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A Collection of New Vinyl Releases for the Audiophile – March, 2011

Jason Crawford

Folks who know these things'll tell you about how the Drive-By Truckers can black out your night in a distorted ocean of guitars and whiskey-soaked rock and roll attitude. They're right. On their latest, "Go-Go Boots," they take a different tact. This is a cleaner affair, but that's all relative, of course. A barroom bathroom is typically cleaner than a music festival portable toilet, but you still wouldn't want to lie down there.

Vinyl Music ReviewsVinyl Reviews

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – March, 2011

SECRETS Movie Review Team

Sword of War (DVD), The Last Unicorn (Blu-ray), Bambi (Blu-ray), Memento (Blu-ray), Dances with Wolves (Blu-ray), For Colored Girls (Blu-ray), Thelma & Louise (Blu-ray), Raging Bull (Blu-ray), Skyline (Blu-ray), Les Miserables: The 25th Anniversary Concert (Blu-ray), The Miracle Maker (Blu-ray), Rainman (Blu-ray), The Switch (Blu-ray), Last Tango In Paris (Blu-ray), Moonstruck (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

An Interview with Conductor Alondra De La Parra

Jason Victor Serinus

Less than nine months after her dynamic 2009 San Francisco Symphony debut conducting the symphony's annual Day of the Dead concert, conductor Alondra de la Parra, 29, returned to lead four consecutive concerts with the orchestra. Her wide-ranging repertoire â€" two nights of American and America-associated music, one all-Russian eve, and a refreshing Dolores Park afternoon that mixed Dvorak's New World Symphony with some of Mexico's finest compositions â€" was as diverse as her roster of top-flight soloists.

Musician and Vocalist Artist Interviews

Sundance Film Festival 2011

Rick Schmidt

The news out of Sundance this year was that business is once again booming. We could tell that things were hopping well before the festival too because the online ticket system was showing many shows as sold out. We may have compounded the effect by shifting our attendance to the opening week of the festival. For the past couple of Sundance's we had attended the less populated second half. This year, for the first half anyway, it was just plain hard to get tickets. Using the online system during our allotted time slot, weeks in advance of the festival, there were many movies already sold out. Red State, the new movie from Kevin Smith (Clerks) sold out in all time slots in 1 day, including a showing at 8:30 am on a Monday morning.

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

CD Reviews for the Audiophile – February 2011

Jason Victor Serinus

The term “jazz” begins to lose meaning when applied to creations as brilliant as this. Iyer's music transcends genres as it takes us on an oft-mesmerizing journey into the heart and mind of an extremely gifted musician. In “Autoscopy,” chords churn in ways that seem more connected to new music than jazz. The jazz element may be more recognizable in the relentless riffs of “Patterns,” but elements constantly change and shift in the 11 excursions on Solo in ways that transcend categories and labels. No wonder Iyer has also received commissions from the American Composers Orchestra, wind quintet Imani Winds, and new music quartet Ethel.

CD Music Reviews

A Collection of New Vinyl Releases for the Audiophile – February, 2011

Jason Crawford

On December 8, 2010, I made a mistake. I suppose there really is a first time for everything. Anyone who pays attention to these things will know that I gave "Best New Vinyl Recording 2010" to the great Hacienda from San Antonio, Texas. That wasn't the mistake. I caught their opening set on the previously mentioned date at the Independent in San Francisco and loved it. Why wouldn't I? The problem is, and this is where the error occurred, that I left before the main event. It was a "school night."

Vinyl Music ReviewsVinyl Reviews

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – February, 2011

SECRETS Movie Review Team

Buried (Blu-ray), Saw The Final Chapter (Blu-ray), Alpha and Omega (Blu-ray), Amazing Alphabet (DVD), Numbers Ahoy (DVD), Virus X (DVD), Soul Kitten's Cabaret (DVD), Ray (Blu-ray), Piranha (Blu-ray), "My Soul to Take" (Blu-ray), Almost Famous (Blu-ray), Out of Sight (Blu-ray), Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 (Blu-ray), Alice in Wonderland 3D (Blu-ray), RED (Blu-ray), Merlin: Season Two (DVD), You Again (Blu-ray), It's Kind of a Funny Story (Blu-ray), Death Race 2 (Blu-ray), Let Me In (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

DIY Calibration Software – Update: CalMAN 4.1

Mark Vignola

Since our DIY Calibration software round-up was originally published in May, the CalMAN software has undergone a major upgrade. When we met the SpectraCal folks at CEDIA in September, they were eager to have us try this new software package. I already had some hands on time with CalMAN 4 at the Calibration Bootcamp that I attended earlier this year CalMAN Calibration Bootcamp: A Crash Course in the Science of Calibration, but I hadn't had enough time to really explore the software on my own system and without the guidance of the SpectraCal training team.

DIY

CD Reviews for the Audiophile – January, 2011

Jason Victor Serinus

Bi-coastal jazz saxophonist Jason Robinson, 35, an Assistant Professor of Music at Amherst College and former musician with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, seems to be blowing non-stop these days. No less that three albums that showcase the seemingly limitless range of his versatile musicianship hit the literal and virtual shelves in the fall of 2010. Each album shows Robinson on the cusp between tradition and experimentalism, with a strong emphasis on the latter.

CD Music Reviews

CES 2011 Show Report – Summary

SECRETS CES Coverage Team

Do check out the CES 2011 Show Coverage Reports by the SECRETS Team: Robert Kozel, Jim Milton, Adrian Wittenberg, Stephen Hornbrook and John Johnson. Robert's summary of CES 2011 reflects the team's......

"What struck me the most about CES was the sheer magnitude of it all. I have been to Las Vegas many times for conventions in the past, but nothing compared to CES 2011. The enormous international crowds combined with thousands of exhibitors and locations spread throughout the city made it an event I will not soon forget. From the perspective of products, CES is overwhelming with its diversity. There were exhibitors covering home electronics, phones, appliances, automotive, computer hardware, networking, etc. The list was endless and it would be impossible for anyone to take all of it in. The crowd at CES was not just spending time looking at new products. There were countless people with "Buyer" tags on their show badges talking to exhibitors and discussing business. If the crowds were any indication, this should be a good year for the economy. Time will tell if all those conversations ultimately turn into real orders.

Final CES 2011 Impressions and more images just added by Stephen Hornbrook. Check it out!

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – January, 2011

SECRETS Movie Review Team

Strictly Ballroom (DVD), House (Blu-ray), Battlestar Galactica: Razor (Blu-ray), Cronos (Blu-ray), The American (Blu-ray), Salt (Blu-ray), Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy: Christmas Caper (DVD) , Backdraft (Blu-ray), Swat Kats The Complete Series (DVD), Catfish (Blu-ray), Battlestar Galactica: Season Four (Blu-ray), Samantha: An American Girl Holiday (DVD), The Films of Rita Hayworth (DVD), Yojimbo & Sanjuro (Blu-ray), Death Race 2 (Blu-ray), Secretariat (Blu-ray), Gone Madigan (Blu-ray), Triggerman (DVD) 

Movie Reviews

A Home Theater Build Project – Part II

Mark Vignola

In this installment I am discussing my upgrade paths and the decisions that went into each change: Video, Audio and Other cconsiderations, including power conditioners. I've presented the changes that I decided on in a chronological manner, as I think that many of us approach our decisions in this way...

Custom Home Theaters