response 1 of 76:

Jul 1 16:03 UTC 2014

My happy discovery of recent weeks is blues guitarist Mary Flower,
who has a nice acoustic fingerpicking style which has been
really appealing to arabella & me.   I just bought her
"Instrumental Breakdown" album, which compiles the instrumental-only
tunes from her early albums.

You can preview the whole album on the Bandcamp service, and
Bandcamp offers a great deal on both the CD and MP3 together.

 http://maryflower.bandcamp.com/album/instrumental-breakdown

response 3 of 76:

Jul 1 17:09 UTC 2014

Thanks for the item, Ken!
 
The last CD I bought was a compilation album for Argent (Rod Argent's
group from the 70's).

I do still buy a CD every once in a while.  I like that I can play it
without being connected to the internet.  Although you can do the same
thing with an mp3 player, the sound isn't as good.  I'm not always able
to listen to Youtube (which seems to be one modern replacement for
the record store turntable or radio in terms of finding out about new
music).

response 5 of 76:

Jul 1 19:22 UTC 2014

Serious question for walkman:  do you play the vinyl, or do you just
admire it?   I just don't get the vinyl revival, and I'm speaking 
from the experience of someone who acquired about 1500 LPs before 
1990, and a handful of collectibles since then.  I have not been able
to get my turntable up and running since 2000, in part because I have
not been able to make a clean decision about getting a new cartridge.
 
An owner of the used record store in East Lansing has told me that I 
would be surprised at what they would buy from me, if I get around
to de-junking the vinyl collection down to about 750 keepers.

response 7 of 76:

Jul 2 00:05 UTC 2014

#5 Yes, I actually do play vinyl. I also like making my own digital 
backups and then using them over the "official" digital files. 
I have a turntable within arm's distance to where I'm sitting. I keep 
all my records in the other room because they do not fit where I'm at. 
So when I am going to sit for a while, sometimes I gather a couple 
records and bring them back to my desk area.

I also have about 3,000 CDs on a shelf within arms reach but I never 
ever play those. All of my CD's were ripped to ALAC and can be readily 
played through iTunes. The CD's are backup. 
Summary: at my desk it's iTunes lossless for digital, turntable for 
vinyl.

When I'm on the go, I generally use mp3s if I'm away from wifi and 
streaming with wifi. I honestly don't use streaming as much as I should 
to justify the cost. I have been known to carry around Minidisc players 
and (big surprise) Sony Walkman cassette players (I prefer the Sports 
models because they are high quality and low maintenance). I have sock 
drawers full these things to my wife's dismay and a wall of tapes. LOL

Now, am I one of those "analog is better guys?" No. I do think analog is
 more fun. I LOVE my tapes and I LOVE my records. It's hard to get 
attached to a file. But digital is definitely superior in quality and 
convenience. I know people can spend $80,000 and get analog to sound 
better but that's not practical. My computer has a MODI DAC from Schiit 
and one of their Magni headphone amps (combined $200) and it is a good 
pairing for the ALAC library. Very affordable setup that will knock the 
socks off of most analog setups. http://schiit.com/ 

#6 I torrented Body Count's old album (FLAC) with the Cop Killer song 
and a few days later he was on Conan promoting a new album. Awesome 
coincidence. I had that CD once when it was new and for some reason I 
don't have it now. If i had to guess my brother stole it from me. 

response 9 of 76:

Jul 2 00:19 UTC 2014

(also, check out the reviews on that needle! 5 solid stars)