Twittering Machines

Question: Who Wants Lovely Music?

August 1, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Back when I was editor of AudioStream, I ran a feature most Mondays called “Lovely Recordings” and it was one of my favorite things about AS. For those who are not familiar with Lovely, the posts were reader-submitted lists of some favorite music with explanations […]

Music

Vivendi Plans To Sell As Much As Half Of Universal Music

July 31, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world’s largest label by revenue, reporting €2,628 million for the first half of 2018, a +6.8% change year-on-year. UMG is home to Capitol Music Group, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Polydor, Verve, Republic Records, and more. The company announced their plans […]

Bleep’s 100 Best Vinyl Soundtracks

July 31, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

What a great list! Bleep gathers up a nice, big, fat, and varied list of 100 soundtracks on vinyl to keep you inside on long hot summer days.

In Barn: Ayre EX-8 Integrated Hub

July 31, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Ayre EX-8 Integrated Hub (starts at $5,990.00 / $7,850.00 with optional network board). I like to call this type of component a Streaming Integrated Amplifier because it offers a Roon-Ready Ethernet input (and DAC) so all you need to add is some music and a […]

Cone Mills White Oak Denim: The End of An Era

July 30, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

In modern times, it used to be the case that the only way to buy made-in-America Levi’s made from American-made denim was to buy them overseas. All of the Levi’s sold in the US of A were made in places like Mexico and even the […]

Le Butcherettes on Tour

July 30, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

I had the good, no make that great, fortune of seeing Le Butcherettes live last year at Rough Trade in Brooklyn.

In Barn: Almost

July 28, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Here’s a current list of the gear that’s headed to the Barn for review:

Album of the Week: John Prine

July 27, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

I love John Prine like a dear friend. His first record, John Prine, from 1971 is Master-Class, Grade A songwriting. The Tree of Forgiveness continues that tradition after a 13-year respite where Prine mines the everyday for nuggets of wisdom and beauty.

Haruki Murakami DJ

July 25, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Anyone who has read anything by Haruki Murakami knows he loves music. Anyone who has dug a wee bit deeper knows he used to own a jazz bar/club/coffee house in Toyko called Peter Cat. Come August 5, he’ll be DJing a set on Tokyo FM. […]

Inspiration: Soap Bubbles

July 24, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Soap Bubbles and the Forces Which Mould Them by C.V. Boys first published in 1896 caused quit a stir. In fact, its ripples of influence spread to writers and artists far and wide and helped tip the scales of the rational toward the absurdist. Amen.

John Cage: Notations

July 24, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

I didn’t know about Notations when I found it in the Rare Book Room at the Strand Book Store. That said, I didn’t discover Notations any more than a hiker discovers Versailles. But that didn’t stop me from feeling a deep sense of discovery (I’m […]

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band: The Roxy July 7, 1978

July 23, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Talk about choices! Let’s talk about these download options.

The First Streaming Service: Thaddeus Cahill’s Telharmonium

July 23, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

Thaddeus Cahill was born 1867 in Oberlin, Ohio and by the age of 14 he’d built his first telephone receiver to play with and read Helmholtz’s On the Sensation of Tone, which set his fertile imagination on fire. He became an attorney and moved to […]

MASS MoCA: A Dream (Place) Come True

July 23, 2018 Michael Lavorgna

I graduated from Bennington College in 1985 and at that time MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) was but a rumor (at least as far as I knew). The abandoned factories that lined the Hoosic River in North Adams, MA sat in wait, like […]