by Timothy Finn
McClatchy Newspapers
Tuesday used to be sacramental in the world of music. It was new-release day, the day faithful music fans stopped by their favorite record store to buy something they’d been waiting for weeks to hear or to discover something they hadn’t heard.
Back then, record stores were the best places to hear new music and mingle with other music fans.
“Record stores used to be neighborhood hangouts,” said Corky Carrel, who co-owns an online record store based near Kansas City. “They were like bars without liquor. You’d go in and browse and talk about music.”
Tuesdays aren’t the only days that aren’t what they used to be—for record stores or their customers.
Like so many industries caught between two seismic sea changes—- the Internet revolution and the great recession—- stores that sell new music are in a fight for their lives. The chains are dying, independent stores are closing, and the record labels that feed them merchandise are running out of ways to make money.
The stores that are surviving are performing balancing acts. Most rely heavily on the pre-owned—“used”—business: Buy it cheap, sell it cheap. Some have turned to niche marketing, selling new CDs to one or two refined segments of the music world. Others rely on a combination of the two: Sell CDs and vinyl, new and used, to a defined demographic. And others have been helped by the recent revival of what was once considered a relic, the vinyl record.
Steve Wilson remembers the good days, back when record stores offered surprises and mysteries and employed people who had strong opinions about most of them.
“When I started buying albums in earnest, I went to Kief’s on the Mall (in Lawrence, Kansas),” he said. “I remember talking to the guys who worked there. They were there to educate you—as long as you were there to listen, not talk.”
He and Carrel became career guys in the record-store industry. Wilson has been with Kief’s since December 1973. That was about the time Carrel started working at a local electronics store that sold recorded music. From there he went to Caper’s Corner, a fabled record store in Kansas City. In 1987 he opened his own store, Corky’s Records.
Both men are still in the business. Carrel and his partner, Bill Lavery, run VillageRecords.com. Wilson works at Kief’s Downtown, one of two record stores in Lawrence and the satellite outlet to Kief’s, the electronics/music retailer south of downtown.
Some store owners are optimistic about what lies ahead, but none is willing to say for certain where they or their store will be in five or 10 years.
“The game has changed,” Wilson said. “Now it’s all about survival.”
The music business is in a free fall. Sales of new albums have dropped more than 45 percent the last eight years. In 2000 consumers in the United States bought 785 million albums. In 2008 they bought 428 million.
In 2000 the 10 best-selling albums sold 60 million units. In 2008 that figure was 18.8 million.
The decline in sales coincided with the explosion of home computers, the Internet and the sharing of music files via Web sites such as Napster.
But long before online retailers, digital music and file-sharing entities started eroding sales at brick-and-mortar stores, the small retailers were fighting other forces.
Carrel said the decline began in earnest when a store like Caper’s had to compete with large chains like Peaches in the late 1970s.
“Slowly the acts indigenous to our store—like early Rod Stewart and Elton John—our sales on them plummeted because their albums were everywhere,” he said.
An even bigger hit came when chains like Best Buy started selling CDs as “loss leaders”—items priced under cost to get customers into the store and shopping for other, more expensive items. Those chains also were getting marketing funds from record labels, which helped them reduce the sticker price of their CDs.
Lavery remembers his employees at Village Records coming in and “bragging about the deals they got at Best Buy, which were better than at our store, even with an employee discount.”
Through the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, or CIMS, of which Kief’s is now the only local member, smaller retailers eventually convinced labels that they, too, were important to their artists’ livelihood, and stores like Kief’s eventually enjoyed some of the same marketing benefits that the chain stores were getting.
On a recent Monday, Kief’s received a delivery of the new Bruce Springsteen album, Working on a Dream. The package included an incentive, or what Wilson called a “value-added perk”: a glossy four-color book of lyrics to each song on the album.
“It means the hard-core fan will probably buy the record in three different places so he can get all three (perks),” Wilson said.
Despite the labels’ concessions to the independent stores, the chains hurt many small retailers. Carrel said the consequences were profound: “It really took a chunk out of the independent stores,” he said. “It forced a lot of people into the used business.”
For years stores have survived on the sale of used CDs. Many still do. At Needmore Discs in Shawnee, Kansas, co-owner Eric Voeks said “about 80 percent of what we sell is used. Used DVDs do well, too.”
At Streetside Records in Kansas City, which is part of the FYE chain, manager Jennine Goodman said used CDs have kept them going.
“One of the reasons the company we’re with is still doing well is, it caught on early that it was smart to buy and sell used,” she said. “We still buy a lot of used, and we sell a lot of used.”
But even the market for used CDs has softened, said Kelly Corcoran, who owns Love Garden record store in Lawrence.
“For a long time we made OK money on new CDs, great money on used,” he said. “They were the cash cow of Love Garden, until about five years ago. That’s when so many corporate chain shops started opening used-CD shops, like Hastings and Half-Price Books.
“A lot of those chains would buy everything that came through the door. A ton of used CDs got fed into the system, and it got out of control,” he said. “Places bought stuff without thinking it through. And we suddenly had a tougher time getting good stuff into our store.”
Concurrently more people owned computers with CD burners on them, Corcoran said, which meant “maybe you wouldn’t have to buy a used CD.”
“You could get a copy from a friend. Or if a CD didn’t mean that much to you, you could rip the songs you want onto your computer and loan the CD to friends so they wouldn’t have to buy one.”
And then the file-sharing monster arrived on the scene, and recorded music, to some people, became nothing more than abstract digital files to be shared for free.
The accumulation of all those factors has slowly affected the bottom lines at many record stores.
Voeks, who once worked for the CD Warehouse chain, opened his store in 2003.
“We started off real strong,” he said, “but over the last few years, there has been a slow decline. I’m not sure it’s entirely an economic issue. It’s also a generational thing.”
Corcoran said that because Love Garden is careful and savvy about what it buys, new CDs still do well at his store. But he has noticed a trend that other stores are noticing: New vinyl is doing well again.
According to Nielsen SoundScan, sales of vinyl records nearly doubled nationwide in 2008, from just less than 1 million in 2007 to almost 1.9 million. More vinyl records were sold last year than in any year since SoundScan started tracking music sales in 1991.
That 1.9 million represents less than half of 1 percent of all the albums sold in 2008, but these days any upward trend in sales is going to be noticed and explored by both labels and record stores.
At Streetside, Goodman and Chris Labeau, who buys the store’s new vinyl, started noticing a rise in demand about a year ago. Since then the store has slowly increased its new vinyl inventory.
“It’s kind of shocking how fast it picked up,” Labeau said. “Once they started offering vinyl with the free MP3 download, we really started selling more.”
He’s talking about the have-your-cake-and-eat-it premium that many bands are offering with a copy of a new vinyl record: a coupon or code that gives the customer on line access to a digital copy of the album. That lets them have the vinyl and upload the music to their MP3 players.
Goodman said demand for vinyl was strong over the holidays.
“About half the customers who came in with a Christmas list had vinyl on it,” she said.
Consequently, over the past few months vinyl sales have jumped from less than 1 percent of total sales at her store to 7 percent.
“Vinyl has surpassed several other entire genres in the store,” she said.
And customers are willing to wait weeks for an LP, if that’s what it takes. Labeau said his store didn’t get its initial shipment of the Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion because demand nationwide exceeded supply. That album was released in January, first in vinyl with the free MP3 bonus. A week later, it was released on CD.
“We had about 15 customers put a vinyl record on hold and wait for it, even though we had it on CD, too,” Labeau said. “They weren’t interested in the CD.”
Not everyone is sold on the idea that vinyl is the B-12 shot that will revive record stores and labels. Wilson said Kief’s is being cautious about buying new. Used, however, is another story.
“We do fine with the new vinyl, but honestly, it’s a risk,” he said. “With used (vinyl), we buy smart. We can make good money on it. With new, if you buy it, you have to sell it because most manufacturers won’t take it back like they do CDs.
“So to some degree, we’ve conceded new vinyl to Love Garden. We’re still not sure how big the market is, and we’re not willing to be that speculative.”
Corcoran said new vinyl has been a featured attraction at Love Garden for years.
“People know that if it’s available, we’ll have it,” he said.
New vinyl started doing so well at his store that it was one factor that prompted Corcoran to change the way his store orders music.
“We used to stay away from the major-label, corporate world of alternative music,” he said. “We wouldn’t carry the new Kings of Leon, for example. Or Radiohead. ... But hesitantly we got into the major-label business.”
He and his staff noticed that customers who came in looking for new music from big-label acts also shopped for other music, and some became loyal customers. So the store made a concession, especially when it came to new vinyl.
“There’s a chunk of our customers who only come in here to buy the new cool, major-label records on vinyl, like Kanye West,” he said. “They just want it, and they’ll pay $25 for it, no questions asked.
“So though we may not carry the new Bruce Springsteen on CD, we will carry it on vinyl. And people will come in asking for it. And we’ll sell it.”
Who is buying all this vinyl? Goodman said it’s a combination of high school and college students and older customers who have either “pulled out their turntables or never put them away.”
Some are like Nick Dormer, 24, a faithful vinyl buyer at Love Garden.
“Most of the time vinyl is priced within a buck or two of a (new) CD, and you get larger artwork, a better shelf life and, commonly, a digital download,” he said. “I buy vinyl records when I want to listen to an album in its entirety.”
Labeau said a few of his customers are collectors who want the vinyl record as an artifact, like a concert T-shirt or a poster.
“They make (picture) frames for album covers,” he said, “so you can hang them on the wall.”
Dormer said he doesn’t “collect” per se, but he does respect the limited-edition LPs he buys.
“About six or seven months ago I purchased a limited-edition Murder City Devils record on yellow vinyl for $40,” he said. “I listened through about four times before framing it to hang on my wall.”
Despite his store’s success with new vinyl, Corcoran is skeptical about its current status and dubious about its long-term future. However, he is not worried that the big chains, like Best Buy, have started selling new vinyl.
“The transition to vinyl is not a real transition,” he said. “It’s also an act of desperation by the labels, not an altruistic interest in the format.
“I love the format. We do records, new and used. New records are there because customers want them, but we don’t make a lot of money on them. Used CDs and used vinyl pay the bills. If you’re going to sell new vinyl, you have to be smart. You have to have a sophisticated system set up. You really have to know what you’re doing and know your customers. I know the chains are carrying LPs, but they don’t know what they’re doing.”
What’s next?
The future for some record stores may be in someone’s basement.
