GRooVE back magazine n.001/24

GRooVE back magazine | bimonthly | Year 1 | Issue 001

GRooVE back magazine is available in both print and digital ( free) versions. In the digital download version, you'll find two PDFs of the magazine: one single-page and one facing-page ; you can choose the PDF that best fits your device. The single-page version is interactive: from the cover to the table of contents, from the various articles to the advertisements, you'll find numerous links to external sites. You can also view the magazine in flipbook format here ◉

Editorial by Enrico Merlin

And here we are, ready for a new journey into the world of sound. Why, at a time like this, did we feel the need and desire to launch a new magazine dedicated to music and its reproduction?

Ultimately, the reproduced music market has changed dramatically, shrinking in quantity to unimaginable proportions compared to just twenty years ago. Writing it might seem like a pointless truism, but at the same time, one can't always childishly pronounce, "It used to be better... The music of the '70s doesn't exist anymore... Today, no one has a sense of taste anymore, etc." These are all statements that, at least from a certain perspective, do indeed correspond to a possible perception of reality, but which also espouse an idea that has always manifested itself when engaging with art. I recall that Mozart and Beethoven were considered mad by most enthusiasts and musicians in their respective eras. And many of those who came, even belatedly, to love Mozart often failed to comprehend what Beethoven was experimenting with a few years later. This does not mean, however, that every new thing is necessarily better than the past, but history inevitably teaches us that without a step off the path we would still be listening to Gregorian chant.

So where is the correct point of attention and observation, if it exists?

The same can be said of recorded music reproduction. But really, after over a century of evolution and technological research in the world of audio, does anyone still believe that an absolute reference exists? So is there really anyone who can coherently believe that if the possibility of "high fidelity"—reproducing a sound event indistinguishably from the original—really existed, no company on the planet has ever managed to achieve it, despite the technology available? So why would thousands of designers and manufacturers continue to search for new solutions? Why would there be different sonic philosophies? Yet many enthusiasts think (some are absolutely certain) they know how things should be done. For many years, there has been frequent talk of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Well, I believe that in the field of art, and audiophilia in particular, we are witnessing one of its greatest manifestations.

And it's also easy to explain why, but this isn't the time... but we will definitely come back to it, rest assured.

So why, in a situation like this, give life to the GRooVE back project?

As absurd as it may seem, that's precisely why.

In the Cambridge Dictionary we read the following definition:

«Get your groove back»

'To start to be happy, confident, or successful again after a difficult period'

that is to say:

To regain happiness, confidence, or success after a difficult period.

Well, we believe it's important not only to preserve what remains, but to try to spark new thinking and connections, starting from what's known.

The editorial staff is made up of professionals who share this spirit and aren't afraid of innovation and discussion. Indeed, they pride themselves on it and make it their reason for writing.

When I had a record shop in Trento (from 1985 to 2000, for two years as an employee and subsequently as co-owner) I had come to accept (with a certain amount of irony) the fact that most enthusiasts and regular customers could be summed up in three macro-categories:

A. Those who listen to recordings (and therefore playback systems)

B. Those who listen to records

C. Those who listen to music on records

Some belonged to a couple of categories at the same time, especially in the A+B and B+C configurations, but very few tried (at the time, at least) to unite the three worlds, almost as if they belonged to parallel universes.

And so music lovers (many musicians fall into this category) listen to MP3 recordings on computer speakers or three-euro earphones. Multimillionaires listen to the 47th edition of "Dark Side of the Moon" on their newly upgraded sound system, arguing with trusted friends about the enormous differences between four-figure power cords. Others listen to the dog in "Amused to Death" in search of the perfect phase. Others search for yet another live version of their favorite artist, recorded on a cassette player, 100 meters from the stage, way back in 1986... but it's definitely the best version they've ever heard.

Not to mention, thanks to the evolution of home sound processing and recording systems, the "Do It Yourself" types. Those who digitally transfer an old LP at home, perhaps using a cheap sound card and, playing with compressors and equalizers, create an alternative mastering that they claim is "infinitely superior to any commercial edition" (this also applies to DIYers). It's true, sometimes miracles happen, but more often than not, we're faced with the "homemade wine" syndrome. My father, at one point, made his own wine in his cellar, buying grapes from a friend... For him, it was sublime, because it was all natural and because "he" knew how to be like that... Unfortunately, the rest of the world, at the tasting, had different opinions, ha ha ha.

Obviously, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. Everyone, with their own time and financial resources, can do what they want, but they should always be aware that theirs is "a position," not reality; at most, in the best of cases, it can be seen as one of many possible truths, which, however, can only be ascertained through a discussion free from egoistic or feudal excesses.

Personally, I believe that so-called stadium-style fandom is always and only harmful, if one is seeking any truth whatsoever. And be careful, let's remember that reality and truth can be synonymous, but for a single reality, multiple truths can exist depending on the observer's point of view, time, circumstances, prejudice, culture, expertise, and countless other nuances.

The question of "personal taste" also forcefully enters into these discussions, but we will return to this topic soon.

At GRooVE back, we love music, whether live or recorded, whether played on a home stereo or at a concert. We'd like to try to bring attention to fundamental issues, remembering what Philip K. Dick said: reality is always a matter of perception. Even a hammer blow on a finger, I might add. Very few things are absolute: breathing, a heartbeat, and a few others that I can't think of right now, hahaha.

We will share points of view, mediated by comparison, in the hope of arousing curiosity and, perhaps, dismantling some certainties (if they are based on personalized assumptions and unsustainable in a serious and constructive discussion).

The history of art teaches us a great deal. Let's not stop at the surface, because any surface of this fantastic polyhedron is still just a surface.

The Summary
5 Editorial
10 Our CD to download: step by step, curiosity after curiosity
18 Album on the cover: Miles Davis Quintet Complete Café Bohemia Bandstand
20 Maurizio Pollini
24 The Velvet Underground & Nico. 1967
28 The compositional art of Giovanni Legrenzi
36 “I want a reckless life”: Henri Desmarest
42 Words in Music
46 Ten years without Giorgio Gaslini
52 Julian “Cannonball” Adderley
54 PROJECT ONE, from Velut Luna a comparison between formats
56 A chat with… Alberto NA Turra
64. Vanity. Definitely my "favorite sin."
66 Music Born from Birds
72 Nicola Porpora, a Neapolitan conquering Venice
78 Traveling through time with John Scofield
82 Karl Weigl, the singer of the Finis Austriae in the footsteps of Schönberg
88 Armand-Louis Couperin, a brilliant student and the Querelle des Bouffons
94 Meitner Audio MA3
100 LYNGDORF TDAI-1120
106 MOON 240I Integrated Amplifier
110 The Jiva lacquer of the Sublime: per aspera ad astra
116 EVO1 RCA Unbalanced Cables & EVO1 USB Cable from LA SOUND
122 Remastering, this unknown…