Review of New Blue Stone album Prophecy Now Online!
After Musical Discoveries' rather long hiatus, we are pleased to offer to our review of Blue Stone's new album Prophecy. (16 March 2020)
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Review of "Celestial Fire - Live in the UK" Now Online!
Our review of the fantastically produced DVD plus 2-CD setLive in the UK by Celestial Fire -- Dave Bainbridge, Sally Minnear, Simon Fitzpatrick, Frank Van Essen and Dave Brons -- is now online! (07 May 2017)
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Review of White Willow "Future Hopes" and Jacob Holm-Lupo/Venke Knutson Interview Now Online!
Our review of the new White Willow album Future Hopes is now online and is accompanied by an interview with Jacob Holm-Lupo and Venke Knutson. (23 April 2017)
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Review of Glass Hammer's "Valkyrie" Now Online!
Our first review after a rather long hiatus is of the new Glass Hammer album Valkyrie fronted again by Susie Bogdanowicz. (28 November 2016)
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New Cornerstone "Reflections" Album Completed!
The Austrian rock band Cornerstone (review) has completed their new album. The new songs were first played to the public on Friday 05/20/2016 in the Viper Room in Vienna, and the feedback was more than great: many long-time fans say that Reflections is by far the band's best album. Although the official release in trade and the media will take place in fall, we hope -- with the band's cooperation -- to publish its very first review on the internet here as soon as possible. (07 June 2016)
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Review of Rachel Garlin Live at Club Passim Now Online!
Our review of Rachel Garlin's live performance at Club Passim, Cambridge, MA on June 5, 2016 is now online. (06 June 2016)
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Review of Anna Madsen's "Efflorescence" Album and Exclusive Interview Now Online!
Our review of Anna Madsen's debut full length album Efflorescence and a brand new and exclusive interview with the artist are now online. (21 May 2016)
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Heartwatch Self-Titled EP Review Now Online!
Our review of the self-titled EP by San Francisco-based Heartwatch fronted by vocalist Claire George is now online! (07 February 2016)
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Review of Mantra Vega's "The Illusion's Reckoning" Album Now Online!
Our review of Mantra Vega's debut album The Illusion's Reckoning featuring the songwriting and lead vocals of Heather Findlay is now online! (24 January 2016)
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Final Musical Discoveries Listening Studio Update.
The headphone line was upgraded to include the QUAD PA-One amplifier and a Cardas Clear headphone cable in our last update. Since then, the team's planned upgrade to the source interconnect uncovered the QUAD PA-One is not a balanced amplifier. Since there is no technical value of XLR connections to a single-ended circuit, the amplifier interconnect was upgraded to Cardas Clear RCA.
The speaker line saw the most significant upgrade in our history. We replaced the Marantz SR-7007 AVR with a range of Classe components that include the Sigma SSP preamp, Sigma AMP5 and two Sigma MONOs. All analog interconnects from our source to the SSP are Cardas Clear and are Cardas Clear XLR and Clear Light RCA to the amplifiers. Digital and power cables are by AudioQuest, whose Niagara 7000 power conditioner was also added to our studio.
We again turned to Vu Phan at Hi-End Audio (Plano, TX) for advice and as our source. Click "view entry separately" for further details. (06 December 2015)
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Review of Enya's "Dark Sky Island" Now Online!
Our review of Enya's seventh album of all new material entitled Dark Sky Island is now online. (06 December 2015)
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Review of Claudia's "Enough" Album and Interview Now Online!
Our review of (Balla Bettina) Claudia's stunning debut album Enough is now online. The article includes our exclusive interview with and photos of the artist. (28 November 2015)
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Karnataka's "Secrets of Angels" and Anna Madsen's "Palm Reader" are Musical Discoveries' 2015 BOTY!
Our review of the Karnataka album Secrets of Angels fronted by Hayley Griffiths is still online! The album is Musical Discoveries' 2015 Best of The Year (BOTY)! Anna Madsen's Palm Reader (review) is 2015 BOTY in the EP category. (26 November 2015)
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Review of Anna Madsen's "Palm Reader" EP Now Online!
