Interview in High Fidelity Magazine

I was recently interviewed by Wojciech Pacula for High Fidelity magazine out of Poland. We met in Munich, and I've been reading his reviews for many years so it was a pleasure to see him in person.

You can read more here.

High End Munich 2019--My Wrap-Up

My wrap-up of the High End 2019 Show in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. You can read it here.

High End Munich 2019--Luxman, Ascendo and Isotek

My latest show report from High End 2019 in Munich is now online at Part-Time Audiophile. This one is concerned with Luxman, Ascendo and Isotek--a coincidence since I'm working on a Luxman review as we speak! You can read it here.

High End 2019 Munich--Raidho, GamuT, Pear Audio Blue and Chord

My latest show report from High End 2019 in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This one concerns Raidho, GamuT, Pear Audio Blue and Chord. You can read it here.

High End Munich 2019--Graham Audio and the Lure of the British Monitor

My latest show report from High End 2019 in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This one is about Graham Audio and meeting one of my BBC heroes, Derek Hughes. You can read it here.

High End Munich 2019--Whole Lotta Tidal

My latest report from High End 2019 in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This one concerns a huge display of Tidal Audio speakers--more than I've ever seen in one place. You can read it here.

HIgh End Munich 2019--Garrard, SME and the Resurrection of a Dream

My latest show report from High End 2019 in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This one's about the new Garrard 301 from SME, perhaps the biggest news at the show. You can read it here.

Stereo Creeps' Suck

You've been reading all these show reports from Munich and AXPONA and, soon enough, Philadelphia and Long Beach CA, and you're probably wondering when the Vinyl Anachronist is going to start writing about music again--especially music on vinyl. The ol' review pile is perhaps bigger than ever, and people are starting to ask me these questions. To tell you the truth, I have been busy traveling the world and I won't apologize for that, but reviewing music is what keeps me grounded. In addition, the vinyl rig is about to go through some changes since I just purchased a new cartridge--the first one I've purchased since my Denon DL-103 a few years ago. I also have a few Vinyl Anachronist reviews cued up at Part-Time Audiophile, ready to go, and you'll see those soon. In other words, it's time to dig into some vinyl before I have to get on another airplane.

Stereo Creeps' Suck has been on the review for a very long time--it was the first record I played on the Technics SL-1200G turntable I have in for review, something I picked up way back in January or February. This angry/fun album seems like post-punk at first, which usually right up my alley, but after a few plays I think I'm onto something different--pre-punk. I'm not sure if this is a term that's been coined a million times before, but let me explain my concept of it. Back when I was a teenager in the mid to late '70s, my friends and I all listened to rock and roll, the stuff that's now called classic rock but was original just called rock. Then, here and there, we started finding music that was a bit different, a bit more strange and dark and angry. It wasn't quite what we called punk, but it was certainly the beginning of it. We're talking about the New York Dolls, the Runaways and even some of the music Bowie was recording in Berlin. It all sounded dark and confused, and we really liked it because no one else was listening to it yet.

Stereo Creeps, a power trio from Seattle that is made up of guitarist/vocalist Sean Moe, bassist Mark Wardell and guitarist Robert Dollison...wait just a minute. I'm confused. For some reason Stereo Creeps doesn't credit the very present drummer, and at first I thought Dollison had to be the drummer. I'm not sure what the story is here, a typo, or some kind of PR mystery, but anyways. Someone on their bandcamp page named Bucky has proclaimed that "this album SUCKs every last drop of nostalgic 90s chaos off the bar room floor and spits it in your pimple crusted face with a post-punkish sneer and a hydroponic punch." I don't see it. I see PRE-punk. I see an adherence to old-fashioned hard rock signatures dancing in the same dark corners where you might run into Satan or at least a very cute Goth girl with a few too many body piercings.

What's unusual about this tough album, tagged as scuzz pop on their website, is that it's nicely recorded and pressed on beautiful transparent blue vinyl. I thought this was another indie rock band lucky enough to make a deal with the Pallas Group pressing plant in Germany, but there are none of the prerequisite stickers on the outer sleeve. It's released by DeepSkull Records, mixed by Don Farwell at Earwig Studio and mastered by Levi Seitz at Black Belt Mastering and they've all done an incredible job. Our pre-punk albums back in 1976 didn't sound this good, but we were listening on little record players on the floors of our bedrooms and not with analog rigs that cost twice as much as my first new car. But Suck definitely takes me back to a time when everything was about to bust open and change in ways we couldn't possibly imagine.

(Edit: I just heard from Sean Moe, who wanted to explain the drummer situation: "We were in between drummers during this period of time so one of the engineers (Mikel Perkins) tracked the drums with us after rehearsing the songs with us. That's the quick story." Thanks for the clarification, Sean!)

High End Munich 2019--dCS Bartok, HIFIMAN and WyWires

Are you waiting for me to talk about headphones in my show reports from High End 2019 in Munich? Well, here you go...one of the best headphone experiences I've ever had. You can read it at Part-Time Audiophile right here.

High End Munich 2019--AudioQuest

My latest show report from High End 2019 in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This one follows a compelling seminar and demonstration in the AudioQuest room. You can read it here.

High End Munich 2019--SoundSmith

My latest show report from High End 2019 in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This one focuses on the superb analog products from SoundSmith. You can read it here.

High End Munich 2019--McIntosh Labs

My latest show report from High End 2019 in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This one is about that venerable New York audio brand, McIntosh, and a very humid and crowded room. You can read it here.

High End Munich 2019--Living Voice R25A, a Small Miracle

My latest show report from High End 2019 in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This one covers one of the finest "affordable" speakers I've ever heard, the Living Voice R25A from the UK. You can read about it here.

High End Munich 2019--Joseph Audio, Purity Audio, Alluxity and Doshi Audio

My latest report from High End 2019 in Munich is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. This was one of my favorite rooms, featuring Joseph Audio, Purist Audio Design, Alluxity and Doshi Audio. You can read it here.

High End Munich 2019--Sunday Highlights

My Sunday highlights from the final day of High End Munich 2019 are now live at Part-Time Audiophile. I'm back home in New York after my first Europe trip, and this was obviously one of the most memorable hi-fi shows I've attended. You can read it all here.

High End Munich 2019--Saturday Highlights

Made it through another day at High End 2019 in Munich. My latest show report for Part-Time Audiophile is now live here!

High End Munich 2019--Friday Highlights

My summary of Friday at the High End Munich 2019 is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. My first full day of coverage in Germany can be found right here!

High End Munich 2019--Here I Go!

Here's my preview from the High End Munich 2019 Show for Part-Time Audiophile. I'm currently typing this from Germany--a first--and we'll be supplying coverage all through the weekend. You can read it here.