Featured
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- Category: SoundStage! Encore SoundStage! Encore
High-Res Recording for Musical Authenticity
December 2020
Located in Ultrecht, The Netherlands, TRPTK is a recording studio that specializes in producing multichannel, high-resolution music recordings. In our first video TRPTK video, released in May 2020, we talked to recording engineer Brendon Heinst about what attracted him to create high-resolution, multichannel productions. In this video, we talk to classical violinist Merel Vercammen and jazz musician Teis Semey about what drew them to record the TRPTK way and how they feel about the results achieved for their recordings.
Taking the NAD C 538 to Church. My "Kind of Blue" CD Never Sounded So Good.
December 2020
Oh, the hi-fi equipment and music I have known.
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- Category: Music Everywhere Music Everywhere
JBL Go 3 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
December 2020
JBL’s new Go 3 portable Bluetooth speaker, attractively priced at $39.95 USD, is no mere update but instead a virtual redesign of their popular Go 2.
The Nels Cline Singers’ “Share the Wealth” and Dave Douglas’s “Marching Music”
December 2020
The Nels Cline Singers: Share the Wealth
Blue Note 0737079
Format: CD
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Dave Douglas: Marching Music
Greenleaf Music 1078
Format: CD
Musical Performance
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Jimi Hendrix’s epochal “Machine Gun” in the time of Richard Nixon, the Clash’s unforgiving “Clampdown” in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, Bruce Springsteen’s elegiac “Long Walk Home” in response to George W. Bush: musicians frequently have created some of their best work in response to autocratic leadership and social oppression. Those artists who employ vocals can easily make their opposition known; for composers who work in instrumental settings, it’s a higher bar.
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- Category: Blu-ray movies Blu-ray movies
"The Hit"
November 2020
A Slow-Burn, Murderous Road Trip Through Spain
The Criterion Collection 469
Format: BD
Overall Enjoyment
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Stephen Frears directed The Hit in 1984, shortly before making what many consider his best-known film, My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). In The Hit, Willie Parker (Terence Stamp), a London gangster, turns court evidence on his four co-conspirators. Flash forward ten years -- Willie, living the life of Riley in Spain, has a hacienda with a spectacular view, a fabulous book collection, and goes on bicycle rides accompanied by an inept bodyguard.
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- Category: Music Everywhere Music Everywhere
Audioengine A1 Powered Bluetooth Loudspeakers
November 2020
Powered and active loudspeakers continue to grow in popularity. They offer an inexpensive way to set up a high-quality music system without having to assemble separates: a receiver, integrated amplifier, or preamp and power amp. Audioengine has had great success with its larger A2+ stereo speaker system ($269/pair, all prices USD). Now they hope to repeat that with the less expensive A1 ($199/pair).
Cindy Blackman Santana: "Give the Drummer Some"
November 2020
Copperline 105
Format: CD
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At 60, drummer Cindy Blackman Santana has had an exceptionally varied career that has seen her perform at both massive arenas and tiny clubs. The former came courtesy of her long tenure with singer-guitarist Lenny Kravitz, whom she first played with in 1993, the latter from her long apprenticeship as a jazz musician. In an interview, she once told me that the primary difference was what happened before and after the shows.
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- Category: Blu-ray movies Blu-ray movies
"Brute Force"
October 2020
Prison-Reform Agitprop ca. 1947
The Criterion Collection 383
Format: BD
Overall Enjoyment
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In these weeks and months following the death of George Floyd, we’ve heard a lot about prison reform and police brutality. The issue has been around a while -- witness this 1947 film from director Jules Dassin and producer Mark Hellinger. But there’s a huge difference between the prison-reform controversy of the 1940s and today’s: Few Black faces are seen among the prisoners in Brute Force, who are mostly white. The themes, on the other hand, are all too familiar.
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- Category: Music Everywhere Music Everywhere
JBL Link Music Wi-Fi Speaker
October 2020
JBL’s Link Music Wi-Fi speaker is a handy listening device with built-in Bluetooth and Chromecast, and it’s AirPlay 2 compatible. It also includes Google Assistant -- it responds to verbal commands -- and it can serve as the hub for a home’s worth of smart appliances, controlling lighting and much more. At its current low price of $69.95 USD, it seems a winner -- but how does it perform?
Marvin Gaye's "What’s Going On" Curated
In 1970, Marvin Gaye fell into a deep depression following the death of Tammi Terrell, the singer with whom he had recorded a number of duets that were among Tamla Records’ biggest sellers. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” had hit 19 on the pop charts, while “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You,” “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” and “You’re All I Need to Get By” were all in the top 10 in 1967 and 1968.
