Reviews of Attainable Hi-Fi & Home-Theater Equipment


Reviews of Attainable Hi-Fi & Home-Theater Equipment

PSB Imagine T65
PSB Imagine T65

Simaudio
Simaudio
AudioQuest
Bryston BP-19
KEF LS60
SVS
DALI Epikore 11
PSB Imagine Series
SVS
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NAD NANO
Hegel Music Systems
Hegel Music Systems
Totem Acoustic
Totem Acoustic

Most Popular Featured Releases

Details
Category: Featured Releases

Windchild Records WCR001LP
Format: LP

Musical Performance
****

Sound Quality
***1/2

Overall Enjoyment
***1/2

In January, my fellow SoundStage! writer and vinyl enthusiast Jason Thorpe wrote an article on sister-site SoundStage! Ultra about Canadian musician and songwriter Harkness. Jason grew up in the same Toronto neighborhood as the artist and went to school with the Harkness family, and his article contains biographical detail about Harkness that I need not repeat here. The article also explains the reasons behind the musician’s public persona and his attire, which includes a visor and lavender-colored robe.

Read more: Harkness: "The Occasion"

Details
Category: Featured Releases

Republic Records B0034978-02
Format: CD

Musical Performance
****

Sound Quality
****

Overall Enjoyment
****

John Mellencamp turned 70 this past fall; the years—and cigarettes—have left their mark on his voice. He now sounds almost as raspy and ancient as Bob Dylan. At this point in his life and career, Mellencamp realizes the pop music landscape has changed. “I still make albums,” he told The Wall Street Journal recently, “even though there’s not a lot of demand for albums in today’s singles world.”

Read more: John Mellencamp: "Strictly a One-Eyed Jack"

Details
Category: Featured Releases

ISO Records/Parlophone Records CDTOYBOX 1/0190296773372
Format: CD

Musical Performance
***

Sound Quality
***1/2

Overall Enjoyment
***1/2

In the summer of 2000, David Bowie performed four live shows, including an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival on June 25. That performance, in front of an estimated 250,000 people, was a triumph; the following month, Bowie and the members of his touring band began recording in New York City. The group had been together since the previous year, when they toured in support of Bowie’s then recently released Hours . . . (1999).

Read more: David Bowie: "Toy"

Details
Category: Featured Releases

Intervention Records/A&M Records IR-030/B0027737-01
Format: LP

Musical Performance
****1/2

Sound Quality
*****

Overall Enjoyment
*****

When I reviewed the Hybrid SACD reissue of Joe Jackson’s Body and Soul, I closed with the hope that Intervention Records would soon release the album on vinyl. Sixteen months later, I’ve gotten my wish. The Intervention vinyl reissue is, like the SACD, sourced from the original digital PCM files. Once again, Kevin Gray handled the mastering, and he cut the vinyl at 45 rpm for a two-disc, four-sided release.

Read more: Joe Jackson: "Body and Soul"

Details
Category: Featured Releases

Discipline Global Mobile DGM5022
Format: CD

Musical Performance
****

Sound Quality
***1/2

Overall Enjoyment
****

The current lineup of seven musicians who make up King Crimson has been touring, off and on, since 2013, with minor personnel changes. Although this version of the band hasn’t released any studio recordings, its life as a touring group has been well documented in a series of live albums released through Discipline Global Mobile, the label overseen by Crimson’s guitarist and leader, Robert Fripp. Music Is Our Friend (Live in Washington and Albany, 2021) is the latest of these releases.

Read more: King Crimson: "Music Is Our Friend (Live in Washington and Albany, 2021)"

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Category: Featured Releases

Jem Records PSL 1025
Format: LP

Musical Performance
****

Sound Quality
****

Overall Enjoyment
****

The Grip Weeds have been making great rock’n’roll for nearly 30 years now, writing and performing music that shows a reverence for the great bands of the ’60s and early ’70s. Their songs contain hints of everyone from The Who to Paul Revere & The Raiders, but the band’s recordings are strong enough to stand on their own. Despite their affection for an earlier period in pop-music history, the Grip Weeds don’t sound retro. They make music that is fresh and vital.

