WorldB3

Oh man those teams were loaded, maybe not HOF worthy but lets not forget Baerega, Belle and Lofton. I used to love watching those teams hit.

Strange - As much as I love the Dead, I just can't get with the mid-1970 shows, particularly the acoustic sets that most Dead fans love so much. They bore me to tears. I have the soundboard of 5/15 and I revisited it a few days ago. Same reaction. What's wrong with me? Nothing, everybody has their periods of the Dead they like and some periods they don't. I will say maybe the sonic upgrade on this may shed some light on these recordings. It took me awhile to get into the Pig era myself, I was late to the Dead and started with May 77, then got way into 73 (still my favorite year), was obsessed with June 74 for a while now kind of gorging on the pork. Even though I lose something with the smoother execution of say Fall 73 or Spring 77 I dig the energy on the early stuff now.

How you can blame Steinbrenner for taking advantage of the rules baseball imposed upon itself. The only thing you could possibly cite him for was being better positioned to take advantage of those rules than anyone else. Would you have had him not do so in the interests of fairness? Since when has that entered into the equation in any professional sport? LIke it or not, It is, always has been and always will be about winning. He did what he thought he needed to do, and could do, to affect that outcome. End of story. It's called a moral compass. The BigShit Boss had only one goal in mind: Buy the World Series. He singlehandedly ruined baseball and turned it into a get all you can while you can greed fest. I cry no tears for this self-serving jackass. None. The bastard. Check the NFL and the when the Hard Salary Cap went into place and how many Super Bowls the 49ers won before and then after. Hint: one is five, the other is zero. I have said it a million times, while baseball doesn't need a NFL type salary cap they should try to emulate the NFL TV revenue sharing to level the playing field. Who's talking about a salary cap, WB3? I'm talking about crossing the line from making a very good living to making multi-millionaires out of people who play a kid's game for a living. The ButtHead Boss changed the game from one of getting a good salary to one of wanton greed and a fuck-the-fans mentality of zero loyalty. As a dedicated fan of baseball, I hope he rots in hell. I hear ya but he was allowed to take advantage of the system by the commissioner, players union, other owners and even the fans. Of all teams that can afford to have a privately financed ballpark it would be the Yankees but the people of New York still voted to help pay for it. I still can't get over that one but I don't live in NY so I don't know what was promised.

Check the NFL and the when the Hard Salary Cap went into place and how many Super Bowls the 49ers won before and then after. Hint: one is five, the other is zero. I have said it a million times, while baseball doesn't need a NFL type salary cap they should try to emulate the NFL TV revenue sharing to level the playing field.

This get my vote for this week. So refreshing to hear Jarrett play in a different setting than solo or in the standards trio. None of those hour long epics with moaning and crystalline reverb on everything (though I am a fan of ECM and some of his solo concerts), just sounds like two friends playing tunes together for family who just happen to be extremely talented.

Loving the new Road Trips Bonus disc of 5/14/70 versions of New Speedway Boogie, St Stephen and my new all time favorite version of Not Fade Away. I love the sound of those old tube amps and gibson guitars. Nice to have more acoustic Dead and the master of 5/15/70 sounds great. Excellent release.

alright I am picking this up this week, loved his recent work with Motian and Lloyd.

WOW, One of my all time top 5 shows! I am assuming the first disc is the acoustic set. With the 6/18/74 RT release from last year and this one now coming out that would only leave 5/8/77 as one of those all time favorite shows I always wanted to get a official release and remaster. Damn it, I was going to take a break on spending money on music this summer but this is a must have for me. Thanks for the tip.

Overall, Chick Corea doesn't float many boats for me, but his solo on "Y Todavia La Quiero" from Joe Henderson's RELAXIN' AT CAMARILLO is one I have yet to tire of hearing. I dig Chick but I could totally see that. Y Todavia La Quiero is just one of those exceptional tracks and Chick seems to be playing outside of himself. To be clear on Mingus his playing and compositions are great its just that his music brings up strong emotions in me that I don't like, maybe I'll start listening to him in the gym where getting fired up would be helpful instead of driving or before trying to go to sleep.