In 1994 Lavery and Carrel combined their stores into one at Village Records in Shawnee. After a few years they noticed a clientele emerging that appreciated the same music they did, what is widely known as “roots music” or “Americana”. They also noticed that they were doing a decent word-of-mouth mail-order business with out-of-town customers, people willing to look a little harder and spend a little extra to get music from songwriters like Tom Russell, John Hiatt, Lucinda Williams or Dave Alvin. It was music those customers could no longer get at their local record stores.
“That was before the Internet or e-mail were big,” Lavery said. “We were taking orders over the phone, sometimes writing them down on loose scraps of paper, and hand-labeling everything. At first the mail-order part was supplementing the store. But that flipped after two or three years.”
Carrel had been working exclusively with Russell since his days at Corky’s Records. He got permission to use Russell’s mailing list and sent a Village Records mailer to each name on that list. The response was quick and encouraging.
“We never looked back after that,” Carrel said.
In 1999 he and Lavery closed the brick-and-mortar store, moved their operations into their homes, and watched their business grow via the Internet. They estimate their customer base is 400 customers, many of them regulars who spend decent money each month. For them, all is good, even now.
“Since the economy tanked, our sales have actually gone up,” Carrel said. “Ninety percent of what we sell costs less than $15. And what are you going to do—not get the new Dylan CD or buy it and not spend that money on a meal or at Starbucks?”
What of the brick-and-mortar stores? Corcoran thinks the future will come down to survival of the savviest.
“You have to be smart,” he said. “Ten years ago anyone could make money running a record store. And they did. Now stores who don’t have sophisticated systems set up are either closing or selling toys and bongs to make ends meet.”
He also thinks the labels will continue to produce hard products but will have to make some concessions to save themselves.
“I don’t think they’ll stop putting out records or CDs,” he said. “But I think they’ll lower prices of CDs, and we’ve already seen movement that way. If they sold them to me for $6.50 or $7, I could sell CDs like candy for $10. If it’s a double-CD, OK, then $15 or $16 is reasonable. But unless the artwork mows your lawn, a single CD needs to be $10.”
Anne Winter saw some of this coming three years ago.
For 18 years she sold vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, posters, magazines, T-shirts and other music merchandise at Recycled Sounds on Main Street, just east of Westport. In April 2006 the store closed.
“The last few years we saw that the hard-core collectors were still very much into the vinyl,” she said. “What was going away were the younger customers who no longer came out to record stores to interact with our staff and other customers to learn about music.”
Voeks notices the same thing. He has been in the retail music business for more than 25 years. While living in Australia in the 1980s, he spent his weekends off from his 40-hour-a-week bureaucratic job working at a hardware store that had a music section. He got paid in albums. Voeks moved to St. Louis in 1989 and went to work at its Streetside stores. In 1997 he moved to Kansas City and worked for the CD Warehouse chain.
He remembers the days when stores were like salons or live chat rooms, and customers came in “to hang crap on each other’s tastes and talk about music.”
“But you had to do it real-time, instantly. You couldn’t stop and look something up on Google. You had to know then.”
At Kief’s, Wilson said he shares his vast knowledge of music with customers less these days. He spends it on other duties instead.
“When you’re buying used vinyl, you need to know what to buy and what you can charge,” he said. “So you get paid for knowing something. But your expertise can be pretty worthless on some days, unless someone comes in and wants to talk about music. And those people are not coming in like they used to.”
Wilson laments what is happening on a broader level to the pop culture: the death of mystique, the end of the underground. These days, he said, everything is everywhere for its 15 minutes of limelight, whether it’s a song, an album, a band or a video on YouTube.
“Then people move on to the next thing,” he said. “It’s hard for things to grow deep roots.
“If I tell kids how in the ‘70s I got the two-disc CBGBs compilation by getting Hilly Kristal’s phone number and calling him, they’d look at me like, ‘What? Did Wells Fargo bring it to you?’”
The Web has played an enormous role in taking some of the mystique out of music. Songs and albums are sometimes leaked or streamed long before they are released in stores. Nine days before the album’s official release, NPR.com was streaming nonstop the entire Working on a Dream album.
“People know two weeks before it comes out whether they like a record or not,” Corcoran said, “because they’ve heard it several times.”
The Tuesday that Springsteen’s album went on sale, business was light during lunch hour at Streetside Records. One customer—a male in his 40s—came in and bought two copies of Working on a Dream on CD. A woman in her 20s flipped deliberately through the store’s new-vinyl collection without selecting anything. The employees chatted casually behind the counter. And for the most part, this Tuesday felt like any other day in the retail-music world.
SOURCE: Pop Matters
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Vinyl Poetry
I found this wonderful insight and explanation on a blog. I have seen many discussions and opinions as to why vinyl sounds the best, but these words are like poetry to me. Enjoy:
What's the deal with records?
I am no technophile- recently, my father visited us, and somewhere in between reminiscing, drinking, and ice racing, he taught me how to connect the wires on my record player. I've had the thing for the last decade [I got it second-hand], and used to play records all the time, but for some reason, I forgot how to connect the wires to the speakers. It's one of those old record players where connecting the wires the right way is akin to jump-starting a car battery or unwiring a bomb. Anyway, now I can listen to all my old records again.
I'm also not an audiophile, so I can't really explain or even understand why my records sound better to me than their CD counterparts. I've tried to update and buy copies of them on compact disk; but for some reason, rock'n'roll bands sound 100 percent more raw, powerful, and human on vinyl. People who are into record collecting can be fairly annoying about this, claiming that the switch to digital music ''robbed the soul of rock'' and so forth. However, I spent quite a bit of time recently listening to a song I like- I've Got Levitation by the 13th Floor Elevators; both on the 180 gram vinyl repress of the original 'Easter Everyday' record, and then on CD. There was no comparison; the digital version sounds weak and flat; the vinyl version sounds warm and powerful, like the band is playing all around you. I don't think it's just the speakers.
I've tried to figure out why music sounds better to me on vinyl, and I have two theories. The first is that the analog sound wave is more complete than digital layers- or basically steps- can replicate. Sound waves are better suited to the human ear, even if the digital version is infinitely layered. Compare a drawing of a curve to a pixelated drawing of a curve- I think this is what happens to a sound wave when it's digitized.
The second theory I have is that, when music is remastered, the computer removes a lot of the 'noise' that is actually produced by people playing music. Not just dust and scratches, but the ambient sounds of human beings playing the instruments. One way of describing CD versions of albums is to say that they seem 'flat' by comparison. It's as if you're listening to a computer imitating the original recording, which really isn't that far from the truth.
Now compact disks have their advantages too, especially the fact that they take up less space. And there are certainly some albums that sound better in the ''digitally mastered'' version, cleaner and easier to hear the individual musicians. But it was kind of obnoxious how we were all expected to throw out our records and get with the times when the industry started pushing CDs. People whose tastes are basically undefined tend to believe that whatever is newer is better. This is the mantra of consumer capitalism. But, in the case of CDs, we're not talking about the difference between a horse and an automobile; prefering the sound of vinyl doesn't make you a ''luddite'' or ''old-fashioned''. And people who believe that it does need to put less stock in music industry hype.
Besides, it's a good time to be a record collector. As the music industry sinks under the weight of its own greed and stupidity, the only sector to see increased sales is vinyl; people are buying more records than they have in recent years, and less of everything else. The explanation has been that people get all of their music on MP3s now, and want to have tangible things to go with the music. This sounds like industry-think to me. MP3s are fine, aside from sounding lousy because of the high compression. But, music played on a good stereo from vinyl records is about as good as it gets.
SOURCE: http://gradstudentmadness.blogspot.com
What's the deal with records?
I am no technophile- recently, my father visited us, and somewhere in between reminiscing, drinking, and ice racing, he taught me how to connect the wires on my record player. I've had the thing for the last decade [I got it second-hand], and used to play records all the time, but for some reason, I forgot how to connect the wires to the speakers. It's one of those old record players where connecting the wires the right way is akin to jump-starting a car battery or unwiring a bomb. Anyway, now I can listen to all my old records again.
I'm also not an audiophile, so I can't really explain or even understand why my records sound better to me than their CD counterparts. I've tried to update and buy copies of them on compact disk; but for some reason, rock'n'roll bands sound 100 percent more raw, powerful, and human on vinyl. People who are into record collecting can be fairly annoying about this, claiming that the switch to digital music ''robbed the soul of rock'' and so forth. However, I spent quite a bit of time recently listening to a song I like- I've Got Levitation by the 13th Floor Elevators; both on the 180 gram vinyl repress of the original 'Easter Everyday' record, and then on CD. There was no comparison; the digital version sounds weak and flat; the vinyl version sounds warm and powerful, like the band is playing all around you. I don't think it's just the speakers.
I've tried to figure out why music sounds better to me on vinyl, and I have two theories. The first is that the analog sound wave is more complete than digital layers- or basically steps- can replicate. Sound waves are better suited to the human ear, even if the digital version is infinitely layered. Compare a drawing of a curve to a pixelated drawing of a curve- I think this is what happens to a sound wave when it's digitized.
The second theory I have is that, when music is remastered, the computer removes a lot of the 'noise' that is actually produced by people playing music. Not just dust and scratches, but the ambient sounds of human beings playing the instruments. One way of describing CD versions of albums is to say that they seem 'flat' by comparison. It's as if you're listening to a computer imitating the original recording, which really isn't that far from the truth.
Now compact disks have their advantages too, especially the fact that they take up less space. And there are certainly some albums that sound better in the ''digitally mastered'' version, cleaner and easier to hear the individual musicians. But it was kind of obnoxious how we were all expected to throw out our records and get with the times when the industry started pushing CDs. People whose tastes are basically undefined tend to believe that whatever is newer is better. This is the mantra of consumer capitalism. But, in the case of CDs, we're not talking about the difference between a horse and an automobile; prefering the sound of vinyl doesn't make you a ''luddite'' or ''old-fashioned''. And people who believe that it does need to put less stock in music industry hype.
Besides, it's a good time to be a record collector. As the music industry sinks under the weight of its own greed and stupidity, the only sector to see increased sales is vinyl; people are buying more records than they have in recent years, and less of everything else. The explanation has been that people get all of their music on MP3s now, and want to have tangible things to go with the music. This sounds like industry-think to me. MP3s are fine, aside from sounding lousy because of the high compression. But, music played on a good stereo from vinyl records is about as good as it gets.
SOURCE: http://gradstudentmadness.blogspot.com
Design Your Own Album Cover
An interesting way to spend some time, design your own album cover!
A terrific little design exercise for your enjoyment
Yeah, yeah; Just what we need. Another Facebook meme. We said the same thing when we saw it Sunday afternoon.
