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Released 2006 on Lost Highway Records.

This is my favourite pop album of 2006. Another Fine Day is the 4th release from the loose collection of musicians known as Golden Smog. And it’s the first one I’ve really enjoyed, to be honest. With eight years elapsed since the last one, there probably was more curiosity than pent-up anticipation…lol.  Well, AFD proves that the group survives and lives. Nowadays the Smog is more or less led by Gary Louris, Kraig Jarret Johnson and Marc Perlman (all former Jayhawks), with Dan Murphy and bits of Jeff Tweedy rounding out the current personnel.  (Tweedy leads Wilco and Loose Fur… busy guy)

There is hardly a weak song among the 15 tracks presented here. The tunes are fairly adventurous, ranging from upbeat power pop numbers like ‘Corvette’ and ‘Hurricane’, to mellow folk-rockers, like ‘Listen Joe’, ‘Strangers’, and ‘Think About Yourself’. Other gems, like ‘Beautiful Mind’, and ‘Cure For This’, are harder to classify…let’s call them “excellent”.  This record just works.

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This is quite remarkable!

Dmitry Medvedev: The man who would be president

news.cbc.ca 12/17/2007

Deputy Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev looks on during a meeting with doctors in Rome, June 19, 2007. (Associated Press)

He is a 42-year-old law professor with a passion for Led Zeppelin music who has never held elected office.

But if the stars align right — and it is hard to see how they won’t — Dmitry Medvedev is very likely to be Russia’s next president after the ballots are counted in March of 2008.

Officially nominated on Dec. 17, he has the support of Russia’s ruling party United Russia as well as three smaller pro-Kremlin parties — A Just Russia, Agrarian Party of Russia and Civil Force Party. More importantly, he has the backing of the outgoing and still wildly popular President Vladimir Putin, who is likely to become prime minister, once his two terms as president are over.

If he is successful in his bid, Medvedev will be the country’s youngest president ever elected, which raises a question.

Who is Dmitry Medvedev?
Born in St. Petersburg, then known as Leningrad, in 1965, Medvedev is the son of two university professors. He was a top student who went on to receive a law degree from St. Petersburg University in 1987 and then completed a PhD in law in 1990.

Shortly after graduating, he married his school sweetheart Svetlana and they have a 12-year-old son, Ilya.

He is a devoted fan of hard rock and cites Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin among his favourites. These bands would have been on the state-issued blacklists during Medvedev’s Soviet-era schooldays, but he has said he had taped copies, perhaps from bootleggers. Today, he collects the bands’ original vinyls and said in an interview with Russian magazine Itogi that he had amassed all of Deep Purple’s recordings.

You can read the rest of the article here.

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Once in a while a piece of writing on some music-related topic will come out of left field and knock you flat on your ass (case in point, Dylan’s Chronicles).  Today I refer the reader to Harvard grad student Dave LaFontana’s paper “You Say You Want a Velvet Revolution?”, published with permission on the Beatles Ottawa website.

This is a really fascinating read. It addresses the Beatles’ cultural and political influence during the Cold War, mainly from the point of view of those on the Soviet Bloc side. The paper does a nice job of shedding light on many parallel events, opinions and figures, while remaining readable and relatively compact. Very worthwhile.

The “Lennon Wall”, Prague, Czech Republic

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For a good 7-8 years Listener held court as the only really excellent audio print journal, IMO. Other magazines have done well in some respects, but Listener broke the mold. From its’ creative photoshopped covers to its’ most offbeat columns (Dr.Gizmo!), it broke the conventions of audio journalism, and made the hobby fun again. It made readers ask themselves tough questions. It put the focus on the music.

And it was a sad day in mid-2002 when we learned that the magazine would be folded.

I credit editor/publisher Art Dudley with turning me on to the joys of triode tubes, DIY’ing, Lowther speakers, and more. Fortunately, his ramblings can still be read in Stereophile - and to their credit, they make his column available online at no charge.

I have all my Listener issues (nearly a complete set), and I’ll never part with them. If you missed out on this great mag, check eBay from time to time, or put a wanted post up on Audiogon or AudioAsylum. You’ll be glad you did.

R.I.P. Listener, you are missed.

Listener vol.5 no.3 cover depicted a ‘crop circle’ made with vacuum tube schematic symbols. Brilliant.

Tags: DIY, Industry News, Music by admin
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Kill To Get Crimson, Mark Knopfler (2007, Warner Bros)

It’s been a good year for new pop music, with excellent releases from Wilco, Interpol, The White Stripes, Feist, Ryan Adams, Radiohead and many others. At the top of my favorites pile sits this disc from an old master, the venerable Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame.

And it’s at once both strange and understandable that one has to qualify him with those 4 words. While Knopfler has never enjoyed the Straits’ level of commercial success in his solo work, he’s been far from obscure. Performing alongside stars like Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris over the years, MK has long been respected as a musician; at some point while we weren’t noticing, he’s also evolved into a songwriter of quite compelling stature. Kill To Get Crimson is just the latest in a string of very fine work.