I'll say Mingus since I have well over 10 recordings but the thing is when I hear him I can tell its exceptional music its just listening to him isn't an enjoyable experience for me. I can hear his frustration with his place in the world in his music and it always makes feel a little uncomfortable. Not that its not a fascinating listen its just hard to find time to put on music that is going to agitate me these days. Its like having a friend who is really talented and interesting but a total narcissist, its hard to go out with them and just have a good time as there is always drama. Again Mingus is great and great art should make you feel something its just take for example Coltrane who can be intense I can still relax to it, with Mingus I can't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMrFetCOTwI&feature=related This is a good one of Leave My Kitten and Hey Bulldog

I'll Be Satisfied - Don Covay - Mercy I can't believe I didn't know who Don Covay was until two weeks ago. Better late than never.

^ Thanks, we had rain just about evert week this year in the Bay Area and everything went crazy. In March I had the worse allergies of my life and couldn't taste food for months but I guess it was all worth it.

Our garden and place to get away from the crazy world.

During the work week I get a half hour each way on the commute with head phones, at home maybe 30 to 90 minutes of some kind of combo of either system or headphone listening. On the Weekends I try a double or triple that time and have more intense listening. I also give the weekends over to vinyl since the work week is some kind of stream, ipod, mp3, cd or lossless rip off a cd, vinyl is my preferred format for sound and it also forces me to sit and listen.

The AL West is still up for grabs, as we all know that Texas summer heat wears down a pitching staff. They are the favorites right now but its only May. Hoping that the A's pitching staff can keep them in enough games were they can stay in race till Sept.

The A's can pitch dude. Good young rotation and some studs in the bullpen. The defense and hitting = not so good. They desperately need a automatic 25 hr - 90 rbi in the lineup. Maybe they can package Sheets, Raja Davis and Barton and get something like that in return. Small ball for now is sort of working for them. I think the Giants will come around but I don't like the way so many games feel like last year for them.

For a Frankenstien tune of old and new Pass The Wine is great and Plundered is decent enough. I love the alt versions of Loving Cup and Soul Survivor. I like the clarity on the new remaster I just hate the lack of dynamics and sound stage and how every thing is pushed to 10 on it. Its not the way I like to hear music. The thought of someone taking away the murk and brining the vocals way up front on Reconstruction is too much to think about but I have the feeling thats just what they will do, hope I am wrong. Think I'll have to read the reviews first before picking it up.

WP: Miles Davis - Blue Moods NP: Sharon Jones - I Learned The Hard Way

I ripped mine to itunes and traded my copy back to the record store. Its only value is for the bonus stuff and for Ipod listening during a noisy commute or in a gym. Sadly the graph above is the way of the future for new recordings.

Needed some quiet vinyl after that ear bleeder of a Stones Exile remaster. wp: Weather Report - Sweetnighter np: Ray Bryant - Alone with the Blues.

One of the Hoffman bots sums it up nicely: Post by Emberglow : After comparing this release of Exile on Main St with the CBS and the Virgin releases, I consider this one to be like when they take a classic old movie and Pan & Scan it for TV. They've used a limiter and boosted the volume so that the quieter parts are easier to hear without the louder parts being distorted. They've EQed it so that Mick's voice is much easier to hear, yet the same EQ doesn't work for Keith's vocals. Sure, it makes this great album much more accessible to a whole new audience and you can easily hear the lyrics but the whole thing really does sound shıte when you try to play it loud. I'm keeping my copy in the car and will continue to use the CBS and/or Virgin for home listening.

So what I was told is correct: maximum compression/no dynamics left/loud/boosted higher frequencies. No thanks, I'll stick with my early Japanese issue and the Virgin remaster from the 1990s. Not so much compressed but heavily e.q'd. Everything is dry but a little too upfront. Improvement over the original CBS CD from the 80's but not the original US vinyl. Never heard the 94 Virgin so I can't compare it to that. Not as good as last years Beatles remasters thats for sure.

I picked up the 2 disc Deluxe this Wednesday. Its LOUD!!! The muddy sound has been removed, I am hearing the piano parts and back up singers better than ever before (hearing lots of new things actually which is fun and I know this album very well, almost part of my DNA) with lots of clarity. But there's no depth or soundstage whatsoever - and the guitars seem less defined. Not horrible but one dimensional. A different experience for sure.

Red House and Hear My Train A Comin are both killer. Jimi has been way overplayed so I haven't spent much time with it (I still go for Band Of Gypsies - Side One when I need a Hendrix blast) but those versions are great and I think the two best things on it.