But this one is really, really cool. We promise.
You have to design an album cover. But you don’t get to pick the name of your band or the name of the album. You don’t even get to select your cover art. All that is randomly selected for you!
You’re totally on your own. You rock — or you suck — based totally on your ingenuity. That, plus a little luck.
Here are the rules:
GO TO: Design Album Cover
A terrific little design exercise for your enjoyment
Yeah, yeah; Just what we need. Another Facebook meme. We said the same thing when we saw it Sunday afternoon.
But this one is really, really cool. We promise.
You have to design an album cover. But you don’t get to pick the name of your band or the name of the album. You don’t even get to select your cover art. All that is randomly selected for you!
You’re totally on your own. You rock — or you suck — based totally on your ingenuity. That, plus a little luck.
Here are the rules:
GO TO: Design Album Cover
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Vinyl Collective Update
This from my vinyl friend Virgil over at www.vinylcollective.com - Stop by the site and pick up some great vinyl!
Restocks: Refused,Animal Coll,Braid,NOFX,Say Anything,Rancid
Got in some really great restocks today. A few of the restocks were ones we had a little bit of trouble getting back in stock like Refused, Say Anything, Honorary Title, and NOFX. And if you don’t already own that Man Man record, man oh man is it a good one.
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE “Water Curses” LP
AS TALL AS LIONS “Into The Flood” LP
BAD RELIGION “All Ages” LP
BAD RELIGION “Recipe For Hate” LP
BRAID “Frames And Canvas” LP
DROPKICK MURPHYS “Warriors Code” LP green vinyl
GOBLIN COCK “Bagged and Boarded” LP
LARS FREDERIKSEN & THE BASTARDS “Viking” LP
MAN MAN “Rabbit Habits” LP w/ mp3 download
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK “Even If It Kills Me” LP
NOFX “Liberal Animation” LP yellow vinyl
NOFX “Punk In Drublic” LP
NOFX “Ribbed” LP
RANCID “Indestructible” LP red vinyl
RANCID “Let’s Go” dbl 10″ white vinyl
REFUSED “Shape Of Punk To Come” LP
SAY ANYTHING “Is A Real Boy” dbl LP orange vinyl
SILVERSUN PICKUPS “Carnavas” LP
STREET DOGS “State Of Grace” LP red vinyl
THE BOUNCING SOULS “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” LP
THE HONORARY TITLE “Scream and Light Up The Sky” dbl LP
THE WEAKERTHANS “Reconstruction Site” LP
THE WEAKERTHANS “Reunion Tour” LP 180 gram vinyl
TIGER ARMY ìIII - Ghost Tigers Riseî LP
TIGER ARMY ìThe Early Yearsî 10″
Restocks: Refused,Animal Coll,Braid,NOFX,Say Anything,Rancid
Got in some really great restocks today. A few of the restocks were ones we had a little bit of trouble getting back in stock like Refused, Say Anything, Honorary Title, and NOFX. And if you don’t already own that Man Man record, man oh man is it a good one.
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE “Water Curses” LP
AS TALL AS LIONS “Into The Flood” LP
BAD RELIGION “All Ages” LP
BAD RELIGION “Recipe For Hate” LP
BRAID “Frames And Canvas” LP
DROPKICK MURPHYS “Warriors Code” LP green vinyl
GOBLIN COCK “Bagged and Boarded” LP
LARS FREDERIKSEN & THE BASTARDS “Viking” LP
MAN MAN “Rabbit Habits” LP w/ mp3 download
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK “Even If It Kills Me” LP
NOFX “Liberal Animation” LP yellow vinyl
NOFX “Punk In Drublic” LP
NOFX “Ribbed” LP
RANCID “Indestructible” LP red vinyl
RANCID “Let’s Go” dbl 10″ white vinyl
REFUSED “Shape Of Punk To Come” LP
SAY ANYTHING “Is A Real Boy” dbl LP orange vinyl
SILVERSUN PICKUPS “Carnavas” LP
STREET DOGS “State Of Grace” LP red vinyl
THE BOUNCING SOULS “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” LP
THE HONORARY TITLE “Scream and Light Up The Sky” dbl LP
THE WEAKERTHANS “Reconstruction Site” LP
THE WEAKERTHANS “Reunion Tour” LP 180 gram vinyl
TIGER ARMY ìIII - Ghost Tigers Riseî LP
TIGER ARMY ìThe Early Yearsî 10″
Album Cover Art
Molly Hatchet - The Deed is Done (1984)
We are alomost done with the Molly Hatchet covers, but I can't seem to shake my love for all of the album covers, I think that this is one of the best.
Music News & Notes
Def Jam Celebrates 25th Anniversary With Four-LP Retrospective
To celebrate Def Jam's 25th anniversary, Island Def Jam Music Group is set to release "Def Jam 25." The limited-edition four-LP deluxe set -- due on Record Store Day, April 18 -- features several classics as well as newer hits from R&B and hip-hop stars including LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Rihanna, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Young Jeezy among others.
Here is the track list for 'Def Jam 25':
Def Jam 25 Vol. 1: DJ Bring That Back (2008-1997)
"Disturbia" - Rihanna (2008)
"I Luv Your Girl" - The-Dream (2007)
"Hustlin'" - Rick Ross (2006)
"Go Crazy" - Young Jeezy (2005)
"Jesus Walks" - Kanye West (2004)
"Splash Waterfalls" - Ludacris (2003)
"Foolish" - Ashanti (2002)
"Put It On Me" - Ja Rule featuring Vita (2001)
"Just Friends (Sunny)" - Musiq Soulchild (2000)
"What's My Name" - DMX (1999)
" Money Ain't A Thang" - Jay-Z featuring Jermaine Dupri (1998)
"Big Bad Mama" - Foxy Brown featuring Dru Hill (1997)
Def Jam 25 Vol. 2: DJ Bring That Back (1996-1984)
'Whateva Man" - Redman (1996)
"This Is How We Do It" - Montell Jordan (1995)
"Bring The Pain" – Method Man (1994)
"Slam" - Onyx (1993)
"Deeper" - Boss (1992)
"Hip Hop Junkies" – Nice & Smooth (1991)
"911 Is a Joke" - Public Enemy (1990)
"Pop Goes The Weasel" - 3rd Bass (1989)
"Children's Story" - Slick Rick (1988)
"I Need Love" - LL Cool J (1987)
"The Rain" - Oran Juice Jones (1986)
"My Radio" - LL Cool J (1985)
"It's Yours" - T la Rock featuring Jazzy Jay (1984)
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New Talking Heads Material
Warner Brothers has just announced that they will be releasing an album of unheard, archived music from the Talking Heads. David Byrne said "It's not a whole lot, but it's going to happen."
==================================
Echo Awards
AC/DC won the award for Best International Rock/Alternative/Heavy Metal Artist at the Echo Awards in Germany over the weekend. Additionally, smooth-R&B crooner Lionel Richie was given a special award saluting his achievements and those of the Motown label over the last 50 years. The Scorpions also received a lifetime achievement award.
==================================
Russian Heavy Metal
ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons provided guitar and vocals to a track on the new album by Russian metal band called Pushking.
The group's new album, "Duets," also features 19 of their songs re-recorded with guest vocalists including: Alice Cooper, Paul Stanley (Kiss), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow) and Ian Gillian (Deep Purple).
==================================
Country Vinyl
According to Curb Record’s New Releases page, all three of Hank Williams' III’s albums prior to "Damn Right, Rebel Proud" are going to be released on vinyl on April 18! There are also a couple of Hank Jr. albums to be released on vinyl as well.
==================================
Canada's SAVAGE BLADE Release Debut
Nelson, BC based metallers SAVAGE BLADE have issued the following press release:
"Classic 80's style power metal returns with a vengeance, with the release of Savage Blade's debut album, We Are The Hammer.
Savage Blade is a new, Canadian-based classic power metal outfit formed by Eric Hoodicoff (LILLIX, THE FUCKSTIXX, JERMUN), Chris Archibald (BC/DC, Jermun), and ex-MORMON wild child vocalist Nikko Forsberg. Fueled by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the classic power metal bands of the early eighties, Savage Blade pledge to "Kill 'Em All For One".
We Are The Hammer was recorded in Nelson, BC, Canada, with the assistance of producer/engineer Andy Chute, engineer Cole St. Denys, and mixed by Vancouver-based producer, Futcher. Chock-full of vintage riffs, pounding rhythms, instantly memorable hooks and balls-to-the-wall vocals, the album is sure to strike a chord with fans of the classic metal bands of the early 80's.
In conjunction with the album release, the band has also launched their new website at www.wearethehammer.com. Through the new site, the Canadian metal warriors are offering up the new album in a number of ways - both old and new. Leveraging the power of ReverbNation, the entire 11 song album is available for free, in high quality streaming audio. And instead of releasing the album on CD, the band has opted to deliver their music on the increasingly popular media platform, the USB/Flash Drive. The reason for this is simple - more Blade for your Buck. The Flash Drive features the full album in both FLAC (Level 8) and MP3 (320CBR) formats, along with some great bonus material, including high resolution album art (so you can burn and brand your own CD), band photos, bonus track (SAXON's classic, 'Dallas 1PM'), desktop wallpaper and MP3 Ringtone.
The band is also releasing We Are The Hammer as a limited edition (500), high quality, 180 gram vinyl LP. Currently in manufacturing, the LP's are available now for pre-order from the new website, at a special introductory rate, until the official shipping date of April 1st, 2009.
True Metal will never die. Savage Blade won't allow it."
==================================
Obama to Award Stevie Wonder Special Prize
Pop/Soul legend Stevie Wonder will receive the second Library of Congress Gershwin Prize on February 25, 2009. President Barack Obama will present him with the award in the East Room of the White House. Wonder and other unnamed artists are scheduled to perform a concert that is being taped for a PBS special in celebration of African American History Month. The show will air on February 26.
"The Gershwin Prize was created to honor an artist whose creative output transcends distinctions between musical styles and idioms, bringing diverse listeners together, and fostering mutual understanding and appreciation," Librarian of Congress James H. Billington explains. "Stevie Wonder's music epitomizes this ideal." Paul Simon received the library's first Gershwin Prize in 2007.
==================================
Earth, Wind and Fire Perform at White House
On February 22, Earth, Wind and Fire performed at the White House Governors' Dinner. The event marked the first formal White House dinner hosted by President and First Lady Obama. The U.S. Marine Band also made an appearance.
