The Pro-Ject turntable is officially mine.

[Swish]

I pulled the trigger last night and will have it in about 3 or 4 days I suppose. Thanks to all for you help on this purchase. My final price with shipping was about $230, so I did pretty well on a very slightly use model. This will hopefully be the final step in my return to vinyl, but this is Swish I'm talking about, so stay tuned.

Swish - geezer with technical issues

[JohnMichael]

Congratulations on the new turntable.

[Swish]

Congratulations on the new turntable.

Now let's see if I can set it up properly when it arrives. I'll have you on stand-by just in case.

Swish - mechanically challenged.

[bobsticks]

Congrats on the new toy Swishy. I've looked at that model myself and it's a winner. I'll be interested to see if just having the Pro-ject takes you on any out-of-the-way musical journeys.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Congratulations Swish - $230. sounds like a very good deal. I think Pro-ject has taken over as THE budget turntable company. Welcome back and hopefully you can stay off that upgrade merry-go-round.

[Davey]

Just going into a well stocked indie record store, you're bound to be overwhelmed with all the great music on vinyl now available to you, some of it so so much better sounding than what they put out on the CD. And once you get it setup right with a good cartridge, you're sure to be blown away just by playing some of your old favorites, maybe by finding a mint original copy of something easy like Remain In Light for a few bucks, or Mink DeVille's Cabretta, or a million others like Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend. Or one you've never heard before. But if you are itching for something without any fingerprints on the record, or pot seeds in the gatefold, might I recommend this 45 rpm 2-LP 180 gm set of the John Vanderslice "Pixel Revolt" that I've been obsessed with lately. A bit pricey at $21 retail from Barsuk, but for recent fans of Augie March and the Shins and Decemberists, this has gotta be a cinch, and besides you probably toss out more than that just for beer during lunch. Analog delight. Straight from the 1/2 inch tapes. Yea, I'm talking out my ass cause I only have the CD, but that doesn't mean I'm dumb - just put in my order

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http://www.avguide.com/private/tas/1..._ear_music.pdf

John Vanderslice: Pixel Revolt.
Vanderslice and Scott Solter, producers.
Barsuk 44 (two 180-gram LPs; also available on CD).

John Vanderslice is an analog fanatic to the point of 86ing the ProTools rig from his old-school Tiny Telephone recording studio in San Francisco, stockpiling tape in his apartment during the Quantegy crisis, and beseeching his label to issue this, his fifth and best album, on 180-gram vinyl (500 numbered, double-gatefold LPs sold out in six days). So you can be sure Pixel Revolt sounds great, as deep and detailed as any pop record in recent memory. More importantly, Vanderslice exploits technology for profoundly human ends: The obsessive placement of meticulously orchestrated sound well serves brilliantly conceived and realized songs that explore left-field themes (a star-struck stalker, a wounded soldier losing his sense of mission in Iraq, an escaped pet bunny, a journalist’s encounter with an Iraqi hooker, a detective who suspects his colleague is a serial murderer, and more) in sometimes metaphorical, sometimes literal language. A film buff as well as guitarist, keyboardist, and affectingly sweet and vulnerable vocalist, Vanderslice understands how even auteurs rely on collaboration. For Pixel Revolt, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats helped with the lyrics, David Berman of Silver Jews came up with some titles, and avant-jazz cellist Erik Friedlander did the string arrangements. Vanderslice’s musical alter-ego Scott Solter took care of abundant miscellany — E-bowed guitar, tape manipulation, organ, vibraphone, hand drums, Wurlitzer, church bells, “sky saw” guitar — that helps make Pixel Revolt feel as classic as David Bowie’s Hunky Dory or Eno and Fripp’s Another Green World, while more than measuring up to hip contemporary standards.

[Swish]

and besides you probably toss out more than that just for beer during lunch. Analog delight. Straight from the 1/2 inch tapes. Yea, I'm talking out my ass cause I only have the CD, but that doesn't mean I'm dumb - just put in my order

...with something fresh, like my quip on the 'What's your favorite Sousa tune' thread. What? You didn't see it? Well, I can tell you it's a Carson classic.

I'll be on the lookout for Vanderslice, but my pockets aren't as deep as they once were. Well, I still got some WAM so I can sure buy me some vinyl here and there.

Swish Baby

[Davey]

You already used the 'beer for lunch' line, so come up with something fresh

Aren't you the same old memory challenged geezer who sent me two copies of the same DVD in the course of a coupla weeks or so? How'd I know you'd remember a silly beer joke for more than a few weeks?

hehehe, comin round the mountain, that's funny ... well, not really funny, but kinda cute.

NP: This Year's Girl from the original Demon CD. So many remasters and the UK original is still probably the best sounding of the bunch. If you get a chance, track down an original UK vinyl copy of This Year's Model to be really knocked out. Nice sounding LP, at least compared to what we got here. The Demon CD even sounds nice playing on my notebook, though you really have to crank it all the way up. Nice and dynamic, mastered pretty low. The early Costello releases weren't done very well over here by Columbia on vinyl or CD, though to be honest they aren't exactly audiophile stuff even when done right. By the time of Trust, they were sounding pretty nice though.

[bobsticks]

Aren't you the same old memory challenged geezer who sent me two copies of the same DVD in the course of a coupla weeks or so? How'd I know you'd remember a silly beer joke for more than a few weeks?

hehehe, comin round the mountain, that's funny ... well, not really funny, but kinda cute.

Jah, ol' Swishy is playin' it cool now but who knew the whole Sousa thing was a joke? I figgered he had some kinda light beer/dark beer crossover incident at breakfast and never really recovered for the day.