Our review of Anna Madsen's debut EP Palm Reader is now online. It is Musical Discoveries' very first Best of The Year (BOTY) in our publication's all-new EP category. (26 November 2015)
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Review of Christina Booth's "The Light" Now Online!
Our long overdue review of Christina Booth's (Magenta) stunning second solo album The Light, released earlier this year, is now online. Check it out! (23 November 2015)
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Musical Discoveries Listening Studio Updates.
Our speaker line saw an incredible improvement in September replacing 15 year old Monster to Cardas Clear Light cables connecting our Ohm Walsh mains and center channel and Cardas TwinLink to our Ohm C2 and D2 surrounds.
This month's headphone amplifier comparison conducted on site with long time correspondent Ben Moore revealed that our (now former) Sennheiser HDVD-800 sounded like a tin can vs the Quad PA One. The AudioQuest Nighthawk vs Audeze LCD-3 A/B comparison revealed outstanding performance from both headphones but we still preferred the balanced sound of our Audeze. A final comparison between stock, Cardas Clear and plusSound Echo+ headphone cables was also made.
We again turned to Vu Phan at Hi-End Audio (Plano, TX) to upgrade our headphone line to the Quad PA One amplifier and Cardas Clear headphone cable. Click "view entry separately" for further details. (24 October 2015)
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New Jess Penner "Good Times" Video Now Online!
To support the release of Jess Penner's new EP Good Times, check out the amazing video of the title track the artiste is now featuring online! (20 September 2015)
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Review of Aeone's "Love Is The Healer" Album Now Online!
Our review of Aeone's stunning new album Love Is The Healer -- certainly a Grammy Award best album of the year contender -- is now online. A stunning video is also online. It is the first album to be reviewed in our new listening studio. (20 September 2015)
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Vorzuge VorzAmp Pure II+ Review Now Online!
Our review of the Vorzuge VorzAmp Pure II+ portable headphone amplifier is now online. This little powerhouse has extended the reach our our listening studio to remote locations. (04 August 2015)
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New Yesterdays Song and Website!
Frequent visitors will be familiar with our reviews of Yesterdays' and Cosmic Remedy's albums. In anticipation of their next album project, Yesterdays has recently released a new song entitled "Find Another Light" fronted by Karola Antal and has moved their internet presence to www.yesterdaysband.eu. (23 June 2015)
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Musical Discoveries Endorses Hi End Theater and Audio!
After an extremely tough winter in Boston, Musical Discoveries headquarters' spring cleaning involved numerous improvements to our listening environment. Long-time correspondent and fellow Renaissance enthusiast Ben Moore introduced us to Vu Phan of Hi End Theater and Audio (www.hi-endaudio.com) from Plano, TX whose recommendations included the Marantz UD-7007 universal disc player, a wide range of AudioQuest cables and Isotek power conditioning gear. (12 June 2015)
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Musical Discoveries Applauds Ohm Speakers!
Our headquarters has been outfitted with Ohm (www.ohmspeaker.com) speakers for almost 40 years. Our Ohm D2s came from Tech HiFi in Ithaca, NY. In 1999, we added Ohm Walsh 200 MK IIs and sent the D2s to serve as the rear channel. Ohm has just perfected the sound quality of a Walsh-based center channel speaker and we were among the first to receive one, and it sounds incredible. A new Ohm subwoofer and a pair of Ohm C2s joined our ensemble at the same time displacing the D2s to front wide channel duties. The D2s' woofers were also upgraded to the same standard of our new C2s. We're proud to endorse Ohm speakers here and encourage other audiophiles to seek them out soon. (10 June 2015)
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Exclusive Interview with October Project Now Online!
Check out our exclusive interview with October Project's Emil Adler, Marina Belica and Julie Flanders in support of the forthcoming album Book of Rounds: 21 Songs of Grace. (19 April 2015)
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Review of Karnataka's "Secrets of Angels" Now Online!