To celebrate Def Jam's 25th anniversary, Island Def Jam Music Group is set to release "Def Jam 25." The limited-edition four-LP deluxe set -- due on Record Store Day, April 18 -- features several classics as well as newer hits from R&B and hip-hop stars including LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Rihanna, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Young Jeezy among others.
Here is the track list for 'Def Jam 25':
Def Jam 25 Vol. 1: DJ Bring That Back (2008-1997)
"Disturbia" - Rihanna (2008)
"I Luv Your Girl" - The-Dream (2007)
"Hustlin'" - Rick Ross (2006)
"Go Crazy" - Young Jeezy (2005)
"Jesus Walks" - Kanye West (2004)
"Splash Waterfalls" - Ludacris (2003)
"Foolish" - Ashanti (2002)
"Put It On Me" - Ja Rule featuring Vita (2001)
"Just Friends (Sunny)" - Musiq Soulchild (2000)
"What's My Name" - DMX (1999)
" Money Ain't A Thang" - Jay-Z featuring Jermaine Dupri (1998)
"Big Bad Mama" - Foxy Brown featuring Dru Hill (1997)
Def Jam 25 Vol. 2: DJ Bring That Back (1996-1984)
'Whateva Man" - Redman (1996)
"This Is How We Do It" - Montell Jordan (1995)
"Bring The Pain" – Method Man (1994)
"Slam" - Onyx (1993)
"Deeper" - Boss (1992)
"Hip Hop Junkies" – Nice & Smooth (1991)
"911 Is a Joke" - Public Enemy (1990)
"Pop Goes The Weasel" - 3rd Bass (1989)
"Children's Story" - Slick Rick (1988)
"I Need Love" - LL Cool J (1987)
"The Rain" - Oran Juice Jones (1986)
"My Radio" - LL Cool J (1985)
"It's Yours" - T la Rock featuring Jazzy Jay (1984)
==================================
New Talking Heads Material
Warner Brothers has just announced that they will be releasing an album of unheard, archived music from the Talking Heads. David Byrne said "It's not a whole lot, but it's going to happen."
==================================
Echo Awards
AC/DC won the award for Best International Rock/Alternative/Heavy Metal Artist at the Echo Awards in Germany over the weekend. Additionally, smooth-R&B crooner Lionel Richie was given a special award saluting his achievements and those of the Motown label over the last 50 years. The Scorpions also received a lifetime achievement award.
==================================
Russian Heavy Metal
ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons provided guitar and vocals to a track on the new album by Russian metal band called Pushking.
The group's new album, "Duets," also features 19 of their songs re-recorded with guest vocalists including: Alice Cooper, Paul Stanley (Kiss), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow) and Ian Gillian (Deep Purple).
==================================
Country Vinyl
According to Curb Record’s New Releases page, all three of Hank Williams' III’s albums prior to "Damn Right, Rebel Proud" are going to be released on vinyl on April 18! There are also a couple of Hank Jr. albums to be released on vinyl as well.
==================================
Canada's SAVAGE BLADE Release Debut
Nelson, BC based metallers SAVAGE BLADE have issued the following press release:
"Classic 80's style power metal returns with a vengeance, with the release of Savage Blade's debut album, We Are The Hammer.
Savage Blade is a new, Canadian-based classic power metal outfit formed by Eric Hoodicoff (LILLIX, THE FUCKSTIXX, JERMUN), Chris Archibald (BC/DC, Jermun), and ex-MORMON wild child vocalist Nikko Forsberg. Fueled by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the classic power metal bands of the early eighties, Savage Blade pledge to "Kill 'Em All For One".
We Are The Hammer was recorded in Nelson, BC, Canada, with the assistance of producer/engineer Andy Chute, engineer Cole St. Denys, and mixed by Vancouver-based producer, Futcher. Chock-full of vintage riffs, pounding rhythms, instantly memorable hooks and balls-to-the-wall vocals, the album is sure to strike a chord with fans of the classic metal bands of the early 80's.
In conjunction with the album release, the band has also launched their new website at www.wearethehammer.com. Through the new site, the Canadian metal warriors are offering up the new album in a number of ways - both old and new. Leveraging the power of ReverbNation, the entire 11 song album is available for free, in high quality streaming audio. And instead of releasing the album on CD, the band has opted to deliver their music on the increasingly popular media platform, the USB/Flash Drive. The reason for this is simple - more Blade for your Buck. The Flash Drive features the full album in both FLAC (Level 8) and MP3 (320CBR) formats, along with some great bonus material, including high resolution album art (so you can burn and brand your own CD), band photos, bonus track (SAXON's classic, 'Dallas 1PM'), desktop wallpaper and MP3 Ringtone.
The band is also releasing We Are The Hammer as a limited edition (500), high quality, 180 gram vinyl LP. Currently in manufacturing, the LP's are available now for pre-order from the new website, at a special introductory rate, until the official shipping date of April 1st, 2009.
True Metal will never die. Savage Blade won't allow it."
==================================
Obama to Award Stevie Wonder Special Prize
Pop/Soul legend Stevie Wonder will receive the second Library of Congress Gershwin Prize on February 25, 2009. President Barack Obama will present him with the award in the East Room of the White House. Wonder and other unnamed artists are scheduled to perform a concert that is being taped for a PBS special in celebration of African American History Month. The show will air on February 26.
"The Gershwin Prize was created to honor an artist whose creative output transcends distinctions between musical styles and idioms, bringing diverse listeners together, and fostering mutual understanding and appreciation," Librarian of Congress James H. Billington explains. "Stevie Wonder's music epitomizes this ideal." Paul Simon received the library's first Gershwin Prize in 2007.
==================================
Earth, Wind and Fire Perform at White House
On February 22, Earth, Wind and Fire performed at the White House Governors' Dinner. The event marked the first formal White House dinner hosted by President and First Lady Obama. The U.S. Marine Band also made an appearance.
Audiophile Audition Review
I want to thank John over at http://www.audaud.com/index.php for the exclusive rights to reprint this great review!
AUDIOPHILE AUDITION focuses on recordings of interest to audiophiles and collectors, with an accent on surround sound for music, and on all hi-res disc formats. Over 100SACD, DVD Video/Audio and standard CD reviews are published during each month, and our archives go back to January 2001.
Paradigm 5.1 Monitor v.6 Series Surround Speaker Package
They will be missed when I have to return them - not because they sound better nor have the finesse of my $10K reference speaker system, but they never disappointed with my casual listening over the two months I’ve had them.
Published on February 12, 2009
Paradigm 5.1 Monitor v.6 Series Surround Speaker Package
SRP: $4020
Paradigm
MPO Box 2410
Niagara Falls, NY 14302
(905) 564-1994 (voice)
(905) 696-9479 (fax)
System includes:
1 pr Paradigm Monitor 9 Fronts
40.25” x 7.5” x 13.25” (HxWxD); 44 lbs each; 93 dB anechoic/96 dB in room sensitivity; 2.5-way system; 1” tweeter; 6.5” bass/mid; 2- 6.5” bass drivers; 5-year warranty; $1000 pair.
1 ea Paradigm CC-290 Center
7-13/16” x 26.75” x 11-7/16”; 32 lbs each; 91 dB anechoic/94 dB in room sensitivity; 3-way system; 1” tweeter; 4.5” midrange; 2- 6.5” bass drivers; 5-year warranty; $520 each.
1 pr Paradigm ADP-390 Surrounds
9-11/16 x 14 x 6 13/16; 13 lbs each; 87 dB anechoic/90 dB in room sensitivity; 3-way system; 2- 1” tweeters; 2- 4.5” midranges; 7.5” bass driver; 5-year warranty; $450 each.
1 ea Paradigm Ultracube 12 Subwoofer
15” x 14” x 14”; 36 lbs each; 1500 watts peak power/650 watts RMS power; 12” bass driver; 2- 10” passive radiators; adjustable cut-off from 40 Hz – 150 Hz; Phase adjustment from 0 to 180 degrees; 3-year warranty; $1200 each.
1 pr Paradigm J-29 Speaker Stands
29” stands; $400 pair.
Associated Equipment
Arcam AVR-350 Surround Receiver; Marantz BD7003 Blu-ray Player; Rotel RCC-1055 CD Changer; Audioquest cables.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setup
Fronts. I first unpacked the Monitor 9s. They come with side supports that help to keep the speaker balanced and allow for a slight height increase. Spikes that come along with the package thread into these supports and the manual states that they will improve the sound of the speaker. I would have liked to have some threaded soft rubber feet (or pads), but there were none. Aesthetically, the supports give the speaker a less boxy look although it makes them a bit wider (requiring more floor space). The top, sides and back of the speaker are in a simulated wood finish (Wenge, Cherry, Rosenut, or Black Ash). Unfortunately, you don’t really see much of this when seated right in front of them as the (black) grill covers 95% of the speaker. It also sticks up slightly over the top and obscures the view of the top of the speaker. The bottom is blocked by a black rounded plastic piece. Paradigm should shorten the grill, remove the plastic piece (that makes the speaker look cheap) and show some wood! If you want you can always remove the grill as long as foreign objects don’t strike the drivers. (The tweeter is already somewhat covered by a plastic cover.)
After unpacking a component I always resist the urge to hook it up right away and take out the manual for a quick read-through. The manual that came with the Monitor 9s was called OM-102 which is a generic manual for Monitor series front L/R speakers and center channels according to the subtitle. You’ll have to determine which diagram is relevant to the speaker you just bought. There is a setup diagram for setting distance and angling the speakers toward the listener is recommended. Also, there are different options for wiring the speakers including bi-wiring and bi-amping options.
The manual recommends eight or more inches from the back wall and as far away from the side walls as possible. There is a chart for speaker gauge requirements based on length that should prove useful for the novice. I hooked them up in the full-range configuration, but you should consider bi-wiring. The manual states that this “can improve clarity and openness, with less grain and more solidity to the bass.”
Center. The CC-290 center channel did come with rubber feet, so the speaker will be protected as well as the shelf upon which it sits. The best position for the speaker is horizontal due to the tweeter array’s layout—also the grill will fall off due to its shape if you want to position it vertically On my sample the grill did not fit snuggly on the right side—there was about 1/16” space between grill and cabinet that is reduced to nothing at the opposite side. However, this is not visible from more than three feet away. Rather than use magnets behind the cabinet in the corner like some speaker companies, Paradigm has the grill rest right on top of the screws that hold the drivers in. Tolerances aren’t tight enough to allow a perfect fit every time, so a bad fit is a result in those instances and a conventional grill would be more secure.
