New records, April 2013
From the artist himself: Expo ’70 – “Virtually From The Unknown” (Red marbled version) From Discogs.com: Lunar Miasma – “Monophonic Ritual” Lunar Miasma – “Mirror Squares” Lunar Miasma – “Circle Ray” Lunar Miasma – “Blackest Haze” Lunar Miasma – “Mala Aria” Lunar Miasma / Ondo – “Lunar Miasma / Ondo” More from Discogs.com, but another seller: Various –... Read More
I love my speakers
I’ve been home sick for a few days which, if I’m going to be a glass-half-full kind of guy for once, has meant more time in front of the speakers than usual. And good lord do I love them! It’s quite amazing how I can be reminded of this again and again. I realize I haven’t even mentioned in here that some 8-9 months ago we traded in the Focal Diablo Utopia’s for their bigger sibling Scala Utopia. This is what the room looks like currently: There... Read More
New records, March 2013
From Fade Records, physical store: Autechre – “Exai” (4LP box version of course!) Dino Sabatini – ”No More EP” From Suntrip Records, for which I’m a label DJ: Antares – “Exodus” Artifact 303 – “Back to Space” Crossing Mind – “The Inner Shift” Dimension 5 – “TransStellar” Dimension 5 – ”TransAddendum” Electrypnose – “Sweet Sadness” InnerSpace – “InnerSpace” Mindsphere... Read More
New records, February 2013
Bought through Discogs.com: Dodecahedron – “Dodecahedron” (Yeah I found the vinyl at last. Mine is # 104/250.) Lord Mantis – “Pervertor” (Black vinyl version) From David of Battle of the Future Buddhas (whom I now owe a couple of beers): Various – “The Oldest Story” Various – “Gates of Unknown” Comments Super few this month as I’m anticipating a shitty February salary and a bunch of stuff didn’t arrive here until... Read More
New records, January 2013
Music purchases that came into my possession in January 2013: From Sound Pollution (physical store): Hetroertzen – “Exaltation Of Wisdom – Through Light Towards Chaos” Dodecahedron – “Dodecahedron” Teitanblood – “Woven Black Arteries” From Juno: Deepbass – “Interstellar EP” Diamond Version – “EP2″ Etnica – “Live In Athens 1996″ Giorgio Gigli/Cassegrain/Baryta/Staffan Linzatti –... Read More
Best new music of 2012
I generally don’t write these kinds of lists because a) there’s bound to be a bazillion great releases from this year that I haven’t heard yet, and b) of all the stuff I have heard I’m sure I have yet to fully appreciate some of it and I’ll probably very soon grow tired of some of the ones that sounded excellent the two times I listened to them. So in reality it would be much better to let everything settle and make this a 2011 list, but I’m... Read More
Techno mix set: Sky Abyss
// < ![CDATA[ audiojs.events.ready(function() { var as = audiojs.createAll(); }); // ]]> As a follow-up to my last post in September, I’ve FINALLY managed to record a mix with this type of techno. I’m planning a few more, but seeing how long these take maybe you shouldn’t count on it. Anyway, enjoy these 2 hours of dark, gloomy techno for winter nights. Play/listen above or download here (221MB). Read More
This is my music, part 2: Hypnotic techno from Italy & beyond
Techno—the proper stuff and not the sugar-coated, insultingly tasteless drivel that every now and then seeps into the mainstream—is a rather faceless type of music, so this post will not have a single hero artist representing the genre. It is utilitarian music, primarily made for DJ’s and to be heard in the context of more techno, carefully selected and mixed to create a coherent aesthetic theme, since tracks seldom come to their full right on their own. It is music... Read More
You all need more Nicholas Szczepanik in your lives
Holy shit that name is hard to spell. Anyway, I’ve listened to his blissed out drone ambience (and noise) for a couple of years now, and his split with Celer totally hit the spot for me today. I’m enjoying this through headphones while I work and the glacial progression creates a zen-like focus bubble around my mind, free of distractions. You can listen to some of the tracks on his SoundCloud page, and here are two of them: I’ll get back to the “this... Read More
This is my music, part 1: Cosmic synth trips by Lunar Miasma
I know update this blog with olympic frequency, but now I have this idea for a series of posts that might actually motivate me to generate some worthwhile content. The idea is I’ll pick a genre I listen to and an artist to represent it, and then present a few key recordings and tell you why you need to hear them. We’ll start this exercise with Greek synth shaman Panos Alexiadis, a.k.a. Lunar Miasma. The first thing you’ll notice if you trawl the Lunar Miasma... Read More
Stereophile Weiss DAC202 review now online
