From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V15 #241 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, October 12 2006 Volume 15 : Number 241 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Ole Tarantula on vinyl ["Gene Hopstetter Jr." ] Re: My name is "Eb", but my friends call me Sharky ["Spotted Eagle Ray" <] Re: the squirmy stuff ["Spotted Eagle Ray" ] Re: don't expect not to be scratched ["Spotted Eagle Ray" ] Re: Ole Tarantula on vinyl ["Spotted Eagle Ray" ] Re: the squirmy stuff ["Spotted Eagle Ray" ] Re: don't expect not to be scratched ["Spotted Eagle Ray" ] Crap [FSThomas ] re wealth and inheritance [2fs ] Reap/Re: Crap [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: Ole Tarantula on vinyl ["Stewart Russell" ] Re: Crap ["m swedene" ] We built this city on...AAAAAGH! [Tom Clark ] RE: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! ["Marc Alberts" ] Re: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! [Eb ] Re: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! [2fs ] Re: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! [Jeff Dwarf ] re: deja vu thoth ["ken ostrander" ] Re: deja vu thoth [Eb ] re: don't expect not to be scratched ["ken ostrander" Subject: Re: Ole Tarantula on vinyl > From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" > Subject: Re: Ole Tarantula on vinyl > > My ears are not sensitive enough to sort out all those subtle > differences > between CD, decent mp3's, and LP's (except for surface noise, as > Jeffrey > notes). Oh, but I bet they are. Five minutes with a good vinyl playback system is all it takes. Any decent hi-fi shop will let you listen to your own LPs (hell, a shop I visit in Austin, TX keeps Neutral Milk Hotel LPs on hand for auditioning). Oh, and the mono Beatles and Monkees mono LPs I've been buying lately? They sound laughably good on my mono turntable (which I put together myself for about $300). The difference between those LPs and even high-quality MP3s played via iPod is very noticeable. But I warn you; if you hear a good system, you'll probably want one. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:29:33 -0700 From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" Subject: Re: My name is "Eb", but my friends call me Sharky On 10/10/06, Tom Clark wrote: > Is that the one [Landing on Water] that Geffen sued him for? Something > about turning in > a product they couldn't sell? They sued him pretty much for his entire, "un-Neil Young" like output: the rockabilly record, the straight country record, the vocoder extravaganza, the attempt at Nu-Wave. And ironically the Geffen Crazy Horse record ("Life") is the worst of the lot. I actually like that "Landing on Water"... it's "Life" that REALLY blows. "Landing on Water" sounds... weird, but at least half the songs are top-notch. Everything about "Life" is phoned in. "Inca Queen"... redundant and pukey sounding all at once (although "Around the World" has freakish novelty value in its alternation between Horse grunge and Kraftwerk-y passages). - -SER ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:56:37 -0700 From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" Subject: Re: the squirmy stuff On 10/10/06, ken ostrander wrote: > > Robyn: > "as you know we have sex and we have death; and you don't need to look > too far to notice how these two operate. the main reason we have sex is > 'cause we have death and we have to replace ourselves. if there was no > sex then the whole thing - the whole shebang would be over. i don't know > what the longest living thing is - i think the elephant - Gotta be a turtle or parrot or some shit, animal-wise. Some trees are of course much older, and aren't there some flash-frozen protists that got up and started flagellating after a millenium off, or something? - -SER ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 09:06:32 -0700 From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" Subject: Re: don't expect not to be scratched On 10/10/06, ken ostrander wrote: > > > i can't remember the last time i bought a new release on vinyl. probably > _storefront_. Mine was that Wire vinyl-only thingy that I mentioned yesterday; before that would've been Mossy, I think. i certainly have to admit that there's a nostalgic quality to my > preference for my rekkids. you can really appreciate the cover artwork > and display it on the mantle or the wall. printing out a scanned image > doesn't compare in my mind. For a while I would buy 25-cent yardsale records that I had first bought on CD, just so I could see what the hell the cover art actually *was*... "The Basement Tapes" is probably the best example, but there's just really a great divide between the point where graphic designers started to contend with the smaller area, and the miniaturized versions of images which are clearly meant to be four times larger. - -SER ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:37:44 