Although having the tweeter vertically arrayed should be a benefit sonically, having a 3-way speaker necessitates a more complex crossover. Again it was necessary to search through the OM-102 manual and try to find recommendations on setup. There isn’t all that much aside from keeping front speaker distances equal and ensuring the speakers are in the same plane and up front so that the sound doesn’t reflect unnecessarily off the shelf or the top of a TV.
Subwoofer. The manual for the sub was called OM-100 although there is no indication that it is for subwoofers. In fact, most of the diagrams in the first few pages relate to other speakers. There are literally four pages of diagrams that are then referenced to in the pages following. It took even a seasoned pro like me a few minutes to try and figure out what was being illustrated. Paradigm needs some work on their manuals. Once you are done wading through useless information you find yourself on page 10 where there is actual information about the subwoofer. Since most of the information is general, the casual user will have difficulty figuring out which instructions apply to the Ultracube 12.
First of all, the sub does NOT have high level inputs and only has a single RCA line level input. This will be of extreme importance to those who: a) don’t have a dedicated subwoofer output or b) have a stereo component with no preamplifier out or c) have a stereo component with no combined mono output. If you don’t have a level-controlled line output then this sub is not for you. If you have a stereo preamp/receiver/integrated amp then you will need a Y adapter if you don’t have any sort of mono level-controlled line output.
The sub utilizes a downward firing 12” woofer (and has feet that elevate it off the floor and are adjustable with an included wrench). I used the subwoofer on medium thick carpeting with good results. In addition there are two 10” radiators to the left and right. Controls for phase (0-180), crossover (with a bypass) and level control are on the back. There is no power switch. When signal is applied the woofer will come on. I bypassed the crossover (and used the internal receiver crossover), turned the volume to halfway (and used the internal receiver level adjustment) and had a friend help adjust phase. The subwoofer was placed along the wall and not in the corner. The manual suggests that this placement option “provides a good balance of quantity and accuracy” while the corner “provides the most bass, but sometimes at the expense of accuracy.”
The section relevant to this sub is on page 14 entitled “For Subwoofers that have a Sub./Sat. Phase Alignment Control.” The steps listed should prove very useful for the listener to aid in setup. In addition, there is a section on using multiple subwoofers on page 11 for those that want to go all out. I set the crossover on the Arcam for 50 Hz and used the level adjustment on the receiver to match it up with the fronts.
Surrounds. The surrounds only come in black or white (which is usually fine considering most of the time people will mount the surrounds), but in my case I opted for stands. The sub is gloss black (the only option), the surrounds were black and the front three speakers came in the Wenge finish. The DSP line of subwoofers (which are bigger) do come in the Wenge. I opted for the Ultracube because I think many people are looking for good bass from a small package. If space isn’t a concern then I would look at the DSP subs. They should be capable of even more low frequency output AND sell for less money than the Ultracube models.
The bracket included with the speakers is small and plastic, but if it is properly attached to the wall there should be no problem. Also included are some small pads (some soft, some harder and in different sizes) to protect the bottom of the speaker or the surface they rest upon. You could also use them on the back to protect the wall. There is no way to physically attach the speakers to the stands, but they are fairly heavy (as are the stands), so I don’t imagine they would fall off without some effort. After some thought, I decided to mount the speakers on the wall. I would encourage those with that option to do the same (to not only save money), but to offer better sound as well. On the stand the speakers only sit about 35 inches off the floor—great if you are the only one listening and position them exactly right The ability to place the speakers at exactly the right angle and distance is an advantage for stand mounting. However, the speakers mounted higher up on the wall (either side or back) will offer more flexibility with multiple listeners and in environments when setting a pair of stands out in the open and running speaker wire might be difficult.
Stands. The J-29 stand is heavy duty and the base has a rounded front and a raised oval shape towards the back. The front has a separate gun metal colored piece and the rest of the post (which is also oval shaped except for the front where it mates up with the smaller post) is black. Without the spikes the stands are about 28 inches. The top plate is square and measures 6” x 6”. Although the stands are heavy, you can fill them with sand or lead shot to make them even more solid. There is a cavity in the back for speaker wire to pass through freely though it may not be big enough to fit larger-sized speaker cable I opted not to use them during the review process.
I let the speakers break in for several days with a variety of material.
Sound
Fronts. I auditioned the fronts separately so I could gauge their performance with stereo music. I began with track 7, “Africano,” from the MFSL recording of Earth, Wind, & Fire’s Way of the World. The flute with this recording sounded very nice and overall the highs had good extension with good depth and some pretty neat xylophone effects. Bass was punchy but not super deep. For theater use I would almost always recommend the use of a subwoofer. The auditioning room was fairly large, so your mileage may vary. If I had to distinguish the Monitor 9s from speakers that cost twice the price I’d say they lack the refinement and delicacy in comparison, but sound much better than you’d expect for their cost. Clarity was good and the sound comes from behind the plane of the speakers (in part due to the sound characteristics) of the amplifier. With most mass-market Chinese-made electronics I’d expect these to sound more forward and a brighter/harder/more congested. The speakers are revealing enough to demand better electronics.
With the Muddy Waters recording “You Shook Me” from the Willie Dixon Box Set I found myself impressed with how the speakers handled this older recording. The voice came right from the center (imaging was good). At extreme volumes there was evidence of some compression/sloppiness to the sound, but nothing bothersome at normal (and even loud) levels.
With “The Sweet Escape” from Gwen Steffani’s album of the same name the soundstage was big and wide. Dynamics were excellent, but the bass seemed to lag slightly behind the music although it was nice and punchy. The 9s didn’t emphasize or deemphasize any particular range of sound across the bandwidth—which is quite rare at this price. Imaging isn’t as good as more expensive speakers as there was more spread and less focus than the recording demands.
Switching gears I put on track 1, “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” from LCD Soundsystem’s self-titled record. The sound was slightly reserved (although a change in equipment could have affected the presence and doing so might add too much to the high frequency range). I cranked the volume and the speakers didn’t sound stressed which is a good sign for the home theater testing that would be coming up later. The Monitor 9s definitely manage to elevate themselves from sounding “hi-fi” and retain the ability to concentrate on different instruments.
With some jazz—Nancy Wilson doing “Taking a Chance on Love” the speakers sounded very neutral. Again, better focus and imaging and more three dimensionality can be had for a higher price. There was an over-so-slight “mmmmm” added to the voice, but not great enough to be a problem.
Last up with the stereo-only listening came from “The Firebird” Finale (Stravinsky) on Deutsche Grammophon and Pierre Boulez conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I wouldn’t go so far as to call the sound sweet, but it was definitely not edgy or harsh. This is where it would have been nice to have the sub in effect although at 2:06 and 2:15 these speakers did a respectable job (in the bass). I enjoyed the piece through the Monitors. Horns after 2:45 became a little strident (partly due to the recording).
Subwoofer. Next I dialed in the subwoofer and balanced the system out with all the speakers. I set the subwoofer at 50 Hz and I left the amp in the stereo + sub mode. When I put on track 2, “Le Monde,” from The Thievery Corporation’s Mirror Conspiracy I had so much bass coming out of the woofer that the side of the equipment cabinet was vibrated loudly. I had to stop and insert pads to keep the thin wood from interrupting the listening tests.
The addition of a good subwoofer ends up costing more than the price of the front speakers and for a very good reason. When any low bass was present the system simply sounded better. With the Steffani track the sound was even bigger and had more “oomph” while at the same time the bass blended naturally. The classical piece was more exciting to listen to and there was a fullness that just wasn’t there when the subwoofer was not installed.
With the CARA test disc which was reviewed quite a while ago I used the bass test tones to get an idea of the capabilities of the Ultracube 12. There was solid output (in my room) down to 25 Hz. When the tone went to 20 Hz though the bass level dropped off dramatically.
With some music I felt I could tell where the sub was, but this was in part to rattling of the equipment cabinet. Overall, I was very happy with its performance and if you want to get a complete Paradigm system yet keep the subwoofer size down without sacrificing output, the Ultracube is a reasonable choice.
Center. I used Chesky’s Ultimate Demonstration Disc track 3 to test center channel quality. I toggled between the Arcam’s Pro-logic II Music mode and stereo and listened to changes in quality. As you’d expect there was an improvement in overall space when the surround mode was engaged (due to the surround speakers activating), but soundstage width decreased. This, of course, is an adjustment that can be corrected for inside the surround receiver. There wasn’t a significant change in tonal quality however while going from the main speakers to the center channel which is the whole point. The CC-290 is a bit sensitive to listening height, so if it is placed above or below the level of the listener, you’ll want to tilt it down or up accordingly.
I started the movie auditioning with chapters 22 and 28 from the film Big Night. This movie has lots of great music mixed in with scenes of relative quiet. Much of the film is dialogue dependent and although you can tell from the test tone that the center doesn’t match the fronts exactly it was never evident during the movie.
With the original film version of The Day the Earth Stood Still, the THX intro was very impressive. The beginning scenes with multiple newscasters announcing the arrival of the UFO were good tests for intelligibility and the CC-290 passed handily. Throughout the rest of the movie watching there was never any indication that the center couldn’t keep up with the rest of the system, or that it wasn’t well matched with the other speakers.
Surrounds. Surround speakers aren’t the easiest to evaluate. If they are really bad then it is obvious when information goes towards the back. However, in most circumstances, the surrounds shouldn’t call attention to themselves so it isn’t exactly easy to tell if a particular set is great or just average. Since I did the break-in with them connected to the front speakers I could tell that they did in fact improve in sound over time. I would never think to use them as fronts (unless you are a fan of Bose speakers), because they spread the sound around and made images fall to the back and sound indistinct.
With movie soundtrack material like that from the early scenes in Brotherhood of the Wolf and Se7en the surround effect was encompassing and integrated well with the other speakers. The review system at the time utilized a 42-inch plasma and boy, did the picture seem small in comparison to the sound. When I changed the film to Paycheck I found myself 30 minutes into the film before I realized I was supposed to be taking notes and working on the review. This is a good thing. My general experience with the Paradigms was that they didn’t stand out and call attention to themselves, but instead, let the listener enjoy the experience.
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band Swingin’ For the Fences is aggressive with its use of the surround speakers. Certain instruments are intentionally mixed in the rear and the listener is placed right in the middle of the excitement. With “Yesterday” from the DTS version of Boyz II Men II there are voices in the surrounds as well as instruments. When the voice was coming out of both speakers in the rear the sound just hung in the air above my head (not quite like a headphone effect, but similar). With multichannel music material surround height and type becomes more important. If music is the prime use for the surround system then I might suggest a direct-firing speaker instead of a dipole or bipole for its more pronounced directionality. For everything else, the dipoles tend to improve spaciousness and are more effective for generally being “surrounded.”