Read more: The Grip Weeds: "DiG"

Details
Category: Featured Releases

ATO Records ATO 0573
Format: CD

Musical Performance
****

Sound Quality
***1/2

Overall Enjoyment
***1/2

After releasing The Waterfall in 2015, My Morning Jacket went on hiatus. Guitarist and singer Jim James released five solo albums, guitarist Carl Broemel completed two solo projects, and other members of the Louisville, Kentucky, band found their own ways to keep busy. My Morning Jacket regrouped to play a small number of live shows over the last couple of years, and compiled unreleased material from the sessions for the earlier album for The Waterfall II in 2020.

Read more: My Morning Jacket: "My Morning Jacket"

Details
Category: Featured Releases

2L 2L-164-SABD
Format: Hybrid SACD, Pure Audio Blu-ray

Musical Performance
****

Sound Quality
****1/2

Overall Enjoyment
****1/2

It’s not exactly news that the COVID-19 pandemic threw things into confusion, and one of its impacts was on the delivery of mail. The US Postal Service’s own internal issues compounded this with further delays and backlogs. Near the end of January 2021, I received a holiday disc that had been released in November 2020 by 2L, a Norwegian audiophile label. Normally, I wouldn’t review a disc that has been available for a year, but Stille grender is a collection that is worthy of your attention at this time of year.

Read more: Det Norske Jentekor/Tord Gustavsen: "Stille grender"

Details
Category: Featured Releases

Libertino Records
Format: 24-bit/48kHz FLAC download

Musical Performance
***1/2

Sound Quality
****

Overall Enjoyment
***1/2

One of the ways I choose what I’ll review for the SoundStage! Network is to check the new releases listed on various music sites, including AllMusic.com. I read the summary review for a description of the band or musician, then I stream the album to see if I think it would be of interest to readers. If I do, I buy the disc.

Read more: Papur Wal: "Amser Mynd Adra"

Details
Category: Featured Releases

Concord Records CRE01816
Format: CD

Musical Performance
***1/2

Sound Quality
****

Overall Enjoyment
****

Earlier this year, Esperanza Spalding debuted three songs she wrote, arranged, and recorded as part of a project she calls the Songwrights Apothecary Lab. She says the lab “seeks to respectfully dip into the healing seas of music/musicianship/song, and distill a few grains of piquancy which carry the life-renewing flavor of the unfathomable ocean of human resiliency.” Spalding’s new recording is named for the project, and Songwrights Apothecary Lab includes those original three songs, along with nine more compositions.

Read more: Esperanza Spalding: "Songwrights Apothecary Lab"