The review I discussed in my previous post is now available online here. There’s another recent DAC202 review by Nicholas Bedworth for Positive Feedback with lots of very good technical information, but whose subjective conclusions I found a bit weird and littered with a bit of unfortunate mumbo jumbo. He claims to get better sound when bypassing the units internal clocking which goes against all my own experience, the Stereophile measurements and Daniel Weiss’ own... Read More
Stereophile reviews Weiss DAC202
This post is borderline obnoxiously self-congratulatory, so apologies for that. It’s been a while since I updated you on the progress of my hi-fi journey. In short, I bought the Weiss DAC202 this summer, after concluding that adding it to my Pass INT-150 amplifier gave a more satisfying sound than replacing both with a Devialet D-Premier. I’m very very happy with my purchase and whenever I listen through another digital source I’m struck by how flat and unenthusiastic... Read More
What I’ve learnt from a year in the gym
Here’s a post not concerning music or hifi equipment. If you only care about those topics, you’re done now. Physical health should concern everyone though, and while this is just me rambling about my own experiences, I hope some of you might find it interesting. Like a lot of people I have a rich history of shamefully neglected gym memberships and broken new years resolutions. I’ve never been properly fat — the worst shape I’ve ever been in was when I... Read More
New music: Incoming records, fall 2011
Here’s some records that are on their way here. I’ve linked each cover image to a site where you can listen to some samples and/or buy them. Spanning from the grimmest of noise and metal to serene piano improvisations and soothing drones, it’s quite an eclectic blend yet with a distincty autumnal mood: imagegrid {padding-right:11px; padding-bottom:11px;} img {padding-right:11px; padding-bottom:11px;} Read More
Lost Theory Festival: Ambient DJ set preview
I’m playing two sets at the Lost Theory Festival in Croatia August 17-22 (that’s soon!). My ambient set will be Sunday morning 6.30-11, so it’s a looong one. Before I knew I’d be playing in daylight I made a shorter promo mix – I might play slightly sunnier stuff at the festival, but this mix turned out pretty nice so here you go, enjoy! My goa trance DJ set is saturday morning 07-09, after Derango and before Dimension 5. Read More
New music: Sitaar-Tah! — “Semimimimimin”
Aquarius Records of San Fransisco run a web shop that’s looking quite distinctly 1990′s, which is not a high mark in 2011. But what they lack in web savvy, they make up in spades when it comes to dedication. Their newsletters, which are now running double pace and are sent out weekly, have reviews written by the staff themselves, unlike pretty much every other record shop on the planet who just copy the distributor mumbo jumbo verbatim. This is practically a full... Read More
New music: Harsh acid techno
If you’re reading this blog thanks to my audiophile posts, you’re likely—although not entirely guaranteed—to find the following music overwhelmingly noisy. That warning aside, I do love brutally distorted Roland TB-303 mayhem. Two such records that have spent many, many years in my wantlist finally arrived in the mail today: DATacide – The Extasy Of Communication Woody McBride – Rattlesnake It feels surreal that these are now 18 and 17 years old,... Read More
New music: Spectrum Spools
Seeing as this has turned into a hifi blog, I thought it’d be appropriate to remedy something I find missing in a lot of audio writing, namely new music. And not more Diana Krall albums or reissues of relics from 40 years ago; I mean truly new and adventurous music on the outer brinks of the artform. I might not manage to write about everything I buy, but by setting the bar reasonably low I should hopefully have enough writing stamina to give a bit of insight and inspiration... Read More
Interview: Daniel Weiss
Daniel Weiss is one of the worlds foremost authorities on digital sound and his products have had great success both in pro audio and among audiophiles around the world. In February he visited Stockholm and the high-end fair to present his latest creation MAN202, a combined DAC, network streamer, CD player and ripping station. After closing time on the first day I got a chance to talk to him over a few beers. This interview is quite technical at times, but key phrases have been... Read More
Devialet D-Premier vs Weiss DAC202
These are interesting times if you’re in the market for a server based, high-end stereo system. Separate DAC’s, this once forsaken component category, is in the midst of a magnificent resurgence. It doesn’t end there, either: You can find any combination of streamer, storage, DAC and digital amplifier on the market today. While this abundance of choice and competition in the marketplace is very appealing, it makes consumer decisions difficult. Should you opt... Read More