Conclusion
Nothing can make the home movie experience more enjoyable than a good surround system. Most people would not call a $4000 surround system a budget system; however, it is a tremendous value (even more so if you delete the stands at $400 for a total around $3600) I might be somewhat biased as I own Paradigm speakers that provide music throughout my home, so I am very familiar with their sound (and have always thought them to be quite good), but in my many comparisons over the years with other speaker manufacturers I’ve always thought that the Paradigm speakers can hold their own.
My aesthetic comments aside, the new Monitor speakers are good performers and should be seriously considered if shopping in this price range. I will have to return these speakers to the manufacturer soon and they will be missed. Not because they sound better nor have the finesse of my $10K reference speaker system, but they never disappointed with my casual listening over the two months I’ve had them for review. The fact that I never had any major complaints or faults with the system points to an efficient, consistent, quality design. Go have yourself a listen!
-- Brian Bloom
AUDIOPHILE AUDITION focuses on recordings of interest to audiophiles and collectors, with an accent on surround sound for music, and on all hi-res disc formats. Over 100SACD, DVD Video/Audio and standard CD reviews are published during each month, and our archives go back to January 2001.
Paradigm 5.1 Monitor v.6 Series Surround Speaker Package
They will be missed when I have to return them - not because they sound better nor have the finesse of my $10K reference speaker system, but they never disappointed with my casual listening over the two months I’ve had them.
Published on February 12, 2009
Paradigm 5.1 Monitor v.6 Series Surround Speaker Package
SRP: $4020
Paradigm
MPO Box 2410
Niagara Falls, NY 14302
(905) 564-1994 (voice)
(905) 696-9479 (fax)
System includes:
1 pr Paradigm Monitor 9 Fronts
40.25” x 7.5” x 13.25” (HxWxD); 44 lbs each; 93 dB anechoic/96 dB in room sensitivity; 2.5-way system; 1” tweeter; 6.5” bass/mid; 2- 6.5” bass drivers; 5-year warranty; $1000 pair.
1 ea Paradigm CC-290 Center
7-13/16” x 26.75” x 11-7/16”; 32 lbs each; 91 dB anechoic/94 dB in room sensitivity; 3-way system; 1” tweeter; 4.5” midrange; 2- 6.5” bass drivers; 5-year warranty; $520 each.
1 pr Paradigm ADP-390 Surrounds
9-11/16 x 14 x 6 13/16; 13 lbs each; 87 dB anechoic/90 dB in room sensitivity; 3-way system; 2- 1” tweeters; 2- 4.5” midranges; 7.5” bass driver; 5-year warranty; $450 each.
1 ea Paradigm Ultracube 12 Subwoofer
15” x 14” x 14”; 36 lbs each; 1500 watts peak power/650 watts RMS power; 12” bass driver; 2- 10” passive radiators; adjustable cut-off from 40 Hz – 150 Hz; Phase adjustment from 0 to 180 degrees; 3-year warranty; $1200 each.
1 pr Paradigm J-29 Speaker Stands
29” stands; $400 pair.
Associated Equipment
Arcam AVR-350 Surround Receiver; Marantz BD7003 Blu-ray Player; Rotel RCC-1055 CD Changer; Audioquest cables.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setup
Fronts. I first unpacked the Monitor 9s. They come with side supports that help to keep the speaker balanced and allow for a slight height increase. Spikes that come along with the package thread into these supports and the manual states that they will improve the sound of the speaker. I would have liked to have some threaded soft rubber feet (or pads), but there were none. Aesthetically, the supports give the speaker a less boxy look although it makes them a bit wider (requiring more floor space). The top, sides and back of the speaker are in a simulated wood finish (Wenge, Cherry, Rosenut, or Black Ash). Unfortunately, you don’t really see much of this when seated right in front of them as the (black) grill covers 95% of the speaker. It also sticks up slightly over the top and obscures the view of the top of the speaker. The bottom is blocked by a black rounded plastic piece. Paradigm should shorten the grill, remove the plastic piece (that makes the speaker look cheap) and show some wood! If you want you can always remove the grill as long as foreign objects don’t strike the drivers. (The tweeter is already somewhat covered by a plastic cover.)
After unpacking a component I always resist the urge to hook it up right away and take out the manual for a quick read-through. The manual that came with the Monitor 9s was called OM-102 which is a generic manual for Monitor series front L/R speakers and center channels according to the subtitle. You’ll have to determine which diagram is relevant to the speaker you just bought. There is a setup diagram for setting distance and angling the speakers toward the listener is recommended. Also, there are different options for wiring the speakers including bi-wiring and bi-amping options.
The manual recommends eight or more inches from the back wall and as far away from the side walls as possible. There is a chart for speaker gauge requirements based on length that should prove useful for the novice. I hooked them up in the full-range configuration, but you should consider bi-wiring. The manual states that this “can improve clarity and openness, with less grain and more solidity to the bass.”
Center. The CC-290 center channel did come with rubber feet, so the speaker will be protected as well as the shelf upon which it sits. The best position for the speaker is horizontal due to the tweeter array’s layout—also the grill will fall off due to its shape if you want to position it vertically On my sample the grill did not fit snuggly on the right side—there was about 1/16” space between grill and cabinet that is reduced to nothing at the opposite side. However, this is not visible from more than three feet away. Rather than use magnets behind the cabinet in the corner like some speaker companies, Paradigm has the grill rest right on top of the screws that hold the drivers in. Tolerances aren’t tight enough to allow a perfect fit every time, so a bad fit is a result in those instances and a conventional grill would be more secure.
Although having the tweeter vertically arrayed should be a benefit sonically, having a 3-way speaker necessitates a more complex crossover. Again it was necessary to search through the OM-102 manual and try to find recommendations on setup. There isn’t all that much aside from keeping front speaker distances equal and ensuring the speakers are in the same plane and up front so that the sound doesn’t reflect unnecessarily off the shelf or the top of a TV.
Subwoofer. The manual for the sub was called OM-100 although there is no indication that it is for subwoofers. In fact, most of the diagrams in the first few pages relate to other speakers. There are literally four pages of diagrams that are then referenced to in the pages following. It took even a seasoned pro like me a few minutes to try and figure out what was being illustrated. Paradigm needs some work on their manuals. Once you are done wading through useless information you find yourself on page 10 where there is actual information about the subwoofer. Since most of the information is general, the casual user will have difficulty figuring out which instructions apply to the Ultracube 12.
First of all, the sub does NOT have high level inputs and only has a single RCA line level input. This will be of extreme importance to those who: a) don’t have a dedicated subwoofer output or b) have a stereo component with no preamplifier out or c) have a stereo component with no combined mono output. If you don’t have a level-controlled line output then this sub is not for you. If you have a stereo preamp/receiver/integrated amp then you will need a Y adapter if you don’t have any sort of mono level-controlled line output.
The sub utilizes a downward firing 12” woofer (and has feet that elevate it off the floor and are adjustable with an included wrench). I used the subwoofer on medium thick carpeting with good results. In addition there are two 10” radiators to the left and right. Controls for phase (0-180), crossover (with a bypass) and level control are on the back. There is no power switch. When signal is applied the woofer will come on. I bypassed the crossover (and used the internal receiver crossover), turned the volume to halfway (and used the internal receiver level adjustment) and had a friend help adjust phase. The subwoofer was placed along the wall and not in the corner. The manual suggests that this placement option “provides a good balance of quantity and accuracy” while the corner “provides the most bass, but sometimes at the expense of accuracy.”
The section relevant to this sub is on page 14 entitled “For Subwoofers that have a Sub./Sat. Phase Alignment Control.” The steps listed should prove very useful for the listener to aid in setup. In addition, there is a section on using multiple subwoofers on page 11 for those that want to go all out. I set the crossover on the Arcam for 50 Hz and used the level adjustment on the receiver to match it up with the fronts.
Surrounds. The surrounds only come in black or white (which is usually fine considering most of the time people will mount the surrounds), but in my case I opted for stands. The sub is gloss black (the only option), the surrounds were black and the front three speakers came in the Wenge finish. The DSP line of subwoofers (which are bigger) do come in the Wenge. I opted for the Ultracube because I think many people are looking for good bass from a small package. If space isn’t a concern then I would look at the DSP subs. They should be capable of even more low frequency output AND sell for less money than the Ultracube models.
The bracket included with the speakers is small and plastic, but if it is properly attached to the wall there should be no problem. Also included are some small pads (some soft, some harder and in different sizes) to protect the bottom of the speaker or the surface they rest upon. You could also use them on the back to protect the wall. There is no way to physically attach the speakers to the stands, but they are fairly heavy (as are the stands), so I don’t imagine they would fall off without some effort. After some thought, I decided to mount the speakers on the wall. I would encourage those with that option to do the same (to not only save money), but to offer better sound as well. On the stand the speakers only sit about 35 inches off the floor—great if you are the only one listening and position them exactly right The ability to place the speakers at exactly the right angle and distance is an advantage for stand mounting. However, the speakers mounted higher up on the wall (either side or back) will offer more flexibility with multiple listeners and in environments when setting a pair of stands out in the open and running speaker wire might be difficult.
Stands. The J-29 stand is heavy duty and the base has a rounded front and a raised oval shape towards the back. The front has a separate gun metal colored piece and the rest of the post (which is also oval shaped except for the front where it mates up with the smaller post) is black. Without the spikes the stands are about 28 inches. The top plate is square and measures 6” x 6”. Although the stands are heavy, you can fill them with sand or lead shot to make them even more solid. There is a cavity in the back for speaker wire to pass through freely though it may not be big enough to fit larger-sized speaker cable I opted not to use them during the review process.
I let the speakers break in for several days with a variety of material.
Sound
Fronts. I auditioned the fronts separately so I could gauge their performance with stereo music. I began with track 7, “Africano,” from the MFSL recording of Earth, Wind, & Fire’s Way of the World. The flute with this recording sounded very nice and overall the highs had good extension with good depth and some pretty neat xylophone effects. Bass was punchy but not super deep. For theater use I would almost always recommend the use of a subwoofer. The auditioning room was fairly large, so your mileage may vary. If I had to distinguish the Monitor 9s from speakers that cost twice the price I’d say they lack the refinement and delicacy in comparison, but sound much better than you’d expect for their cost. Clarity was good and the sound comes from behind the plane of the speakers (in part due to the sound characteristics) of the amplifier. With most mass-market Chinese-made electronics I’d expect these to sound more forward and a brighter/harder/more congested. The speakers are revealing enough to demand better electronics.
