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Album Reviews
Cisco Reissues A Columbia For The Ages
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 01, 2007  |  0 comments

Composed in 1937, Shostakovich’s dramatic 5th symphony is cinematic in scope and thematically rich and varied. Though 20th century modern in its angular musical approach, it retains elements of Tchaikovsky’s romantic 19th century, though many of the musical gestures more closely resemble those of Shostakovich's contemporary, Sergei Prokofiev. In fact if you’re familiar with Prokofiev’s “Lt. Kije Suite” you will hear some similarities along with some touches of Rimsky-Korsakov.

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Album Reviews
Unschooled 12 Stringer Issues Cosmic Statement
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 01, 2007  |  0 comments

For those of you who know the pleasures of guitarist John Fahey’s Takoma recordings (Fahey was a rabid audiophile, BTW), or Robbie Basho’s, or even Sandy Bull’s extraordinary experiments in guitar-based world music fusion on Vanguard, James Blackshaw may already be on your radar screen, as may some of the other contemporary guitar experimenters who fly equally low beneath the mainstream musical radar screen, but until this LP, I’d not encountered the 24 year old Blackshaw who’s been recording and performing since 2003.

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Album Reviews
Milstein Romances Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 01, 2007  |  0 comments

This Capitol release features an extraordinarily pure, tactile orchestral recording and a solo violin recording of equal sonic stature.

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Album Reviews
Dinah, Backed By Quincy Jones Band and Arrangements Produces "Thriller"
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 01, 2007  |  0 comments

Recorded June and December of 1956 in New York City, this match-up features a superb big band arranged by the then young Quincy Jones and the extraordinarily gifted Dinah Washington who belts them out here with breathtaking conviction.

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Cartridge Reviews
Allaerts MC2 Finish Gold phono cartridge
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 30, 2007  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments
These are great times for analog, and I'm happy to have played a small part in the revival, but recently the demand for some products has outstripped supply; getting review samples has been next to impossible. I've requested an Audio Research PH7 phono preamplifier for literally years now, but ARC can't build them fast enough, so they don't need a review. The more they sell, the greater the buzz, and the greater the buzz, the more e-mails I get from readers asking for a review. It's not nice to not be needed.
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Ultimate Analog Applied by Foné to Dramatic Piazzolla Compositions
 |  Sep 03, 2007  |  0 comments

Written in 1959 to celebrate his father and mark his passing, Astor Piazzolla’s “Adiós Nonino” is a moving, appropriately sentimental work that occasionally veers into melodrama.

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Cartridge Reviews
Lyra Clavis Da Capo moving-coil phono cartridge
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 02, 2007  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  0 comments
Scan-Tech builds low-output moving-coil cartridges for a number of companies, including AudioQuest, Linn, and Spectral (footnote 1). It also markets its own line, under the Lyra brand name (Lydian, Clavis, Parnassus), which is imported and distributed by Immedia out of Berkeley, CA.
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Album Reviews
Van's Solo Debut Finally Re-Grooved...Twice!
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 01, 2007  |  0 comments

(This review, originally written back in 1995, appeared in Volume 1, issue 2 of The Tracking Angle as a review of Sony Legacy Gold CD ZK 66220, produced by Bob Irwin. It was an amazing sounding CD).

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Album Reviews
Newly Refurbished Berliner Mastering Facility and New Engineer Yield First Mercury Reissue
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 01, 2007  |  0 comments

Dept. of Corrections: Due to a miscommunication between myself and Speakers Corner's Kai Seeman, I was led to believe this lush, yet detailed reissue was the first to be mastered by Maarten DeBoer, after the retirement of Willem Makkee at the newly refurbished Berliner Mastering facility in Hanover, Germany.

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Album Reviews
Return To Roots For Midwestern Vets
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 01, 2007  |  0 comments

Wilco’s return to intimately drawn electro-acoustic folk and away from electronic experimentation gives the latest outing a comforting organic coherence and an intensely direct sense of musical purpose. The more tightly constrained concept yields greater discipline and a compelling concentration of useful ideas, tune after tune.

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