pop culture, reviewed

Apparently, we’re JUST ahead of the curve over here at PC,R — Wired magazine just ran this article, “Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD’s Coffin”, which, of course, highlights the new-found popularity of vinyl.  It’s a good read and worth a look.

One interesting factoid: Amazon has a vinyl-only store now.

Also worth a look is the wikipedia article (linked in the Wired article as well) about the loudness war which explains, in pretty simple terms, why CDs don’t sound so great anymore.  (Summary:  It’s not the format, it’s they way they’re produced).

And, on a completely unrelated topic:  It’s cool in DC now, so I’ve been wearing a jacket — my Arsenal (FC) jacket.  I get more comments on that piece of clothing than anything else I own.  I am averaging about 2 conversations about Premier League football a day — and really, I don’t spend all that much time outside.  Seriously, there are a lot more soccer fans in America than you’d think.

And a final note:  Last night’s Ryan Adams concert was definitely a good show—especially if you like those ‘mid 70s-era Dead shows with nice long jams (example:  the encore was a 15-minute version of Easy Plateau — recommended if you DO like those shows — Live at the Cow Palace, New Year’s Eve 1976.).   It must have been good because it was enjoyable despite the two girls and one of their boyfriends behind us were talking loudly (about nothing in particular) texting people all through the show, and were laughably passive aggressive after Emilie (and the guy sitting next to us) told them to shut up.  They brought to mind a Jimmy Buffett song: “Please Take Your Drunken 15-year-old Girlfriend Home.”