I was listening to the Beatles the other day, and I was struck by just how incredibly influential they've been. I could hear in their music the origins of so much, from the Ramones to Queens of the Stone Age to Grizzly Bear to Alicia Keys to Lady Gaga and on and on.

At the same time, I was thinking about how great 2009 was for music. I bought more records this year than in any year of my life. I know there are a few reasons for this, but it wouldn't have happened had there not been so much excellent music released.

I guess he's mostly an organ guy, but I'm digging into Sam Yahel's new disc 'Hometown' - a piano trio - and am thoroughly enjoying it.

The very first cut, Lennon's "Jealous Guy," is great jazz, which I think is hard to pull off with tunes from the rock era. He does that cool teasing-all-the-possibilities-out-of-the-song thing without losing sight of its virtues.

Anyone else listening to this?

s.

My wife and I spent Christmas watching movies, something we almost never do. One of the films we watched (right before taking in the Kill Bill saga) was Ratatouille from the Pixar folks.

There is a wonderful character in the movie voiced by Peter O'Toole named Anton Ego, a notoriously harsh food critic.

At the end of the film his final review the restaurant run by rats offers one side of how to look at critics and criticism-

So, what did you guys get for Christmas? Any great hi-fi/music presents?

I got the vinyl reissue of Nirvana's Nevermind. It sounds awesome.

As the 00's come to an end, I was thinking what a *wonderful decade* it was for high-end audio. Many things happened - including a few big surprises. In this piece (the first in a two-part series) I cover the "big four" surprises. The next post will cover the Other Things this decade.

Surprise, surprise.

Power cords / Power filtration devices.

I'm considering purchasing the M-Audio USB Transit to connect my laptop music bits to my California Audio Labs Alpha DAC (the 24/96 Upgraded Version) via the CALs TOS Link Optical In.

As a Computer Dweeb, I know that just because I can connect two things together with a wire, doesn't mean they talk the same language. The M-Audio Transit's Optical Out is S/PDIF but I don't know what the CAL Alpha's Optical In is expecting.

Can anyone help ?? Thanks.

Let me first begin by saying I don't know a thing about high end audio equipment. My father, as it would turn out, did.

About a year ago he got diagnosed with ALS. For those of you that don't know what that is, it sucks. A lot. This past week he was moved to his death bed, and as he struggles with his disease, I've been charged with the task of clearing out our old entertainment room that my dad put together in order to sell the equipment for much-needed cash.