Kevin Bresnahan

I am just starting to get back into LPs. I don't know why, I guess I just got sick of waiting for some labels to reissue certain titles. Anyway, I'm blowing the dust off of some of my old LP paraphenalia and I find my Discwasher D4 fluid is low. I did a lot of experimenting back in the day and I know I like the sound of LPs after treatment than without. I'll be needing more. It appears that D4 fluid is still around... in dinky little 1.25 ounce containers! I used the big bottles back in the day but they don't seem to be making them. I remember years ago that someone said that D4 fluid was simply de-ionized water. Does anyone know? I can't believe that they are getting $70 for a Zerostat! I used one of those for years but it broke. I don't think it's worth $70... yeah, it eliminated a few pops, but not that many. Any help on either big bottles of D4 (stashed in some local hi fi shop's back room maybe?) or else a source for jugs of de-ionized water? Later, Kevin

Are you referring to the Forest Cafe? I think it was under construction for several months last year...haven't checked it out yet as I seem to remember the food was a bit expensive for a student (at least compared to the dirt cheap taquerias around Harvard and Porter Squares--Anna's, Boca Grande, and Felipe's). Will have to check it out sometime. Also, one of my very favorite restaurants, Chez Henri, is about a block and a half down the street. The Forest Cafe is still there and it's still great food... and usually good beer too. They always have at least one German beer on tap. During the summer is Franziskaner Hefe Weiss too. Yum. I like the Burritos Tres Marias. FWIW, there are also a couple of good Thai restaurants nearby. One in Harvard Square and another up the road near Porter Square. Later, Kevin

I couldn't find this title- did you possibly mean "Luminescence"? Yup, that's it. "Luminesence". Later, Kevin

It's my second one for my main listening area that I need to set up. It has to be wall-mounted and I still haven't decided what to use for a shelf. I think I'm going to go with a thick slab of wood from these guys, but they're darned expensive... $60 for a chunk of wood? Like I said, that's all I need is a shelf. I have no room in the cabinet and I have a subwoofer so my hardwood floor isn't an option. It'll have to be wall-mounted. Later, Kevin

Jack probably can't post today as it's the last day of his one-week, annual sale! Stereo Jack's is my favorite place to go. I try like heck to buy most of my CDs and LPs there because I would never want to see this place close. As I mentioned on Jazz Corner, the Boston are has been losing brick & mortar stores left and right. Just last week, Disc Diggers in Somerville closed its doors. Jack's place can't close. I think one of the best things about shopping at Jack's is the "shopping conversations". I've had some great ones there. Bob Blumenthal is in there and when Jack and him get going... watch out. There have been a couple of good ones with Peter Wolf (of J.Geils Band fame). A few of my CDs are a direct result of just asking Jack about it. Barry Harris's "Illumination" is one I remember Jack extolling. I do dig it. I also remember Bob Blumenthal telling me the one Johnny Griifin date that everyone "must have" is "Jazz Studio Party". Well, now I have it. It's just a great place to shop. Later, Kevin

Unless I've mis-read this, it sounds like you are hooking up a turntable directly to the CD burner. This is a no-no. A Turntable must go through a preamplifier. Many older receivers have them. You can also buy one for around $30 if yours does not. With a pre-amp, you could directly connect it to your CD-burner. However, why not just hook the CD-burner and turntable up to the receiver? That way, you can still use the turntable and CD-R deck as player-back units. The easiest way to hook up a CD-R unit is to treat it like a cassette deck. It simply goes into a "tape loop". Most receivers have 2 tape loops. Later, Kevin

Get stuff into your queue at sign-up! I think this is one of the ways they may be trying to "stick" you. I signed up and put 21 titles into my queue. They're already shipping my first (it says "within 48 hours") so they'll do the same with you. If you don't have anything in your queue, they zap your card $4.99 and send you nada. BTW, someone over on the Steve Hoffman who was signed up using the $5.99 option E-mailed customer service with the link I posted in this thread and asked why he couldn't get $4.99 as well. They "converted" his account over to $4.99. Later, Kevin