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: the squirmy stuff On 10/10/06, ken ostrander wrote: >> >> Robyn: >> "as you know we have sex and we have death; and you don't need to look >> too far to notice how these two operate. the main reason we have sex is >> 'cause we have death and we have to replace ourselves. if there was no >> sex then the whole thing - the whole shebang would be over. i don't know >> what the longest living thing is - i think the elephant - SER: >Gotta be a turtle or parrot or some shit, animal-wise. Some trees are of >course much older, and aren't there some flash-frozen protists that got up >and started flagellating after a millenium off, or something? How about a sturgeon? Huso huso, the "Hausen" of Germany, is recognized by the absence of osseous scutes on the snout and by its flattened, tape-like barbels. It is one of the largest species, reaching in exceptional cases enormous lengths of more than 5m and a weight of more than 2000 lb (900 kg). It inhabits the Caspian and Black seas, and the Sea of Azov, whence in former years large shoals of the fish entered the large rivers of Russia and the Danube. But its numbers have been much thinned, and specimens of 1200 lb (540 kg) in weight have now become scarce. Its flesh, caviare and air-bladder are of less value than those of the smaller kinds. Professor von Baer also states, as the result of direct observations made in Russia, that the Hausen (Acipenser huso) attains to an age of 100 years, but can live over 200 years. Michael B. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:40:08 -0500 From: "Michael Wells" Subject: RE: the squirmy stuff Ken: > [Storm Lantern text] "as you know we have sex and we have death; and you don't need to look too far to notice how these two operate. people hit themselves over the head with sex -- whatever, we need it 'cause we have death." This new album is a big, comfy Robyn couch. So much familiar lyrical ground! I love the titular song's image: standing with a red cape in front of a slow, but ultimately fatal life (spider analog). Daring it to come fast at you, then jumping aside at the last. Ole! All the while knowing it could get spear you at any moment and you're done. The analogy flows, constant death being reborn, tumbling out of underground domes. And it will ultimately get you, causing all sorts of strange decisions and sex. Ole! "It's the end of your nose." Right out there. You can see it if you look. There are REM tunes, faux Beatles, Egyptians and solo Robyn songs here. Is that what makes it so enjoyable on repeat listens? A compilation of Robyn styles with good songs? I like it very much, though I'm not so sure it's any better than _Spooked_, just different. Eggs with other colored shells still taste the same. To me it's Rocking Robyn rather than Reclining Robyn, but I like both in equal parts. Too much of either doesn't feel like the whole package. > the voyage home will be sad indeed. "Setting sail in a sieve / on the ocean blue" - P. Mulvey. Michael ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 09:41:07 -0700 From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" Subject: Re: Ole Tarantula on vinyl On 10/11/06, Gene Hopstetter Jr. wrote: > > > From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" > > Subject: Re: Ole Tarantula on vinyl > > > > My ears are not sensitive enough to sort out all those subtle > > differences > > between CD, decent mp3's, and LP's (except for surface noise, as > > Jeffrey > > notes). > > Oh, but I bet they are. Five minutes with a good vinyl playback > system is all it takes. Any decent hi-fi shop will let you listen to > your own LPs (hell, a shop I visit in Austin, TX keeps Neutral Milk > Hotel LPs on hand for auditioning). You're almost certainly right, but I find that situationally I hear CD/mp3's themselves in so many different contexts-- car stereo, home system, boombox, shitty computer speakers shittier computer speakers-- that an A/B comparison of vinyl/digital really only holds much water when you're doing the test itself. I've done it before, sort of, and it was interesting, but kind of lost its significance once I went back into the real world and its various contexts for music. Lifestyle enters into it, too: I just don't have the time and space at home to "listen intently" like I (pretend that I was) once able to, so music immersion is catch-as-catch-can. Another factor in all of this is that a lot of the music or audio that I particularly enjoy hearing is of compromised quality to begin with, owing to the era or circumstances or aesthetic intent that dictated how it was going to sound even under ideal circumstances. My interests pretty much run the gamut from the lowest of the lo-fi to the highest of the hi, so some things that I'm going to listen to benefit from the deluxe treatment, and some don't. I sort of equate it with cola: I personally can't tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi except in a controlled, side-by-side comparison... but I sure as hell taste a difference in either substance depending on whether its source is a can, plastic bottle, soda fountain, etc. Context seems to matter more than at least some of the substance's intrinsic properties. - -SER NP: Television, the demo for "Friction" with Richard Hell playing somewhat less bass than Fred Smith ended up doing later... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 09:48:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Benjamin Lukoff Subject: Re: My name is "Eb", but my friends call me "Fuckshovel" On Tue, 10 Oct 2006, Stacked Crooked wrote: > the Republicans...> > > . according to this > argument, a kerry administration would have not only *attempted* to, for > example, privatise social security and open ANWR for drilling, but would > have *succeeded doing so*. (i'm doubtful about the former, to be honest; > as social security is not only so incredibly popular, but there's also such > a direct connection with people's everyday lives in the form of the monthly > cheque.) Eh--I don't know if I accept *any* political arguments from Eat the State... > i guess we'll never know for sure. my prediction of a republican party > meltdown, however, looks (if i may say) fairly prescient right about now > (not that i exactly went out on a limb there...). > now then, i'd like to hear *your* arguments for the dems being to the left > of the american public. I don't have any; I never claimed that. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:49:50 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: don't expect not to be scratched On 10/11/06, Spotted Eagle Ray wrote: > > On 10/10/06, ken ostrander wrote: > > i certainly have to admit that there's a nostalgic quality to my > > preference for my rekkids. you can really appreciate the cover artwork > > and display it on the mantle or the wall. printing out a scanned image > > doesn't compare in my mind. > > > For a while I would buy 25-cent yardsale records that I had first bought > on > CD, just so I could see what the hell the cover art actually *was*... "The > Basement Tapes" is probably the best example, but there's just really a > great divide between the point where graphic designers started to contend > with the smaller area, and the miniaturized versions of images which are > clearly meant to be four times larger. Which is the point: graphics designed for LP scale clearly will look better at that size, whereas graphics designed for CD scale should look better at that size. There are certainly some CD packages that work beautifully and which would not work on LP scale, for various reasons. One example: Bows' _Blush_ CD, whose booklet consists of several translucent layers (not really practical with an LP, since w/o a jewelbox's hard, chitinous outer layer, the delicacy of the translucent paper would be destroyed). There are also any number of CD packages that are intricately folded; again, the large scale of LPs would make unfolding them rather impractical, in that they'd take up several square feet (not that that prevented Isaac Hayes from doing so, with that LP package that unfolded into an enormous crucifix...). - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 10:06:46 -0700 From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" Subject: Re: the squirmy stuff On 10/11/06, Michael Wells wrote: > > > This new album is a big, comfy Robyn couch. So much familiar lyrical > ground! I love the titular song's image: standing with a red cape in > front of a slow, but ultimately fatal life (spider analog). Daring it to > come fast at you, then jumping aside at the last. Ole! All the while > knowing it could get spear you at any moment and you're done. The > analogy flows, constant death being reborn, tumbling out of underground > domes. And it will ultimately get you, causing all sorts of strange > decisions and sex. Ole! That's great. I think that's one song that I hadn't yet integrated into the puzzle, other than its containing of the squirmy stuff, but that fits into the rest of the themes nicely. Note that there's a drawing in there of the giant tarantula emerging from a crevice to stalk a trolley bus... and we all know what the latter stands for... (And apparently Robyn took that photo of himself holding his own trolley bus, so...) > There are REM tunes, faux Beatles, Egyptians and solo Robyn songs here. > Is that what makes it so enjoyable on repeat listens? A compilation of > Robyn styles with good songs? That and the unity of the players and recording settings that make the songs seem (even more) all of one piece... I like it very much, though I'm not so > sure it's any better than _Spooked_, just different. Eggs with other > colored shells still taste the same. To me it's Rocking Robyn rather > than Reclining Robyn, but I like both in equal parts. Too much of either > doesn't feel like the whole package. I'm