search

Gizmodo Hearts Audiophiles

During our visit to Michael Fremer's house, alongside all the LPs and cables and enormous amplifiers, I found myself thinking: If only others could experience this, here, like this, they'd understand what all the fuss is about...

Well, guess what.

Gizmodo's John Mahoney got the chance. And he loved it.

The initial response:

I hear the needle drop on Air's "Run" from Talkie Walkie. It's a song I've never heard, but one that I'm now listening to all the time. Because, with all honesty, I have never heard anything like that song played on that stereo…

Buy Early Get Now: Sonic Youth's The Eternal

New York City's Matador Records rewards hardcore music lovers and promotes the growth of the music industry with their intelligent "Buy Early Get Now" plan. With BEGN, fans can pre-order upcoming albums through participating trustworthy retailers across the nation. In addition to the actual album, BEGN packages include exclusive bonuses such as MP3s, posters, band merchandise, and, a free, legal stream of the entire album weeks before the official release date. I like it.

I complain all the time about my pre-orders never arriving. Matador's plan helps to erase the…

This LP Crashes Hard Drives

Forum member, dbowker, gave me the heads-up on this special Record Store Day LP. With This LP Crashes Hard Drives, ten of my favorite hard-core crate-digging specialist labels came together to release one hell of a deluxe, limited-edition, gatefold masterpiece&#151just one of the many reasons to raise our voices and rejoice for Record Store Day. The awesome package includes a CD sampler, zines, catalogs, stickers, and posters from all participating labels.

The track list:

Los Destellos: "Guajira Sicodelica" (Vampi Soul)
P.E. Hewitt Jazz Ensemble: "Bada Que Bash" (…

Record Store Day

"Ariel?"

"Yes, Stephen?"

"You know what tomorrow is, don't you?"

Ariel hesitates, thinks. "Uh…" And then his entire being is illuminated and a youthful smile blooms across his face and he happily announces: "Tomorrow is Record Store Day."

"Yes! That's why you're our intern!"

"Was that a test?"

"Well, I didn't know it was a test until you passed, but yes."

Tomorrow, April 18, is my second favorite holiday of the year: Record Store Day! (I'm a sucker for Thanksgiving.)

This is the one day that all of the…

A Glorious Day

It was a glorious day. The Good Lord smiled upon our little blue world with clear skies, warm sunshine, and limited edition 7" singles. I strolled into Tunes at 11:30am, just a half-hour after the store had opened. A large crowd of happy shoppers was already huddled round the main display shelves. Radiohead singles from every era of the band's brilliant career and so many colorful 7" discs and samplers and posters and platter mats and they have already run out of the Sonic Youth/Beck splits. What? Figures! Oh well. I am not disappointed&#151not too terribly. Instead, I am…

Boris Isn't Smiling

After sticking my copy of Boris' Smile in the freezer for a few hours, Jenna thought it'd be a good idea to thaw it out in the microwave. Thanks, Jenna!

Etched in Vinyl

Grails' Interpretations of Three Psychedelic Rock Songs from around the World, part of Southern Records' incredibly dope, limited-edition Latitudes series, was a gift from Michael Lavorgna. Note the radical etching of the white vinyl. Only 700 copies are/were available.

My copy came back home safe and sound, thank god!

(I know: I used the words "dope" and "radical" in the same post. But, c'mon, man: White freaking etched vinyl totally deserves it.)

Under the Soft Blue Light

Under the soft blue light: Grails' most awesome Interpretations of Three Psychedelic Rock Songs from around the World goes for the ride of its life on the massive SME 20/12 turntable.

Now On Newsstands: Stereophile, Vol.32 No.5

The May 2009 issue is now on newsstands. The cover's so bright, you gotta wear shades. See that orange LP sitting on the SME 20/12 turntable? That's my copy of Boris's awesome Smile.

Cover photographer, Eric Swanson, originally asked if I could send him a white LP to decorate the 'table, but I sent him several colorful options: translucent red and blue, mint green, orange, etched white, and a Thurston Moore picture disc.

Eric and his assistant, Jenna Gersbach, were well aware that I was uncomfortable with sending my own precious vinyl across the country for a photo shoot…

Last Night I Listened To The Flying Burrito Brothers

I really don't know anything about the Flying Burrito Bros. I know that Gram Parsons was in the band, and that makes them cool. Michelle, the first girl I ever loved, wore a Flying Burrito Brothers t-shirt (baby blue with a metallic gold logo, purchased from some old train station thrift shop in Hackensack-ack-ack-ack-ack), but she was from San Francisco and talked about Haight-Ashbury and rearranged her furniture twice a week and received phone calls from Pauline Oliveros and Marian Zazeela (in her dorm room!), and I figured the t-shirt was just another one of her crazy things. It was…