The Endorsement: Paste Magazine

I have a few magazine subscriptions, my wife gets them free for taking surveys or something. I don't know, I don't ask, I just enjoy reading Golf Digest, Esquire, and Paste. Paste is a music/movie/game/book review monthly. The best thing about paste is the mix disc they send with each copy. You get brand new music from undiscovered up-and-comers, and established acts, about 17-20 tracks each month.

My March edition just showed up and guess who's on the CD? My #1 Woman of Rock Juliana Hatfield with a new song called Dear Anonymous. How cool is that? I was just talking about her and here she is in my mailbox. So I recommend you check out Paste. What magazines do you get in the mail?

Snap, Crackle, and Pop

I still enjoy listening to records. I am not a know-it-all audiophile who insists that vinyl sounds better then cds. That argument usually has something to do with sample rates; sound is a wave, analog equipment (represented below in grey) perfectly reproduces the wave, but digital audio (red) is only a rapid series of samples and your brain fills in the rest.

I don't care about that, and modern digital equipment uses such high bit rates that anyone who claims to be able to hear the difference is simply lying. No, I like listening to records because my parents listened to records. My grandparents listened to records. There's a sense or nostalgia involved with carefully placing the record on the turntable, inspecting the needle for dust, before gently setting it into the grooves, and listening to the hisses and pops until the music rises above the noise floor.

I haven't taken a head count in a while, but I think I have 40 or 50 albums.

My collection includes:

Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow

rare first pressing found at a local record shop $8

Linda Ronstadt with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra

thrift store $1 cheap

Rob Zombie - Dragula 7" 45 rpm

this was part of a promotional display at a music shop and was not for sale

Billy Joel - 52nd Street

white label promo copy for radio DJs $11 local record store

The Marx Brothers

family heirloom

Neil Young - Decade

3 disc greatest hits of early work $4 garage sale

Along with lots of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Van Halen, and Jimi Hendrix. I'm currently bidding on Fleetwood Mac - Rumors, and John & Yoko - Plastic Ono Band on Ebay. I like records because they are severely undervalued. Even now with downloading as the most common way to get new music, CDs cost an astonishing $17-$20!!! The most expensive record in my collection was maybe $12 and most were $2-$5.

The pops and crackles that flank the 12 minutes of music are almost as magical as the music itself. It's such a soothing sound. You can't get that from an iPod. But then again, you can't put a turntable in your pocket and jog around the block.

The Endorsement: Let It Be... Naked

Long before he was convicted, Phil Spector was a murderer. He slaughtered hundreds of healthy young pop songs with his "Wall of Sound." I, for one, am relieved that this monster has finally been brought to justice. One victim who finally received reparations is the Beatles album Let It Be. The Fab Four set out to make a simple record, a snap shot of a live performance, without all of the multi-tracked, overdubbed trappings of Sgt Peppers or the White Album. They tried to capture the raw sound of 4 musicians playing together in the same room.

However, by this point in their career they could hardly stand to be in the same room. When the recording was finished, none of them could bear the burden of the final mix. So they turned the miles of tape over to producer Phil Spector. Like an Iron Chef competitor Phil chopped, diced, mixed, mastered, blended in orchestras, and folded in choirs until the original vision for an album whose name means "leave it alone" was completely obstructed.

Finally, just a few years ago Sir Paul could stomach it no more, went back to Abbey Road and remixed to the original intent. "The Long and Winding Road" and "Let It Be" are the most significant changes. Those songs sounds great now. The whole album is alive and breathes, and the new track order flows better. If you haven't heard this yet, check it out. I think you'll find it refreshing.

The Endorsement: Classic Album Series

I have now seen several episodes of this documentary series and highly recommend it to you. They play on VH1 sometimes and many are available from Netflix. They usually feature the artist and producers sitting at the console playing back each song from the album. As they discuss the production of a particular song they'll solo certain tracks to highlight something you might not have otherwise noticed. It's a unique behind the scenes look and you should check it out.