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A-1 and Other great, but damn is there a lot of overpriced stuff on Bleecker.
If you’re like me, you’ll wish you were with Jonathan on this particular trip, and you’ll begin concocting schemes for one of your own.
Indeed, Jonathan continues to provide great inspiration and encouragement to my hi-fi journey. His popular column, “Fine Tunes,” is something I revisit whenever I need a charge of enthusiasm or a tightening of focus.
While we’re surfing the web, let’s check out this recent CNN piece, which answers the question, “Who’s still listening to vinyl?” The article itself lists all of those typical qualities we think of when considering vinyl’s alluresits distinct sound, the size of the album art, the liner notes, the active nature of listeningbut it’s the slide show that’s really worthwhile as it depicts how and why vinyl makes people happy, inching closer to a deeper question: Why is music important to us? What is it about music, especially music captured on vinyl, that so enriches the human spirit?
For more, let’s turn to Stereophile contributor Fred Kaplan, whose piece in the Arts & Leisure section of this past Sunday’s New York Times matches Jonathan’s Atlantic Monthly article in its deep expertise and infectious enthusiasm. In “Back in the Groove: Jazz Reissues on Vinyl,” Fred talks about the wonderful new Blue Note reissues from audiophile companies Music Matters Jazz and Analogue Productions. I got to see and hear a couple of these at Fred’s home and I can tell you that they are exquisiteworth every pennywith a sound that matches their physical beauty. Fred’s article alludes to the desire to capture a live musical eventlike catching a firefly in a glass jarand again mentions the idea of travel, traveling through time, moving beyond our bodily limitations, experiencing a larger world. What is it all about? What secrets are locked in the grooves of vinyl records? What are we missing and what are we looking for?
If you’re like me, you’ll wish you were with Jonathan on this particular trip, and you’ll begin concocting schemes for one of your own.Hey Stephen what would you think of hosting a trip to some of the best record stores in NYC? being from NJ I don't really venture into NYC by myself Lp hunting but it would be really fun with a group of vinyl junkies and someone who knows where all these places are. Then after all the vinyl in the city is depleted we could all go to a local bar and have show and tell! Stereophile could rent a van for the day to take everyone around. Of course you would have to charge people but it would be so worth it. Bill it as "The yearly Stereophile Lp Tour". What do you think?