Our review of the stunning new Karnataka album Secrets of Angels fronted by Hayley Griffiths is now online! This is the first review of the album worldwide. (05 March 2015)
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Listen to Dream Aria's "Queen of Make Believe"!
About their new stunning new track "Queen of Make Believe," Don Stagg of Dream Aria told our staff that the band decided to record a very friendly radio friendly song. Dream Aria is continuing to record, won DarkAwards and their "Fallen Angel" video was on DirectTV in heavy rotation the past year. Listen to the new track at Reverbnation or FaceBook. (01 March 2015)
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Review of Luna Rossa's "Secrets & Lies" Now Online!
Our review of Luna Rossa's stunning second album entitled Secrets & Lies is now online. (28 February 2015)
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Review of Caitlin Canty's "Reckless Skyline" Now Online!
Our UK correspondent's rivieting review of the second full length album by Caitlin Canty entitled Reckless Skyline is now online. (27 February 2015)
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Review of Lucy Hale's "Road Between" Now Online!
Our review of the debut album by singer, songwriter and actress Lucy Hale entitled Road Between is now online. The album was one of UK correspondent Jamie Field's 2014 Best Of The Year. (28 December 2014)
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Review of Lisbee Stainton's "Word Games" Now Online!
Our review, originally penned in February 2014, of the latest album by Lisbee Stainton entitled Word Games is now online! (28 December 2014)
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Review of Dave Bainbridge's "Celestial Fire" Now Online!
Our review of Dave Bainbridge's stunning new album Celestial Fire, originally prepared in October 2014, is now online. Celestial Fire, including a contributions from a vast array of well- and lesser well-known artists, was selected our Best Of The Year 2014. (28 December 2014)
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Review of Chandeen's "Forever And Ever" Album Now Online!
We are pleased to present our review of Chandeen's first new album in three years entitled Forever And Ever. The album is now released in compact disc, vinyl and mp3 formats worldwide. (28 December 2014)
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Didi Benami Interview and "Reverie" Album Review Now Online!
Our review of the debut album by American Idol finalist Didi Benami entitled Reverie is now online and is accompanied by our exclusive interview. (07 September 2014)
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Review of "The Drop That Contained The Sea" Now Online!
Our review of Christopher Tin's album The Drop That Contained The Sea, a stunning world-styled classical crossover album sung in ten different languages and certain to appeal to both female vocalist and Adiemus enthusiasts, is now online. (20 July 2014)
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Review of Forthcoming Naama Kates Album "Souled" Now Online!
Our review of the third and forthcoming album Souled by actress, singer and songwriter Naama Kates is now online. (20 July 2014)
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Review of Iona's "Edge of the World: Live in Europe" Album Now Online!
Our updated review of Iona's latest album Edge of the World: Live in Europe is now online. The two-CD set is a compilation of Iona's live recordings made in three UK performances and another in The Netherlands from their Another Realm tour. (20 July 2014)
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Priscilla Hernandez Working On New Album!
Visitors here have surely read our reviews of Priscilla Hernandez's stunning albums Ancient Shadows (2006) and The Underliving (2011) as well as the accompanying interview. In the run up to her third full length album, Priscilla has released four singles entitled "No Matter What They Say," "Mora-ia," "The Waking of the Spring" and her most recent "Ethereal." She also recorded "Where are you Sister" that can be heard on the TimeSpace Reflections OST. (29 June 2014)
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Review of New Eatliz Album "All Of It" Now Online!
Our review of the stunning new Eatliz album All Of It is now online. Now fronted by vocalist Sivan Abelson, it is the band's first full-length album since Teasing Nature (2010). (22 June 2014)
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Review of Rachael Sage at The House of Blues and EP "New Destination" Now Online!
Our review of Rachael Sage's June 1 performance at Boston's House of Blues is now online. Our brief review of her New Destination EP is also included in the article. (02 June 2014)
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