With the Muddy Waters recording “You Shook Me” from the Willie Dixon Box Set I found myself impressed with how the speakers handled this older recording. The voice came right from the center (imaging was good). At extreme volumes there was evidence of some compression/sloppiness to the sound, but nothing bothersome at normal (and even loud) levels.
With “The Sweet Escape” from Gwen Steffani’s album of the same name the soundstage was big and wide. Dynamics were excellent, but the bass seemed to lag slightly behind the music although it was nice and punchy. The 9s didn’t emphasize or deemphasize any particular range of sound across the bandwidth—which is quite rare at this price. Imaging isn’t as good as more expensive speakers as there was more spread and less focus than the recording demands.
Switching gears I put on track 1, “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” from LCD Soundsystem’s self-titled record. The sound was slightly reserved (although a change in equipment could have affected the presence and doing so might add too much to the high frequency range). I cranked the volume and the speakers didn’t sound stressed which is a good sign for the home theater testing that would be coming up later. The Monitor 9s definitely manage to elevate themselves from sounding “hi-fi” and retain the ability to concentrate on different instruments.
With some jazz—Nancy Wilson doing “Taking a Chance on Love” the speakers sounded very neutral. Again, better focus and imaging and more three dimensionality can be had for a higher price. There was an over-so-slight “mmmmm” added to the voice, but not great enough to be a problem.
Last up with the stereo-only listening came from “The Firebird” Finale (Stravinsky) on Deutsche Grammophon and Pierre Boulez conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I wouldn’t go so far as to call the sound sweet, but it was definitely not edgy or harsh. This is where it would have been nice to have the sub in effect although at 2:06 and 2:15 these speakers did a respectable job (in the bass). I enjoyed the piece through the Monitors. Horns after 2:45 became a little strident (partly due to the recording).
Subwoofer. Next I dialed in the subwoofer and balanced the system out with all the speakers. I set the subwoofer at 50 Hz and I left the amp in the stereo + sub mode. When I put on track 2, “Le Monde,” from The Thievery Corporation’s Mirror Conspiracy I had so much bass coming out of the woofer that the side of the equipment cabinet was vibrated loudly. I had to stop and insert pads to keep the thin wood from interrupting the listening tests.
The addition of a good subwoofer ends up costing more than the price of the front speakers and for a very good reason. When any low bass was present the system simply sounded better. With the Steffani track the sound was even bigger and had more “oomph” while at the same time the bass blended naturally. The classical piece was more exciting to listen to and there was a fullness that just wasn’t there when the subwoofer was not installed.
With the CARA test disc which was reviewed quite a while ago I used the bass test tones to get an idea of the capabilities of the Ultracube 12. There was solid output (in my room) down to 25 Hz. When the tone went to 20 Hz though the bass level dropped off dramatically.
With some music I felt I could tell where the sub was, but this was in part to rattling of the equipment cabinet. Overall, I was very happy with its performance and if you want to get a complete Paradigm system yet keep the subwoofer size down without sacrificing output, the Ultracube is a reasonable choice.
Center. I used Chesky’s Ultimate Demonstration Disc track 3 to test center channel quality. I toggled between the Arcam’s Pro-logic II Music mode and stereo and listened to changes in quality. As you’d expect there was an improvement in overall space when the surround mode was engaged (due to the surround speakers activating), but soundstage width decreased. This, of course, is an adjustment that can be corrected for inside the surround receiver. There wasn’t a significant change in tonal quality however while going from the main speakers to the center channel which is the whole point. The CC-290 is a bit sensitive to listening height, so if it is placed above or below the level of the listener, you’ll want to tilt it down or up accordingly.
I started the movie auditioning with chapters 22 and 28 from the film Big Night. This movie has lots of great music mixed in with scenes of relative quiet. Much of the film is dialogue dependent and although you can tell from the test tone that the center doesn’t match the fronts exactly it was never evident during the movie.
With the original film version of The Day the Earth Stood Still, the THX intro was very impressive. The beginning scenes with multiple newscasters announcing the arrival of the UFO were good tests for intelligibility and the CC-290 passed handily. Throughout the rest of the movie watching there was never any indication that the center couldn’t keep up with the rest of the system, or that it wasn’t well matched with the other speakers.
Surrounds. Surround speakers aren’t the easiest to evaluate. If they are really bad then it is obvious when information goes towards the back. However, in most circumstances, the surrounds shouldn’t call attention to themselves so it isn’t exactly easy to tell if a particular set is great or just average. Since I did the break-in with them connected to the front speakers I could tell that they did in fact improve in sound over time. I would never think to use them as fronts (unless you are a fan of Bose speakers), because they spread the sound around and made images fall to the back and sound indistinct.
With movie soundtrack material like that from the early scenes in Brotherhood of the Wolf and Se7en the surround effect was encompassing and integrated well with the other speakers. The review system at the time utilized a 42-inch plasma and boy, did the picture seem small in comparison to the sound. When I changed the film to Paycheck I found myself 30 minutes into the film before I realized I was supposed to be taking notes and working on the review. This is a good thing. My general experience with the Paradigms was that they didn’t stand out and call attention to themselves, but instead, let the listener enjoy the experience.
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band Swingin’ For the Fences is aggressive with its use of the surround speakers. Certain instruments are intentionally mixed in the rear and the listener is placed right in the middle of the excitement. With “Yesterday” from the DTS version of Boyz II Men II there are voices in the surrounds as well as instruments. When the voice was coming out of both speakers in the rear the sound just hung in the air above my head (not quite like a headphone effect, but similar). With multichannel music material surround height and type becomes more important. If music is the prime use for the surround system then I might suggest a direct-firing speaker instead of a dipole or bipole for its more pronounced directionality. For everything else, the dipoles tend to improve spaciousness and are more effective for generally being “surrounded.”
Conclusion
Nothing can make the home movie experience more enjoyable than a good surround system. Most people would not call a $4000 surround system a budget system; however, it is a tremendous value (even more so if you delete the stands at $400 for a total around $3600) I might be somewhat biased as I own Paradigm speakers that provide music throughout my home, so I am very familiar with their sound (and have always thought them to be quite good), but in my many comparisons over the years with other speaker manufacturers I’ve always thought that the Paradigm speakers can hold their own.
My aesthetic comments aside, the new Monitor speakers are good performers and should be seriously considered if shopping in this price range. I will have to return these speakers to the manufacturer soon and they will be missed. Not because they sound better nor have the finesse of my $10K reference speaker system, but they never disappointed with my casual listening over the two months I’ve had them for review. The fact that I never had any major complaints or faults with the system points to an efficient, consistent, quality design. Go have yourself a listen!
-- Brian Bloom
Unreleased Beatles Track Appears on YouTube
An unreleased version of the Beatles Revolution 1 has appeared on YouTube, although there is no guarantees on how long it will stay there.
Labeled as Take 20, it is being speculated that this is the music that was between Revolution 1 and Revolution 9 on the group's White Album. While the track starts the same as the album version of Revolution 1, it is seven minutes longer and eventually degenerates into backward singing and talking and yelling from the band. In between is, as NME puts it, "tape loops, vocal effects and studio trickery - some of which appears to have been sampled by The Beatles for use on their sample-heavy Revolution 9 track."
This amazing 11-minute version of Revolution has surfaced in the last few days. It's truly astounding and bridges the gap between Revolution #1 and #9. I have posted it here, I have no idea if it will be staying, so listen today :O)
Labeled as Take 20, it is being speculated that this is the music that was between Revolution 1 and Revolution 9 on the group's White Album. While the track starts the same as the album version of Revolution 1, it is seven minutes longer and eventually degenerates into backward singing and talking and yelling from the band. In between is, as NME puts it, "tape loops, vocal effects and studio trickery - some of which appears to have been sampled by The Beatles for use on their sample-heavy Revolution 9 track."
This amazing 11-minute version of Revolution has surfaced in the last few days. It's truly astounding and bridges the gap between Revolution #1 and #9. I have posted it here, I have no idea if it will be staying, so listen today :O)
This Date In Music History- February 24
Birthdays:
Michel LeGrand- jazz composer (1932)
Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones- (1942)
Joanie Sommers ("Johnny Get Angry") is 68.
Rupert Holmes is 62. He scored his own #1 with 1979's "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" and wrote the hit "Timothy" for the Buoys.
Michelle Shocked (1962)
They Are Missed:
In 2004, Estelle Axton, who helped create the legendary US soul music label Stax, died in hospital in Memphis, aged 85. Axton founded Stax with her brother 1959, and its roster later included Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MG's and Isaac Hayes.
Born on this day in 1944, Nicky Hopkins, session piano player who worked with the Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, the Beatles, John Lennon, the Who and Small Faces. Hopkins died on September 6th, 1994.
Johnnie Ray, the 1950's teen idol, died of liver failure at the age of 63 in 1990. He scored over twenty US Top 40 singles between 1952 and 1960.
The late George Harrison was born in 1943.
Howie Epstein, former bassist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, was found dead from a drug overdose in 2003. He was 47.
History:
In 1975, after nearly a two-year wait since Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin released Physical Graffiti. It goes to #1 on the Billboard album chart in a record-breaking two weeks.
Buddy Holly & the Crickets recorded the hit version of "That'll Be The Day" in 1957.
In 1956, police in Cleveland, Ohio enforced a 1931 ordinance that barred people under the age of 18 from dancing in public unless accompanied by an adult.
In 1992, the US Postal Service unveils two versions of its proposed Elvis stamp for fans to vote on. The younger Elvis would win and was issued on January 8, 1993.
The Beatles began filming their second, as yet un-named movie on New Providence in the Bahamas in 1965. The film would eventually be called Eight Arms to Hold You before producers finally settled on Help!
John Lennon's "Double Fantasy" LP was named Album Of The Year at the Grammy Awards in 1982. Kim Carnes' "Betty Davis Eyes" wins for Record Of The Year and Sheena Easton was named Best New Artist.
In 1969, the Jimi Hendrix Experience played their last British concert at London's Royal Albert Hall before breaking up.
The Byrds made their final live appearance in 1973 when they played at The Capitol Theatre, in Passaic, New Jersey.
Roberta Flack achieved her second Billboard #1 hit in 1973 with "Killing Me Softly With His Song.” The tune was inspired by singer Lori Lieberman after she saw Don McLean perform at The Troubadour in Los Angeles.
In 1976, the Eagles LP "Their Greatest Hits 1971 - 1975" became the first album in history to be certified platinum by the RIAA. The new certification represents sales of at least 1 million copies for albums and 2 million copies for singles. The Platinum award was originated in the early seventies because Gold status was achieved by most popular records in a very short period of time. The Eagles Greatest Hits album stayed on Billboard's Hot 200 chart for two and half years.
