, as we bring you updates on the most important topics circulating around the Stereophile office. I’ll, I mean, we’ll, answer all of your pressing questions. Such as: What’s Coral Watkins wearing today? What are the girls from Soap Opera Digest giggling about? Where in the world is Robert Baird? What’s Jon Banner eating for breakfast? Who flooded the toilet? What’s Rosemarie Torcivia doing in the coat closet? And so much more! No, seriously, this can be a valuable tool for when our writers are patrolling the halls of hi-fi shows (“Hey, great sound in the Peachtree suite, go check it out!”), or for, say, when I’m walking down Madison Avenue and am suddenly struck by one of my brilliant and poetic ideas. So much genius has been lost, has simply floated off into the clouds, over the last nine years. Never again, dear friends. Now, through the magic of Twitter, you can get it all. New contributor Erick Lichte will be blogging and tweeting from the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. Look forward to that! If you’ve got suggestions on how we can make our Twitter page most valuable, please let us know. I’m still getting acquainted with the language, but I’ll work on the look and feel of the page, and try to keep it populated with little lighthearted hi-fi haikus, and whatnot.
Going Rogue: An American Amp
In an upcoming review, new contributor Erick Lichte talks about the inherent coolness of tubes and the “transitive property of coolness,” by which owning tubes makes you cool, and it got me thinking: What the hell am I waiting for? I’m always waiting around for something that never comes. Why don’t I just go out and grab it?
Now on Newsstands: Stereophile, Vol.32 No.12
Complainers! They are so silly!
Grizzly Bear Is Ready, Able
Well, here’s another great video from Grizzly Bear. The band is like a bottomless cup of creativity. How do they do it? Don’t they have record reviews to write? Don’t they have issues to ship to press? Gah! This one is for “Ready, Able,” off of the band’s excellent Veckatimest, an album sure to be at the top of many year-end lists, including my own.
What Happened In Puerto Rico?
Fritzy walks over to me and asks, “Are you going to talk to them or what?” “I’m working up to it.” “I’m gonna buy them a round of shots,” he says. “Oh shit.” Aleida laughs at me. My heart is beating so hard I can feel a bruise forming on my chest. Fritzy walks over to where the Vivian Girls are sitting and asks if he can buy them a round of shots. The girls shrug their shoulders and nod their heads. Oh, god. I sigh, take a deep breath, and set down my drink. “Okay, I have to go talk to them.”
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
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Older Posts >
|
|
|
|
 Sponsored Technology Center
|
