The most perfect song - Solid Air - John Martyn

The first time I listened to the first take of John Martyn's album bearing same title, his seldom-heard, weird voice gave to a younger me the same feeling as when I sipped for the first time a Laphroaig single-malt, turfed Islay's whisky... oh, oh... what's wrong with "that": ten-to-be Islay's nectar was, at first, perceived like a medicine (...) and John Martyn's voice as a... broken cartridge/turntable by-product.

I was young, I told you... as years passed, both the above became part of my life...

Solid Air was written and composed and dedicated to John's friend, the late Nick Drake.

John Martyn claimed several times to be a John Coltrane's music lover and, indeed, his voice reminds in some passages, the deep tone of a puffing tenor sax, that cool air-column which is so similar to an old pipe-organ...

His "S" which sounds like "ZZZ" - i.e. SZZZooolidddaiiirrr is sometimes so painfully beautiful and remains carved in every listener memory; the vibes, a superb, reverbed Rhodes' electric piano, a sax solo and that cheap Yamaha acoustic guitar with a white DeArmond pick-up producing those plucked, percussive strings attack, all this contrributes to transform a song in a world.

A perfect world of classy balance and beauty.

Marty's place - another useful link

TAS' list and other goodies

Collectors Frenzy

Whatever your tastes and interests,
Collectors Frenzy gives you an insight view of Ebay prices reached, so, like Goldmine used to do, it's virtually impossible you'll auction your most prized waxes below par.
An useful tool, indeed.

Sexy blues - Howlin' Wolf Chess LP 1469

The most sexy blues album I'm aware of... lots of jokes in titles and text... DON'T ask what "Red Rooster" means;-)))

A great disc.

Blues auction of the year

Anyone interested?!?! Ebay # 170489347902

Is it time for a Decca cartridge?

Someone loves it, someone hates it...












Sure worth some interest...

Thanks to David from Hong Kong for the superb pictures.

Don McLean's American Pie and the record shops

Reading last Mojo music mag issue, I had the pleasure to know the behind the curtains story of one of my heroes, a man who grew up in New Rochelle, NY state and read about Buddy Holly's untimely death during his morning job as a kid, delivering newspapers... a poet and sensitive human being who wrote Vincent after Van Gogh's life and facts and... American Pie.

This very song, 8 minutes+ long, I heard at the radio in 1971 when it was issued... I remember - hey I was quite young, and had had my very first LP (Le Orme - Collage) as a Christmas' gift from my dad, that year - I saw that 45 rpm strange cover on a... sewing machines shop which also sold some records!!!

It was the only record they had behind the window glass and looked so powerful... I still remember I looked at the painted thumb, very impressed.

Entered the shop and asked for a listen to that record side one and two of the song, splitted in two parts, one per side...

I bought it... ottocentolire (eighthundred italian lira) and it stayed with me for almost my life - I still have it - and it still seems strange to me listening to "American Pie" as a single shot... "my" American Pie is splitted in two, like on "my" 45 rpm...

Forty years ago, I fondly remember, in my hometown, Padua, there were plenty of record shops... tiny, large, franchising groups, alternative, specialized (disco, second-hand), discount/remainders/cut-offs, in every shopping-mall there was a records corner; there was also a Decca group wholesaler with zillions discs where I purchased AMAZING records, then MUCH sought-after collector's items...

I remember, when about 15-16 years old, I used to browse with some insistence at a newly opened "strange" record-shop, Il Ventitre Dischi, (twentythree records, so named after the street number, Via Soncin, 23...) - the owner was a musician who toured South America for months with a singer, then to become a famed soundtracks composer, Pino Donaggio, and returned with money enough to open a London-styled records shop: no small records-bins, BUT a pipe-line-like tube, Lenco turntables like in a disco and some cool, multicoloured cubes where to listen to music, seated...

This place soon became a gathering place in town where youngsters met to chat of music and the like...

Maurizio Boldrin, the former drummer and owner of the shop knew where to shop for import-records, not alone in Italy (Carù, Nannucci, Buscemi): every town had his "right" place for records shopping...

