LATEST ADDITIONS

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R.E.M. Document
Johnny Sharp  |  Sep 08, 2023
Released in 1987, with a new producer in tow, this album saw the one-time post-punks leaning into radio-friendly rock, albeit without airbrushing their left-field instincts. The result was the beginning of a decade of commercial and critical success for the group

There comes a time in every band's career when the only way is pop. Having slowly built a loyal cult fanbase and a burgeoning critical reputation on the back of three albums (and an early EP) that intertwined artful post-punk and lopsided, Paisley Underground-adjacent guitar rock, by 1987 R.E.M. were ready to paint with broader strokes, albeit while retaining a pronounced polemical edge and one foot firmly in an angular, left-field musical lineage.

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Integrated Amplifiers
Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2 Integrated Amplifier
Review: Mark Craven,  |  Sep 07, 2023
hfnoutstandingThis latest nuvistor/bipolar hybrid integrated marks a return of Musical Fidelity's traditional 'no-nonsense belter'. Difficult speakers? This amplifier will drive anything!

The conclusion to our review of Musical Fidelity's original Nu-Vista 800 integrated amplifier [HFN Nov '14] announced: '16 years from now, we'll remember it!'. That was the gap between the manufacturer's first Nu-Vista product, the 1998 Nu-Vista Preamplifier, and its then-new integrated descendant. Yet while our reviewer was so enamoured of MF's tube/solid state powerhouse that he imagined it flying the hybrid amp flag for years to come, it turns out the Nu-Vista 800 was not to last quite that long.

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Vinyl Release
Big Star: #1 Record
Steve Sutherland  |  Sep 06, 2023
This debut record didn't launch the band to stardom, but remains much-loved by fans and the musicians it influenced. Steve Sutherland hears the 180g reissue

A funny thing happens when you get to a certain age and you've had a bit of a past life; people start writing about you. You crop up in their memoirs or they mention your name in interviews and reminiscences. As a rule these things are best avoided, especially if you're thin-skinned about personal criticism, although I can mostly handle the contrary opinions and character assassinations, writing them off as differences of perspective or sour grapes.

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Loudspeakers
DeVore Fidelity O/baby Loudspeaker
Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Sep 04, 2023
hfnoutstandingDeVore's 'Orangutan' loudspeaker range now has a funky sibling – the aptly-named O/baby that extends the brand's high sensitivity DNA into a very compact cabinet

Even the name sounds like a clarion call: 'O/baby!', straight out of Austin Powers. It resides 'one from the bottom' in DeVore Fidelity's Orangutan range, with only the minuscule, 25x25x25cm micr/O sealed cube below it. But the O/baby is the one that screams 'Buy me!' at this jaded hack. How so? This trickle-down gem from DeVore, smaller than the O/93 [HFN Mar '23], just may be the answer to my bucket list dreams. Or would be, had I the £6298 for a pair. And £1398 more for the stands.

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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl, August 2023
Ken Kessler  |  Aug 31, 2023
This month we review: Lori Lieberman, Jan Gunnar Hoff, The Preachers and Talk Talk.
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital, August 2023
Ken Kessler  |  Aug 31, 2023
This month, we review: Marshall Crenshaw, The Boneshakers, Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder and British Mod Sounds Volume 2.
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Rock
Rock, August 2023
Mike Barnes  |  Aug 31, 2023
This month we review: The National, Yes, Baxter Dury and They Watch Us From The Moon.
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Jazz
Jazz, August 2023
Steve Harris  |  Aug 30, 2023
This month we review: Scott Hamilton Quartet, Ingi Bjarni, Donny Mccaslin and Dominic Miller.
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Classical
Classical, August 2023
Peter Quantrill  |  Aug 30, 2023
This month we review: Alexander Melnikov, Les Talens Lyriques/Rousset, David Le Page, Orch of the Swan/ Philip Sheppard and Huelgas Ensemble/Paul Van Nevel.
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Hi-Res Downloads
Hi-Res Downloads, August 2023
Andrew Everard  |  Aug 28, 2023
This month we review and test releases from: Bobo Stenson Trio, Tamara Stefanovich, WDR SO/Ciaccarini, Rundel, Thom Lafond, Jimmy Regal and the Royals and Caesar Spencer.
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