Innehållsförteckning för October 2022 från Robb Report

Jaclyn Trop Trop's byline has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Fortune, among many others. For this issue, she wrote about the notorious airliner chartered by the biggest bands in the world (“Sex, Drugs and the Starship,” p. 92). “Most surprising to me was learning that the Starship's manifest read like a Who's Who of 1970s rock 'n' roll. From Led Zeppelin to John Lennon, the wide range of Hall of Famers to board the jet during its four short years in commission shaped the sounds—and stories—of the decade.” Eleanor Shakespeare An illustrator and collage artist living in England, Shakespeare has pieced together playful photomontages for The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post and now, Robb Report. For this issue, she created the bold opener…

When Jean-Michel Basquiat was growing up in Brooklyn, he would lie on the floor drawing while his father, a music buff, played jazz and classical records. “So for him,” curator Mary-Dailey Desmarais observes, “the hand was making art while the ear was listening to music from a very young age.” The inextricable link between the visual and the aural in Basquiat's work is the subject of an exhibition opening this month at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music is the first museum show to offer an in-depth exploration of the musical references and performance history of the neo-expressionist painter, who died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at the age of 27. The exhibition will examine not only his direct allusions, such as the image…

DREAM MACHINES A DEVOTION TO MOTION Some men navigate a midlife crisis with a new wardrobe, or supercar. In 2013, Danie Ferreira, then 49 and CEO of South Africa-based Urban Brew Studios, instead made good on a dream he'd been harboring for three decades. Ferreira grew up in subtropical South Africa; his life changed in 1983 when he became part of a 14-month expedition to Antarctica. A keen photographer, the 19-year-old was captivated by the inhospitable winter landscape—stunning white fjords and glaciers, snow-capped mountains. “The highlights were overnight field trips into the interior, far away from the ship, to establish fuel dumps for the scientists,” he says. The allure of the frozen continent was like nothing he'd ever experienced. “You're mesmerized by her splendor, even when she beats you up.…

TECH While it's impossible to stuff Carnegie Hall into a living room, a good stereo system is like opening a window to a convincing sonic landscape that stirs the listener's soul. But creating an accurate simulacrum of live music in one's home is an elusive task, with as many opinions as to what constitutes great sound as there are audio components designed to achieve it. And though expansive space and budget can both further that aim, neither is a guarantee of success without first knowing what success actually sounds like. Some audiophiles insist that without a 10-octave frequency response, from the 16 Hz of a 32-foot organ pipe to ultrasonic frequencies audible only to bats, any reproduction is left wanting in terms of accuracy. Perhaps—but then why, if the full-scale…

Embraer made news last summer by sharing its vision for the future, which bridges the gap between bold and, well, old: turboprops. Its Next Generation turboprop will address what Embraer believes will be an explosion in regional air travel over the next 20 years, with a design that includes aft-mounted engines for a quieter cabin and better fuel efficiency than its competitors. While initially aimed at the commercial market, the Next Generation remains a good example of how the new breed of turboprop is differentiating itself from the stodgy, ultrapractical blade-spinners of old. This new guard is quickly becoming known as luxe and tech-savvy aircraft that can fill the roles of small- to mid-sized jets. “The turboprop story has been a mix of private and business use,” says Philippe de…

Crowned in a diamond-studded halo of thorns by Tiffany & Co. and draped in Louis Vuitton, Kendrick Lamar, one of the hottest musicians around, took his seat in the front row of the venerable house's spring-summer 2023 menswear show in June, next to iconic Black supermodel Naomi Campbell. As men in bomber jackets, baggy pants and other hip-hop-inspired silhouettes sauntered down the runway, the Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper recited a lyrical ode to Virgil Abloh, the collection's groundbreaking Black artistic director and multi-hyphenate force who died in November. The scene was a lavish display of the luxury and hip-hop industries' modern-day alliance. Making the moment celebrating these two Black innovators even more dramatic: The show was held at the Louvre, one of the world's quintessential repositories of white culture.…

Simpler systems can reveal the subtlest nuances in a recording, rendering music that draws in the listener with detail and intimacy often unmatched by more elaborate configurations unsuited to smaller spaces. Paired with an impeccably designed integrated amplifier, the accurate, natural sound of a classic British monitor allows you to indulge in the glorious midrange—the soul of the concerto or rock concert— served up by digital sources or, more satisfying still, turntable-based analog that extracts the notes' unadulterated essence. 1 Moon River 404 Reference Integrated Amplifier and 505 Phono Stage This Swedish integrated amplifier is a one-stop control center that satisfies a minimalist who wants both digital and analog functionality. The separate phono stage runs MM and MC cartridges for analog lovers who own multiple turntables. Integrated amplifier from $5,000…

