Topping the UK charts upon its 1981 release, the Sheffield band’s debut album melded string arrangements with disco and funk, plus some Trevor Horn production magic. The result? Ten peerless pop tunes that looked at love through a cinematic lens...
Like a lot of bright, shiny things, ABC and their defining debut album, The Lexicon Of Love, were created out of something a good deal less glamorous. The grim-up-north narrative that is wheeled out as a backdrop to so much provincial punk and post-punk can be overstated, but there’s no doubt that when Stephen Singleton and Mark White’s avant-garde electronic outfit Vice Versa morphed into ABC with help from former fanzine writer turned frontman Martin Fry, they wanted to offer an escapist vision of pop for trying, recessionary times. They also rejected old school approaches to music-making.
This 1989 classic, now remastered on 180g vinyl, riffed on computer technology and James Joyce’s Ulysses on its way to No 2 in the charts. Steve Sutherland listens in.
It’s October 1989 and we’re chatting with Kate Bush on the occasion of the release of her sixth LP, The Sensual World. This is an album that not only sounds utterly sumptuous but, looking back on it now, appears to predict the spiritual and social upheaval we’re entering today with the growth of artificial intelligence.
A simple Quaker hymn is the key to a classic mid-century ballet, says Peter Quantrill,
as he surveys recordings of both the chamber original and the orchestral suite.
The Gift To Be Simple’, an old Shaker tune quoted and developed throughout Appalachian Spring, could be the motto for a major part of Copland’s work. Copland could write hard-edged pieces with the best of them, and did so especially at the beginning and end of his career with works such as the Vitebsk piano trio of 1928 and the magnificent orchestral Inscape (1967). By contrast, his famous scores of the 1930s and ’40s develop an aesthetic of simplicity and accessibility exemplified by Appalachian Spring, which he composed for the dancer and choreographer Martha Graham.
Hailing from the shores of Lake Constance in Germany, Violectric offers a wide range of headphone and combined DAC/headphone preamps. We dip our toes into its waters...
The Violectric name may be new to you, as it was to me, but behind the brand is a company getting on for four decades in business, principally in the pro audio field, where it operates under the rather unusual moniker of Lake People – inspired by the company’s location in the Lake Constance region of Germany. Like many an audio brand from that country, the company designs and manufactures its products in-house, and is proud of the ‘Made in Germany’ label.
If ever the phrase ‘all-singing, all-dancing...’ could be applied to an audio streamer then Eversolo’s flagship model is the promise given form. The DMP-A8 should take a bow...
Search online and you’ll discover a groundswell of cheap DACs and streamers playing to every (hardware) whim, making it easy to overlook Eversolo’s efforts. But the company, which is the dedicated audio department of Shenzhen-based Zidoo, known for its EISA Award-winning Neo S media player, follows a different, more quality-focused strategy, as the affordable Z8 DAC and DMP-A6 have so far proved.
After a period of uncertainty, Rotel’s destiny is firmly back in its own hands with new distribution partners in the EU, US and now the UK, courtesy of SME-owner Cadence
The resurrection of Rotel’s Michi series, previously delighting audiophiles in the 1990s, was a hi-fi highlight of 2019. The Japanese manufacturer again created a strand of components (stereo and mono power amps, a preamp and two integrated models) with a focus on both high-end performance and aesthetics, even going so far as to drop the Rotel name from the branding. Then, in 2023, it announced it was revisiting three models in the lineup, making changes inside rather than out.
Every product range has its sweet spot and the combination of EAT’s C-Dur deck with C-Note tonearm and optional Jo No5 moving-coil pick-up makes it the ‘plum’ choice
Just below the mid-price point of European Audio Team’s (EAT) nine-model range, the C-Dur belt-drive deck looks likely to identify a new price/
performance benchmark. We have been flooded with decks at the £10,000-£12,000 mark to designate entry to the
scary high-end, and companies such as MoFi, Thorens and Pro-Ject have numerous models from £500-£3000, but something was needed in between from, say, £3000 and £5000. At £3500 with arm, EAT’s C-Dur – German for C major – fits the bill.
The Ethos MC has waved the flag for UK pick-up brand Goldring for over five years, and now the design has been given the ‘SE treatment’ with silver wiring and more...
Everyone loves a special edition because, unlike a limited edition, it’s usually the forerunner of trickledown into the standard range. The hi-fi industry is a fertile ground for such bounty and the latest manufacturer to come up with a tempting morsel is Goldring, its new Ethos SE moving-coil taking its place at the top of the range, priced at £1299. Historically, while this is a big ticket for Goldring it is still rather more affordable than many a premium pick-up from the artisan suppliers based outside of the UK.