Despite sounding like a very polite vampire movie, the boys from Civil Twilight have done one helluva rendition – I’ve been listening to it on and off for a few weeks to see if it has staying power. I’m happy to report that the shine hasn’t faded, even after many repeats. And the best part is that now I have another quality band to listen to. The fact that the band is from my home town – Cape Town, South Africa – is just the icing on the cake. Thanks Danny

BONUS – “Letters From The Sky”

After listening to their cover so many times, it seems wrong not to include one of their original compositions as well. “Letters From The Sky” is taken off the band’s album self titled album and was featured on the movie soundtrack to ‘I Am Number Four.’

The drumming on this track is hypnotic, and on the first listen I was instantly reminded of Live back when Ed Kowalczyk was still with the band. Definitely a good thing.

Well done Chad. Well done StereoType Records. And this is only the beginning…

StereoType Records will be releasing four more music videos over the course of the coming weeks.

James Copeland – 2012 Ultimix

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James Copeland 2011 Ultimix

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I don’t think I should say too much about this release, you really should just listen to it.

I’ve been a fan of Smoove for a long time, so it’s only makes sense that I love this new project, a sound they have appropriately labelled ‘Antique Soul.’

Find out more about them on their website
http://www.smooveandturrell.com/blog/

That is, until you see them. Any doubt that is left disappears as soon as you hear them.

Last weekend the iStore here in Costa Rica (very appropriately name iCon) received a pair and I was finally able to spend some time listening to them. And they certainly do impress.

Design and build quality

The first thing that strikes you about these headphones is the design. Sleek, industrial and minimalist are the words that came to mind when I first saw them. The weight is surprising in that there isn’t much of it. Considering the aluminium construction and the fact that it ‘looks heavy’ I was expecting these to tip the scales, but they were pleasantly lightweight.

The second thing you notice is how sturdy they are. Lightweight as it is, this set doesn’t feel flimsy or ‘breakable’ in the hand. One thing that did bother me on the hardware side was the cable. The way that the joints and connections are made lead me to believe that this will be the first thing to go.

if you’re the kind of person whose ears heat up when you have an idea, it’s something to consider.

As soon as the sheeps’ leather earpads come in to contact with your ears, you suddenly get the feeling that everything around you is somehow classier, more luxurious. They are phenomenally comfortable and even after wearing them for a while, there was no squeezing or movement. One downside is that they do tend to get quite warm, being leather and all. It’s more noticeable than uncomfortable, but if you’re the kind of person whose ears heat up when you have an idea, it’s something to consider.

click images to enlarge

The Sound

I listened to Bonobo’s “Black Sands” album since it is one I knew extremely well and has some great dyamics. The bass was very well represented, though not as forceful as my Sennheiser HD212 Pros (a good thing) but not quite as detailed as the HD200s. I found that I was able to turn the volume all the way without getting the uncomfortable ‘headphone drone’ I often experience with closed design headphones. The sound is warm in a very good way and deliver punch without over-doing it.

I now know what smooth cream cheese would sound like if you could play it at high volume

Treble was crisp and airy and very detailed. On some of the tracks it did seem like there was a little ‘sparkle’ missing in the top end of the treble, possibly around 10khz, but not so much that it would be a deal breaker. If you’re not switching from high end headphones you won’t even notice this.

The mids are were these headphones really shine. I’m not sure how better to describe it other than ‘silky’ or ‘creamy.’ Such esoteric terms might sound like B.S., but when listen to mid range on these headphone, I now know what smooth cream cheese would sound like if you could play it at high volume. It’s delicious.

What adds the extra special sauce to the mids is the stereo imaging. The sound stage is wide as well as deep, meaning you get very three dimensional sound. You can pick out where the instruments are from left to right and front to back (if you were visualising it on a stage) with ease and accuracy. The warmth added to the great mid representation and this excellent imaging made these a pleasure to listen to.

I didn’t have the opportunity to test the included microphone.

Conclusion

The B&W P5 headphones are great. They look fantastic, they are built well and the sound is exceptional. The only problem is the price, which is a bit high when you consider that they are being marketed as iPhone headphones (i.e. not studio headphones) but they certainly get very close to audiophile territory.

That being said, I think I can safely say that it is only a matter of time before I have a pair of these keeping my ears warm. Now if you’ll excuse me,I have some noodles to eat…

In 1973 Roberta Flack flack released “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and it (rightfully) took the Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female Performer and also took the Song of the Year Grammy. So suffice to say it was a big song.

22 Years later, a group called the Fugees covered the song with Lauryn Hill providing the lead vocal and their version went on to become of the biggest songs of the next two years and some might say of all time. It was featured on their seminal album “The Score.”

In my opinion, this a strong contender for “Best Song Of The 90s.” Listening to this track has a way of making me feel good.

The Writer

One of the things I about this song is the story behind it. Here are a few words from Norm Gimbel, the songwriter, on the genesis of the song.
“I came to California in the mid-sixties. I was introduced to the Argentinean born composer named Lalo Schifrin (then of Mission: Impossible fame). I ended up writing songs to a number of his motion pictures. I suggested we write a Broadway Musical together. He gave me an Argentinean novel translated into English from the Spanish to read as a possible idea. Suffice it to say, we never made a musical from the book — but in one of the chapters, the principal character describes himself as sitting alone in a bar drinking and listening to an American pianist ‘killing me softly with his blues.’ I put it in my ‘idea’ book for use at a future time with a parenthesis around the word ‘blues’ and substituted the word ‘song’ instead. Many years later, Lori Lieberman saw Don McLean in concert. I then wrote the lyric and gave it to Charles Fox to set to music.”

The Singer

Roberta Flack first heard “Killing Me Softly With His Song” on a flight from Los Angeles to New York City on which the Lori Lieberman original was featured on the in-flight audio program: scanning the listing of available audio selections, Flack would recall: “The title, of course, smacked me in the face. I immediately pulled out some scratch paper, made musical staves [then] play[ed] the song at least eight to ten times jotting down the melody that I heard…. When I landed, I immediately called Quincy [Jones] .

The Original

As hard as it may be to believe, the original is actually a country version, performed by Lori Lieberman.

I’m smitten with this typeface, to the point where I’ll make up projects just so I can use it.

This commercial for Shreddies perfectly illustrates how advertising can have a little bit of fun with our perceptions.

With that in mind, this week’s Tune Of The Week is a reggae/ ska/ sould number from my favourite New Zealand band, Fat Freddy’s Drop. I got introduced to this track at a party a couple of years back by DJ Low from sShadoworks and I’ve been bumping it eversince

http://www.sshadoworkss.co.za/artist/dj-low

If you’re nodding your head to this, do yourself a favour and go get the full album, “Based On A True Story”