Friday, July 10, 2009

Record Collectors.org


I have just joined on with this club, stop by the site, see what they are doing to help promote vinyl record collecting and join up!

www.recordcollectors.org






“The Keystone Record Collectors, a non-profit club, is dedicated to the promotion and advancement of the hobby of music collecting”. It was organized by collectors, for collectors, with the express purpose of providing a way for music collectors to obtain knowledge about their hobby and to increase their personal collections in their specific area(s) of interest."

The club is officially 30 years old in 2009 after being organized in September of 1979. Anyone with an interest in music is encouraged to join. The KRC has no restriction as to age, race, national origin, religious preference, or country of residence.

The mailing address for the KRC is P.O. Box 1516, Lancaster, PA 17608. Since officers of the KRC reside in several different counties in Pennsylvania, “headquarters” is generally considered to be South Central Pennsylvania. Yearly dues are $15 and the club offers may benefits including:

•The opportunity to associate with people who have common interest in music, and music collecting in particular, thereby increasing one’s knowledge in the hobby, while making some lasting friends.

•The KEY-NOTES newsletter sent every other month to all members keeping them abreast of club activities and other items of interest involving upcoming music expos and concerts.

•Twelve issues of KEY-NOTES, Cyberspace Edition that arrives in your e-mailbox a few days before each show. It contains the very latest show and club information. (Members who provide their e-mail address will receive this timely benefit.)

•A FREE subscription to Recollections, our magazine that keeps track of artists who have made a big impact in our region. It generally comes out once or twice a year.

•The 12 Pennsylvania Music Expos/swap meets the KRC hosts each year at the German Trading Post Auction Hall, 2152 N. Reading Road, Denver, PA

•The best discount prices available on music books, record sleeves, storage boxes, poly bags (7” and 12”), and sample copies of leading Music Publications.

•The KRC Membership Directory listing all members, their addresses, telephone numbers, e-mails, and specific collecting interests. This can be handy when trying to track down that one record you can’t seem to locate.

•The satisfaction of knowing that you are supporting the efforts of the largest organized group of music collectors in the country that host a monthly Music Expo, BY collectors FOR collectors.

Membership applications can be obtained by writing KRC, P.O. Box 1516, Lancaster, PA 17608, or by phoning 717-898-1246.

Classic Rock Videos

Cars - My best friends girl 1978

Music News & Notes



Artwork, tracklisting and release date announced for new Ravage album, The End Of Tomorrow

Metal Blade Records has confirmed August 18th as the official release date for THE END OF TOMORROW, the new album from Massachusetts metallers Ravage.

The artwork was handled by the famed artist Ed Repka who is known best for his MEGADETH covers as well as cover art for DEATH, MUNICIPAL WASTE, TOXIC HOLOCAUST and AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE.

According to a press release, “THE EDN OF TOMORROW seamlessly intertwines the sounds of New Wave of British Heavy Metal, late 80’s American Thrash Metal and late 90’s European power metal to showcase the band’s signature style. The album is sure to be enjoyed by metal maniacs young and old as it blends the soaring vocal and guitar melodies of IRON MAIDEN and HELLOWEEN with the raw power of thrashers like TESTAMENT and KREATOR, presented in a crisply modern production-style courtesy of producer Peter Rutcho.”

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Metal Churhc Disbanding

Heavy Metal band Metal Church have called it quits after a 28-year career. Their first album was released in 1984 and were touted early in their career by Metallica. Their final album, This Present Wasteland, was released last year.

They posted the following explanation on their MySpace page.www.myspace.com/metalchurch

"There has been far too much frustration and disappointment in trying to keep moving forward. The collapse of our record company, SPV, has made it next to impossible for us continue in any kind of professional manner due to lack of tour support. This decision was not made lightly."

METAL CHURCH - Start The Fire



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Pearl Jam Announce North American Tour Dates


Pearl Jam has announced that they will play a series of select North American tour dates in support of their ninth studio album, "Backspacer." Scheduled for release in the US on Sunday, September 20, 2009, the album will be released in the US through Target, the exclusive mass retail partner, Pearl Jam's own Ten Club and independent retailers, as well as online through digital, and gaming platforms yet to be announced. Internationally, the album will be available beginning on September 21, 2009, via Universal/Island Records. The first single, "The Fixer," will be released at radio on July 20, 2009.

Pearl Jam's North American dates kick-off in the band's hometown of Seattle with two shows at Key Arena (September 21st and 22nd) and close with two concerts at Philadelphia's historic Spectrum (October 28th and 30th).

Ben Harper and Relentless7 will open all dates except for the Spectrum shows.

Jam's North America Concert Dates:

•Sep-21 Seattle, WA Key Arena
•Sep-22 Seattle, WA Key Arena
•Sep-30 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre
•Oct-1 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre
•Oct-6 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre
•Oct-7 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre
•Oct-9 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena
•Oct-28 Philadelphia, PA The Spectrum
•Oct-30 Philadelphia, PA The Spectrum

Pearl Jam's North American tour dates are in addition to the band's previously announced headlining performances at the Virgin Festival in Calgary, Alberta (Aug 8), Rotterdam's Sportspaleis Ahoy (Aug 13), Berlin's Wuhlheide (Aug 15), Manchester Evening News Arena (Aug 17), London's 02 Arena (Aug 18), Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre (Aug 21), Chicago's United Center (Aug 23 & 24), San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival (Aug 28) and Austin City Limits Festival (Oct 4).

