Reviewer's Bio

Clarke Robinson

 "Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid." - Frank Zappa

I remember the first album I ever bought with my own saved-up allowance: Electric Light Orchestra's Out of the Blue. I spent the rest of the '70s engulfed in the hard rock of the day: Foreigner, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin…you know the drill. The '80s began with AC/DC and Rush, but I soon moved on to the (waning) punk and (waxing) new wave scenes: The Clash, The Ramones, Oingo Boingo, Thomas Dolby, et al. I've been through several phases since then: psychedelic '60s rock, baroque chamber music, reggae, ska, 20th Century classical, '70s funk, but none quite as significant as jazz, to which I was introduced sometime shortly after high school. I can enjoy just about any genre that has a little edge to it (even the oft-maligned country and rap have their place) but jazz is what I keep coming back to most consistently. Monk, Miles, Coltrane, Mingus, Dolphy, Murray, Coleman, Zorn; inside, outside, swinging or free…I've never met a walking bass line I didn't like (or a scratching, scraping bass exploration either, for that matter).

Fact is, I'm a music lover first and an audiophile second. I think we all are, if you think about it. What kind of system did you have when you first fell in love with music? Mine was a Hitachi receiver/tape deck/turntable all-in-one, or maybe even a hand-held mono cassette tape recorder, yet I never had trouble getting emotionally stirred by music even without transparent micro dynamics, a palpable soundstage, or any other audiophile minutiae you might care to bring up. Music always sounds better when I can relax and put the perpetual call to upgrade behind me.

That said, I drool over half-inch thick aluminum faceplates and rows of glowing 300Bs as much as the next certifiable audio geek, but I've got a San Francisco Bay Area mortgage and two daughters that I'd like to send to college one day. If I can't make it happen affordably, it isn't happening at all in my house. Consequently, I'll be focusing mostly on components in the sub-$1000 range during my stay at enjoythemusic.com. I'm always on the lookout for high bang-for-the-buck equipment that delivers the goods at a level far beyond its price point, so feel free drop me a line if you hear of something.