Sidney Crosley

If this is spam, then maybe I've been missing something all along....very drool-worthy stuff!

Well this made my day much sadder: https://www.junerecords.com/pages/all-things-must-pass-june-records-on-662-college-street-will-be-closing?fbclid=IwAR0ygQvLN94oXQaObW-aG7TheQvfzLf1_Ceg5jet3TCBu1L83Z2ksFBjb5Q So bummed. Ever since Criminal Records closed, June has been my favourite store in Toronto. Friendliest staff, best prices on used vinyl even if the selection was (likely intentionally) small. Such a good place for all kinds of non pop/rock/indie music, and they definitely steered me towards some amazing Brazilian and other reissue stuff. I'm hoping they can relocate and keep up the similar approach....

In no particular order: Fontaines DC - Dogrel Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising Josh Ritter - Fever Breaks Jake Xerxes Fussell - Out of Sight jury's still out on National, Lizzo, Pup, some others.

So excited for this one. Has become one of my top artists over the past couple of years, and finally going to see him live in Toronto this November. New song is excellent.

I'm a big NAD fan. I have a C388 and it is a solid piece of equipment. I'm not sure if this will be the same on the 3020, but I find the phono input slightly quieter than the digital input on my amp - might just be the way mine is constructed. Not a huge deal, but worth checking if the same thing happens on the 3020

I did exactly this for a bad music blog in the 90s. Edit: It was Angelfire. And it still exists in all its Comic Sans horror: http://www.angelfire.com/on2/SmellyFishZine/

Will you review my new band’s album? We are called S S A A A N N D D. We are a noise/vapourwave band that releases all of our works on actual sandpaper. HMU and I’ll send you a copy. Fair warning, it will damage both your ears and needle.

I don’t know much about powered speakers but Edifier is a decent company. One of the things to think about if you’re going the route of powered speakers (and many do as their first setup) is that if you want to upgrade, most decent speakers about $500 are not active, which will mean you’ll need an amplifier. Depending on how flexible your budget is, and your willingness to buy used, consider picking up an amplifier with a phono input and passive speakers. There are some very amazing passive speakers in the $200-300 range, less if used. There are also lots of amplifiers for about $300 used that will last for a long time and likely not need to be replaced too quickly. Marantz PM5005 is new for $500 and likely used for $300ish, and that will not need to be quickly replaced. If you’re going passive, there are tons of speakers like the ones from Q Acoustics or Wharfedale Diamond that pack a solid punch in the $200+ range.

The good news is you can get some very decent phono preamps around $100. Schiit Mani will be pretty ideal for your needs. There are a ton of phono preamps around $100 that will also do the job - relatively straightforward RIAA line level stuff. If you don't go too much cheaper than the $100 pricepoint, you're okay (skip the weird extra-cheap stuff on Amazon). You'll need active speakers. They seem to be all the rage these days, so there are plenty on the market. Where are you located? That could help us figure out what might be available.

Recently made considerable upgrades to my work setup, as I find it's the place where I listen to music most frequently. No vinyl, but a pretty serious headphone setup that I'm very happy with: ZMF Eikon Cherry headphones, ALO Green Line headphone Cable Auralic Taurus MK II Headphone Amplifier Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC

Been on the lookout for the Brazil Classics 3LP box. It was limited to 1000 and SRP $30 in the US, which is actually a fantastic price for a great comp. Striking out everywhere so far. If anyone comes across a store with it, let me know, especially if that store is in Canada!

Took Prine Tribute and Isbell Live. Thanks!

