Eliminator Jr.

Thanks! I'm eager to hear other people's thoughts on it, so feel free to report what you think.

It definitely is. Got his autobiography (in lack of a better word, since its not really a biography) for Christmas, so that's the next one on my list. I'm mostly looking forward to giving 1Q84 a 2nd go. I loved it so much that I read both books in three days and been in a state of trance for a good week after.

Already got my hands on a copy of William Basinski's new album A Shadow In Time. I'm very much looking forward to spending a lot of time with in the next couple weeks, but after three consecutive listens both intently and somewhat distracted, it seems to be kind of a mixed bag, so far. Side A is, well, perfect, really. A 17-minute slowburner, as bleak as it is mournful and full of richly detailed sonic variety. I'm sensing a prerecorded loop somewhere below the surface, but it hardly gets to the front, if ever. It cerntainly is an ever evolving piece, slowly disintegrating and, eventually, fading, but there's a lot of progression going on in the details, making the title track an instant favorite of his body work. Side B is a somewhat different monster. It starts out as a classic Basinski-loop that inevitably reminds me of his work in The Disintegration Loops. It's crushingly beautiful, with a melancholic fanfare-like feel to it reminiscent to D|P1. Without hyperbole I could listen to this loop on repeat for days. Yet, Basinski planned to do things somewhat differently this time around. Around six minutes in a rather hideous saxophone-sample takes the stage, starting out as pleasing and surprising Badalamenti/Lynch-improvisation, but evolving into an atonal mess, getting louder and more center for ten minutes, before slowly crumbling to dust with the rest of the piece. Surely I'm not set on this opinion, as I have to spend more time with it, but right now I'm pretty much baffled about Basinski's decision to sabotage the piece's melancholy edge and take it down an experimental, almost jazzy path. It's great, kind of, but I'm having a hard time getting over the fact that the loop's sublime beauty is subverted by that shaky saxophone cut. Nonetheless, this is far from a disappointment. As much as Basinski's art is a 'hate it or love it'-affair, it's a very welcome breath of fresh air to hear something genuinely new going on in his music. I think I'll be content with the path the second song takes, since almost all of his work until now is full of his trademark knack for melancholy and beauty. Abrasiveness is an attribute I never would've thought to attach to this record, but I'm more than happy with Basinski adding new words to his dictionary.

That's seriously great news. Just read 'When The Wind Blows' for the very first time and plan on rereading all his other novels this year. My favorite author of all time? Pretty much.

I had no idea how much I've been craving for new UN. 32 seconds later, I do.

Gotta love how the guy who's new album I preordered along with this twitters about this album I just preordered.

Hooper it is. Not huge on live albums in general, but this is a Converge release after all, so I can be sure it's gonna be recorded, mastered and put together the best way possible.

@Gumbo72203 Since you talk about 33/45 switches, the Debut series doesn't have one. You'll need to remove the platter and change the belt manually. I think the Debut series is a great 'bang for the buck, no bs'-affair. Sounds great, easily upgradable (the Ortofon 2m blue is miles above the red, which is pretty great by itself) and devoid of any gimmicks. As long as you don't plan to take your tt to the club, stay away from the at. As @Freki pointed out, it has features you don't need in hifi, but still pay for.

I did just now. I know there's plenty of talk about how extraordinarily bad the recent PIAS reissues are supposed to be, but most of that is via discogs, so it can easily be neglected. I bought all the reissues and didn't have a single dud. None of them, safe for Gore Motel which is not part of the PIAS reissue campaign, are fantastic, but they all sound very good. Geisterfaust is my personal favorite of the bunch, pressing-wise (nothing'll ever beat Sunset Mission). It's completely devoid of any noise, pop, clicks, you name it, and very rich in sonic variety. Now someone one give us the opportunity to cross Midnight Radio off our wantlists.

@tvham It's custom made! Got a cheap white shelf at the hardware store, cut into the right dimensions, and a couple furniture feet from ikea. Cost less than $10! @JRHews Ugh, don't even get me started.. I'm living in a pre-war house and the floors are slanted beyond belief. I spent hours to level everything, but still mounted it all to the walls, to be sure. Also put loads of cardboard below the 4x4 to make sure it's not going anywhere..

@andysrobbins Thank you! The picture ledges are basic IKEA furniture. Here you go: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90292103/

Spent the last couple days remodeling my office / record listening / storage area. Still a couple smaller things to do, like waiting for my 7" wooden boxes, new speakers and a couple more frames to arrive, but this is pretty much it. vis à vis:

I had one in my cart, but then realized that I neither have the equipment to play it, nor that I want to change that anytime soon. Still excited for everyone who's excited about this. There's some great songs on here.

Even the bands you like think you should get a half decent table first.

Up on black or white. Definitely waiting for black retail to pop up and save $20 on shipping.

Well, I'm utterly excited.

