Monthly Archive: January 2015
JOHN CAGE: One Seven; Four Six – Sabine Liebner, piano – Wergo
Sixty minutes of John Cage for the fully aware.
Audio News for January 13, 2015
Immersive Surround Audio to the Palm of Your Hand; Importance of Meridian Master Quality Technology
The Night Porter, Blu-ray (1974/2014)
An often disturbing examination of the later psychological effects of the Nazi regime.
ImmersAV – Point-of-View Binaural Audio Recording with Hi-Def Video, Blu-ray (2014)
An interesting Blu-ray demo sampler of binaural and speaker playback.
“Visions Fugitives” – Music for Strings – PROKOFIEV / BARTOK / WEBERN- Camerata Nordica/ Terje Tønnen – BIS
A fine and fresh collection of contemporary string music.
SCHUMANN: Fantasie in C Major; MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition – Paul Lewis, piano – Harmonia mundi
Paul Lewis engages two sides of Romanticism, the epic and the lyrically personal, in his rendition of Mussorgsky and Schumann.
JŪ – JŪ Meets Møster [TrackList follows] – RareNoise
Experimental, psychedelic free-improv rock from a Hungarian trio and Norwegian saxophonist.
Charlie Haden – Helium Tears [TrackList follows] – West Wind
Haden is showcased on the album cover, but this is not one of his solo releases. Confused yet?
CHRISTIANIALIV – Works from Norway’s Golden Age of Wind music – The Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces/ Ole Kristian Ruud – Works of SVENDSEN, HANSEN, OLSEN, EVENSEN – 2L audio-only Blu-ray + SACD
Great sound and music but a bit of a muddled program.
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 5 cond. by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Blu-ray (2014)
An excellent performance of the Bruckner 5th with some odd mixing decisions for the multi-channel tracks.
Martha Argerich – Evening Talks, Blu-ray (2002/2014)
A mesmerizing documentary on one of the greatest living pianists.
Vance Thompson’s Five Plus Six – Such Sweet Thunder – Shade Street Music
A clever earful from a little big band.
Guiomar Novaes: The Complete Published 78-rpm Recordings, 1919-1927; 1940-1947 [TrackList follows] – APR (2 CDs)
The collection of 78 rpm recordings by Guiomar Novaes stands as her finest display of an extraordinary gift to music.
Jazz sur seine [TrackList follows] – Philips/Sam mono Vinyl
A great 1958 session in Paris with three members of the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Bill O’Connell and the Latin Jazz Allstars – Imagine [TrackList follows] – Savant
Latin jazz and bebop combined into a swinging hour of upbeat music.
Supernova, Blu-ray (1995/2015)
Not a bad sci-fi film at all, but could have been even better.
“Balance Problems” = Works by NICO MUHLY, MARCOS BALTER, ANDREW NORMAN, JEREMY TURNER, MARK DANCIGERS, SUFJAN STEVENS – yMUSIC – New Amsterdam
Refreshing compilation from the “new modern” wave.
Audio News for January 9, 2015
Highlights of Home Entertainment Report for 2014; DEG’s Four Awards for Most Outstanding Digital Entertainment Products of the Year; Growth of Wireless Speaker and Audio Association
“From Bach” = Music by many composers and performers (TrackList follows) – Music@Menlo Live 2013 (8 CDs)
First-rate performances in “neutral, honest sound” thruout this 8-CD set.
Ornette – Made in America, Blu-ray (1986/2015) Portrait of Jason, Blu-ray (1967/2015)
A couple of 16mm films of the ‘60s by NYC independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke, restored and enhanced for Blu-ray.
Ornette – Made in America, Blu-ray (1986/2015) Portrait of Jason, Blu-ray (1967/2015)
A couple of 16mm films of the ‘60s by NYC independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke, restored and enhanced for Blu-ray.
“laReverdie, Laudarium: Songs of Popular Devotion from 14th Century Italy” – laReverdie – Arcana (2 CDs)
Exquisite music-making from this young Italian early music ensemble.