Uncle Skid

I just recently switched from CDex to EAC for ripping MP3s. I found this guide very helpful in figuring out how to set all of the various options.

No problem... plus, it gave me a good reason to give it another spin! This is one of my favorite Selects.

Dang, those are some BIG headphones!

Tom Cat and Indestructible! are both really, really good records. You can't go wrong with either of those as well, IMHO. I hope that helps!

I received an order I placed on 12/31 earlier this week. I guess I've just been lucky, but I haven't had any problems with delayed or damaged orders in two years of membership. I just logged in, and everything is $6.99 now.

Daughtry (of "American Idol" fame) covers U2's My 15-year old niece (a HUGE Daughtry fan) sent us this clip to show us his "serious" side. Call me a music snob if you'd like, but this is really, really bad, on a lot of levels. Stick to singing about teenage girls on GMA with Diane Sawyer, Chris.

Actually, I am so thinking about it, put it on my desk, how cool would that be? All for $16.95. The only thing cooler than that would be a Steve Wilson action figure!

Order your Jimmy Page Action Figure... before they sell out!!

that is not very funni b/c every 1 knows Yanni would never wear a wife beater. haha j/k lol

Tristano/Konitz/Marsh "Sing Song Room - Set 2"

I actually rip mostly at 128. Otherwise, I wouldn't have enough room and time for my music. When I download MP3s, I try to get better quality. The logic is this: I am keeping my CD collection until the next generation of technology will make ripping and storing in lossless cheap and easy. Until that time, 128 will do. Hmmm... I (think) I can hear the difference between 128k and VBR (170-210), even on my (factory) car stereo. It's much more noticable on my home system, and with headphones. Lately, I've been doing things the old fashioned (!) way: I've been playing the actual CD! This brings up an interesting question: can iPods handle lossless format(s), other than "Apple lossless"? I've used FLAC, but not the Apple format.

Frankly, given the performance of this idiot, it may be $210 mil well spent... Probably, but it really makes me wonder about the opportunity costs of that money, especially to Home Depot's employees. $210 million could go a long way for better health insurance benefits, increased hourly pay, etc. And just imagine what it could do for employee morale! I realize he probably negotiated all of this before he was hired, but does he really need another plane?

Exact Audio Copy, with Lame Version 3.97, "-V 2 --vbr-new %s %d". From what I can gather from here, this is a variable bit rate (VBR) encoding with a target of 190 kbps, and ranges from 170…210 kbps.

Aggie the Tree Man in the house! Sounds like the "mid-period" stuff is a good place to go next... I'm interested to hear the differences (less "metal" influenced?) between then and now. It seems that one of the great strengths of this band is its blending of seemingly different musical genres, styles, etc. Kind of a Monday Michiru for the head-banging crowd?

Thanks for all the information, and the recommendations! That combination is also what interested me; the AMG review of Deadwing summarizes it well: "...a riff-addicted metal band and a troupe obsessed with rich harmonies and memorable refrains". Drummer Gavin Harrison seems to have added a lot to the metal side of the band -- the intro on Shallow is somewhat simple and subtle, but still rocks pretty hard. My 16-year old son (Metallica fan) likes parts of that record, but when Shallow turns in to (the decidedly "lighter") Lazarus, it quickly became "wuss music". I like both tunes, so I must be a hard-rockin' wuss! I listened to both records again recently, and Deadwing is growing on me. In Absentia has some really great tunes, but there's a few that usually get skipped. The ones I like the most include "Blackest Eyes", "Trains", "Prodigal", and ".3". "The Sound of Muzak" has some interesting lyrics, the irony of which may have been lost on my head-banging son: The music of rebellion Makes you wanna rage But it's made by millionaires Who are nearly twice your age

'Cause there's lots of good music there... duh!

Armstrong Ellington Coleman Coltrane Davis

Just to clarify -- my problems with iTunes weren't related to external drives. I just hate that program in general. My MP3's are all organized in subdirectories - "Artist\Album\Song", where each song is preceded by its track number. My previous MP3 players (non-iPod) supported this type of organization quite well, no need to create "playlists", as everything was sorted by track number. I'm probably just dense, but I could not figure out how to make iTunes deal with this. The last thing I wanted to do was create a playlist for hundreds of CDs I had already ripped. This was a couple of years ago, so maybe the program has changed since then. I really like the idea of any portable music player showing up simply as a "removable device" under Windows, where I don't need any special software to copy files back and forth. Since I can't do that with an iPod, EphPod is the next best thing. No need for playlists or "libraries", simply copy artist/album directories as needed. But, back on topic: md655321 is right: 80GB is nice, but where's that terabyte ipod?

Maybe not a "Top Ten" release -- but I've enjoyed the heck out of John Legend's "Once Again". There are some really good R&B-flavored jams on this record. "Save Room", "P.D.A (We Just Don't Care)"... just try not to dance! Sort to reminds me of Queen Latifah's The Dana Owens Album from a few years back. Nothing earth-shattering, just some really good tunes. Definitely some "retro" influences (I hear, for example, a little Jeff Buckley, Hendrix, Sade, The Spinners), but still very interesting.

I first became familiar with this band around four years ago. In Absentia (2002) was my first purchase, and I also have Deadwing (2005). Of those two recordings, I prefer the first, but also enjoy the later release. Any other recommendations? I'm hoping Matthew and Aggie will drop in here... all opinions welcome, of course! I've been so deeply into jazz the last few years that I seldom come up for air -- this band is one of the few "rock" bands that have interested me in that time.

If you're running Windows, EphPod is a (free) alternative. I was also frustrated with iTunes, and have had pretty good luck with EphPod.

Just catchin' up on this thread. Thanks man!!! Thank you for a great compilation!

I think this is really the core of the issue here: it is unrealistic. Myopic, in fact. While I can't disagree with anything that Jim S. has written, I do believe that all of the gloom and doom is temporary. Not 1-5 years temporary, not 5-10 years, maybe not even 50 years... John has really nailed it: "we're trapped"; [the music] "takes me places that I have never been"... the bottom line (for me anyway) is that there is so much beauty, power, and strength in "jazz" that despite the current (arguably) limited "jazz perception" of today, there's just way too much unexplored territory to not have a huge effect on future generations. And it already has had that effect -- I only need to point out our gracious host to prove that point. I generally consider myself a somewhat jaded, fairly cynical person. But, the hope that some young kid will discover a Steve Lacy record (for instance), even if it's 100 years from now, keeps me optimistic.

The guitar solo at 2:10 makes it even better!

Two versions of Snoop's Gin and Juice: Richard Cheese and The Gourds. Rollin' down the street...