A couple of nights ago, I got this big idea that I'd go shopping for some picture disc vinyl to go along with the component we'll be featuring on our July cover. (Hint: It's not a speaker.) You know, I was thinking it'd be no problem to find Jimi Hendrix all lit up in a purple haze or, better yet, some new indie band dressed in skinny jeans and moccasins being chased by a puma, or something. But I discovered that new picture disc vinyl isn't all that easy to come by. Surprisingly, I found that today's picture discs come from three main sources:

To cheer myself up after the picture disc disappointment, I went ahead and bought <i>Attack & Release</i> by <a href="http://www.theblackkeys.com/">The Black Keys</a> and <i>Trouble In Dreams</i> by <a href="http://www.myspace.com/destroyer">Destroyer</a&gt;. Of course, I couldn't buy only two albums. Two is an even number, you see. So, I also picked up <a href="http://www.lightintheattic.net/">Light in the Attic</a>'s beautiful <i>Betty Davis</i> reissue.

The gorgeous gatefold opens up to show watercolors of The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney. In the left sleeve, you'll find a glossy lyrics sheet and a complete promo CD!

I'm not quite sure what's going on in the art here, but I can't stop looking at it. I love the colors. If music wasn't meant to be played, I'd hang this up on my wall.

When I first learned that Meridian had co-badged, with Ferrari, a $3000 table radio, I was tempted to cynically dismiss it as a marketing gimmick&mdash;an attempt by the audio manufacturer to leverage the brand loyalty of the Italian automaker to its own highly developed industrial designs. The problem was, that required that I dismiss everything I knew about Meridian and its singular head designer, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/906bob">Bob Stuart</A>.

When I first learned that Meridian had co-badged, with Ferrari, a $3000 table radio, I was tempted to cynically dismiss it as a marketing gimmick&mdash;an attempt by the audio manufacturer to leverage the brand loyalty of the Italian automaker to its own highly developed industrial designs. The problem was, that required that I dismiss everything I knew about Meridian and its singular head designer, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/906bob">Bob Stuart</A>.

When I first learned that Meridian had co-badged, with Ferrari, a $3000 table radio, I was tempted to cynically dismiss it as a marketing gimmick&mdash;an attempt by the audio manufacturer to leverage the brand loyalty of the Italian automaker to its own highly developed industrial designs. The problem was, that required that I dismiss everything I knew about Meridian and its singular head designer, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/906bob">Bob Stuart</A>.