still more pro-Spooked than a lot of people; in retrospect, I think it could've been more judiciously edited and sequenced. It does have that "of a time and place" feeling to it, and some excellent songs and performances... it just seems to lack a certain flow. It feels like "Eye" did when the reissue stuck the bonus tracks in the middle instead of at the end: kind of a dare to program your own tracklist. I also just heard Dylan's original version of "Trying to Get to Heaven" played loud this past weekend for the first time in a while, and I'd forgotten how damned great that record sounds. I like Robyn's version... a lot, actually... but to have it on Spooked as an album track invites dangerous comparisons. - -SER PS, from whence comes your current e-mail ID for the list? It's a good 'un. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 10:23:13 -0700 From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" Subject: Re: don't expect not to be scratched On 10/11/06, 2fs wrote: > > > Which is the point: graphics designed for LP scale clearly will look > better > at that size, whereas graphics designed for CD scale should look better at > that size. But it took designers a while to work it out, just like it took engineers a while to come to grips with the specs of recording the things (and shortly after doing so, they seem to have become obsessed with compressing and jacking up the levels on the things to the point where a lot of 'em sound crappy again, just louder). There are a few sleeves on either side of the divide that look good either way, but that's just dumb luck. And of course there was that brief period where every record had to be designed for LP, CD, and, yep, cassette packaging at the same time. There are probably a few that were optimized for, and look best in, that hideous rectangular format... it was the market-leading format for a year or two, after all. - -SER There are certainly some CD packages that work beautifully and > which would not work on LP scale, for various reasons. One example: Bows' > _Blush_ CD, whose booklet consists of several translucent layers (not > really > practical with an LP, since w/o a jewelbox's hard, chitinous outer layer, > the delicacy of the translucent paper would be destroyed). There are also > any number of CD packages that are intricately folded; again, the large > scale of LPs would make unfolding them rather impractical, in that they'd > take up several square feet (not that that prevented Isaac Hayes from > doing > so, with that LP package that unfolded into an enormous crucifix...). > > -- > > ...Jeff Norman > > The Architectural Dance Society > http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:29:31 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: the squirmy stuff On Oct 11, 2006, at 9:37 AM, Bachman, Michael wrote: > How about a sturgeon? > Huso huso, the "Hausen" of Germany, is recognized by the absence of > osseous scutes on the snout and by its flattened, tape-like > barbels. It is one of the largest species, reaching in exceptional > cases enormous lengths of more than 5m and a weight of more than > 2000 lb (900 kg). It inhabits the Caspian and Black seas, and the > Sea of Azov, whence in former years large shoals of the fish > entered the large rivers of Russia and the Danube. But its numbers > have been much thinned, and specimens of 1200 lb (540 kg) in weight > have now become scarce. Its flesh, caviare and air-bladder are of > less value than those of the smaller kinds. Professor von Baer also > states, as the result of direct observations made in Russia, that > the Hausen (Acipenser huso) attains to an age of 100 years, but can > live over 200 years. Man, who would want to live to be 200? Especially being a fish: No TV, no Reese's Peanut Butter Cups... - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:15:01 -0400 From: FSThomas Subject: Crap Just watching the news and seeing the footage of the newest NYC crash. Any NYC Fegs live on the Upper East Side? - -f. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 14:23:28 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: re wealth and inheritance Latest Forbes 400: < http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_The-400-Richest-Americans_land.html >. Percentage of those listed who inherited much of their wealth (according to Nicholas Von Hoffman): 40% . - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 14:25:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Reap/Re: Crap MLB Pitcher Cory Lidle http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2621860 FSThomas wrote: > Just watching the news and seeing the footage of the > newest NYC crash. > > Any NYC Fegs live on the Upper East Side? "The fact that the public in general does not understand and appreciate the best things is the reason people like me get famous." -- Johannes Brahms . Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 23:14:43 +0100 From: "Stewart Russell" Subject: Re: Ole Tarantula on vinyl Gene Hopstetter Jr. wrote: > > But I warn you; if you hear a good system, you'll probably want one. Nah; it's only confirmation bias. I shared a house with a full Linn system (~$15000 worth) once, and the snap, crackle and pop came out with perfect fidelity. Stewart - -- http://scruss.com/blog/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:59:59 -0400 From: "m swedene" Subject: Re: Crap i am in hell's kitchen but have fielded many calls to check on me since I moved here last week. Anyone in the city going to catch Robyn? Frank Black? Mike On 10/11/06, FSThomas wrote: > Just watching the news and seeing the footage of the newest NYC crash. > > Any NYC Fegs live on the Upper East Side? > > -f. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:30:25 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! http://tinyurl.com/kz8xh If there is one song that could make me kill, this is it. - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:39:27 -0700 From: "Marc Alberts" Subject: RE: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! Tom Clark wrote: > http://tinyurl.com/kz8xh > > If there is one song that could make me kill, this is it. I'm not sure what would be worse--every song the same horrible song, or alternating that song with one or two or three good songs (make it random so you can't steel yourself) and having to listen to that unholy milange for 24 hours. I'm thinking that the latter would hurt more. In either case, if the next song after several straight Starship specials was "That's When I Reach for my Revolver," I probably would. Marc ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:53:32 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! Marc Alberts wrote: >> http://tinyurl.com/kz8xh >> >> If there is one song that could make me kill, this is it. > > I'm not sure what would be worse--every song the same horrible > song, or > alternating that song with one or two or three good songs (make it > random so > you can't steel yourself) and having to listen to that unholy > milange for 24 > hours. I'm thinking that the latter would hurt more. > > In either case, if the next song after several straight Starship > specials > was "That's When I Reach for my Revolver," I probably would. Wiseblood's "Death Rape 2000" for a day would make almost anyone take a life. ;) Hey, that album "Future Women" by the M's is quite enjoyable. No innovations whatsoever, but enjoyable all the same. Especially for NMH fans. Someone hear said he was friends with the band or something...? Eb ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 19:10:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! Tom Clark wrote: > http://tinyurl.com/kz8xh > > If there is one song that could make me kill, this > is it. I couldn't stand listening to a song I loved for 24 hours straight.... "The fact that the public in general does not understand and appreciate the best things is the reason people like me get famous." -- Johannes Brahms . Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 19:16:14 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! Eb wrote: > Someone hear said he was friends with the band or something...? Ohmigod, I can't believe I made that goof. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:23:50 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! On 10/11/06, Jeff Dwarf wrote: > > Tom Clark wrote: > > http://tinyurl.com/kz8xh > > > > If there is one song that could make me kill, this > > is it. > > I couldn't stand listening to a song I loved for 24 > hours straight.... Not even John Cage's 4'33"? - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 19:45:38 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: We built this city on...AAAAAGH! 2fs wrote: > Jeff Dwarf wrote: > > Tom Clark wrote: > > > http://tinyurl.com/kz8xh > > > > > > If there is one song that could make me kill, > > > this is it. > > > > I couldn't stand listening to a song I loved for > > 24 hours straight.... > > > Not even John Cage's 4'33"? Who said I loved "4'33""? "The fact that the public in general does not understand and appreciate the best things is the reason people like me get famous." -- Johannes Brahms . Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 00:32:14 -0400 From: "ken ostrander" Subject: re: deja vu thoth >> hey, what's with the quotes? > >Because Kwazy Eddie likes to sign posts under your name, and I still >don't know what the fruck is up with that. regardless, you can see what email address the message came from. >> actually, my irritation came from your attitude about rex's loose >> standards for comparison with _sister lovers_ and the long list of >>albums that resulted when you have seen fit to list scores of >> albums with >> no connection between them except that they were suggested to you by >> amazon. i don't mind that you posted ("barfed") them; it was the >> double >> standard you demonstrated after the fact. > >WTF? One has nothing to do with the other. everything is connected. as i see it, the crux of your disagreement with rex ("one set of criteria asserts that a large number of albums are similar to a notoriously unusual album...another set doesn't") devolved into ugliness when you tried to assert that his opinions were somehow invalid and childish. for me, your complaints about his (unacceptably) large list smacked of hypocrisy when you have submitted many large lists. that is all. >Oh well, at least you >didn't perceive those listed albums as a threat against your children. that doesn't mean i'm going to ask you to babysit. