Marantz Explorations in Sound
VOLUME 1 & 2 COLLECTOR'S EDITION SACD
The most musical sound of Marantz meets the finest artists of today
In partnership with Vinyl Me, Please. Curated by Marantz Sound Master Yoshinori Ogata, VMP CEO Cameron Schaefer, and Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors.
Vol. I: Listen Like a Soundmaster
Yoshinori Ogata is the Marantz Sound Master. He is responsible for the sound tuning of all Marantz products, ensuring that the famed Marantz “most musical sound” is consistently delivered by Marantz. No Marantz product can be released without passing through Ogata-san’s rigorous sound quality check.
Ogata-san joined Marantz in 1995, first assigned to the electrical design of CD players. He then moved into product planning, including a three-year stint with Marantz America. His reputation at Marantz as an audiophile with an excellent ear continued to grow over the years. When the previous Sound Master, Sawada-san, came to choose his successor, he personally recruited Ogata-san to become the next steward of the legendary Marantz sound. Ogata-san chose the tracks on this volume from the music he uses while tuning Marantz products.
These are some of his favorite selections, and provide a broad stylistic range that he finds particularly revealing when listened to on Marantz gear.
Vol. II: Listen Like a Producer
Cameron Schaefer is Co-Founder & Chief Brand Officer of Vinyl Me, Please, recently named one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Music Companies in the World. Overseeing music, content & brand strategy he has helped VMP become the world’s premier record club with over 30,000 paying subscribers and an innovative, high-impact partner to artists, labels & managers. In the process, he has produced reissue projects on behalf of artists such as Herbie Hancock, Whitney Houston and the Grateful Dead as well as new release projects with St. Vincent, Moses Sumney, Glass Animals & more. Projects like these and their impact on fans & artists have led to brand partnerships with HBO, Sonos, Ace Hotel, Mastercard & BMW where Cameron’s understanding of culture, marketing & tech were critical to ensuring their success.
Since forming Dirty Projectors nearly two decades ago, Dave Longstreth has continually emerged as one of the most imaginative and versatile vocalists, songwriters, producers, and bandleaders influencing the many corners of indie music. In addition to creating formative and acclaimed LPs like Bitte Orca, Swing Lo Magellan, Dirty Projectors and the latest Lamp Lit Prose, Longstreth’s disparate catalog of collaborations includes Kanye West, Rihanna and Paul McCartney’s “FourFive Seconds,” Solange’s A Seat At The Table, Major Lazer’s “Get Free” and work with Björk, Blood Orange, Bombino, David Byrne, DAWN, HAIM, Vampire Weekend and more. Alongside a dynamic new lineup, his current project with Dirty Projectors is 5EPs, a series of five EPs featuring an evolving suite of twenty songs, diverse styles and multiple lead singers, all released incrementally throughout 2020.