Michael Lavorgna, Author at Twittering Machines

Review: Ayre EX-8 Integrated Hub

September 12, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Last year, I reviewed and compared six streaming integrated amplifiers as Editor of AudioStream. I find value in these types of comparisons both as a doer and as a reader because comparative listening to like-components allows us to readily hear the sonic flavors baked into […]

Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 1980s

September 11, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Music lists, you gotta love ’em. Pitchfork has just posted their picks for the 200 best albums of the 1980s, in descending bestest order. And it goes a little something like this:

Where Were You?

September 11, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

I was commuting into Brooklyn on my way to work on September 11, 2001. Our train stopped about 250′ shy of the Hoboken station, which was not an unusual occurrence. I buried my head back into my book, Haruki Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End […]

Lovely Music Hosted By Darren Henley

September 10, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

I wonder if many of you, like me, run into this issue when making a list: there is simply too much music to share. Add to this the desire to deliver something of interest to a larger group of readers, and (for me) this effort […]

Free Music: Cecilia “Charity Whore”

September 8, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

“Cecilia is the dissociative metamorphosis of dj/producer BABI AUDI (NYC, Montreal) known for unsettling yet cinematic Club Dead LTD (Hoss Records), Mommy Dust (self-released), 6 page letter ( DIS magazine). Her new EP “Charity Whore” is out now on the new Imprint GROOMING Label. “Charity […]

Quote of the Day

September 7, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Quote of the day: “From the very beginning of her career, Paula [Cooper] recognized the ways that all the visual and performing arts were becoming intertwined, speaking to one another. And when she started hosting happenings and performances in her gallery, she helped elevate some of […]

Album of the Week: Kan Wakan

September 7, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Kan Wakan is Gueorgui Linev, a Bulgarian born, LA-based composer and producer. Phantasmagoria Vol. 1 is his new record, the first of a planed trilogy, featuring vocalist Elle Olsun, drummers Ian Chang (Son Lux) and Gene Coye (Flying Lotus), and the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. All […]

Micromega M.A.R.S. Room EQ

September 6, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

I know some people poo poo on DSP and I get it for analog purists. But within the realm of digital, poo poo’ing on DSP is like refusing to use post-processing on your digital pics. The Micromega M-One offers the optional M.A.R.S. (Micromega Acoustic Room […]

Question: What’s Wrong With “Audiophile”?

September 5, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

I never liked the word/term “audiophile.” One reason being auto-correct tries to correct a misspelling to “pedophile.” Really, try it.

Kenji Yanobe’s “Sun Child” Will Be Removed From Fukushima

September 4, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Here’s the thing about publicly-placed art works—they are going to piss some people off. Artist Kenji Yanobe’s 20ft. tall “Star Child” depicting a cartoon-like boy in a radiation suit in Fukushima, the city that experienced a devastating earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 which […]

TM Reviewer: Darren Henley

September 4, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Editor: Please join me in welcoming Darren Henley to the TM review team. Darren’s experience and interests will see him focusing on all things head-fi.

Lovely Music Hosted By Maas Mollenhauer

September 4, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

This is the first of a number of lists that I started to compose in my head when you were still at AudioStream, but never got round to sending.

In Barn: LITE PHILIPS TDA1543 X8 in parallel Hi-End Audio DAC (eBay)

September 1, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

LITE PHILIPS TDA1543 X8 in parallel Hi-end Audio DAC ($125 + shipping from Singapore). This will be an unusual review seeing as the DAC in question was purchased new from eBay (www.china-hifi-audio.com). Why? As the bank robber said in Dirty Harry: “I gots to know.”

Twittering Machines Favorite HiFi Gear 2018

September 1, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

TM Select represents components we have reviewed and found their performance to be a cut above the rest, according to our preferences. This is hifi we heartily recommend you try or buy. Please read the full review if you’re looking for why we’ve made our […]

Eva Hesse on PBS

August 31, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

German-born NYC-raised artist Eva Hesse was a force to be reckoned with. Her work, sculpture, painting, and drawing, made mostly during the 1960s has been tagged “Postminimalism” by the Critics, the differentiating factor from regular old minimalism being “mirth and jokiness”, “unmistakable whiff of eroticism,” and […]