Audio = Ground Zero

Harman Kardon Citation MultiBeam 1100 soundbar 

The first time I was exposed to Dolby Atmos was at the recent premiere of Rammstein’s new album Zeit, which was streamed live in select cinemas around the globe. 

Given that Zeit is Rammstein’s most digitally influenced record to date and heavily informed by their trademark enigmatic sound design with post-production effects galore, having it mixed in Dolby Atmos made a lot of sense and the premiere proved to be an example par excellence for an immersive sound experience.

Now, if you are remotely familiar with Harman Kardon, Citation would ring a bell as some of the most prominent and highest performing amplifiers in Hi-Fi history carry that name, with the Multibeam 1100 being Harman Kardon’s latest emission, channelling their audio technology alchemy into your home.

If you are looking for a soundbar that not merely adds Dolby Atmos to the mix but takes things to the next level in terms of creating an all-enveloping sounds experience, look no further: By adding overhead audio channels and employing the total of its eleven drivers, six racetrack drivers and three one inch tweeters, you would be hard pressed to currently find a match to this powerhouse. 

With its two up-firing height channels to create the equivalent of a three-dimensional wall of sound, it can not only be connected to your TV via regular means but has the capability to stream music directly from its in-built Apple Air Play, Alexa Multi-Room Music and Chromecast services.

But first things first: With its automatic room calibration, Harman Kardon’s Citation MultiBeam 1100 meticulously analyses the layout of your abode, to then calibrate and make the most of its audio output by aligning it with the nature of its surroundings.

While quite a few soundbars that we have previously covered come equipped with the aforementioned feature, what sets this model apart if Harman Kardon’s PureVoice technology, which manages to precisely clarify and enhance nuanced sounds and speech through its centre channel at any volume. 

The fact that the MultiBeam 1100’s elegant design is informed by the utmost attention to detail does not hurt either. 
With its subtle, delicate real wool dirt-repelling and flame-retarding fabric covering and timeless aluminium details courtesy of the renowned Danish design innovator Kvadrat, this sleek little number blends in with your home decor and adds a delightfully understated stylish nuance.

Further accentuated via its fine resolution and intuitive, tactile luminous LCD touch screen interface, it shows the album cover and name of the artist. That is if you do not prefer to conveniently control the system via its remote control or the voice-assistant enabled function.

Summa summarum, no matter what your jam is – be it movies, music or games - within the confines of soundbars and home sound systems, Harman Kardon’s Citation MultiBeam 1100 has raised the bar significantly and elevated things to a whole new, highly defined level.

As an audiophile, I can attest that this baby is of the most complete, expansive and accomplished systems I have experienced so far. 
It not only adds joy to the listening experience but provides an excellent balance of good quality sound and easy installation without the added complication of having to buy individual components.

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image from company website

I spent a lot of time with music. It's why I started writing with SPB and it's why I keep doing it some 10 years later.

The world has changed, media has changed. But I always have something playing. Sometimes I look at my PC with its 20 open tabs and 12 open programs, to see I have 3 different music players open in some capacity at the same time. It's a big part of my life.

And what does that have to do with this playlist below? Not much, except that one constant is my love of listening to music actively. Finding ways to relate. Thinking about ways to share it with others. Giving it new life.

The majority of the bands on this list have been covered by me at the site, some just sent me stuff that wasn't covered. Some were probably discovered elsewhere along the journey.

It's always a journey.

Enjoy the latest Search/Play/Repeat playlist and thanks for reading.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer – New England Brewing Co new range

Located on the East coast of Australia, imbued by an ambitious willingness to innovate yet inspired by traditional Teutonic approaches to brewing, the flying ram that adorns the logo of New England Brewing Co has established itself as an eyecatcher but a veritable heavyweight on the firmament of craft beer breweries, especially the ones channelling their alchemy in the creation of hazy IPAs. 

With a solid core range comprised of hop forward expressions as well as delicately calibrated saisons, farmhouse ales and collaborations, I am intrigued every time New England Co announces a new release, which is why it should be further wondrous that I could not wait until I got my mitts on the Naughty Corner Hazy IPA.

While a lot of breweries have “hazy” IPAs as part of their line-up, things are redefined and taken to new levels when New England is at the helm with Naughty Corner IPA just being a recent example for them knocking things out of the park in the realm of bitterness getting lost in mango nectars, which are flanked by a melange of Galaxy, Citra and Callista hops. 

Given the velvety mouthfeel, other than the slightly higher ABV of 7.1%, there is hardly any naughtiness to be detected. Having paired it with a dram of Ardbeg Corrywreckan, it proved to be one of the better and dangerously moreish IPAs I have had the fortune of trying this year.

