rostasi

Well, I had to do the math on this one to confirm the idea of 10,000+ The picture makes it look like MG's shelves are larger than 36", but I can't be sure. I'm guessing that they are exactly one meter width each, so that would be 39", but I'm figuring conservatively at 36" in the math below. Here's the math based on what MG says: MG says: “two and a half tonnes” In pounds (because as an American, it’s easier for me to figure): about 5500 lbs. I have many boxes of these. They hold about 110 LPs and weigh about 60 lbs each (allowing for the occasional box set), so if we do the math: 5500 lbs ÷ 60 lbs. = ca. 92 boxes X 110 each = 10,120 LPs ****************************************************************** If you use his “forty-seven metres” as a length measurement, you get: ca. 1850 inches. Figure 180 LPs per 36 inches and you get 1850 ÷ 36 = ca. 52 and 52 X 180 LPs = 9360 LPs so give or take - 9360 to 10,120 - we’re pretty close to 10,000. Online vinyl junkies appear to agree with the "180 LPs/36 inches" and I checked it here. Bottom shelf, for instance has 182 and the top shelf with more box sets has 155:

The Peel stuff has been available online for a while now. Mats could just possibly run out of room - or reach an age when it becomes too overwhelming to have all of this. Hard to say. An intense guy who, if he dies of a heart attack in, say, 5 years, will have a collection that will have to go somewhere without him. I've said here before that mine goes to Sangrey if he outlives me. ...and if he doesn't, Amoeba Records has already written showing interest. Other options if the last big record store in the world closes. [all of this, after eBay takes individual stuff meanwhile].

Actually, there's about twice that in those vertical slots. Mine are about three-quarters the width - possibly two-thirds (hard to tell with the camera angle) and I can fit 150 to 175, so, yes, I'm going with 200 each making it closer to 10G. Still, very impressive that he has some really choice stuff in there - not just mostly flea market stuff. I wish I could keep mine in one spot, but there's some advantages to having them out of sight (out of mind).

I wonder if what we're seeing is all of it. I mean, if you take a tape measure and approximate the number of LPs/feet or meters, it seems that he could give an estimate. Like his areas of interest tho.

Yes, nice collection. I think it was about 10 or so years ago when that movie with Bill Murray (Broken Flowers?) was released. It had a lot of Astatke music in it - at least a half dozen tunes - that helped his career and pushed classic Ethio-Jazz into the foreground. At least, this is what I heard from Francis Falceto who's a big promoter of this style.

Keep this one in mind for your next purchase after this.

I had that cover on my desktop ready to show it here, but I figured "if it says Ethiopia, why would the record store guy say Nigeria" - Anyway, the description really made me think specifically of that album (he has more) and so I'm happy you found it. The original goes for big bucks - and I don't know if it has been re-issued - probably so in this day and age. Interest in him has risen in the past decade or so. Amazon

I can't help but think (from your description) that it could be the great vibist Mulatu Astatke, but he's Ethiopian and not Nigerian, so I'll have to give this some extra thought.

Though fiction makes up less than 1% of my collection, the late Harry Mathews is most definitely a part of that. Long life full of wonderful experimentation. Sorry to see him go. Will write a tribute text elsewhere later today. February 14, 1930 – January 25, 2017

I wanted to add David Stubbs' tribute too. He wrote an amazing book called Future Days that will always remain in my library. Liebezeit was a heartbeat of my teenage years. So sad. Deutsch: liebe = love zeit = time You couldn't ask for a more apropos name.

Well, they're not saying much at the website, but my problem with it (based on what I'm able to glean from it) is that it appears to use a tiny proprietary stylus that kinda sounds like it's one of those 89t 911 Fisher-Price toy needles that you can't adjust (no anti-skate or weight changing methods). Along with that, you have these two hunks of plastic encasing your LP that would have to be transferring all kinds of rumble and vibration, etc. I don't know enough yet, but it looks and maybe acts "cool", but the functionality may really be subpar. We'll see...

"The First Intelligent Turntable"

Looking forward to this! Will it be archived if we miss it somehow?

Book sales the week before Christmas were highest in 10 years.

Record sales: vinyl hits 25-year high

Since it's almost the New Year and there's been some reference to instrument destroying on the Red Norvo thread, I thought this may create some smiles: Rockin' Rocky Rockwell

That Soul video is from almost 45 years ago exactly. Can't believe that much time has passed.

Funny interview:

Best wishes for the holiday season to all of you. We are living our life vicariously thru the snowy streets of Our Little Town of Silver City - our second "home." http://livefromsilver.com/ It was beautifully snowy there this morning (much of it gone now) and reminded us of our one lucky Xmas day with local snow back in 2012.

I miss your candles... ...but we can still burn some here for you!

I had just about the same reaction to hearing, "I Wanna Be Sedated" in Kroger too last week. Yes, you laugh, and then realize that you've had an auditory version of a rainbow (as you described above) that works in a very pinpointed way on your psyche. The human trait of placing time-based events in a wildly flexible mind-frame and deciding that "it" will not be affected by the passage of time is a pretty curious short-sited quirk that's delusional at best and counter-productive at worst. I think what many people refer to as "timeless" is invoked by the act of placing said stimulus in two historical moments simultaneously: rubbing the "now" with the "then" and producing sparks, but letting on that the sparks were and will continue to be a rainbow of colors that everyone will recognize for time immemorial. It's a very strange tendency that provides people - even those without a personal social network, (that, of course, works in the same fashion) - a place to hang their auditory hats. "I Wanna Be Sedated"? Hell yes! It's the holiday season! Now, everyone sing along with the organ: "Ommmmmm ... "

Though my favorite radio show growing up played them more than a few times, the band's uber-seriousness about their abilities was a real turn-off for me. But, I'll say that if I had lived outside of truly free-form radio and just relied on the standard rock stations, then I could see how some people would be drawn to their musical hyperkinesia.

My copy has been sitting here - still in it's package - for a couple days now. Looking forward to digging in to it!