  1. Andrew Cyrille Quartet: "The News"
  2. Marshall Crenshaw: "The Wild, Exciting Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: Live in the 20th and 21st Century"
  3. Richard X. Heyman: "Copious Notes"
  4. Dave McMurray: "Grateful Deadication"
  5. Julian Lage: "Squint"
  6. Crowded House: "Dreamers Are Waiting"
  7. Chrissie Hynde: "Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan"
  8. Van Morrison: "Latest Record Project, Volume 1"
  9. Peter Frampton: "Frampton Forgets the Words"
  10. Norah Jones: ". . . 'Til We Meet Again"
  11. Dr. Lonnie Smith: "Breathe"
  12. Steve Gadd Band: "At Blue Note Tokyo"
  13. Willie Nelson: "That's Life"
  14. Matthew Sweet: "Catspaw"
  15. Gord Downie: "Away Is Mine"
  16. Paul McCartney: "McCartney III"
  17. Chris Stapleton: "Starting Over"
  18. Aaron Frazer: "Introducing . . ."
  19. Elvis Costello: "Hey Clockface"
  20. Sam Burton: "I Can Go With You"
  21. Bruce Springsteen: "Letter to You"
  22. Christine and the Queens: "La Vita Nuova"
  23. Joan Osborne: "Trouble and Strife"
  24. The Psychedelic Furs: "Made of Rain"
  25. Bill Frisell: "Valentine"
  26. Pretenders: "Hate for Sale"
  27. Joe Jackson: "Body and Soul"
  28. GoGo Penguin: "GoGo Penguin"
  29. Bob Dylan: "Rough and Rowdy Ways"
  30. John Scofield: "Swallow Tales"
  31. EOB: "Earth"
  32. Other Lives: "For Their Love"
  33. Fiona Apple: "Fetch the Bolt Cutters"
  34. Nap Eyes: "Snapshot of a Beginner"
  35. Roger Eno and Brian Eno: "Mixing Colours"
  36. James Taylor: "American Standard"
  37. Avishai Cohen: "Big Vicious"
  38. The Grip Weeds: "Giant on the Beach: Anniversary Edition (Remixed and Expanded)"
  39. En Attendant Ana: "Juillet"
  40. Beck: "Hyperspace"
  41. Leonard Cohen: "Thanks for the Dance"
  42. Gene Clark: "No Other"
  43. The Who: "Who"
  44. GoGo Penguin: "Ocean in a Drop: Music for Film"
  45. James Brown: "Live at Home with His Bad Self"
  46. Wilco: "Ode to Joy"
  47. Brittany Howard: "Jaime"
  48. Enrico Rava and Joe Lovano: "Roma"
  49. The Flaming Lips: "King’s Mouth: Music and Songs"
  50. Elephant9: "Psychedelic Backfire I"
  51. Various Artists: "Woodstock -- Back to the Garden: 50th Anniversary Experience"
  52. Philip Bailey: "Love Will Find a Way"
  53. Santana: "Africa Speaks"
  54. Bruce Springsteen: "Western Stars"
  55. The Waterboys: "Where the Action Is"
  56. John Paul White: "The Hurting Kind"
  57. Norah Jones: "Begin Again"
  58. Dominic Miller: "Absinthe"
  59. Luther Dickinson and Sisters of the Strawberry Moon: "Solstice"
  60. Joe Jackson: "Fool"
  61. Guided by Voices: "Zeppelin Over China"
  62. Bob Mould: "Sunshine Rock"
  63. Andrew Cyrille: "Lebroba"
  64. The Good, the Bad & the Queen: "Merrie Land"
  65. Marianne Faithfull: "Negative Capability"
  66. The 1975: "A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships"
  67. Neneh Cherry: "Broken Politics"
  68. Elvis Costello: "Look Now" (Deluxe Edition)
  69. Mark Knopfler: "Down the Road Wherever"
  70. Paul Simon: "In the Blue Light"
  71. Christine and the Queens: "Chris"
  72. Mike Marshall & Caterina Lichtenberg: "Third Journey"
  73. Death Cab for Cutie: "Thank You for Today"
  74. Tord Gustavsen Trio: "The Other Side"
  75. The Jayhawks: "Back Roads and Abandoned Motels"
  76. Charles Lloyd & the Marvels + Lucinda Williams: "Vanished Gardens"
  77. David Bowie: "Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)"
  78. Ry Cooder: "The Prodigal Son"
  79. Grant Green: "Funk in France: From Paris to Antibes (1969-1970)" and "Slick! Live at Oil Can Harry's"
  80. Venetian Snares & Daniel Lanois: "Venetian Snares x Daniel Lanois"
  81. The Who: "Live at the Fillmore East 1968"
  82. Belle and Sebastian: "How to Solve Our Human Problems"
  83. The Breeders: "All Nerve"
  84. MGMT: "Little Dark Age"
  85. Grant-Lee Phillips: "Widdershins"
  86. The James Hunter Six: "Whatever It Takes"
  87. Dr. Lonnie Smith: "All in My Mind"
  88. Bob Dylan: "The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979-1981"
  89. Chris Stapleton: "From a Room: Volume 2"
  90. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds: "Who Built the Moon?"
  91. The Rolling Stones: "On Air"
  92. Gord Downie: "Introduce Yerself"
  93. Django Bates' Belovèd: The Study of Touch
  94. Godspeed You! Black Emperor: "Luciferian Towers"
  95. Beck: "Colors"
  96. Gary Peacock: "Tangents"
  97. Steve Winwood: "Greatest Hits Live"
  98. Alphonse Mouzon: "In Search of a Dream"
  99. Arcade Fire: "Everything Now"
  100. Paul Weller: "A Kind Revolution"
  101. Chuck Berry: "Chuck"
  102. Frank Sinatra: "The Frank Sinatra Collection -- The Timex Shows Vols. 1 and 2"
  103. Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan: "Small Town"
  104. Procol Harum: "Novum"
  105. Ray Davies: "Americana"
  106. Aimee Mann: "Mental Illness"
  107. Bob Dylan: "Triplicate"
  108. Son Volt: "Notes of Blue"
  109. Cloud Nothings: "Life Without Sound"
  110. Max Richter: "Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works"
  111. Japandroids: "Near to the Wild Heart of Life"
  112. Flaming Lips: "Oczy Mlody"
  113. Bonnie Raitt: "Dig in Deep"
  114. The Monty Alexander Trio: "Montreux Alexander: The Monty Alexander Trio LIVE! at the Montreux Festival"
  115. Harvey Mandel: "Snake Pit"
  116. Big Audio Dynamite: "This Is Big Audio Dynamite"
  117. Pretenders: "Alone"
  118. Jimi Hendrix: "Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/1969"
  119. Wilco: "Schmilco"
  120. Daniel Lanois/Rocco DeLuca: "Goodbye to Language"
  121. Amos Lee: "Spirit"
  122. Peter Erskine Trio: "As It Was"
  123. Jeff Beck: "Loud Hailer"
  124. The Posies: "Solid States"
  125. Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle: "Colvin & Earle: Deluxe Edition"
  126. The Tragically Hip: "Man Machine Poem"
  127. Eric Clapton: "I Still Do"
  128. My Morning Jacket: "It Still Moves (Deluxe Reissue)"
  129. Musiq Soulchild: "Life on Earth"
  130. Santana: "IV"
  131. Jeff Buckley: "You and I"
  132. Peter Frampton: "Acoustic Classics"
  133. Dr. Lonnie Smith: "Evolution"
  134. The I Don't Cares: "Wild Stab"
  135. Elvis Costello: "Detour: Live at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, featuring Larkin Poe"
  136. Taste: "What's Going On: Live at the Isle of Wight"
  137. Tom Jones: "Long Lost Suitcase"
  138. Bobby Hutcherson: "Happenings"
  139. Them: "The Complete Them 1964-1967"
  140. The Robert Cray Band: "4 Nights of 40 Years Live"
  141. Blue Rodeo: "Live at Massey Hall"
  142. Joe Jackson: "Fast Forward"
  143. David Gilmour: "Rattle That Lock"
  144. Gene Ammons: "Boss Tenor"
  145. Wilco: "Star Wars"
  146. Cannonball Adderley: "Somethin' Else"
  147. Tame Impala: "Currents"
  148. Leon Bridges: "Coming Home"
  149. Rickie Lee Jones: "The Other Side of Desire"
  150. James Taylor: "Before This World"
  151. My Morning Jacket: "The Waterfall"
  152. Canned Heat with John Lee Hooker: "Carnegie Hall 1971"
  153. Dizzy Gillespie: "Live at Ronnie Scott's, Volume 1"
  154. Mark Knopfler: "Tracker"
  155. Van Morrison: "Duets: Re-working the Catalogue"