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 22:11:46 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: deja vu thoth ken ostrander wrote: >> WTF? One has nothing to do with the other. >> everything is > connected. as i see it, the crux of your disagreement with rex > ("one set > of criteria asserts that a large number of albums are similar to a > notoriously unusual album...another set doesn't") devolved into > ugliness > when you tried to assert that his opinions were somehow invalid and > childish. for me, your complaints about his (unacceptably) large list > smacked of hypocrisy when you have submitted many large lists. > that is > all. This is an astoundingly numbskulled point. The objection was not to posting a large list, but to using loose criteria which ENABLED said large list. CHRIST. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 01:13:04 -0400 From: "ken ostrander" Subject: re: don't expect not to be scratched >>>>>i certainly have to admit that there's a nostalgic quality to my >> preference for my rekkids. you can really appreciate the cover >>artwork and display it on the mantle or the wall. printing out a >> scanned image doesn't compare in my mind. > >For a while I would buy 25-cent yardsale records that I had first >bought on CD, just so I could see what the hell the cover art actually *was*... >"The Basement Tapes" is probably the best example, but there's just really a >great divide between the point where graphic designers started to >contend with the smaller area, and the miniaturized versions of images which >are clearly meant to be four times larger. <<<< it is a real thrill to find someone unloading boxes or records. i had a friend who used to go out on trash night and find all sorts of things. whenever he found records he'd give them to me. of course, some of them were kind of smelly; so you have to cut your losses, lest the funk infest the rest. i picked up a really beat up copy of _eat a peach_ for the trippy inside fold. for me, _nighthawks at the diner_ that really needs the larger size in order to see that someone is slipping tommy a mickey. the idea that there's a whole generation of kids who don't know about albums or that the cover art might not translate into the larger format is very strange. gawd, when i was in college i used to use a typewriter. do they even make those any more? >There are also any number of CD packages that are intricately folded; again, >the large scale of LPs would make unfolding them rather impractical, in that >they'd take up several square feet <<<< pearl jam likes to do that with their vinyl editions. it takes a while to find the actual record and then it takes a while to figure out how to fold it back together. >it took designers a while to work it out, just like it took engineers >a while to come to grips with the specs of recording the things (and >shortly after doing so, they seem to have become obsessed with >compressing and jacking up the levels on the things to the point where >a lot of 'em sound crappy again, just louder). <<<< it's such a delicate balance with tweaking the production and over-producing. the kingsmen recorded 'louie louie' with a single microphone and now there is so much that can be done. it takes a lot of restraint these days to leave it alone and let the music speak for itself. i wonder if some lo-fi stalwarts stick with that sound because it's just what they're used to working with. >Lifestyle enters into it, too: I just don't have the time and space >at home to "listen intently" like I (pretend that I was) >once able to, so music immersion is catch-as-catch-can.<<<< i'm always doing something else while listening to music. i usually am playing with my daughter in the basement and making sure that she doesn't try to climb the shelves with records and cds. the car seems to be the best place to really listen, though if you're riding with anyone, then conversation is a distraction. > I warn you; if you hear a good system, you'll probably want one.<<<< and if someone with a good system heard my crappy basement stereo setup, they'd probably want to cry. ken "when the world is running down, you make the best of what's still around" the kenster ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V15 #241 ********************************