Some great points Alex. I generally agree with what you're saying. I like streaming as a process, but absolutely see the issues with it. I love sites like Bandcamp for its immediacy to artists, but not nearly enough artists are on there. I've also found that on Bandcamp, I will gladly pay $5 for a free/name your price album, but will balk when they charge $10 (I'm not sure why. I just do...). I love that book you linked to - Do Not Sell At Any Price is both a great read and very relevant to the way that 'timeless' music is found, but also the hierarchy of historical blues is created to establish worth for the exceptionally rare records. Further reading how the music industry works and what it has become (one of my favourite topics): David Byrne - How Music Works. Sort of autobiographical about his music and how money is made from the perspective of a successful artist. It was written in 2012, and unfortunately doesn't address the shift to streaming (it sort of ends with artists selling their own things on webstores and such, and iTunes). I'd be curious to hear Byrne's thoughts on it. Stephen Witt - How Music Got Free - there's a fantastic article from a few years ago about the one guy in a CD pressing plant responsible for some of the biggest music leaks of the 90s, and its impact on the industry. This book takes it further. It traces the history of mp3s, and how pirated music affected the industry, and quite frankly, how stupid and unprepared the industry was. The industry has always been terrible, but their utter inability to adapt or even acknowledge digital music until it utterly destroyed their model makes me feel a lot less sympathy for the major labels. I'm pretty sure What, Oink, and Waffles all get a shout-out in the book. David Hajdu - Love For Sale: Pop Music in America - talks a lot about how popular music is disseminated, how that has changed over time, and how it works in the modern era. I honestly think that as shitty as streaming is as far as making money for artists, the record labels are still completely clueless as to where this is all going moving forward. Even 20ish years ago the only way to hear a song you didn't own was to hear it on the radio, or tape it off someone else who had it. There is a significant generation of people who don't understand the idea of not being able to hear something immediately, which in itself is fascinating.

Back on topic, RSD Canada has a 3LP release from Sonic Unyon called Now We Are 25. Looks really cool. Has anyone seen a full tracklist?

I've started listening to a lot more digital over records in the past few years, in part because I listen to music on high end headphones about 75% of the time (at work and home). I'm the type of person that is extra enticed by a lossless download that comes with a record, or an option to buy from Bandcamp. For the past few years I've been collecting the highest res downloads I can find from places like What, Apollo, open Torrent sites. And then I got a deal for Tidal (this year I'm paying $12 CD/month rather than $20). And honestly, it's just so much fucking easier. I actually loathe Tidal's UI in comparison to Spotify (for whatever reason, even though much of the music is the same, looking at an artist's discography often has like 5 multiples of the same album on Tidal). I can definitely tell the difference between Tidal Hifi and Spotify at 320. MQA is still sort of a work in progress - at work I use my work laptop so I can get somewhat higher than CD quality for certain albums, and my new amplifier has an add-in module that is MQA friendly, which means up to 192-24 hi res for some albums. It is frustrating when an album isn't on streaming services, and there isn't an easy way to download (even legally at times), but honestly, since I joined Tidal, I've found there's been little reason to need a site like What/Apollo/etc.

https://www.dinealonestore.com/products/thrush-hermit-clayton-park-2lp PS - @unknown pleasures if you're coming to Toronto, I can order you an extra one and hold it until you come.

Thanks! Was a funny last week - I think both of our teams underperformed compared to previous weeks. I had goalies play 7 or 8 games with only 2 wins compared to 4 shut outs two weeks ago.... Great season everyone!

It’s on @mesi! Good luck!

Thank you. I took this one.

Check the belt - make sure it's on smoothly? Could be turning inconsistently, causing the jumps. Probably not it, but worth checking...

Nope. They value everything at $1 each so no duties. Shocked the hell outta me because I thought you’re not allowed to do that....not complaining. Sometimes if they have a standard press of something that is a couple bucks more than a US store I’ll go for it since I know there’s no shipping fees or duties.

I feel the same way. If I was charged the US rate to ship to Canada, I'd be a regular subscriber. But now I just wait for whatever I want to be in the store and buy it with no shipping cost. And if it means I wait a few months to get something, I'm game.

That’s because you don’t have to pay VAT. Anything you order from a European amazon to North America will show up cheaper in the cart once you ship to a non-EU location.

I got the 10GBP credit. Reordered and it worked out to basically the same cost as it was before to Canada.

I fucking love that record. Shearwater reinterpreted 'You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push The River' into the song Home Life. Bulbs is such a jam. Astral Weeks is still GOAT, but Veedon is such a classic that rarely gets any exposure.