Lehmannaudio's original Black Cube, introduced in the late 1990's and still in production, set a high bar for what a moderately priced phono preamp could accomplish. Since then the Cologne, Germany-based company has added a top of the line Silver Cube in 2002 (now costing $4699) and over time filled in the price points in-between with the Decade in 2005 (celebrating the company's 10th anniversary), the Black Cube Statement a year later (among other... Read More

One of the most fanatical groups of record collectors to emerge in the past decade are the (primarily western) devotees of a genre of Japanese popular music from the late 1970s and 80s, dubbed retroactively as ‘City Pop.’ City Pop, or in Japanese Shiti poppu (no I am not making that up), comprises a musical collective of soft rock, soul, R&B, funk, and disco artists whose rise in popularity and output mirrors the economic boom of the late 70s that transformed... Read More

As post-pandemic supply chain issues continue and the vinyl market shifts towards younger buyers with tighter budgets, slightly expanded $50-60 commemorative packages have taken focus over the elaborate anniversary box set. The 10th anniversary edition of Daft Punk's inescapable Random Access Memories, retailing at $50, includes a newer lacquer cut of the original album plus a new bonus disc with 35 minutes of “unreleased demos and outtakes.”

I leave for Germany this evening, first attending Clearaudio's 45th anniversary celebration outside of Nuremberg, then motoring to Munich for High End 2023. A lot planned there, then taking a train to Switzerland to visit CH Precision in advance of a review of the company's new P10 phono preamplifier. Trip planning for that began in February. Now's the time to plan your trip to Seattle for Pacific Audio Fest Last year's debut show was a big... Read More

Reissue annotator Thomas Conrad just about backs into his praise for this lesser known Gil Evans album but he gets the vehicle parked without incident and by the time you've finished reading, if you peruse the notes before playing the record, you'll be anxious to hear it, especially if like Conrad and many other Evans fans (count me in) you can't get enough Evans on record— whether he's covering Hendrix or arranging so many classic albums with... Read More

From the press release: Mitchell was joined on stage at the Newport Folk Festival by a star-studded band led by Carlile, the 9x GRAMMY®-winning singer/songwriter. Other performers included Carlile’s bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Wynonna Judd, Marcus Mumford, Celisse, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and more.Mitchell delighted the audience, blending her voice with the other singers on stage on classics like “Big Yellow Taxi,” “A... Read More

Within the musical landscape of the 70s, the Ramones came out of the woodwork like a brutal attack. Their style of downstroked three-barre-chord songs about sniffing glue, sedation and lobotomies was the antithesis of the overproduced pop and self indulgence prevalent at the time. The band’s first several albums released from 1976 to 1978 (Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket to Russia and Road to Ruin) are, as far as I know, the punk rock bible that every future punk band... Read More