For whatever part my regrettable Sousa/salsa thing played in bringing about Swishdaddy's "trip" down memory lame I apologize to the group and the internet as a whole.

[Davey]

I figgered he had some kinda light beer/dark beer crossover incident at breakfast and never really recovered for the day.

Yea, you shouldn't mix beer and Cheerios unless recommended by your neighborhood pharmacist. He's got a thing for those nutty oat brown ales. And trying to relive the long bygone college years. But I think it does fight cholesterol. "You wouldn't have any groat clusters I could nibble on..."

[Slosh]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.avguide.com/private/tas/1..._ear_music.pdf

John Vanderslice: Pixel Revolt.
Vanderslice and Scott Solter, producers.
Barsuk 44 (two 180-gram LPs; also available on CD).

John Vanderslice is an analog fanatic to the point of 86ing the ProTools rig from his old-school Tiny Telephone recording studio in San Francisco, stockpiling tape in his apartment during the Quantegy crisis, and beseeching his label to issue this, his fifth and best album, on 180-gram vinyl (500 numbered, double-gatefold LPs sold out in six days). So you can be sure Pixel Revolt sounds great, as deep and detailed as any pop record in recent memory. More importantly, Vanderslice exploits technology for profoundly human ends: The obsessive placement of meticulously orchestrated sound well serves brilliantly conceived and realized songs that explore left-field themes (a star-struck stalker, a wounded soldier losing his sense of mission in Iraq, an escaped pet bunny, a journalist’s encounter with an Iraqi hooker, a detective who suspects his colleague is a serial murderer, and more) in sometimes metaphorical, sometimes literal language. A film buff as well as guitarist, keyboardist, and affectingly sweet and vulnerable vocalist, Vanderslice understands how even auteurs rely on collaboration. For Pixel Revolt, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats helped with the lyrics, David Berman of Silver Jews came up with some titles, and avant-jazz cellist Erik Friedlander did the string arrangements. Vanderslice’s musical alter-ego Scott Solter took care of abundant miscellany — E-bowed guitar, tape manipulation, organ, vibraphone, hand drums, Wurlitzer, church bells, “sky saw” guitar — that helps make Pixel Revolt feel as classic as David Bowie’s Hunky Dory or Eno and Fripp’s Another Green World, while more than measuring up to hip contemporary standards.

Hey, this is good stuff. Just snagged Pixel Revolt and Emerald City. So how come you never talked about this before?

BTW, why was the Narrow Stairs thread deleted. Davey the new YECH or something?

NP:

[Swish]

Yea, you shouldn't mix beer and Cheerios unless recommended by your neighborhood pharmacist. He's got a thing for those nutty oat brown ales. And trying to relive the long bygone college years. But I think it does fight cholesterol. "You wouldn't have any groat clusters I could nibble on..."

...Cheerios in the cupboard and beer in the fridge. Who told you I went to college? I guess my deep educational background comes shining through my random posts.

Swish - shaken, not stirred

[Davey]

Hey, this is good stuff. Just snagged Pixel Revolt and Emerald City. So how come you never talked about this before?

BTW, why was the Narrow Stairs thread deleted. Davey the new YECH or something?

NP:

We used to talk about JV back in the Fourtracker days. Rae was a big fan, and I think he turned up on one of our early Current Rotation Sampler comps. Maybe Stone too. I think Dusty Chalk got in the game. Tentoze too? Maybe you just weren't paying attention. I haven't got anything since Pixel Revolt, so keep me posted on the Emerald City. We've talked about him as producer of the Mountain Goats stuff, and probably mentioned him in Spoon talk, but sure, Pixel Revolt deserves more talk on its own. That's why I'm here. Better late than never. I probably didn't get it until after the year was over, and we used to get kind of tied up in the best of the year type discussions so some records get lost. My recent renewed interest was somewhat triggered by a discussion with a guy on the Head-Fi board, an now I just can't get enough of it.

I think Todd deleted his own thread. You must've said something offensive, couldn't have been me. I'm too nice. But I did pm him with an apology for derailing his thread anyway

BTW, Narrow Stairs does seem to be getting some very good reviews, with the expected exception of a coupla the major indie sites. Most really like it.

[Jim Clark]

Hey, this is good stuff. Just snagged Pixel Revolt and Emerald City. So how come you never talked about this before?

BTW, why was the Narrow Stairs thread deleted. Davey the new YECH or something?

NP:

Can't believe you guys are just coming around to this album. I put "Continuation" (the serial killer cop song) on my year end comp in, what was it? 2006? AMG says it was released in 2005 put surely it wasn't that long ago. I know I grabbed it from the new release bin at the record store the week it came out. It was highly rec'd by the store owner.

I'll live with my lowly CD copy though. Not a huge fan but I do enjoy the album occasionally.

jc

[Slosh]

Can't believe you guys are just coming around to this album. I put "Continuation" (the serial killer cop song) on my year end comp in, what was it? 2006? AMG says it was released in 2005 put surely it wasn't that long ago. I know I grabbed it from the new release bin at the record store the week it came out. It was highly rec'd by the store owner.

I'll live with my lowly CD copy though. Not a huge fan but I do enjoy the album occasionally.

jc

Must have been 2005 'cause I have your 2006 YEC right here (NP, in fact) and it's not there.

[Davey]

Must have been 2005 'cause I have your 2006 YEC right here (NP, in fact) and it's not there.

Yea, probably, I have an advance promo copy of Pixel Revolt and it says release date: aug 23, 2005. Of course, as we are seeing with his 2007 YEC, he might not have put out the 2005 until sometime in the middle of 2006, so it all gets kind of confusing

Glad the Resident Genius isn't one of those over-sensitive types who get all bent out of shape when their thread is slightly diverted