Michael Jackson’s Death Might Be Ruled Homicide, Police Chief Says


I have purposely omitted most of the media circus that has surfaced due to the death of Michael Jackson, but this is a very interesting twist to an already sad situation. This from Rolling Stone....

"Investigators probing the death of Michael Jackson are awaiting the results of a toxicology report before determining whether the superstar’s sudden cardiac arrest on June 25th can be ruled an accidental overdose or homicide, Los Angeles Police chief William Bratton told CNN: “We are still awaiting corroboration from the coroner’s office as to cause of death. That is going to be very dependent on the toxicology reports that are due to come back,” Bratton said. “And based on those, we will have an idea of what it is we are dealing [with]: are we dealing with a homicide or are we dealing with accidental overdose?” While Bratton would not confirm what items were seized from Jackson’s home, the chief’s comments make it clear prescription drugs are at the center of the department’s investigation.

CNN also unearthed a 2004 document stating Jackson reportedly took 10 Xanax a night and that the King of Pop asked his own employees to obtain prescription drugs under their own names. The document comes from the statements of two former Jackson bodyguards interviewed by Santa Barbara County law officials when Jackson was awaiting trial in 2005 for child molestation charges."



Read the rest here:
Rolling Stone Magazine-Michael Jackson

Michael Fremer Review

I am very proud to continue our new feature (look for this every Friday), music reviews that are written by the senior contributing editor of Stereophile magazine- Michael Fremer. It has been a pleasure to speak with Michael and learn more about audio sound and equipment. In fact, his new DVD, "It's A Vinyl World, After All" has hit the shelves and is selling out very quickly. This is a must have for anybody who loves vinyl, it is a true masterpiece.





Apple Corps LTD. And EMI Music Announce Remastered Beatles Catalogue For Worldwide Release September 9, 2009
The Beatles


Michael Fremer 2009-07-01


The late summer releases include all albums in stereo for the first time. PPM, With the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles For Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road and Let It Be will include a QuickTime mini-documentary for a limited time.

These will be available separately or as a boxed set. A second boxed set, The Beatles in Mono will contain the first four above that were originally issued in mono on CD plus for the first time the original mono mixes of Help, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s…, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles and Mono Masters. In addition, Help! and Rubber Soul will include the original 1965 stereo mixes (the first CD go-round featured remixes of those). Each CD includes original UK album art, expanded liner notes and rare photos.

The transfers utilized a ProTools work station operating at 192/24 via a Prism A-D converter, one track at a time. EMI tape did not suffer oxide shedding but dust necessitated head cleaning after each track transfer. All transfers were done using “vintage studio equipment,” which, unfortunately was not specified with the same precision as the digital gear used.

According to the press release, the remastering team decided to “improve” “…where possible… electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance and bad edits…so long as it didn’t impact on the original integrity of the songs.”

De-noising technology was used “subtly and sparingly,” on “…less (sic) than five of the 525 minutes of Beatles music…”

However, the press release also contained this sour note: “Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting - to increase the volume level of the CD - has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings.” Who cares if it’s “common with today’s music”? Today’s music sounds mostly like over-compressed crap.

Before mastering, each song was auditioned several times to locate “…any of the agreed imperfections,” which were then addressed by members of the restoration team.

“Earliest vinyl pressings” and the original CDs were loaded into ProTools for comparison with master tapes during the EQ process. Finished albums were auditioned in studio three—a location familiar to all involved—with further alterations (if necessary) made back in the mastering room and then listened to in yet another location. This process was followed until all 13 albums were completed “…to the team’s satisfaction.”

The Abbey Road Team consisted of Allan Rouse (Project Coordinator), Guy Massey (Recording Engineer), Steve Rooke (Mastering Engineer), Paul Hicks (Recording Engineer), Sean Magee (Mastering Engineer), Sam Okell (Recording Engineer) and Simon Gibson (Audio Restoration Engineer).

Rooke and Magee will be familiar names to many as they appear in mastering credits on may recent LP reissues. Rouse joined EMI in 1971 and frequently worked with Norman (Hurricane) Smith, The Beatles’ first recording engineer. He did the first digital backups of Beatles master tapes (mono, stereo, 4-track and 8-track) in 1991. He was also involved in the 5.1 channel and stereo remixes of Yellow Submarine.

However, Rouse also was involved in the John Lennon album remixes, which most agree sound digitally awful on vinyl. Rouse, Guy Massey and Paul Hicks were responsible for Let It Be…Naked.

Steve Rooke, the studio’s senior mastering engineer, joined Abbey Road in 1983 and worked on all The Beatles’ projects since 1999, including mastering Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Ringo albums.

Audio Restoration Engineer Simon Gibson joined Abbey Road in 1990. His work includes the reissue of George Harrison’s Living in the Material World among other Beatles catalog reissues.

Will there be vinyl? There was nothing in the press release about it, but if there is, probably, in the interest of “uniformity,” they will be mastered from the high resolution, re-EQ’d, “cleaned-up” masters. Why not run the original analogue tapes, which are in such excellent condition and cut DMM or lacquers to give analog fans the “real deal?”

That’s’ a question that needs to be asked. Or how about a series of CDs from needle drops of clean original pressings? That would be an authentic experience for those exiled in the digital domain!

SOURCE: http://www.musicangle.com Reprinted By Permission

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