Well, my Euclid Records order arrived today and they were only able to ship 5 out of the 7 LPs that I ordered. The weird thing is that the other 2 are still listed on their website. What's up with that? BTW, the packaging was very good. Now I have to get that turntable I got for Christmas set up. Later, Kevin

You must hate Booker Ervin!! I never analyzed her vocal style so I'll have to take your word on it. I just dig it. FWIW, another vocalist who seems to have this "love it" or "hate it" reaction is the Cranberries' Delores O'Riordin. I like her Irish lilt and play their stuff a lot when I'm in the mood to rock. My sister likens her voice to fingernails-on-chalkboard. BTW, if you don't like Merchant's voice that much, do not go listen to sound samples of this new CD... you'll go postal on someone. Her vocals are very up close in the mix to the point where you can hear the breath sounds. Later, Kevin

Nah, this ain't bluegrass. Bluegrass is more up tempo. A lot of the songs on this CD are very slow. Might be why some fans of Merchant's work aren't digging it. This is more like a blues album done with folk instrumentation. I don't know, I'd be the first to admit that I don't have a lot of this style of music in my collection. Maybe all folk singers sound like this? I've often wondered what it is about Natalie Merchant that seems to make everyone either like or hate her in an instant? Whenever I put on one of her CDs on with company over, within minutes I either hear, "Get this off!" or "Who is this?". I just loved the tune "Like the Weather" from "Blind Man's Zoo" and that got me hooked. I even like the unplugged CD. Later, Kevin

Quoting myself because I just can't do it. I can't order this box. I just ain't a big enough Dylan fan. I picked up "The Freewheelin' Bob Bylan" from BMG and yeah, it's OK, but I don't play it that much. I'm afraid if I get this 1) I blow my CD budget for a month (or more when the wife gets the bill) and 2) It will just wind up in my trade pile in a few months. Later, Kevin

It goes without saying that you have to like Merchant's voice to even consider buying this CD, but I was always a big fan of the 10,000 Manics so I just had to get this. Man, I like this. Old-timey (not all are old) folk tunes done in a mostly acoustic environment with banjo, fiddle, acoustic & steel guitar... I am somewhat remined of John Mellencamp's "The Lonesome Jubilee". The lyrics are riveting with each song telling a story. Obviously this is nothing new for Merchant, who made a name for herself with socially relevent lyrics during her days with the Maniacs. You know what's weird? I never though folk music could also be bluesy, but this seems to be very "blue" to my ears. Blues-folk? A new genre? Whatever, I'd buy more if she makes more like this. I'm writing this in the hope that others who have heard/bought this CD know of other discs like this that I can look for. This is a style of music that has it's moments. Find some on-line samples and see if it's for you. I give it a thimbs up. Later, Kevin

Well, guys, I just quit BMG. I've been a member since 1997 and my deals have been good but this yourmusic.com is just too good to pass up. I found a link on the Steve Hoffman to join up with $4.99 CDs with no shipping & handling and that clinched the deal. I signed up, copied the 21 CDs I had in my BMG shopping cart into my yourmusic.com "queue" and followed the links on BMG to cancel my membership (not easy to find there). I am now contemplating the Miles Davis "Complete Seven Steps" box for $34.93... or should I get the Dylan box for $79.84? The link to join for $4.99 is: http://a.chtah.com/a/hBBnRfiAT9DbEAT9NMMAEY28iSa/ym1. FYI, currents members using the $5.99 option supposedly can cancel and re-join using this link. Save a buck per CD. Later, Kevin

Over on the Steve Hoffman forums, someone posted a link to join yourmusic.com at $4.99 per CD with no shipping and handling. I just followed it and it appears to work. The link is: http://a.chtah.com/a/hBBnRfiAT9DbEAT9NMMAEY28iSa/ym1 FYI, I have the Dylan box on its way to my house for $79.84!!!! Later, Kevin

