Music

A problem I see nowadays with new records from bands of the “Second Generation” of Classic Rock, including Prog Rock, is that many of the members of the original bands are in their late 60s to 80s, and while some are still recording and touring, others have either passed away, retired, or are forever mad at each other.
The problem I have lies in remixing and remastering songs from back when members of the band are no longer able to assist in the process. Often, the job is left to other people who do what they think the band would like or approve of. Sometimes that works. More often than not, though, for me it doesn't.
Where it does succeed, and as in this case succeeds exceptionally well, is when some band members are still around and/or they have extremely talented children who were members of the band and have played and worked with them in the past to bring these new edits and expanded mixes to life.

This is what you might call a coming-back-around-full-circle trip review for me.
Fifteen years ago, I bought my first Dynavector cartridge, a DV 20X, that upon hearing it weave its magic in the grooves, I decided my new Well Tempered Labs Amadeus GTA needed to have. So I replaced my Koetsu Rosewood Signature, which was in need of replacing after serving me well for many years. That Dynavector did just about everything the Koetsu did equally well, and some things the Koetsu didn't, so it convinced me that it was the cartridge for me.
Zooming ahead 15 years down the road, I find myself back where my Dynavector journey started.
I still have my Amadeus turntable and happily proclaim that I probably will till the day I depart this crazy world.

For years, readers have known R. J. Carter as a storyteller through novels, short fiction, essays, comics, and publishing projects. On August 14, Carter adds a new chapter to that creative journey with the release of his debut Americana album, Another Second Chapter.

Built around ten story-driven songs, Another Second Chapter explores faith, family, gratitude, regret, perseverance, adoption, working-class life, and the unexpected turns that reshape a life. The album began with two deeply personal songs: Days Ahead, written after the realization that the years ahead had become fewer than the years behind, and The Boy I Told Goodbye, a reflection on the son Carter placed for adoption three decades ago.

A prog-rock gem that's been made even more golden.

The Puritan Silencer, or just Silencer as I’ll refer to it here, is to coin a phrase in my book, an odd duck. I mean look at the name: “ Inter-Component Radiated and Parasitic Ground Noise Control”

I’ve never seen those words strung together in any product name before in my life! :-)

According to Puritan, even the most expensive cartridges, DACs, pre-amps, and amplifiers cannot deliver a truly faithful performance if the “ground” is moving, shaking, and wobbling with the noise that is perpetually present on every ground line. Which makes sense to me, and to which the Silencer provides an alternative route for the those existent undesirable ground currents via a complex internal structure that firstly absorbs and then neutralizes, by converting to harmless heat, the noise voltages present across all frequency bands.

Well another year has passed, and AXPONA 2026 is in the books. It was another great show by the AXPONA team and the Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center. Both the show team and the hotel staff were on top of their game every day in my book. Registration was easy, amenities plentiful, and the show layout easy, if extremely large (and that’s a good thing) to follow. For me, it was 3 days chock full of High End Audio nirvana.

Well, AXPONA 2026 is in the books, and while I plan to do a recap of the shw in general—which normally would include my thoughts and feelings on the “best in show”—one product I auditioned was so far above the rest, not only in terms of musicality (which it certainly was), but also in form, function, build quality, and game‑changing capabilities, that I feel compelled to review this product on its own.

The subject of this review is the T10 Bespoke Comput‑Ear, which, for the purpose of this review, I will refer to simply as the T10.

I want to start this off by saying I have been to many an audio show and have heard many, many pieces of high‑end audio equipment in countless configurations—and have owned quite a few myself over the 50 years that I have considered myself a quote‑unquote “audiophile.”

Filmed in concert at the Arena di Verona on September 26, 2010, this Blu-ray/DVD from Mercury Studios captures Peter Gabriel in great form during his New Blood Tour.

The Arena di Verona, an open-air stadium, seemed perfectly suited to Peter’s voice and music. Performed with only his backup singers (Melanie Gabriel and Ane Brun) and the New Blood Orchestra accompanying him—no conventional guitars, drums, or bass were used—the combination of voice, orchestration, and arrangement was incredible in the open air, coming across with crystal clarity.

Sea Glass, Candice Night’s third solo album (not including 2002’s limited single Alone with Fate), released on Minstrel Hall Music, is a wonderful collection of songs that showcases not only her beautiful voice but also her equally wonderful songwriting and storytelling talents. These talents span the ages (and I do mean the Ages) and genres as well.

A folksy journey through the seasons—Musica Sierra’s Garden is as timeless as the earth it celebrates.

“NYC Made” by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ricky Byrd on Wicked Cool Records promised to be a real, honest-to-goodness rock and roll record—the likes of which I hadn’t seen or heard in years.

It hasn't been all that long since I last played Supertramp's Breakfast in America album. As one of my favorite records from my high school years, I find myself pulling it out of my collection and playing several of its tracks almost weekly.