Lil Uzi Vert $24 million for a pink diamond dermal piercing The “Bad and Boujee” rapper, who uses they/them pronouns, implanted the rare, nearly 11-carat gem smack-dab in the middle of their forehead, then tweeted, “This one stone cost so much I've been paying for it since 2017.” Uzi tapped celebrity jeweler Elliot Eliantte for the naturally colored diamond. “This was definitely pretty extravagant. This would definitely be top-tier by far,” a spokesman for Eliantte & Co. told Rolling Stone. “People have gotten crazy custom pieces done, but something that's done as a body modification, to have something popped onto your forehead? This is definitely the first time.” The rapper has said they chose to implant it in their skin for safekeeping, thinking it would be harder to lose than,…

In the 30 years since Laurent Lours began making Salers cheese—a specialty semihard cheese typical of central France, famous for its notes of grass and hazelnuts—he has never experienced a drought quite like the one that set in this summer. Extreme heat waves and a dearth of rain combined to scorch the pastures his cows graze on, turning vast swaths of the grasslands into a parched and unrecognizable yellow landscape. “We would have periods of 15 days of drought, but it was never catastrophic,” Lours says. “Today, we're experiencing much higher temperatures.” As both a producer and the president of the Appellation d'origine protégée (AOP) label for Salers cheese in France, Lours had to make a tough call. He ordered makers of the seasonal cow's-milk delicacy to stop production as…

The 28-year-old Colombian musician Maluma—born Juan Luis Londoño Arias— has been in the studio since he turned 16, when he decided that the famously tough world of pop music would be a more rewarding pursuit than his first ambition, professional soccer. It's worked out: around 18 million album sales later, he has collaborated with Shakira, Ricky Martin and Selena Gomez. But his major crossover moment came back in 2019, when Madonna asked him to appear on her song “Medellin,” an ode to his hometown. A more recent accomplishment: appearing in the Jennifer Lopez rom-com Marry Me earlier this year. With 63 million Instagram followers, he is one of the most influential voices in music today. He also found time to launch a mezcal brand, Contraluz. As the kids might say,…

WITH MILLION-DOLLAR mountain vistas like these, one might consider window treatments to be superfluous. Which is why this architectural gem on the outskirts of the winter wonderland that's Park City, Utah, comes with acres of curtain-free, floor-to-ceiling glass. And not just any glass: Most of it is pricey, commercial-grade SageGlass with an electrochromic feature that lets you darken the windows at the touch of a button. Or the window system will automatically do it for you, to reduce heat and glare from the afternoon sun. Designed by leading Salt Lake City architect Michael Upwall, this sprawling 11,106-square-foot steel-and-stone manse on nine mountaintop acres was completed in 2015 after two years of construction. It sits on the crest of Quarry Mountain and is a short drive from historic downtown Park City—home…

WHEN CARLO RIVA performed a Franken-boat surgery on one of his Tritone models in 1962, he had no idea that the gleaming new mahogany design would become the world's most beloved powerboat. At the time, he was intent on reinventing the family brand, Riva, started by his great-grandfather Pietro in 1842 on Lake Iseo in Sarnico, Italy. Over the years, the yard had introduced many successful designs but needed a forward-looking model that reflected the glamour that was consuming postwar Italy. Carlo originally wanted to call the new boat the Admiral but settled on a more futuristic name, Aquarama, after the trendy panoramic film technique Cinerama, which utilized three adjoining screens. The boat's beautiful mahogany hull, with its sweeping, one-piece windshield and center sun pad, became a status symbol almost…

WHEELS Thanks to the one-two wallop of an extended pandemicinduced shopping spree and the hobbled supply chain, it's been hard to get a car for a while now—luxury brands very much included. And while top-tier marques are subject to the same inventory woes as any other sector, with a dearth of everything from wiring harnesses to microchips choking manufacturing flow to a trickle, the most elite automakers face a longer-term problem: How to keep VIP customers happy amid an explosion of global wealth, with the number of potential buyers growing exponentially even as production numbers barely budge. It has become such an issue that some marques can't even take orders, with models at production capacity for years to come. Artificial scarcity has always been a tightrope to walk in the…

DECADES BEFORE Oasis famously helicoptered onto the field at Knebworth and long before the Gulfstream G5 became the most name-checked jet in hip-hop, there was the Starship, the decadently tricked-out, constantly re-liveried Boeing 720 jumbo jet that acted as a flying tour bus for some of the biggest bands of the mid-1970s, including Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, the Bee Gees, Alice Cooper and Peter Frampton. In 1973, teen heartthrob Bobby Sherman and his manager, Ward Sylvester, bought the first Boeing 720 ever produced (in 1960) for $600,000 from United Airlines, then spent an additional $200,000—$1.3 million in today's currencyconverting the interior. Seating dropped from 138 to 40, while new shagadelic amenities included a 30-foot-long brass-edged bar, an electric fireplace in the “drawing room,” a king-sized waterbed and…