  156. Justin Kauflin: "Dedication"
  157. Bob Dylan: "Shadows in the Night"
  158. Steve Gadd Band: "70 Strong"
  159. King Crimson: "Live at the Orpheum: Los Angeles 2014"
  160. Various Artists: "The Blues & Salvation"
  161. Smashing Pumpkins: "Monuments to an Elegy"
  162. Jeff Beck: "Live in Tokyo"
  163. Eric Johnson and Mike Stern: "Eclectic"
  164. Eric Clapton: "Planes, Trains and Eric"
  165. Leonard Cohen: "Popular Problems"
  166. Adam Cohen: "We Go Home"
  167. Chick Corea Trio: "Trilogy"
  168. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: "Hypnotic Eye"
  169. Sheryl Bailey: "A Meeting of Minds"
  170. ZZ Top: "Live at Montreux 2013"
  171. Chrissie Hynde: "Stockholm"
  172. "Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy"
  173. The Rippingtons: "Fountain of Youth"
  174. Alice Cooper: "Super Duper Alice Cooper"
  175. The Black Keys: "Turn Blue"
  176. The Robert Cray Band: "In My Soul"
  177. Gord Downie and the Sadies: "Gord Downie, the Sadies, and the Conquering Sun"
  178. Neil Finn: "Dizzy Heights"
  179. The Hold Steady: "Teeth Dreams"
  180. Neneh Cherry: "Blank Project"
  181. Beck: "Morning Phase"
  182. The Sadies: "Internal Sounds"
  183. Rickie Lee Jones: "Rickie Lee Jones"
  184. Judy Wexler: "What I See"
  185. Archie Shepp and Attica Blues Orchestra Live: "I Hear the Sound"
  186. Billie Joe + Norah: "Foreverly"
  187. Nick Lowe: "Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family"
  188. Elvis Costello and the Roots: "Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs"
  189. Allen Toussaint: "Songbook"
  190. Moby: "Innocents"
  191. Bob Dylan: "Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) -- The Bootleg Series Vol.10"
  192. Joe Barbieri: "Chet Lives!"
  193. Steve Gadd Band: "Gadditude"
  194. Smith Westerns: "Soft Will"
  195. Kanye West: "Yeezus"
  196. Vampire Weekend: "Modern Vampires of the City"
  197. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: "Specter at the Feast"
  198. Daft Punk: "Random Access Memories"
  199. Elias Haslanger: "Church on Monday"
  200. Michael Feinstein: "Change of Heart: The Songs of André Previn"
  201. David Bowie: "The Next Day"
  202. Hiromi/The Trio Project: "Move"
  203. Atoms for Peace: "Amok"
  204. Patricia Barber: "Smash"
  205. Yo La Tengo: "Fade"
  206. Orchestre National de Jazz: "Piazzolla!"
  207. Lifehouse: "Almería"
  208. War Poets: "Dulce et Decorum Est"
  209. Luka Bloom: "This New Morning"
  210. Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Jazz Band: "Live in Hollywood"
  211. David Chesky: "Dr. Chesky’s Sensational Fantastic and Simply Amazing Binaural Sound Show!"
  212. Father's Children: "Father's Children"
  213. The xx: "Coexist"
  214. The Gaddabouts: "Look Out Now!"
  215. Easy Star All-Stars: "Easy Star’s Thrillah"
  216. Return to Forever IV: "The Mothership Returns"
  217. Mike Stern: "All Over the Place"
  218. Sam Cooke: "The Best of Sam Cooke"
  219. Esperanza Spalding: "Radio Music Society"
  220. Ahmad Jamal: "Blue Moon: The New York Session"
  221. Leonard Cohen: "Old Ideas"
  222. Pink Floyd: "Wish You Were Here"
  223. Jeff Campbell: "Stop and Go"
  224. Miles Davis: "Miles! Live at Montreux: The Definitive Miles Davis at Montreux DVD Collection 1973-1991"
  225. Ray Charles: "Live in France 1961"
  226. Coldplay: "Mylo Xyloto"
  227. The Hollies: "Look Through Any Window 1963-1975"
  228. Doug Munro and La Pompe Attack: "A Very Gypsy Christmas"
  229. Chris Bauer: "In a Yuletide Groove: Harmonica Jazz for the Holidays"