The Beach Boys recorded "Help Me Rhonda" in 1965, with guitarist Al Jardine singing lead vocal. The disc became their second Billboard #1 and stay on the chart for eleven weeks.
"Roxanne" was released by The Police in 1979.
In 1990, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman of The Byrds reunited to play "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn, Turn, Turn" at the Roy Orbison All-Star Tribute Concert. A couple of months later, the trio would record four more songs for their upcoming Boxed Set, which also included the two songs from the tribute concert.
In 1963, The Rolling Stones take over as the Sunday house band at the Station Hotel, near London. They are paid £24 ($67) to entertain a crowd of 66 people.
Michel LeGrand- jazz composer (1932)
Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones- (1942)
Joanie Sommers ("Johnny Get Angry") is 68.
Rupert Holmes is 62. He scored his own #1 with 1979's "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" and wrote the hit "Timothy" for the Buoys.
Michelle Shocked (1962)
They Are Missed:
In 2004, Estelle Axton, who helped create the legendary US soul music label Stax, died in hospital in Memphis, aged 85. Axton founded Stax with her brother 1959, and its roster later included Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MG's and Isaac Hayes.
Born on this day in 1944, Nicky Hopkins, session piano player who worked with the Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, the Beatles, John Lennon, the Who and Small Faces. Hopkins died on September 6th, 1994.
Johnnie Ray, the 1950's teen idol, died of liver failure at the age of 63 in 1990. He scored over twenty US Top 40 singles between 1952 and 1960.
The late George Harrison was born in 1943.
Howie Epstein, former bassist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, was found dead from a drug overdose in 2003. He was 47.
History:
In 1975, after nearly a two-year wait since Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin released Physical Graffiti. It goes to #1 on the Billboard album chart in a record-breaking two weeks.
Buddy Holly & the Crickets recorded the hit version of "That'll Be The Day" in 1957.
In 1956, police in Cleveland, Ohio enforced a 1931 ordinance that barred people under the age of 18 from dancing in public unless accompanied by an adult.
In 1992, the US Postal Service unveils two versions of its proposed Elvis stamp for fans to vote on. The younger Elvis would win and was issued on January 8, 1993.
The Beatles began filming their second, as yet un-named movie on New Providence in the Bahamas in 1965. The film would eventually be called Eight Arms to Hold You before producers finally settled on Help!
John Lennon's "Double Fantasy" LP was named Album Of The Year at the Grammy Awards in 1982. Kim Carnes' "Betty Davis Eyes" wins for Record Of The Year and Sheena Easton was named Best New Artist.
In 1969, the Jimi Hendrix Experience played their last British concert at London's Royal Albert Hall before breaking up.
The Byrds made their final live appearance in 1973 when they played at The Capitol Theatre, in Passaic, New Jersey.
Roberta Flack achieved her second Billboard #1 hit in 1973 with "Killing Me Softly With His Song.” The tune was inspired by singer Lori Lieberman after she saw Don McLean perform at The Troubadour in Los Angeles.
In 1976, the Eagles LP "Their Greatest Hits 1971 - 1975" became the first album in history to be certified platinum by the RIAA. The new certification represents sales of at least 1 million copies for albums and 2 million copies for singles. The Platinum award was originated in the early seventies because Gold status was achieved by most popular records in a very short period of time. The Eagles Greatest Hits album stayed on Billboard's Hot 200 chart for two and half years.
The Beach Boys recorded "Help Me Rhonda" in 1965, with guitarist Al Jardine singing lead vocal. The disc became their second Billboard #1 and stay on the chart for eleven weeks.
"Roxanne" was released by The Police in 1979.
In 1990, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman of The Byrds reunited to play "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn, Turn, Turn" at the Roy Orbison All-Star Tribute Concert. A couple of months later, the trio would record four more songs for their upcoming Boxed Set, which also included the two songs from the tribute concert.
In 1963, The Rolling Stones take over as the Sunday house band at the Station Hotel, near London. They are paid £24 ($67) to entertain a crowd of 66 people.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales
Week Ending 02/21/2009
1. 45rpm - Mr. Lucky "Born To Love You" / "Taking A Chance On Love" Stardom - $3,677.00 - Start: $9.99 - Bids: 23
2. LP - Misfits "Legacy Of Brutality" Plan 9 Pink Vinyl - $3,650.00 - Start: $1,919.00 - Bids: 4
3. LP - Nirvana "Bleach" Tupelo Test Pressing - $3,600.00 - Start: $24,999.99 - Bids: Best Offer
4. LP - The Beatles "Yesterday And Today" Butcher 1st State - $2,900.00 - Start: 2,900.00 - Bids: BIN
5. LP - Mystic Siva "self-titled" Private Press - $2,713.63 - Start: $9.99 - Bids: 22
Rare Northern Soul tops the list this week, with Mr. Lucky's 45 on Stardom bidding to well over $3.6k. At The half-way mark of that same dollar figure is "Legacy Of Brutality" from Misfits on pink vinyl, getting the #2 spot. Next, at exactly $3.6k, a test presssing of Nirvana's first LP sells on a Best Offer.
In the #4 spot, selling on a Buy-It-Now, a first state Butcher Block gets $2.9k. And last, one of the treasures of private press Psych, the self-titled record from Mystic Siva bids up past $2.7k.
As always, I want to thank Norm over at http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com/ for this great data.
1. 45rpm - Mr. Lucky "Born To Love You" / "Taking A Chance On Love" Stardom - $3,677.00 - Start: $9.99 - Bids: 23
2. LP - Misfits "Legacy Of Brutality" Plan 9 Pink Vinyl - $3,650.00 - Start: $1,919.00 - Bids: 4
3. LP - Nirvana "Bleach" Tupelo Test Pressing - $3,600.00 - Start: $24,999.99 - Bids: Best Offer
4. LP - The Beatles "Yesterday And Today" Butcher 1st State - $2,900.00 - Start: 2,900.00 - Bids: BIN
5. LP - Mystic Siva "self-titled" Private Press - $2,713.63 - Start: $9.99 - Bids: 22
Rare Northern Soul tops the list this week, with Mr. Lucky's 45 on Stardom bidding to well over $3.6k. At The half-way mark of that same dollar figure is "Legacy Of Brutality" from Misfits on pink vinyl, getting the #2 spot. Next, at exactly $3.6k, a test presssing of Nirvana's first LP sells on a Best Offer.
In the #4 spot, selling on a Buy-It-Now, a first state Butcher Block gets $2.9k. And last, one of the treasures of private press Psych, the self-titled record from Mystic Siva bids up past $2.7k.
As always, I want to thank Norm over at http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com/ for this great data.
Record stores try to get groove back
Always on the look out for great stories about vinyl and record stores, I hope that you find this story enjoyable:
BY TIMOTHY FINN • MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS • February 22, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tuesday used to be sacramental in the world of music. It was new-release day, the day faithful music fans stopped by their favorite record store to buy something they'd been waiting for weeks to hear or to discover something they hadn't heard.
Back then, record stores were the best places to hear new music and mingle with other music fans.
"Record stores used to be neighborhood hangouts," says Corky Carrel, who co-owns an online record store based near Kansas City. "You'd go in and browse and talk about music."
Tuesdays aren't the only days that aren't what they used to be -- for record stores or their customers.
Stores that sell new music are in a fight for their lives. The chains are dying. Independent stores are closing. The record labels are running out of ways to make money.
The stores that are surviving are performing balancing acts. Most rely heavily on the used record business: Buy it cheap, sell it cheap. Some have turned to niche marketing, selling new CDs to one or two refined segments of the music world. And others have been helped by the recent revival of what was once considered a relic: the vinyl record.
Steve Wilson remembers the good days.
Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.freep.com/article/20090222/ENT04/902220351
BY TIMOTHY FINN • MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS • February 22, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tuesday used to be sacramental in the world of music. It was new-release day, the day faithful music fans stopped by their favorite record store to buy something they'd been waiting for weeks to hear or to discover something they hadn't heard.
Back then, record stores were the best places to hear new music and mingle with other music fans.
"Record stores used to be neighborhood hangouts," says Corky Carrel, who co-owns an online record store based near Kansas City. "You'd go in and browse and talk about music."
Tuesdays aren't the only days that aren't what they used to be -- for record stores or their customers.
Stores that sell new music are in a fight for their lives. The chains are dying. Independent stores are closing. The record labels are running out of ways to make money.
The stores that are surviving are performing balancing acts. Most rely heavily on the used record business: Buy it cheap, sell it cheap. Some have turned to niche marketing, selling new CDs to one or two refined segments of the music world. And others have been helped by the recent revival of what was once considered a relic: the vinyl record.
Steve Wilson remembers the good days.
Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.freep.com/article/20090222/ENT04/902220351
Oscars: “Slumdog” Scores Best Picture and Music Category Sweep
Slumdog Millionaire dominated at last night’s 81st Academy Awards, nabbing eight Oscars from its 10 nominations, including Best Picture. In addition to winning Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and a slew of technical awards, Slumdog also swept the major music categories as composer A.R. Rahman took home Oscars for both Best Original Song (”Jai Ho”) and Best Score.
In the musical introduction prior to the Best Original Song presentation, Rahman performed both his nominated songs, “Jai Ho” and “O Saya.” While the version of “O Saya” on the Slumdog soundtrack features M.I.A., the rapper did not perform at the Oscars, presumably because she has just given birth. The third nominee for Best Original Song, Peter’s Gabriel’s “Here on Earth” from Wall-E, was performed by John Legend after Gabriel boycotted performing at the ceremony due to the mandated shortened version of his song. In another of the ceremony’s music numbers, Beyonce joined host Hugh Jackman for a tribute to musicals of Hollywood and Broadway past.
read the rest of the story at:
SOURCE: Rolling Stone
In the musical introduction prior to the Best Original Song presentation, Rahman performed both his nominated songs, “Jai Ho” and “O Saya.” While the version of “O Saya” on the Slumdog soundtrack features M.I.A., the rapper did not perform at the Oscars, presumably because she has just given birth. The third nominee for Best Original Song, Peter’s Gabriel’s “Here on Earth” from Wall-E, was performed by John Legend after Gabriel boycotted performing at the ceremony due to the mandated shortened version of his song. In another of the ceremony’s music numbers, Beyonce joined host Hugh Jackman for a tribute to musicals of Hollywood and Broadway past.
read the rest of the story at:
SOURCE: Rolling Stone
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