Author Archives: Scott Foglesong

At high noon on Tuesday May 29 my academic year officially ended as I completed my final lecture for the term at the Fromm Institute. Things wound down at the SF Conservatory several weeks earlier. It has been year 35 … Continue reading →

I've been reluctantly shuffling through stacks of cassette tapes of my own performances over the years, some being my yearly faculty recitals at the SF Conservatory, others chamber performances of various sorts together with a smattering of appearances with larger … Continue reading →

Oh, dang. I just hate it when audiophile snake oil turns out to be useful lotion. High-end audio is pestered by so much crackpottery, so many stratospherically expensive magic bullets, so much plain old BS. But just because there's nothing … Continue reading →

Commentarial analysis is one of the things I do. I write analyses and assess the analyses of others, particularly my own students. I am scrupulous to avoid hardcore academic analysis, just as I am scrupulous to avoid hardcore academic anything. … Continue reading →

A veneer of nostalgia envelops today's reborn interest in vinyl LPs. Pawing around used-record bins is downright therapeutic, an audio version of that utterly civilized pastime, book collecting. Beyond the basic relaxation that comes from that steady flip-flip through the … Continue reading →

“It’s so bland,” said one student. “It’s so predictable,” said another. “It just so…yecch…nice!” said yet another, his lip curling in disdain. And indeed much of it is bland, predictable, nice-y nice. Saccharine, even. But it is the music of … Continue reading →

I don’t know what came over me. Weekender’s ennui, perhaps. Deer-in-the-headlights syndrome. Atrophy of the critical organs. I don’t know. But for whatever reason I did something bad. I watched a movie on television. I watched a movie on television. … Continue reading →

Audio pundits have a bad habit of jumping to conclusions. Seeing that digital downloads have increased by X percent, and sales of physical CDs have decreased by Y percent, some commentators have concluded that the compact disc will go out … Continue reading →

In the light of the picture-perfect springtime weather today in San Francisco, I could think of no better way to observe Record Store Day than by going for a goodly stroll that just happened to terminate at one of the … Continue reading →

It was an accident. I didn't mean to, really I didn't. As the evidence of my transgression was made manifest, my parents were puzzled and concerned, yet gentle. They were on my side and I knew they were, but I … Continue reading →