So, when I heard that Mercury Studios was releasing a 2-CD set recorded live in Paris at the Pavillon de Paris during the Breakfast in America tour, I knew I had to hear it. Not only because I love their music but also because I missed out on seeing them live at the time—a chance at personal redemption, you might say.

Comprised of members Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, Dougie Thomson, Bob Siebenberg, and John Anthony Helliwell, this concert captures Supertramp at their peak, delivering everything I would have hoped to hear from this lineup back in the day.

Pop stars get all the fame and all the attention, but they don’t necessarily need to know how to make music. Performers and music artists are two different beasts, after all, but that just makes it all the more special when a pop star is also a talented musician.

The Piano

One of the most beautiful and versatile instruments by far is the piano. From jaunty tunes to adding depth and emotion, this instrument has been in and out of our favorite catchy tunes for generations. Listening to it live, however, and watching your favorite musicians play it live themselves, however, is an entirely different experience.

Who are these pop stars with talent on the piano? Here’s the top roundup:

Chicago and Friends: Live at 55 from Decades Rock Live and Mercury Studios is a DVD/2CD set recorded at the Ocean City Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to commemorate the band’s 55th anniversary and the release of their legendary, multi-platinum-selling album Chicago Transit Authority (of which I have not one but three copies, having worn two of them out over the years!). It contains hits from that album and throughout the ages—many years and many hits—some as well known and familiar as members of your own family, and others that will have you going, “Oh yeah, I forgot all about that song!”

The band, still replete with three of the founding members, along with other exceptionally talented artists who make up the current lineup, and a bevy of phenomenal guest artists, makes—and made—this concert one for the ages!

Soft Winds and Roses is the 11th album from internationally acclaimed Canadian jazz vocalist Diana Panton, whose impressive career has earned her multiple awards. A departure from her more recent projects, this album features songs from the 1960s onward, performed with a minimalist backing ensemble that complements her vocals beautifully. Guitarist Reg Schwager and multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson (on bass, piano, and vibes) provide a subtle yet rich sound, evoking the intimate atmosphere of a jazz club.

I first became acquainted with the music of this ultra-talented trio of Canadian musicians and singers—Sharon Hampson, Lois Lilienstein, and Bram Morrison—back in 1994 when my mother bought a holiday CD called “Candles, Snow, and Mistletoe: A Holiday Celebration for the Whole Family” that they released the previous year.

I instantly fell in love with their energy, singing, and songs. In fact, one of those songs, “Mrs. Fogarty’s Christmas Cake,” became an instant family favorite. To this very day, it is the first holiday song I play every year, and it’s my daughter’s favorite too.

Now, you might think that’s not too uncommon—except when you consider that I was 33 years old and single at the time, and my daughter wasn’t born until 2000. Such is the wonderful impact this trio’s music has had on my life and my family.

Written by Donna Maurer.
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Living in a world of digital streaming and music apps galore, it may seem surprising that vinyl records are making a massive comeback in the mainstream. But the sales for vinyl have boomed, and it seems as though people enjoy having physical media as well as digital these days.

The resurgence of vinyl isn’t only about nostalgia, though; many feel that the sound quality of a record far outweighs that of a master recording online. Which one is correct? Let’s explore how vinyl records provide for people yearning to remember the past and whether or not the audio is better.

The Record Still Sells in a Digital World

Wow, it's been 25 years since this album was first released and 19 years since I first heard its songs on Jack’s Big Music Show on Nickelodeon's channel “Noggin” with my daughter. We fell in love with these songs back then and still love them to this day.

When I was a wee lad many, many years ago, I did not have the luxury of kids' music being so widely available. What little there was, I treasured. Very little was played on the radio back then, and music geared toward kids was not overly common on records that I remember. My mother always made sure she bought me a music album whenever she went shopping and could find something. I still have the very first album she ever bought me, and yes, I still play it to this day. Why, you might ask? Because of the wonderful memories that are forever tied to it.

“Swingset Serenade,” a family album conceived, written, and performed by Melanie Dill and Tom Johnson, accompanied by the talents of a whole slew of musicians and kids, brings an excitingly different take on children’s music. So much so that calling it just a children’s album doesn’t do it justice. This is an album that the whole family can get into, and to quote an age-old saying and allow them to “swing and sway like Sammy Kaye!” And that’s no stretch of the imagination. This album is a multicultural swing fest from the first song to the last!

In my recent review of the Lejonklou Entity Moving Coil-only Phono Stage, I extolled the virtues of how much more musical and natural it made my records sound.

In that review, I also mentioned how Frederick Lejonklou, the designer of the Entity, created and voiced the phono stage using Linn Silver Cables. Other reviewers of the Entity, who used these cables instead of their personal choices, preferred the sound with the Linn Cables. Even someone I trust unequivocally, Charlie Schnyder of Stereo Haven, who doesn’t normally use Linn Cables in anything else and was skeptical at first, assured me of how wonderful the sound was using the Linn cables over the Auditorium A23 cables (which were the cables I originally used to listen to the Entity and which made beautiful music together).