LATEST ADDITIONS

<i>Where are my LPs? I need a hug.</i><br>
<b>&#151George Reisch, <i>Stereophile</i>, September 1997</b>

Sasha Frere-Jones has a fascinating <A HREF="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/06/09/080609crmu_mus…; in the June 9 <I>The New Yorker</I> about Antares's Auto-Tune software. In case you aren't familiar with it, Auto-Tune is pitch correction software that is used almost universally in contemporary pop recordings&mdash;sometimes just to "fix" an off note, increasingly frequently as an effect in its own right.

My copy of Peter, Paul, & Mary's <i>Album 1700</i>, which I had bought many years ago for its Bonnie and Clyde album art, wasn't nearly as dusty as <i>Santana</i>. When I inspected it beneath a lamp, however, I noticed that it was covered by a sort of dull, gray film. The vinyl wasn't black. It was sickly. Indeed, this was one of my many albums that had suffered through the dark, dirty waters of a basement flood. Maybe two or three floods. Maybe four.

<B>THE COMMITMENTS: <I>Original Soundtrack</I></B><BR>
MCA MCAD-10286 (CD only). Paul Bushnell, Kevin Killen, Alan Parker, prods.; Kevin Killen, eng. AAD. TT: 46:54.

Reader dBruce wants to know where do you sit, lie, or hang when listening? What chair/couch (make & model) is great for listening?

Having visited China and witnessed the building boom firsthand, I must admit that I suspected corners were being cut in construction&mdash;so I wasn't surprised by how many buildings came down. Considering all the construction accidents happening in NYC this year, who am I to look askance at China?

Stephen Mejias, our excellent assistant editor, is fully in the grip of vinyl fever. He and I are now having daily conversations about the once and future allure of the long player.