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Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Home Sweet Home





Re-fueling a passion is salt to life and always different from time to time…  back from a journey, back to my daily job and habits is reassuring… my wife, guitars, books, computer and music.


Computer wasn’t really missed, as I had this...













I someway missed the latter - music, I mean - but thanking Bluetooth technology, while driving in South Africa and Namibia with my rented car(s), I enjoyed my iPhone/iTunes library, giving to the awesome landscapes the best of bespoke, personal soundtrack.






I only yesterday turned on my Gotorama, after about one month+…


My audio system is like my late dog, my beloved Chicco: when I was far from home for some weeks, when back home, I was really forward in hugging and handling him… but he was shy, distant, different, non-empathic… angry with me for leaving him and home and walks and peeing... only after some hours, often a full day, our relationship was back with all  the nuances and dynamics I so much loved.


Yesterday - just turned on - the Gotorama, Mayer preamp and Hiraga amps sounded otherly and coldish...  it was, of course, a matter of Class A amps needing to warm-up, but, like with my dog, the complex relationship among me, the listener, the system, including system and room matching, and the music as a dialogue needed a refresh.


Had a bunch of new discs, bought at the local flea-market… all the discs weren’t my cup of tea…  I swapped disc after disc after disc… nervously, unsatisfied.


The magic, the enamourement was back, after a while…

Cannot say if this happened when Hiragas’ were up to their ideal temperature or when – at last – a REALLY worthwhile disc of the bunch was played on Garrardzilla:  Andrew Poppy’s “The Beating of Wings” on ZTT (1985), a nice, NICE disc I bought pushed by my pal Franco Poti (i.e. you won’t regret).







The first track – I realized – was bearing a title “The Object is an hungry wolf” which made me thinking… hey, definitely yes!... “the object” – aka my Gotorama – indeed is “an hungry wolf”!


Audio and music is an hungry passion: like dating and being in love need care, dedication and a sort-of obsession, well, unashamed, same obsession is needed to deeply enjoy music, played and listened to.


When I’ll play again one of my guitars, I’m pretty sure my fingers will be rusty, slow… I need new enthusiasm to play again up to par.


Listening to Gotorama again is enamourement, rediscovery, enjoyment and pleasure… re-appreciating the system and room clicking as an unicum, again, is like enjoying a rose blossoming in slow motion.   





Saturday, September 5, 2015

Lesotho Journey



... leaving today for Johannesburg... then, in a couple of days: Lesotho, thanking my pal Philippe who will lend to me one of his BMWs'...








I look forward to Milky Way astounding views while in the countryside and to broad landscapes... looking forward to admire whales, in Hermanus, near Cape Town, as well.




Thursday, September 3, 2015

The last audio cassettes factory




Cassettes, compact cassettes, tapes running at 4,75 cm/s in cheap portable tape decks has been for me and millions people worldwide the second source of music... first usually being radio.



They humbly served as the cheapest way to share music, radio shows recordings, vinyl albums dubs, whatever among friends.



My Philips tape recorder was - with my Grundig radio - my personal musical goldmine when in my teens.





Later...

I used my Sony WM6D-C to record music at concerts... every concert: jazz, classical... whatever... with Sony stereo electret mike... and - later -  with Neumann U67s... obtaining an amazing quality, of course: I still cherishes these master-tapes.

My Nakamichi is still kept in working conditions and... well, you got it: I still love cassettes!

Going underground, me and many others, kept the cassettes party, the flame - I dare - alive.

Buying cassettes has recently been an Ebay chasing for N.O.S. batches... but... BUT now we know a factory still exists... yes!

Long live the humble cassettes.