SoundStage! Xperience | SoundStageXperience.com

Details: Curator

June 2024

The Doors seemed to fade in people’s memories in the years following lead singer Jim Morrison’s death in 1971, but returned to popularity in 1980. In his 1979 movie Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola used “The End” from the Doors’ debut album to powerful effect, and the following year the publication of a Jim Morrison biography, No One Here Gets Out Alive, brought Morrison and the band renewed attention. Written by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman, it presented a sensationalistic portrait of Morrison, and its reliability has been questioned. It was a massive seller, however, and its descriptions of rock-star debauchery probably helped solidify Morrison’s place in the pantheon of 1960s heroes.

Details: Art+Tech

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

June 2024

At the beginning of 1961, four decades after the dawn of the so-called Jazz Age, it seemed like the art form would continue to dominate American popular music for the foreseeable future. Despite the commercial hiccup that accompanied the rise of artists like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard in the mid-’50s, jazz had weathered the storm and appeared well positioned to be the soundtrack of the ’60s. Youth culture was on the rise, jazz was the music of choice at US universities, and as a handsome young president took the oath of office on January 20, what was becoming known as “America’s classical music” seemed primed to continue its dominance.

Details: Vinyl music

May 2024

Blue Note Records 00602458167948 (CD), 00602458167962 (LP)
Format: CD and LP

Musical Performance

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Overall Enjoyment

Charles Lloyd recorded Discovery!—his first album as a leader—in 1964, but he had been appearing as a sideman on drummer Chico Hamilton’s records since 1960. Since then, Lloyd has released more than 50 LPs as leader; his newest, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow, is his 11th for Blue Note Records. The label released it in March, on Lloyd’s 86th birthday. Last year, he released three albums. Trios: Chapel, Trios: Ocean, and Trios: Sacred Thread each featured a different lineup of musicians. Lloyd’s creativity and vigor are such that these three discs contain no filler.

Details: Pulse!

May 2024

When CDs entered the marketplace in 1982, I was 26, and had been collecting LPs for 15 years. My record collection took up a good amount of space in my first, tiny apartment. I didn’t pay much attention to the new format at that point; CDs weren’t widely available, and my local hi-fi shops weren’t carrying CD players. A coworker showed me a story in the Wall Street Journal that predicted the demise of the LP and the fast-approaching dominance of the CD. I scoffed, recalling the promotional push for quadrophonic LPs and playback gear. That format died quickly.

Details: CD music

April 2024

Island Records 602458769012
Format: CD

Musical Performance

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Brittany Howard’s first solo disc, Jaime, demonstrated the talent that was evident in her work with Alabama Shakes and Thunderbitch. Howard’s contributions to those projects only hinted at her versatility and eagerness to take chances—the 2019 solo album, which I reviewed on SoundStage! Access, showcased a wider range of influences. Howard’s second album, What Now, is even more audacious than Jaime, and contains even more surprises.

Details: Pulse!

April 2024

Rega Research Limited is a name audiophiles know, especially vinyl lovers. They hold Rega’s turntables and tonearms in high esteem, but the company’s speakers, CD players, amplifiers, and other gear have also received glowing reviews. The company is known for both quality and value, and for products that embody elegant design and musicality.

Details: Art+Tech

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

April 2024

Across the five-plus decades I’ve been discovering new artists—beginning auspiciously with the Beatles on Ed Sullivan—the breakthroughs have waxed and waned. While the mid-’60s remain the benchmark, thanks to the rise of electrified popular music in both Britain and the US, exciting young artists have continued to bloom, both singularly and in bunches.

Details: Vinyl music

March 2024

Craft Recordings / Contemporary Records / Acoustic Sounds Series CR00706
Format: LP

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Overall Enjoyment

Jazz saxophonist Art Pepper’s recording and performing life was often interrupted by periods of incarceration for drug offences. Pepper was a heroin addict; he finished recording Smack Up in October 1960, and soon after was arrested for trying to score the drug. It was his third offense, so he was sentenced to 20 years at California’s notorious San Quentin prison. He would record one more session in November (Intensity, released in 1963) before starting his jail term. He was out within four years, but was in and out of prison for most of the ’60s for parole violations. He didn’t record again as a leader until 1975.

Details: Curator

March 2024

Of the many figures in popular music whose careers flourished in the 1970s, Bob Marley’s appeal reaches into more cultures and continents than any other musician I can think of. His cultural appeal is also multifaceted. For many Western pop-music fans, he defines reggae music. Activists take inspiration from his songs about the struggles of people in the developing world. His advocacy for pan-Africanism, along with his messages about the plight of the victims of the African diaspora, have made him popular in Africa and in countries where people of African heritage have been relocated.

Details: Pulse!

February 2024

On February 9, 1964, 60 years ago this month, The Beatles appeared for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show. I remember the buzz that preceded the appearance because the older sisters of some of my friends were talking about it on the school bus. I was only seven, so whatever fuss the media were making about The Beatles didn’t get to my eyes or ears. My dad was working for a local radio station, but it didn’t play rock’n’roll and I don’t remember him or my mom talking about The Beatles.

Details: Vinyl music

February 2024

Craft Recordings CR00683
Format: LP

Musical Performance

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Overall Enjoyment

In 1953, the original release of Jazz at Massey Hall on Debut Records listed Charlie Parker as “Charlie Chan.” Knowledgeable jazz fans probably knew that Parker’s common-law wife, Beverly Berg, was known as Chan Parker. They also might have recognized that the alto player pictured on the left side of the album cover was Parker, although the photo does not show his face. Parker was with another label and Debut could not release the album with his name listed on the cover.

Details: Pulse!

February 2024

Los Angeles real estate developer Paul Solomon was well established in the city when he began working on revitalizing a large office complex on Century Boulevard. The building is very close to Los Angeles International Airport, better known as LAX. Solomon decided to carve out an area in the 92,000 square feet available and put in a bar that would reflect his varied interests. “One of my passions is jazz,” Solomon notes on the website for the Sam First bar. “Another is architecture, another is photography. Those are my pictures all over the walls. As for the furniture, all the pieces that aren’t built-in are real vintage midcentury pieces, made by people like Herman Miller and Artemide.”

Details: Art+Tech

February 2024

After a slow start, typical winter weather finally arrived on the river south of Ottawa, Canada, sending me looking for some suitably restful music. Just as summer calls for songs related to open roads, surf, and sun, winter days demand ethereal sounds that carry me away.

Details: Uncategorized

January 2024

DBpm Records—DBPM 001-23-CD
Format: CD

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Wilco has produced all of its own albums since its sixth release, Sky Blue Sky (2007), but for its 13th, Cousin, the Chicago-based band reached out to Welsh musician and producer Cate Le Bon. Earlier in 2023, Le Bon produced H. Hawkline’s Milk for Flowers, and she has also worked with Kurt Vile, Deerhunter, and many other musicians. Her own work often consists of highly experimental art-pop in which she leverages sound and studio effects to create unusual music that falls outside the mainstream.