It's Friday evening. I would like to be at home, sitting on the orange couch, a beer in my hand, the light rain tapping against my windows, listening to Grails' <i>Doomsdayer's Holiday</i>. Sounds bleak, doesn't it? But Grails are really kind of perfect for this sort of warm, rainy autumn night, with their dark mix of Eastern psychedelia, folk, metal, and free-jazz ramblings. Beautifully recorded, too, with heart-jolting impact and sweet, sweet dynamic range.

Thursday, December 4: <i><b>The Sound Experience</i></b> (233 South Federal Highway, Boca Raton, FL) will celebrate their official grand opening with a listening party. Michael Fremer is the guest of honor and will give an analog clinic. RSVP: (561) 391-7868. For more info, visit <a href="http://www.thesndexp.com/">The Sound Experience</a>.

It is November 14th, and it's hot as heck outside. I wonder how many polar bears just died. That's not funny. The arctic is vanishing, the oceans are rising, we have brown clouds in the sky. Awesome. We are doomed. Screw it. Let's buy some vinyl!

<i>Jimmy Boyd's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." Columbia, 10" (MJV 152).</i>

Here's how God makes audiophiles: He starts with several million blank brain cells, then programs each one, individually, to function as either a love for one single aspect of music reproduction or a hatred for another. There are over a thousand such cells&#151;far too many to list here&#151;but theologians and audio reviewers have worked together to compile this list of the Top 20, which, just like real life, contains a little more love than hate:

Here's how God makes audiophiles: He starts with several million blank brain cells, then programs each one, individually, to function as either a love for one single aspect of music reproduction or a hatred for another. There are over a thousand such cells&#151;far too many to list here&#151;but theologians and audio reviewers have worked together to compile this list of the Top 20, which, just like real life, contains a little more love than hate: