Son-of-a-Weizen

Noticed that this will be released as TOCJ 66280 in Japan in late Sept. I'm curious as to how this works --- will the Toshiba engineers have (or want) an opportunity to 'futz' around with the master that they're passed from this end? I'd think not.

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Old Fashioned Root Beer Float Cake. Yum!

From the most recent Classic Recs newsletter. When they say "radical grooves," are they talking about deep sub grooves, or what? * * * * * IS YOUR SYSTEM UP TO THE TASK ... The Saga of Who's Next (8/5/05 3:05 pm pst) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When we got the original analog 2 track 1/4" masters from The Who vaults in London, anticipation was high particularly given that this was the seminal Who album in most people's minds. Further, there have been no shortage of pressings of this title over the years since its 1971 release on the Track label in the UK, adding to the anxiety of the job at hand - how to equal or exceed the original UK release. Chris Bellman, from Bernie Grundman Mastering (Classic Genesis mastering), and I, giving Bernie a break from Rock cutting, started by A/B'ing the tape against a mint original UK Track copy of this landmark title. The Track copy was cut hot, albeit a little light in the bass and high frequencies, compared with the tape. There was a bit of gritty harshness to the pressing as well that was not on the tape. Suffice it to say, that we matched the level of the original pressing, but cut full bandwidth with no compression which was pretty obviously used on the original to get more level on the disk. We introduced the title with great fanfare at the CES in Las Vegas last January and immediately got raves from Michael Fremer (10/10) among others. The first pressing run immediately sold out and all was well until we received a few complaints about harshness or distortion in a few places on the disc. When we looked into it we found nothing structurally wrong with the pressings as confirmed by careful examination by Bernie Grundman under the microscope. Bernie did comment, however, that the disc was cut "hot" and that it wouldn't surprise him that people using highly non-compliant cartridges (read: not the best trackers) or cartridges somewhat misaligned, might have a problem tracking some of the most radical grooves. The tonearm/cartridge combo (12" SME/Shure V-15) on the lathe at Grundman Mastering had no problems tracking the grooves - even through Daltrey's blood curdling screams and the full bandwidth synthesizer passages on inside cuts - the hardest to track. The same was true when we played back test pressings and returned supposed defective copies on the system at TheMusic.com's Gear Shop listening room on a Kuzma XL with Airline tonearm and Kuzma Reference cartridge set up by TheMusic.com's own Scot "analog" Markwell (former HP setup man) - clear sailing and amazing sound. Heeding Grundman's caution, we cut a backup set of lacquers at a lower level with NO changes to the EQ (read no remastering). For the second and all subsequent pressings we used the backup parts for the pressing runs. Why? Realizing that most systems, even audiophile systems, are likely to be severely challenged by radical first cutting (remember the 1S RCA Pines of Rome) we chose to fall back to a lower level cutting which would be more forgiving on the tonearm/cartridge abilities/setup but have less signal to noise than the more radically cut first pressing. I know that people don't want to hear that their analog front end may be somewhat challenged on a tracking level but this is really at the heart of the issue. When cartridges mistrack, exacerbated by pivoted tonearms and inner groove velocity issues, it is typically most noticeable in the high frequencies since this is where the most radical activity on a LP occurs. The tracking distortion is sometimes harsh, gritty or distorted sounding - try one of a variety of test records to see what I mean. You might just be surprised to learn that your turntable/ tonearm/cartridge combo just ain't quite up to the task of properly decoding what can be cut into the grooves of an LP. It has always been the case, to some degree, that encoding is easier than decoding - particularly in LP cutting. In fact, I am reminded of something Bernie Grundman told me early on in the history of Classic Records: "We can cut things that we can't accurately play back". I was puzzled at first, but now know that he is absolutely right. So where does that leave us? For those that have first pressings and want a kinder gentler replacement, I suggest you consult the source you bought it from - Classic will honor those returned LP's. If your source won't honor the return, then you can, as an alternative, request to return it to our sister company, TheMusic.com (Groove Shop), by sending an email to whosnext@themusic.com and receive a replacement after you return the copy to us with arrangements to pay for the return postage and insurance. Having said that, I have ten copies of the first pressing that I will not part with because my system is more than capable of playing them back. Am I bragging? Well, yes, kind of, because I have the luxury of having Scot Markwell around to tune my front end to the edge of its life. Another alternative would be to consult Scot on how you too can get the most out of LP playback through better equipment/setup. Check out http://www.themusic.com/gear. But beware it may be hazardous to you wallet – ah, the cost of the pursuit of analog nirvana. Who's Next?

Conrad, I've been away in Maine and am now just seeing this. I'm very sorry to hear the sad news of your loss. Take care of yourself, and keep your chin up as best you can. --- Rolf

Worse!! The little family pack of Tribbles have just been reported missing from a luxury barge cruising the canals near Avignon!!

Sounds to me like there was more than enough insecurity to go around.

I'd start with Apostrophe w/all the Yellow Snow/Cosmik Debris biz....then move to Over-Nite Sensation w/the great 'Dinah-Moe Hum'...and on to One Size Fits All and the smokin' guitar on 'Po-Jama People'.

You'll have fun flipping through the booklet as well, wondering why Blumenthal speculates that the control room crew was egging Mobley & Co. on to stretch out a bit longer on "Dance of the Infidels" in order to fill out an LP?

Yes, and listened to the interview in the car while idling away outside my kids school. Think I even saved that oversize address label/bookplate of Lil in Chicago. That's where the powder was.

Oh come on! Look at all the bad stuff Chris has said about me....and I still bought his book with the 'Weizen You %$#@ !!' -- Love Chris. inscription.

Lucky man! Back when Mosaic was clearing spare vinyl from the racks, I picked up several J.J. (and other) extras and then managed, a year later, to score the full set. Don't know if you ever raided Mosaic when they were flush with various 'odds & ends' vinyl, but in the (unlikely, I'm sure) event that you have an extra copy of LP 1, I'd sure like to purchase it. I've got 2-5 w/booklet & box. If only we could corral all the members of the 'Mosaic Partials Club' and convene a town meeting of sorts, I bet we could fill out a good many sets.

Allrighty then..... any chance you two guys can rub each others magic balls and give us the skinny on the Cuscuna/vinyl matter?

Legal prognostications aside, I was under the impression that a small artist/royalty fee of sorts is woven into the price for all blank media discs & cd burners in order to 'cover' various situations such as that discussed above. Does anyone have complete working knowledge of the fee structure/process?

When's it time to start priming the pump for '06 requests? Dexter Gordon's 'Clubhouse'?

Yes, Dorham's 'Blue Spring' is littered with them. Swore off the OCJs after that.

No storm damage in the Keys?

Saw something about MC looking to get this out on vinyl as well (Oct.?). That still the plan? Anyone heard anything about cover art or so?

And more to come! CD Universe now has listed as a pre-order (August) the Alexander/Herring get together at Smoke in April. A definite crowd pleaser.

Now sitting in my fridge.....a couple of six-packs each: ....minus the watch, of course. For some bizarro reason, the #1 selling König Pils is not available in U.S. stores. Unbelievably.......no weizens presently in-stock at the weizenhaus!!!!

Yeah, I was kinda kidding......but actually, as nature's great scavengers, they do eat flesh. I take my daily walk along a canal/bike path that runs up from Reagan National Airport and has a good number of healthy size catfish, carp, etc.. in it. On numerous ocasions I've seen small groups of 3 or 4 catfish really churning up the water as they go after the corpse of a dead carp that's bobbing up against the side of the canal. But yeah.....as you've said, it's not as though they're going to try to make a meal out of a live carp, monkey or Benny Hill. (Note: Walking Catfish I'm not so sure about. They're super aggressive and will clean out a good sized pond in no time flat) Tarpon trip comes up in a few weeks.

Yeah, is that wild or what? That 'ol bird must have had one heck of an appetite. I wouldn't be at all surprised if, over the decades, the occasional svelt & trim 92 lb villager who went down to the river for a cool dip after dark wound up......

Oh yeah, I remember that book. Dubya probably never read it because anti-communism is presented as simplistic. Nowhere is there even a hint that there is any possible reason why folks shouldn't desire to be ruled by communists. A swell Ho Chi Minh good/U.S. bad classic!!!!!!!

What if it cures and don't wanna come out? No way! Instructions for Taking Ear Impressions 1. We are manufacturing a FULL SHELL earpiece. We require the ear impressions to be a full impression including: Crus of Helix, Tragus, and Antitragus. 2. Impressions must be made from silicone impression material only. 3. It is very important to have an “Open Mouth Impression” taken to the second bend the ear canal. This is accomplished by doing the following: a. Open mouth wide when impression material is being injected into the ear. b. Do not close mouth until the impression material has completely cured

Now this is a fantastic book. Van Creveld analyzed performance under various scenarios in which one side had the advantage in airpower....or in armor, infantry, terrain, etc.. Well written, precise, interesting conclusions. It was oop for ages and then Greenwood Press kicked in again with a limited run. It ain't cheap. If you find more than one in the $50 range, let me know 'cause I'm looking for a replacement copy.