GregK

Chuck, you didn't hear anything interesting on Uncle Meat?

a good representation of all that is Zappa can be found on Lather.

new Son Volt is out, on Legacy (which is odd; I always thought Legacy was an archival/reissue label, but this is a new release, recorded last fall). Rocks a little harder than the earlier version of Son Volt (all new band besides Jay Farrar) with much less of a country sound (very Neil Young-ish guitar sound ). Pretty good. I had no idea that there was such a thing as a "Best Buy exclusive" edition- which is a DualDisc with a second DVD included, meaning there are two discs in the package, one a DualDisc and one a DVD-only with more live footage of the band at Tower Theater in Philly.

Thanks for all the advice. Actually, my wife wants a Mac, and we were leaning towards getting one, but once she saw the amount of at-home computer work she will need to do for school, and with my computing needs related to work, the PC makes more sense. But we still wanted the best that we can get, which is why I'm checking out these nice Sonys (if it's a Sony it's gotta be good, right?) Sony actually sells these refurbs from their own site, so maybe it's not so risky. I like digipaks-I just don't like it when they get scuffed like all of my Impulse! Coltranes!! I swear they get wrecked just sitting on my shelf!!

thanks for this. I've noticed a lot of these refurbs lately. I think I'll wait for a while before buying, see what else turns up

seems to be almost half the price, although i haven't compared all of the exact specifications.

I'm looking to upgrade to a faster computer. I'm checking out these Sonys on ebay, and the price seems too good to be true. Then I notice the "factory refurbished" disclaimer. Does anyone have any idea what that could mean? Would I be buying junk? They come with a 90 day warranty-I don't even have any idea if that is a good warranty or not. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...5216387851&rd=1

so, what about Triotone? Anyone hear it yet?

I'm aware of that one. That's why I want a better sounding live version, for the wildness!

If only they'd tap into the vaults and find a cleaner sounding version of Careful With that Axe, Eugene than the one on Ummagumma. Great tune, bad sound. I'm sure they could release better live stuff than that live version of the Wall that came out a few years ago

I'm sure I read somewhere (or maybe Casey Kasem mentioned it ) that it is a reference to the Civil War. Why, I have no idea

I'm really liking the 23 Standards that I finally got around to getting; 20 Standards is up next for me. I also saw Triotone in the store when I was shopping-what do you folks think of that one?

Why all the negativity toward Starbucks? I'm enjoying a nice coffee from them right now. As for this disc, I'm not all that interested in this early period of Dylan-why can't they just release the complete Basement Tapes already?

You're right-the only place other than small independents worth shopping in is Borders. I'm lucky enough to live in a place with 2 Borders, and they both seem to have knowledgeable buyers because they usually have what I'm looking for-for instance, I got the Anthony Braxton 23 Standards there recently, and with one of their 25% coupons, it was a good deal.

It was good, Money seemed to be a little off, as if Roger was playing slightly ahead of the rest of them, at least in the beginning. It was disturbing to see all the backup singers on Comfortably Numb (I thought that was more of a Gilmour-led live Floyd dressing, something that Roger would have not allowed). I wish they had at least shown Richard Wright more than once, too-the only time I caught him on camera was when he was playing those little fills after the guitar solo on Money-otherwise you wouldn't have known he was even there. Also, I didn't know Roger Waters could smile!! Particularly at Gilmour while he was singing. Makes you wonder if they will reunite for a tour, like so many others have done. I'd like to see them tear into some of the more obscure stuff, from the early days

how so? I watched a few things, like the Pink Floyd reunion, but the coverage was mostly terrible (lots of commercials, cutting away during a performance, too much rap) so I don't think I missed much

I have an iRiver 256MB player I got 2 years ago. I love it. The memory is small, but it's a flash memory system, which meant it was cheaper at the time (I think you can get the 20GB iPod now for what I paid for mine!). I walk to work, so it's a great way for me to listen to music (about 25 min each way). I just copy CDs to my computer then download them to the player (256MB holds roughly 8 CDs, depending) about once a week. I will eventually upgrade to something bigger, but for now I couldn't imagine not having it! The sound is good enough; I copy the music at a low quality level so I can fit more on the player, but the loss in sound quality isn't that great. Certainly not audiophile, but acceptable.

i'm with you on the Mellencamp-check out the Trouble No More disc from a few years ago, the one with the cover versions of old blues and folk tunes. good album, and a great showcase for his band. i'd have to say I'm liking Elvis Costello's recent records (but his early and mid-period stuff was good too, though)

his own aptly named "Bad"

I did not know that

this is welcome news, but I really wish they would go to the vaults and put out some unreleased stuff sometime. There must be more Circle stuff in there, or some Art Ensemble concerts they could release?

On Beyond the Sound Barrier there are no details. Just from Nov 2002 up to 2003 or 2004 (I don't have it with me right now to check)

come on Chuck, write a book already! Stop teasing us!

Nope, Footprints Live! was recorded in 2001; the earliest recordings on this one are from Nov 2002