Pioneer's website is www.pioneerelectronics.com The DV-45A is at http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/prod...1_35168,00.html. I don't know if they make this same model for 220 Volt/60 Hz but I'm guessing they do. Kevin

There's an uncertainty about all high-rez formats, including the recently-introduced Dual-disc. The biggest harbinger of the future of SACD has been Sony... the inventor of SACD. They stopped making them. What message does that send? Who knows? But most people assume the worst. FWIW, UMG (Verve, Ploydor, A&M, Geffen, Impulse!, MCA, etc.) is aggressively putting out SACDs. I'm very happy. In fact, I think I'll isten to Derek and the Dominoes tonight. BTW, word around the 'net is that Pioneer is moving out the Elite DV-45A in preparation for deleting it. Supposedly, it can be had new for around $300. This is a great player for that kind of money. Later, Kevin

My SACD of "Live At Massey Hall" from BMG has "old style" artwork in a "new style" case! The biggest difference is the width of the hinges on the cover. The older style cases have a deeper hinge than the new. I can tell the difference by the spines. The old style has less space for the spine. Funny thing: the latest batch of SACDs from UMG ("Layla", "Lush Life", "Coltrane/Hartman") all have what I've been calling the "old style" case! Later, Kevin

Ebay should just dump their damn feedback system... it's broken. It's supposed to be used by the buyer to assess the seller. Instead, because of the current feedback "hostage situation", no one can leave negative feedback. It's tit-for-tat all around. In most transactions, I've stopped using feedback altogether. My feedback really doesn't mean anything to most eBay sellers... the majority are decent sellers. Good sellers with a lot of positives don't get a lot of people scrolling through their feedback looking for the negative comments. They scroll right over all the "Great to do business with" comments. One more positive is pointless. Buyers look for the negatives. For the record, I stopped right after a couple of auctions where the seller "demanded" positive feedback. Neither transaction was smooth enough on their end for anything other than "neutral" but their E-mail made it clear to me what would happen after my feedback. As for negative feedback, I have never been able to do it. Ever. In one case, I would have loved to leave a pile of dog doo doo in the guy's feedback because of his selling tactics, but he held back on his seller's feedback so I knew he was just daring me to nail him. Instead, I left neutral feedback and the guy still used the feedback area for a nasty reply (with a positive feedback... weird). I am certain that my neutral rating saved me from a negative feedback. Why should that scumbag get away with this? Because ebay let's this happen, people will continue to be screwed by this guy. Later, Kevin

Be careful Reinier... there are 2 types of SACDs cases and they are not compatible. The ones Fantasy use have a locking mechanism. Others do not. Acoustic Sounds sells the non-locking version and I believe they ship outside the US. EDIT> In looking around the web, it appears that the maker of the locking SACD cases has a website and they do ship to the EU. The URL is http://www.superjewelbox.com/. Kevin

Well, we do have some characters here! Happy birthday my friend.

The Bill Evans is the Fantasy SACD. They carry a few. The CCR discs are standard CDs, not the SACDs. Kevin

I got a few. "The Simpson's Christmas 2" "Stars Wars" trilogy "The Young Ones - Every Stoopid Episode" "The Simpson's Season 5" "Larry Bird: A Basketball Legend" Kevin

There's a copy listed for sale at Euclid Records. Good company to do business with too. While you're ordering it, add "Burn Brigade" to your order. I actually like that one a bit more. Later, Kevin

I just picked up Knepper & Pepper on CD this past weekend. Knepper could play that's for sure. The thing about these Bethlehem's from Japan is that they usually sound phenomenal. The group of re-mastering engineers who do these is probably the same guys who do the Blue Note TOCJ discs. They do a great job regardless of the source material. I'll have to look for this one. Later, Kevin

RIP Ken. Nice guy to deal with. We lost a great resource with his passing. I bet I bought more CDs from him than just about anyone. Kevin