Bitten
Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, before I had started Illuminati and was just a young hobbyist of around 22 or 23, I would make the rounds of the various HiFi stores and get “educated” (indoctrinated?) about matters pertaining to this niche enthusiasm of ours. One of those shops was in Boca Raton, Florida and it was called Vern’s.
It was there that I heard the B&W 801 speakers for the first time, but the standout from that demo wasn’t the speakers per se … it was Stan Ridgway’s album, Mosquitos. Not only wasn’t the typical audiophile fare dripping from HP’s Super Disc List, it was from an artist I really liked for his absurdity as he edged along the border of a special kind of darkness.
I immediately bought the CD (some years later I found the LP), and luxuriated in the sound of his special breed of noir in endlessly repeating listening sessions. I don’t think it ever wore out its welcome …
Recently I remembered how much I enjoyed it, and went looking for it on Qobuz – and I was rewarded, tout-de-suit, with a bounty:
