A fugue is a very impressive piece of Baroque music, concentrated music and perhaps even a kind of early rock music at the time – certainly considered revolutionary back then and celebrated by audiences. But even the reduced form, a fughetta, intended for a smaller ensemble, offers musical enjoyment of the highest order.
Fortunately, she does not limit herself to performing small fugues but also has absolutely no inhibitions about giving rock an impressive stage and really letting it rip with the basses available, or lovingly caressing your ears with bar jazz.
Its settings may seem somewhat restrained. It is simply not a playground. But that is not its purpose. Its job is to extract something magical and captivating from every vinyl groove. And it does that perfectly with the typical BLUE AMP sound. It also offers the accompanying black background – which you listen to curiously without a signal, excited to hear what will surprise you next.
And whether it's an MM or MC generator, it doesn't matter at all. Perhaps you'll start by listening to your oldest records from the sixties and seventies. You know them well and can immediately enjoy everything you've never heard before and rejoice in your model fughetta.
Here are three vinyl recommendations:
Mahalia Jackson – This Is Mahalia Jackson – The World's Greatest Gospel Singer – CBS S 66241 from 1973 – listen to the track “The House I Live In” – experience her powerful voice, trembling with sheer dynamism; it might make the hairs on your arms stand on end
Procol Harum – A Whiter Pale of Shade – Deram Records 1967 - Olympic Studios (117 Church Road, Barnes/London SW) – and when you suddenly smell the perfume in your first girlfriend's hair again, you might look at your model fughetta, shake your head a little, and wonder why you didn't discover this phono stage much earlier.
Andreas Vollenweider and his album Caverna Magica – (Columbia – 1982) – listen to the first two tracks on side 1 and enjoy and marvel at this beguiling three-dimensional sound and the buzzing of the harp strings. If you like Andreas Vollenweider, then be sure to check out this recording – Behind the Gardens – veraBra records No. 3 – better than the original pressing. The cover says, among other things, “There is no bass player! What you hear are the bass strings of the harp” – good to know...
All of these records can be found for little money at Discogs.
And then take plenty of time to enjoy your record collection. And be sure to give those records a listen that you put away disappointed many years ago after buying them but still haven't thrown away—perhaps fortunately.
And maybe they'll take a look at our audiophile curve of happiness from time to time and find it hard to believe that BLUE AMP could take sound quality even further. Take heart.