Ebony and Ivory PAUL McCARTNEY AND STEVIE WONDER TUG OF WAR (1982) When one of the Beatles arrived on the Caribbean island of Montserrat in 1981, he was mindful of security. Obviously—he was a Beatle. “Paul McCartney had bodyguards with cutlasses,” recalls local Cecil Wade, who now works as a guide and driver. “But he ended up giving them the money to go off somewhere else and just said, ‘Go ahead, enjoy yourselves.' ” McCartney himself clearly planned to do much the same, installing his young family in a villa for several months while he worked; old pal Ringo Starr dropped in, making cameos in the home movies McCartney's entourage shot then. His family, including daughter Stella, barely 10 then, frolic by the pool playing ping-pong, lark around on the balcony…

1 EAR 912 Preamplifier The late Tim de Paravicini's vacuum-tube designs are as timeless as they are sophisticated, and his legacy continues with EAR. Handmade in England, the rack-mountable preamp is intended for professional use in studios but is equally suited to the best home stereos. $13,500 2 EAR 534 Amplifier and Acute Classic CD Player A push-pull tube design with 50 watts per channel is an ideal way to run any but the most inefficient loudspeakers-and makes the Quad electrostaties sing. The Acute 4 is a reminder that CDs remain a staple in serious music libraries. Amplifier $6,795; CD player $6,795 3 Quad 57 Electrostatic Loudspeaker by Electrostatic Solutions Until the Quad, loudspeakers sounded like music in a box, and it took “Walker's Wonder,” so nicknamed for its creator,…

THIS MONTH'S WHO, WHAT AND WEAR THE GOODS Pumpkin spice and holiday music aren't everyone's cup of cider. If you'd gladly trade a “Silent Night” for sea air, sunshine and chilled Sauvignon, take note: It's already spring in the sultry Southern Hemisphere, when temperatures rarely dip below 80 degrees Fahrenheit and where, by December, the island waters will be warmed by a full summer sun. Betsy Cox, CEO of Blackbook Concierge and magic-wand-waver to the most demanding clients, says it's no surprise people are itching for the summer side of the globe this year. “They've spent the pandemic in the Hamptons, Miami and Malibu, then they went to the Med,” she says. “Now they're dying to go somewhere really exclusive, where they won't see anyone they know.” After Oceana and…

IMAGINE AN all-electric sedan cruising, on a single charge, from Los Angeles to San Francisco—and back again. Or, in the case of the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX concept, making a record-breaking 747-mile run from the automaker's base in Stuttgart, Germany, to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team's headquarters in Silverstone, England. Robb Report recently had the opportunity to pilot the teardrop-shaped silver arrow around the serpentine Mercedes-Benz test track in southern Germany's rural Immendingen region. Instead of chasing distance records, our goal was simply to evaluate this technical tour de force, which represents the automaker's vision for all future roadgoing electric vehicles. Under the floor, the EQXX has a compact, energydense 100 kwh battery that's 50 percent smaller and 30 percent lighter than the comparably po werful pack that motivates the…

FIELD NOTES There's nothing else you can do with your classic racer that really makes you feel how your heroes did when they were driving cars like yours in period. For an event that bills itself as the most beautiful race in the world, the Mille Miglia is a surprisingly difficult, dirty, dangerous affair. I finished my third competitive outing there in June, this time behind the wheel of a bewitching 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, owned by the marque's museum in Stuttgart and worth perhaps $1.8 million. After each event, I've handed the keys to my priceless vintage car back to the crew with a sense of relief and disbelief that both it and I were still in one piece and wondered if I'd have the nerve to do…

Listening to great music on a superior sound system is one of life's sublime pleasures, and once you've been bitten by the audio bug, it's impossible go back to soundbars and earbuds. At its best, a carefully assembled system can paint a spellbinding sonic landscape. While home theaters employ surround sound for maximum effect, most serious music listeners prefer a stereophonic setup with left and right speakers to replicate the experience of hearing real performers in a real venue. Approaches to speaker, electronics and turntable design are almost as varied as the products themselves, and both subjective impressions and objective measurements play a part in evaluating these components. Just as important is achieving synergy between every link in the aural chain, including cables, audio furniture and especially the room, whose…

1 Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems Relentless Epic 800 Mono Amplifiers Each high-current Relentless Epic 800 amp generates 800 watts, perfect for power-hungry, difficult-to-drive loudspeakers. At 380 pounds each, the Epic 800s aren't even the largest amps in the Relentless lineup! $199,500 per pair 2 TechDAS Air Force Zero Turntable The most ambitious turntable yet from engineer Hideaki Nishikawa addresses every technical limitation of record playback with its 660 pounds of mass, a sophisticated air-bearing suspension, five layers of platters to dampen vibration and an air-suction system that firmly holds the LP down. With a tonearm and cartridge of commensurate caliber, the sonic sky's the limit. $500,000 with optional tungsten top platter, $60,000 SAT CFh 09 tonearm and $56,500 HRS base 3 Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX Loudspeaker A holographic soundscape…