Truckload IPA is New England Brewing Co’s expression marrying Australian Enigma and Vic hops with Centennial and Mosaic suds from the new world, with the result being a wonderful homage to distinctly fruity, resinous and earthy aromas with a reverberating bitterness that traditional American IPAs became known and loved for.

While I usually find stouts to be an acquired taste, New England Brewing’s Patchwork Oatmeal Stout is a borderline ideal entry point to what can be achieved in the realm of darker beer territory. Based on a foundation of an array of malts, bitterness reminiscent of coffee beans mix in with a chocolatey, chewy sweetness, which evokes a Pavlovian response with its soul-warming warmth and the faintest hint of smoke.

Hope to see New England Brewing Co release DIPAs in the future.

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images from company website

The Formative Years – Tool

It took a while until I got to appreciate the enigma that seems central to the world of Tool and their conceptually themed albums along with the symbol and easter eggs laden- comprehensive package they present

While Tool’s first two post-grunge albums did not necessarily capture my imagination, it was the release of  Ænima that not only embodied the evolution of the band that with this album had found its own unique, layered and definitive stride and sound but also one that had transformation as a central theme, along with an omnipresence of Carl Gustav Jungian ideas when it comes to self-discovery and its psychological implications.

While musically Tool quintessentially remained in nu metal territory , Ænima saw them introduce new proggy facets and complex, ever building compositions the magnitude of which tend to grow with each listen. 

Pounding rhythms, bizarrely timed signatures and a convincing sonic portrayal of angst are merely a few of the ingredients that make listening to the album an engaging, dense and genuinely original experience challenging one to reconcile one with one’s nature as well as its opposite.

Ænima saw Tool create an album that explicitly invites analysis while also including tracks that deliberately defy explanation and thereby not only leaves it up to the listener to interpret and contextualize it for him- / herself but actively makes the recipient a vital collaborator.

Water of Life - Cut Hill Distillery 

Founded by a conglomerate of motivated beverage industry professionals, Cut Hills Distillery set out to not merely build on the foundations of the qualities that Australian whiskey has become known and appreciated for and creating their own contemporary take on classic styles, but pro-actively paving the way for the pushing the envelope further by honouring traditional methods as well as employing modern technologies.

Cut Hill Distllery’s first forays into the world of producing their own drops started with an initial release program, which was comprised of multiple, private cask bottlings in a bid to bridge the time before their first own releases.

My first exposure to Cut Hill was via its Private Barrel Series Wine Cask, which as the name would suggest, takes advantage of the barrels sourced from South Australia’s widely recognized Barossa and McLaren Vale wine regions, which previously held a range of characteristic red wine varietals.

On approach, the nostrils are tickled by hints of cherry, winey and sweet aromas, backed by blueberry, grassy and apple nuances backed by the faintest hints of spicy, clove eugenol nuances.

On the top of the mouth, we enter sweet, buttery flavours informed by vanilla, honey and rum, which are further accentuated by delicately calibrated sour and slightly tannic highlights.
The medium length finish culminates in oaky highlights and reverberates with welcome, warming hints of char. 

Summa summarum, clocking in at a relatively tame ABV of 43%, this little number is a great starting point for wine lovers looking to broaden their horizon and embark into whiskey territory.

Taking things up a notch or two is Cut Hill Distillery’s Fortified Cask expression, which lives up to its name from the get go as what materializes on the nose, catapults us into woody, piny territory, accompanied by equally sweet and tarty notes rounded out with a characteristic almond nuance.

What the nose promised is seamlessly transitioned onto the palate, where a rich avalanche of fruit-forward flavours reminiscent of Amaretto-like honeyed vanilla and biscuity, dulce de leche sapors.

The elongated finish concludes with brown sugary coca notes backed by the warm spicy and slightly astringency of nutmeg and cloves, resulting in quite an indulgent affair that makes this expression a borderline ideal dessert dram.

Given the quality of the aforementioned first two expressions and their wine barrel based approach, I cannot wait to experience Cut Hill Distillery trying its hand at channelling its alchemy in mead cask and cask strength expressions.

On the gin side of things, Cut Hill created their own idiosyncratic take on the traditional dry style with their Lost Phoenix Australian Dry Gin.

Based on a foundation of grain spirit and infused with botanicals grown on their own turf, i.e. a melange of pepperberry, lemon myrtle and peppercorns, the focus is firmly set on paying homage to South Australia and all that is has to offer.

Centred around a juniper forward approach, slightly piney flavours with a touch of pepperiness and fruitiness are flanked by citrussy and vegetal-peppery highlights, which reach into grapefruity realms, to then be further accentuated by aromatic menthol notes.

Cut Hill’s Lost Phoenix gin proves to be a great base for a G&T and even holds its own as a straight sipper.

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image from company website