Jean Hiraga sensei-san

Two weeks after the Koln meeting with my audio pals, I’ve someway settled the several impressions and chatting and swapping ideas, disk titles and sharing useful suggestions and hintings... as I got from them all…

... I must admit I really was quite anxious and nervous in meeting one of my audio mentors, Jean Hiraga: he inspired my audio choices since I read his several books and essays from early ‘80s onward in “Les Cahier de l’Audiophile”, visited, always in mid-'80s “La Maison de l’Audiophile” in Rue de Belfort in Paris when he was still behind it all - having my VERY first Western Electric 15A exposure ever - and, most of all, joining shortly after his musical and audio vision becoming a fervent follower and a proud and satisfied user and owner of his Le Classe A 30W and 20W stereo Class A power amps for decades, now.

My (remote) fear was I was going to meet – yes, must say it – my absolute audio hero and mentor and possibly finding a tired guru living on his past and present laurels or also a selfish individual, a God on his Olympus' top… never really thinking the above, of course, but I was so much waiting for this very meeting I had a mixed “ifs” tourbillon ;-)

What I found, instead... meeting Jean Hiraga, I met a sincere, hardcore audio enthusiast, a music lover, an humble, cool, witty and down-to-earth music addict, an audiophile among the audiophiles, both a technician and an amateur (in the very best meaning of this...), a smooth and gentle persona, he who travelled a lot, who met people in the six continents and listened to the nicest music systems around was showing such an enthusiasm and a sincere attitude to share and teach and... definitely having good time, in music and empathy and friendship.

A master and a gentleman, approachable, unintimidating, open and friendly and easygoing as only truly great personalities are!

Dear Jean, sincerely, has been a pleasure meeting you in person, listening you and learning a lot in terms of pure musical enjoyment… something which – I already was aware of the following – makes our passion one of the... no, in my opinion THE most enriching and complete and multi-layered passions on the planet.

Thanks a lot, Hiraga sensei-san… and again thanks, a BIG one, to Klaus, Reinhard and Bernd our Kolner friends for so masterfully planning our gathering.

... waiting for next edition, live music included;-)?!?

Neil Young in Bob Egan's cool Blog or the obsession of record covers locations

Neil Young and his "After the Gold Rush" in NYC by Joel Bernstein and others...

Great Blog... and not only for Neil Young obsessed, more and more topics covered... just browse;-)

Brand New Dept. - Hilary Hahn & Hauschka - SILFRA on Deutsche Gramophone

A cool, beautiful disc... sure worth a listen.

MC transformers new entries...

Always seeking - for knowledge sake and out of curiosity, more than for a specific necessity, actually;-))) - for the ultimate (... does it exist?!?) MC iron...

Some expensive, some cheaper, ALL seems to truly be an investement in vintage audio, as - say - a WE 618B was worth USD 200 ten years ago and now it's fetching four digits price tags and first one isn't a "one" or a "two"... same for Peerless K241-D...

Wortwhile? Dunno, definitely... yet, I find digging this very elusive and abstract field as one of the more rewarding and intriguing obsessions in whole audio world and passion!

Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Earth from Above

"Earth from Above" is my TV program of choice... it's so full of compassion and always teaching, spreading the verb against multinationals and their profit-first laws and logics...

It's about Earth and people... both in their truest nature, in best and worst, as well.

Thanks, Yann!

Park Wars

I was wondering, this morning while peeing Chicco at the park and we found this... yesterday morning it was OK, now it's badly damaged... the public stuff is, well, public, so yours, my own, everyone's... and, definitely, who can be so ill fated to hate... a bench!

I know, I know... it's only a bench, more serious bad things happens everywhere anytime, but...

Same I found in Milan's Malpensa airport, in Venice's train station... and graffitis are everywhere, from humble walls to historic palaces, BUT never experienced such a filthy in, say, Japan!!!

So, what's wrong with "my" country, folks?!?!

Vandals are in war with common people of goodwill, at the park and everywhere.

Let's peacefully fight them all...

A superb double-bass devoted Blog from Spain

Super!!!

Browse and loose yourself in the several, superb YouTube videos...

WOW!

Lenco G 88... I fell in love!

Despite a faulty cap which I hope to solve, soon - lazy I am, I'm unplugging mains-plug to get ON/OFF like a gonzo, in the meantime - I find its sound very, VERY promising... while my Garrardzilla is still with motor dismantled and EVERY single part cleaned and lubed and made shiny as new to FULLY reach its super quality in Ray's solid chassis... well, in the meantime I really enjoy spinning my vinyls every time, indeed.

The Lenco's attitude is very transparent, with a different silence colour among notes...

... and I love it!