  230. Paul Motian: "The Windmills of Your Mind"
  231. Three to Close 2011
  232. Josh Nelson: "Discoveries"
  233. Patricia Barber: "Café Blue"
  234. Mindy Canter: "Fluteus Maximus"
  235. Steve Cropper: "Dedicated"
  236. Andrea Wolper: "Parallel Lives"
  237. The Left Banke: "Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina"
  238. Cooler Days
  239. Peter Erskine, Bob Mintzer, Darek Oles, and Alan Pasqua: "Standards 2 -- Movie Music"
  240. Zach Williams and the Reformation: "A Southern Offering"
  241. The Mike Eldred Trio: "61 and 49"
  242. Aimée Allen: "Winters & Mays"
  243. Maeve Gilchrist: "Song of Delight"
  244. Spectacle: Elvis Costello with . . . (Season 2)
  245. Summer Sounds
  246. Hiromi: "Voice"
  247. Ben Waters: "Boogie 4 Stu -- A Tribute to Ian Stewart"
  248. Nat "King" Cole: "After Midnight"
  249. Paul Simon: "So Beautiful or So What"
  250. Eliane Elias: "Light My Fire"
  251. Esperanza Spalding: "Chamber Music Society"
  252. Something New
  253. Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band: "That’s How We Roll"
  254. “Stan Kenton: Artistry in Rhythm”
  255. David LaFleur: "Them Bones . . ."
  256. Gregg Allman: "Low Country Blues"
  257. Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra: "Tito Puente Masterworks Live!!!"
  258. The Underground
  259. Jeff Beck: "Rock’n’Roll Party Honoring Les Paul"
  260. Jovino Santos Neto: "Veja O Som"
  261. The O’Farrill Brothers: "Giant Peach"
  262. Michael William Gilbert: "I Can See From Here"
  263. Selmer Saxharmonic: "Flying Saxophone Circus"
  264. Andy Farber and His Orchestra: "This Could Be the Start of Something Big"
  265. Eli Degibri: "Israeli Song"
  266. Jazz Shortlist
  267. Joey DeFrancesco, Robi Botos, Vito Rezza, and Phil Dwyer: "One Take, Volume Four"
  268. Treasa Levasseur: "Low Fidelity"
  269. Spin: "Believe"
  270. Michael McDonald: "This Christmas -- Live in Chicago"
  271. Berlin Voices: "About Christmas"
  272. Mike Mainieri / Marnix Busstra Quartet: "Trinary Motion / Live in Europe"
  273. Latin Flavor
  274. Marcos Amorim Trio: "Portraits"
  275. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: “Classic Albums: Damn the Torpedoes”
  276. David Bixler & Arturo O’Farrill: “The Auction Project”
  277. Miles Davis: “Someday My Prince Will Come”
  278. Frank Sinatra: “Sinatra at the Sands”
  279. John Mellencamp: "No Better Than This"
  280. Sons and Brothers
  281. Otis Taylor: "Clovis People, Vol 3"
  282. Steve Cropper & Felix Cavaliere: "Midnight Flyer"
  283. New Latin Quarter Presents: "The Jazz and Blues Collection, Volume 1"
  284. The Grip Weeds: "Strange Change Machine"
  285. Lawrence Lebo: "Don’t Call Her Larry, Volume 3: American Roots"
  286. The Rolling Stones: "Exile on Main Street: Deluxe Edition"
  287. The Nomad's Song
  288. Ray Charles: "Genius + Soul = Jazz (Expanded Edition)"
  289. Sebastian Sternal Trio: "Paris"
  290. Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim: "Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings"
  291. William Orbit: "My Oracle Lives Uptown"
  292. Catherine Russell: "Inside This Heart of Mine"
  293. Dusty Springfield, Small Faces, Herman’s Hermits, Gerry and the Pacemakers: "British Invasion"
  294. Freedy Johnston: "Rain on the City"
  295. "The Hot Spot" (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
  296. David Olney: "Dutchman’s Curve"
  297. Jason and the Scorchers: "Halcyon Times"
  298. The Music Will Find You
  299. Lin McPhillips: "My Shining Hour"

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