I was late for work today. I'd like to say that it was because I got caught up in some sweet springtime birdsong, but…
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It is spring! Without doubt, it is spring. The skinny trees on Monmouth Street have suddenly bloomed all pink and purple and white, while the birds outside my kitchen window have learned to sing new songs. They make a wonderful racket in the morning. I like it. It makes me feel somehow closer to the world, to nature, to love and god and shit. This music of spring is a nice contrast to the sirens and jack hammers that normally make up a Jersey City morning.
I ran into Lauren on the way home last night. Lauren is from Leicester, England. She is twenty-five years old, friendly, bright, and beautiful. It was a little before 9pm, and we were both just coming in from work. She complained about her hours. Lauren would prefer a nine-to-five job. These eleven-to-eight hours are taking up the best bits of her day. But it's a job. She's had it for only two weeks, but she's already looking for another. She doesn't know what she wants to do. By thirty-five, she hopes to be retired.
"So, what have you been up to?" she asked.
"A couple…
Amongst all the hand–ringing and head–scratching and kvetching about the music business and what we're going to do with our CDs and LPs and how iPods sound like shit but are the future whether we like it or not (in my case, the jury's still out), it's a good idea, at least in my overamped case, to step back, close–a–dee mouth and occasionally remember that at the bottom of all this claptrap, there's still music. Which I (we) presumably still love.
I was reminded of this salient fact by an incident that occurred today at Stereophile HQ, located deep in the canyons of Murray Hill, Katie…
Tomorrow is Record Store Day. Celebrate responsibly. Celebrate appropriately. It will make you feel good.
Truth is: I know diddly-squat about Frank Zappa. I've heard this and that, of course, and all I've heard has always been intriguing, but, for no good reason, I've just never taken the time to dive into Zappa's world. Perhaps it's because his world seems so enormous and wild and foreign. His world is full of barking pumpkins and utility muffins and Sprechstimme and other things I can neither imagine nor pronounce. I mean, even his name is strange. Like an exclamation, like a shot of electricity. Zappa! Say it three times, and something bad might happen. Zappa! Zappa! (No, don'…
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.
Each sleeve of this gatefold holds a slab of vinyl. All of Daniel Bejar's poetic lyrics are displayed on the right sleeve. You'll also find a friendly coupon for a complete digital download.
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!
The album is produced by that crazy cat, Danger Mouse (The Grey Album, Gnarls Barkley), and is a soulful, bluesy, slow, slow burn.
To cheer myself up after the picture disc disappointment, I went ahead and bought Attack & Release by The Black Keys and Trouble In Dreams by Destroyer. Of course, I couldn't buy only two albums. Two is an even number, you see. So, I also picked up Light in the Attic's beautiful Betty Davis reissue.
AUDIOPHILE QUALITY
…
Both The Black Keys and Destroyer albums are luscious gatefold affairs, with intoxicating artwork—I could just stare and stare and stare. The Black Keys album had a sticker on its plastic wrap that read:
HALF SPEED MASTERING
AUDIOPHILE QUALITY
…
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:
1. Boy bands
Fall Out Boy, The…
Matthew Guerrieri (aka Soho the Dog) has a new installation of his ongoing series Strauss and Mahler Re-Enact Your Favorite Movie Moments. Today's episode is The Ten Commandments. Read 'em all—they're hilarious.