My favorite records/songs of 2016. For some fancy pants pics of my top ten, this way -> instagram.com/eliminator.jr LPs: 10. Oathbreaker. rheia 09. Mamiffer. the world unseen 08. Russian Circles. guidance 07. Wreck and Reference. indifferent rivers romance end 06. David Bowie. blackstar 05. Xiu Xiu. plays the music of twin peaks While staying true to the original on the vocal-driven tracks, Xiu Xiu truly make the music of Twin Peaks their own on the jazz and ambient oriented themes of the score. It's not just a modern take on these songs, but there are plenty twisted and sometimes terrifying interpretations, intensifying the feeling of dread and drowsiness the originals so eloquently convey. A deferent homage to the greatest soundtrack of all time and a wholly enjoyable, ambitious and impressive album on its own. 04. Bon Iver. 22, a million It took me some effort to find the songs behind all the mess on this records, but as soon as I had found them they outshone all the filth and autotuned mindfuckery Justin Vernon piled up on them to hide their beauty from everyone who isn't willing to dig deep enough. I get people who liked his first records and hate this one, but to me it's just as good and represents Justin at the peak of his art. 03. The Hotelier. goodness This album really took me by surprise. I thought Home Like NoPlace Is There was a good enough record, but not the modern 17th wave emo-classic young, good looking people everywhere made it out to be. Goodness, though, is. Soft Animal, Piano Player and Two Deliverances are, among other highlights of this record, of which there are plenty, some of the best straight up rock songs of this year and all of them hit almost too close to home on an emotional level. A heartfelt record about growing older, seeking happiness in everyday life and being at ease with the fact that things are tough and always will be. 02. 40 Watt Sun. wider than the sky Patrick Walker's voice carries the weight of the world. His first classic, Warning's Watching From A Distance, is one of the most emotionally crushing doom albums of all time and he continues to paint his elaborate, miles deep and all-black pictures with 40 Watt Sun. For the first time, though, he got rid of the doom, replaced the fuzz with clean electric and some acoustic guitars and plays his 10+ minutes epics as if nothing changed at all. This is slowcore, but slowed down. It's doom light, but heavier than ever. Thrown into the abyss of eternal sorrow and regret. 01. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. skeleton tree Nick Cave spent his entire career writing songs about love and death, the sorrow, despair. The fear of god and redemption, if it may ever come. His protagonists were murderers, lovers, people both deceitful and deceased. On Skeleton Tree, there is no story to tell. No protagonist. No dramatic purpose. Actually, no purpose at all. What is the purpose when the one you love is gone? Nick Cave doesn't tell, because he doesn't know. This record is the possibly greatest storyteller of our time, lost for words, with nothing left to say. And I wept. Songs: Grouper. headache The Hotelier. soft animal 40 Watt Sun. stages Bon Iver. 8 circle Radiohead. true love waits Nothing. acd Deftones. rubicon Nine Inch Nails. burning bright (field on fire) Swans. cloud of unknowing Boris. sometimes

Fuck it, headache is way beyond beautiful and I can see both of these songs vanish forever apart from this stupid 7". Bought via boomkat.

Not interested in buying 7"s, but damn these songs are gorgeous.

@coreystevens88 I'm nowhere near as competent as Matt in giving sound advice on this subject matter (who is, really), but I've heard nothing but good things about last years black 4th press and also own a copy myself that's treating me very well.

Weekend bump. Buy this dudes stuff.

I'll fistfight anyone who tries to cheap my brother out of his Codeine box set.

Oh goody. I'm holding the holy six in almost equally high regards, but I'll play: S/T Master of Reality Vol. 4 Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath Sabotage Paranoid . . . Technical Ecstasy Never Say Die

@adogg As already stated above, I'm perfectly happy with my copy. Keeping in mind that what's heard in the link you've posted is actually considered bad by people, there's a slight possibility that my copy sounds worse. I mean, I'm not sitting in front of the TT counting clicks per minute, because there's just no point in doing so. Records do click, they do pop, no matter what you do about it. I wet clean all my records after purchase und give them a thorough dry clean with the MoFi brush right before playing. Some are dead quiet, some are noisy, yes, but even perfectly clean, quiet records pop here and there as long as you don't play them in a sterile vacuum or something. So, to answer your question as truthfully as I possibly can, I think my copy sounds fucking amazing, others might think it's horrible, but I'm sure as all not putting a WAV of it online for the sake of comparison. It's a matter of the recipients mindset; that, and basic knowledge/understanding of what's causing records to pop. I mean, people have different expectations/opinions when buying and listening to a record and I'm perfectly fine with that. There's people with way better set-ups and cleaning devices out there who might think I'm full of shit and that's great. Though, I do get riled up just a little bit about that special breed of people complaining about fucking everything on discogs or whatever. It's such a waste of time/energy/resources for everyone to make wholly subjective, derogative assumptions about perfectly fine product and have people return it to record stores over nothing.

Who on earth would consider those few minor clicks as bad? Anyone who does should stick to CD/MP3, since they seem to lack basic knowledge about what's actually happening while playing a record. I'm not losing sleep about it, but it sure does irk me that people return perfectly good LPs because they don't have any idea what they're doing. @adogg rant is not directed towards you, personally, just a general observation.