Blue Note and Jack White's Third Man Records have partnered on a series of Detroit-themed releases from the Blue Note catalog chosen by Detroit native Don Was. In a highly unusual move for the label, the original master tapes were supplied to Third Man for cutting at Third Man where the records are also being pressed.Thad Jones Detroit-New York Junction and Donald Byrd Electric Byrd will be available on July 21, followed by Elvin Jones Genesis and Kenny Cox and... Read More

In December 2020, a little over two years before he passed away this March at age 71 due to rectal cancer, Ryuichi Sakamoto played his Yamaha piano in a room with 48 cameras for Todd Eckert’s mixed reality production studio Tin Drum. “There is, in reality, a virtual me. This virtual me will not age, and will continue to play the piano for years, decades, centuries,” Sakamoto said in the press release. The result is KAGAMI, a “new kind of concert” premiering at The Shed at Hudson Yards, NYC until July 2nd before starting this week at the Manchester International Festival and next year traveling to the Sydney Opera House and Tennessee’s Big Ears Festival next year.

Josh Smith records the epic inner struggle between music and hatred, which provides the backdrop to his review of the late Republican operative's infamous vanity project.

Regrettably I had to skip this year's Pacific Audio Fest though I'd originally intended to go. I had too much work to do and I was too far behind. Fortunately contributing writer Michael "Poetry in Plastic" Johnson volunteered to shoot video coverage for us. This video is his day one coverage.Johnson hasn't contributed much lately because he was busy with his doctorate, which he now has. It's in music, which is not surprising since... Read More

If we set our musical Wayback Machines to 1976 what do we find dominating the radio landscape? ABBA had two of their biggest singles that year, “Dancing Queen” and “Fernando” and Queen was king with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now” was a monster hit, as was Elton John and Kiki Dee’s, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”. If there is one commonality between those five songs, it’s the slick and glossy - perhaps even hedonistic - production values. For better... Read More

Brotherhood kills two birds with one stone. The first bird climbs high altitudes, showing no hesitation. This bird possesses two key qualities: strength and valiancy. Strength—the ability to grapple the truth—compliments valiancy. Above the clouds one finds the first bird. It soars despite the truth: if it falls, the ground takes its life. On the ground one finds the second bird, the first bird’s antithesis. Whilst the first bird aims beyond the sky, the second bird... Read More

Imagine the possibilities when a highly skilled cable engineer and designer, who just happens to be an audiophile, partners with one of the world's largest and most technologically advanced wire manufacturers to delve into the subtleties of audio cables. It's a unique combination of knowledge and resources not often seen in the high-end audio industry, resulting in an impressive range of products.The company is Belden Inc., founded in Chicago in 1902 and... Read More

Sasha Matson first came to the attention of many audiophiles with his 1993 Audioquest release "i-5/Steel Cords" (Audioquest AQ-LP 1013), which includes the most unusual "Works For Pedal Steel Guitar, Harp and Strings" and i-5" a paen to Interstate Highway 5, the road that in the late 1980s brought Matson from Berkeley to Los Angeles (the composer will probably tell me "paen" is the wrong word for his tribute, but that's okay).... Read More

Subtlety is a delicate art form. Too little, and one runs the risk of being too obvious, clunky, or blatant. Too much, and no one gets the joke, takes the hint, or catches the drift. Finding the right amount of subtlety makes comedy funnier and mysteries more intriguing; it can also lead to music that is full of the magic that leaves the listener wanting to hear more. Performing and recording together since 2007, Balmorhea has often explored the auditory world of... Read More

Despite the accusations of antisemitism for his support of Palestine and his stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine being “not unprovoked,” there is still no denying Roger Waters’ timeless influence in all avenues of the performing arts. Best known for being a founding member of progressive rock giants Pink Floyd and a profitable touring artist, Waters has always struck a certain chord with his thematic lyrics pertaining to adult life, society and isolation. Those... Read More

In "Starting a Jamaican Music Collection Part 3a—The Deejays. The Start of Rap?" we covered four deejays—Sir Lord Comic, Count Machuki, King Stitt and U-Roy. We also posed the question "Did the deejays in Jamaica start the musical genre known as rap?" Let's dive right into this question and also highlight five more first wave deejays.It must have been startling in the late 1960's to hear rhyming, fast talking, and jive laced lyrics all... Read More

At High End Munich 2023 Nagra once again produced a "Meet the Experts" feature and invited a group of industry experts, including Matthias Bode, editor the German magazine STEREO, Impex Records founder Abey Fonn, Wilson Audio Specialties' Direct or Sales (and award-winning recording engineer) Peter McGrath, and me to spin records throughout the show for an hour long slot.The system, featuring Nagra's 70th Anniversary Reference turntable and... Read More

In his Downbeat review of jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby's 1965 release "The Fantastic Jazz Harp of Dorothy Ashby" (Atlantic 1447), "K.D." wrote : "Flighty" has Miss Ashby gliding in a Wes Montgomery-like style of octave approach. But it's obviously very much her own creation." K.D. compares bassist Richard Davis to Segovia. What a well-written, perceptive and interesting review, I thought to myself. Then I looked in the box... Read More

Here are notes on a selection from my favorite books on the history of recording technology, the history of the record business, and the interactions between recording technology, the record business, and the art of music.

Following "Making Vinyl" in Minneapolis, which was the best-attended most significant of these events (though the one at Hansa Studios in Berlin was the most exciting) and attended by 500 industry people from around the world, I took a short Uber ride from downtown Minneapolis to Audio Research inMaple Grove.Managing Director Dave Gordon took me on an "after hours" tour of the factory you're sure to enjoy. The company moved to this somewhat... Read More