Like Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky, it took me a few listens to get into it. There’s nothing flashy about this record. It sets a plaintive, folksy-electric tone, with Knopfler mixing major and minor chord progressions effortlessly as always. The musicianship is excellent, as you’d expect. And the patient listener is gradually rewarded with more and more ‘gold’, as these beautifully crafted songs slowly unfold to reveal a remarkable depth and layering. No overhyped guitar work, no shouting. Knopfler is so understated, he’s the epitome of cool. Yet when his songs call for vocal passion (Let It All Go, In The Sky), he delivers it in spades. When heartaches and regret bear down like a weight (True Love Will Never Fade, Behind With The Rent), he’s able to convey the sadness with his signature voice - which has aged extremely well. Other standouts (We Can Get Wild, Heart Full Of Holes) are so good I won’t even attempt to redux them.

For me, a near perfect record…very enthusiastically recommended. I will update this review when I’ve received the vinyl copy, mastered by Stan Ricker.

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Released in 2006 by True North Records.

Speechless: The Instrumental Bruce Cockburn. This CD has 15 superb instrumental tracks; 3 of which are new, and one which was previously only released in Japan. That track, Rise And Fall, is one of the standouts, and is a great test of bottom-octave bass response. Cockburn was a music major, and has been making records since 1970. His status is iconic in Canada, where he lives and works. As a songwriter, Cockburn is never at a loss for something to say - and his instrumental compositions bear this out also. His guitar work breathes and lives; the tunes are original, diverse, and memorable. They convey a broad spectrum of color, from dark and ethereal, to bright and joyful. Cockburn is a folk singer/songwriter, but as a musician and composer he’s quite unbounded by categorization.  You’ll hear styles as far ranging as ragtime jazz, ECM 70s-era guitar jazz, and most everything in between.  All played with heart and gusto.

A wonderful set of performances, in excellent sound. The production work is very good on this disc; despite the recordings spanning four decades, the songs share a similar sound signature, and the album is cohesive and works as a whole.

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(Re)discovering WILCO about a year ago has had a bunch of positive effects on me. Apart from the pure enjoyment of devouring the rest of Wilco’s remarkable catalog, I’ve gradually become interested in pop music again..! Meaning (for me), a lot more catching up to do, finally discovering artists like Stephen Malkmus, Ron Sexsmith, Feist, Golden Smog, The White Stripes, Interpol, Ryan Adams, and Ray Lamontagne. It’s been a great year. I even started writing some music reviews for the Owl and Bear site.

My hats off to Tweedy: through many lineup changes, label difficulties, personal issues, and the demands of a young family, he’s not only continued to bloom as a songwriter, but along with remaining founding member John Stirratt, has maintained Wilco’s ethos and vision- while allowing the band to grow. I truly believe Wilco is the finest American rock band since The Band. They’re at the top of their game, and have a rabid following of devoted fans. Wilco have also been forward-thinking in encouraging show taping and music sharing/downloading….leaking their last few records to fans in advance of their release (what a concept). They’ve also supported vinyl by releasing most of the albums on LP.

If you don’t know their music - all of their albums are streamed in decent quality on their web site. I’d suggest starting with the stunning live disc Kicking Television, which features the current lineup, or with their seminal 2003 release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Wilco’s insanely gifted lineup now includes guitar virtuoso Nels Cline, and avant garde percussion whiz Glenn Kotche - both very accomplished musicians with vibrant solo careers of their own. Wilco just wrapped up a 6 month world tour in support of the excellent Sky Blue Sky, and after a 3 month break will finish the loop with shows in Japan and Australia. Let’s hope they tour here again in 2008.

‘The finest rock band in the world.’ Independent On Sunday

‘One of the best live bands in existence.’ Q

‘Wilco are among the best live acts in the world. When this band are on stage, wonders really do never cease.’ Financial Times

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This is one of the most well researched and enjoyable biographies on a music figure that I’ve read. If you like folk music, Americana, or just have an interest in modern history, Woody’s life as told by Ed Cray may captivate you. The author spends a good deal of time exploring Guthrie’s relationships, his songwriting, and his political motivations (or lack thereof). All against a backdrop of heart-wrenching tragedy.

Very recommended.

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I have some LP’s listed for sale, they are ‘golden age’ / audiophile / imports on some of the best labels: EMI, Decca, Mercury, etc. Have a look here for a list and descriptions:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=221786

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Quite possibly, yes!

Check out this unique and superb collection of busker style song videos:

http://www.blogotheque.net/cae_tous_les_concerts_en.php3

….including many of today’s hottest bands - The National, Arcade Fire, Beirut, of Montreal, Final Fantasy, Grizzly Bear, Architecture In Helsinki, and many others. Enjoy—

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Welcome to stereo-untypical, this is a repository showcasing great music and unusually fine (and just plain unusual) audio gear, flanked by quasi-articulate musings on the hobby. Ultra-fi, low-fi, post-fi….if it’s different, you’ll find it here.

Send me a note if there is something you’d like to see featured on this blog. And please pass the word on.
thanks,

Noam

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