Weirdo Dept. - Fear Fun - Father John Misty

Anyone into Fleet Foxes enough to try this?!?

Cool, and also available in vinyl format in Sub Pop nice pressing.

Don Van Vliet's "Bat Chain Puller" - Capt. Beefheart's statement

The undusted and recently published for the first time ever by Zappa Estate and the agreement between Don's and Frank's widows "Bat Chain Puller" due to be published in 1976 is such a masterpiece which fully justify our passion, period.

Yesterday evening I throwed away the plastic wrapping and - feverish - put it in the Studer A-730... oh my, holy mother of all shits...

Echoes of "Lick my decals off, baby" and "Doc at Radar's Station", in Bob Ludwig's glory and super smooth and dynamic analog-like sound.

Several tracks are top-notch - I most of all loved the short, too short haiku-like guitar duets based instrumentals - BUT, as only seldomly happens, "Odd Job", track # 12, is a TRULY fantastic, weird genius-stroke... the usual, yet different and always brand-new electric guitars and Capt's voice interacting and interwoving to create an alien soundscape of Howling Wolf-esque of tough shiny aural beauty, desolate and fulgid.

Try to remember when you re-re-re-listened to a track in the attempt to someway capture the inner feeling, the truest sense of this uniqueness, its soul...

I had to repeat listening to, again and again, from track 9 to 12 (Odd Job) and then two more shots in a row.

What can I say more... buy it... they've been the best spent 45 euros of the month;-)... - yes, it's quite an expensive disk, maybe due to some Gail (Zappa's widow and Estate's boss) hungriness?

Dunno... yet, I strongly recommend it with a - I repeat - strong "buy it!".

Denon RP 26 turntable - Could we replicate a such no-frills masterpiece?

In these present days, so flawed and below par vs. ol' good, glorious days... when quality ruled.

The most beautiful arm ever?

May I define a metal, industrial mechanical part as "beautiful"?

Look carefully to this Rec-o-kut "long" arm... how would you name it but a beauty?

Thomas Schick's turntable...

... as seen at Silbatone's Munchen auditorium, few days ago: paying kudos to old RCA, Western Electric and Denon BIIIG studio/broadcasting turntables...

A seldom seen machine, space-agey, Buck Rogers-hinting built as a labour-of-love and a-one-of-a-kind re-working of a classic Byer (of Australia) acetate turntable...

Its 16 inches platter puts to shame ALL other "toys" around... WOW!

Thanks to Thomas himself for the cool pixes... aehm, porn;-)

Stratosink

... better: the rock star sink:-)))

... de gustibus... yet another cool use for slate... yeaaaah!

Ortofon Xpression... the old lion still roars!

Cool design...

... mmmhhh... will write to Santa...

Undistorted distorsion

A lazy, rainy saturday and massive shots of music, folks... I deeply enjoyed Jessamine's "The long arm of Coincidence" double vinyl and I realized, thanking my actual analog combo - i.e. Lenco G 88, Schick arm and Lumiere DST in Gotorama - that I'm a distorsion freak!

Amazing because I always guessed I WAS SEEKING FOR THE CLEANEST SOUND and the word distorsion alone sounds so... "wrong", don't you?;-)

... but, also when I dig into my beloved lute and theorbo music, I always fell in love for those growling double strings buzzing and random resonances... it's ancient music, acoustic instruments fuzz, 16th Century-style!

... same with Jack Casady's Alembic bass in Jefferson Airplane or Bob Weir in Grateful Dead... or Hugh Hopper's solo or with Soft Machine...

I love fuzz, larsens, distorsion... a single GOOD distorted note or sound makes my day... the lower, the better!

... but only today I sort-of get conscious I love the above... clean!

No added distorsion from music system, whatever from speakers, amps or cartridge... I love howling looong fuzz and growling bass...

In the a.m. Jessamine's disc, Dawn Smithson's bass guitar is low, LOOOW and bad as it can be; she plays it - would say - "unproperly" both as drum rhythm companion and a solo instrument...

Pure voodoo!

In the disc the bass sounds are masterfully recorded in group basement with an 8 tracks and it's often distorted, loud and baad...

Gotorama rendition of these sounds is awesome... clean, correct, BUT baaad...

A conclusion, a satisfied, Satori-like one?

An audiophile audio and music system should not only politely play string quartets or baroque, BUT everything please and give enjoyment.

... otherwise, we could sort-of be in someone else shoes, living someone else life...

It happened to me!

As wittily pointed out my vinyls pusher/friend Ivan, you'll be remembered as a TAS disc-list addict for all your life... and you could miss a tons of cool, nice music, maybe so-so recorded, BUT music, for you... me, food for mind and soul and body...

Music...