*Reema put on a magical solo performance*

London’s premier high-end dealer KJ West One put on a wonderful event in Strictly Analogue, featuring Engström, Brinkmann, LowSwing Records, producer Mike Valentine and a live performance by the enchanting REEMA. The event took place from Friday 29th to Saturday 30th November - below we cover the action from the second day.

Timo Engström - Scandinavian Sound

It’s almost December, so it may seem odd to turn off the heating and not get the fireplace going. But that’s exactly the advice we would give with Timo Engström in the house, and the powerful ERIC ENCORE monoblocks providing the heat, the glow, and epic Scandinavian Sound.

Engström was a major player in this system, with the MONICA pre-amplifier, the brand new M-Phono Mk2, as well as the aforementioned ERIC ENCORE power amplifiers which tend to steal the show and command the room.

*MONICA Pre-amp bottom-left, M-Phono Mk2 top-right*

*We never tire of looking at the ERIC ENCORE monoblocks*

And don’t forget the comparatively humble ARNE integrated which was driving the system upstairs in the smaller listening space.

Timo got the morning started with a great set of records, starting with a little wake-up call from Lady Gaga and moving to a wonderful, purely Scandinavian section featuring classics like Monica Zetterlund (the namesake of Engström’s pre-amp), and modern female artists like Norway’s Susanne Sundfør (who briefly transported the room from London winter to Scandinavian spring). We thought it was delightful, and we share the playlist below via Spotify:

Matthias Lück (Brinkmann) & Guy Sternberg (LowSwing Records)

Matthias and Guy joined us to talk about the analogue record production process and to introduce singer-songwriter REEMA, whose records are arranged and produced by Guy Sternberg at LowSwing Records through an entirely analogue process - no computers and AD/DA conversion are used.

*Matthias Lück demos a DMM copper record*

Live - REEMA

Before Reema took the stage, she had a chance to hear her own records through the amazing system, featuring Brinkmann turntable, Engström amps & phono stage, Shunyata Research cabling, power distribution and grounding, and Magico speakers. Needless to say this was a very cool experience for everyone; it’s not every day you get to hear an artist’s work through top-notch analogue recordings, played through a top-notch system, followed by that same artist playing live.

Mike Valentine

Mike Valentine is a fascinating guy with a fascinating career that spans not just record production - under his Chasing the Dragon record label with wife & partner Françoise - but also a career in underwater filming, including for five James Bond films! (Remember Eva Green drowning in Casino Royale? Yep, that was Mike.)

Mike discussed his eclectic career and the analogue process, playing recordings from a reel-to-reel tape recorder. This was a presentation full of enthusiasm, and the recordings sounded absolutely fantastic. If you have a chance to see Mike speaking in the future, don’t miss it! But in the meantime, check out this great write-up by Soundstage Global.

*You know you’re in for a good old analogue time when you see the Revox PR 99 Mk2 reel to reel tape recorder*

Big thanks to Jason and the rest of the team at KJ West One for organising a fantastic event - we look forward to more like it in the new year. Be sure to follow @KJWestOne on Instagram to stay up to date!