The music world has lost an icon with the passing of Eddie Van Halen at 65. The man was one of the greatest and most influential rock guitarists of all time and burst upon the scene with his technical brilliance, swagger, oft-overlooked sense of rhythm and swing, influencing generations to come. Tom Methans and Jay Jay French offer tributes.
Our Name That Column Contest goes through October 31. We’ll be running a new column about PS Audio’s Octave Records label, and we need a name. The winner will receive a 16 x 24 photo on canvas of Copper photographer James Schrimpf’s photo of musicians Dale Watson and Chris Crepps, used as Issue 105’s Parting Shot. Please submit your suggestions for the column name to letters@psaudio.com.
In this issue: Larry Schenbeck returns! Have things changed for him? John Seetoo review’s Neil Young and Phil Baker’s book about the rise and fall of the Pono hi-res music player. Tom Methans and Jay Jay French remember Eddie Van Halen. We have interviews with Krell Industries’ Walter Schofield (Part One) and Eikon Audio’s Gayle Sanders (Part Two; these guys have a lot to say). Anne E. Johnson looks at the career of Dame Ethel Smyth and deep cuts from Echo & the Bunnymen. Ken Sander gets big attitude from Little Esther.
Tom Gibbs covers new releases from Roger Waters, Drive-By Truckers and Sufjan Stevens. Wayne Robins goes crate digging...for MP3s? Steven Bryan Bieler has fond musical memories of his dad. Roy Hall visits a dude ranch and WL Woodward revisits Frank Zappa.
J.I. Agnew ponders the dynamic range of records. Ray Chelstowski has an inside look at the making of Bob Seger’s Against the Wind (he had some unexpected help). Rudy Radelic offers some suggested demo recordings. Readers Adrian Wu and Stuart Marvin tell us about an Olympian listening experience and a close encounter with the Rolling Stones. Our audio/visual department encounters a hair-raising experience, gets testy with tubes and visits the Badlands.