It happened after some weeks I was hired as a part-time clerk and counter seller... this fact someway changed my life... I was paid in discs;-)))!!!

Jefferson Airplace, Grateful Dead, Hot Tuna, Moby Grape... Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Martin Carthy, John Renbourn, John Fahey... the complete discographies augmented... on and on...

Cool music, people, girls.... GIRLS.

Then, years on... after my shop knowledge, I wrote some little review on "The Wild Bunch" and "L'Ultimo Buscadero" music mags... and music was, definitely, in my DNA, like records and collecting.

... then they arrested the owners of a freaky record shop for dope and, shortly after one, two, many tiny suburban records shops closed... only larger shops survived... but the Magic was gone.


.... woooooooooooooooooooooshhhhhhhhhh...

... entered the digital disks... then it was the Web and downloads era...


... but I'm still purchasing vinyls like in the '70s and smelling inside the covers like I used to do in my teens... to try to replicate the emotion of Miles Davis' SIESTA OST and Joni Mitchell's For the Roses which smelled of patchouli (!!!) and first Windham Hill's discs, which scented so good and... I still cherishes my "American Pie" single.

The most perfect song - Moon in June - Robert Wyatt and The Soft Machine

When I purchased "Third" - the seminal double-record set by Soft Machine - decades ago, I sure wasn't prepared to The Beauty of "Moon in June".

I was already aware of Robert Wyatt's voice, from that "Hope for Happiness" on SF's first effort on Probe label, a voice which was able to stop the clocks in all house... BUT, nonetheless, "Moon in June" was, still is REALLY too much for everyone's mind!

Its length seems changing depending on the listener mood, on weather and colour of sofa and room walls... it's a fractal, tesseract-like "thing", where this heavenly voice is an instrument, where the simple melody is also ever changing and, myself as many others, after a whole life spent listening to it, well, you cannot surprise in finding always new, unheard and hidden notes and nuances.

The time changes are so often performed you can consider it as a liquid variation, a movement-structured piece, Andante, largo, minaccioso, calmo, presto...

... but this voice, beside every word and the rivers of ink which has been used to describe it, THIS very voice tells all and everything.

It's like re-re-reading "Siddharta" by Hermann Hesse or some Khalil Gibran's book; you feel quite stupid when you pick up the worned out book from the shelf, because, hey... I'm not eighteen years old anymore... BUT, after first pages, like at first "Moon in June"'s notes... you simply breathe, and let life and beauty of creation flowing... simply, as misterious as life itself... simple as a flower, yet sooo complex: I'm whistling it right now, and also a lone, humble whistle gives to that song it's full glory , uniqueness and dignity.

A love for life, folks... as a gift, I'll give you a true gem of an hint, for free: Robert Wyatt could sing Great London telephone directory and the result would still be Music!

WJAAS - Kurashima Labs and the making of a tube

Amazing, old timey vacuum-tubes workmanship

Toshiaku-san masterpieces... worthwhile looking at WE 171A irons re-winding and Toshi's amps layout


Thanks to Orrin for hinting this.

Audio Hooligans?

Was considering... it seems audio, audio owning and ownership, is akin being an adept to this or that church or faith.

Also... maybe, say MAYBE, only (European style) soccer is on same par in squeezing out from people their lowest human instincts as violent behaviours against this or that (so-called) "foe" - i.e. the owner/aficionado of a given "different" gear or team.

Any Ducati, Guzzi or BMW motorbike owner/user does not shot each others, but usually flashes lights when finding a fellow - riding any make - motorbiker on a Dolomites' panoramic route... not the same at a Champions' League event between followers of X vs. Y teams or on a typical audio forum.

Audio-related Taliban-like behaviours are so common on WEB I almost do not surprise myself anymore...

I tried - also in my limited philosophical knowledge and skills - to figure out "why" this happens: I sort-of recognized some well established patterns...

The "IKA" - i.e. I know all: they are universal expert in digital, analog, building, DIY, designing, tweaking... inventors and (someway) selfish people... am I among them?;-))) Maybe, who knows...

Then, the "wannabes" - they dream about the magazines audio-systems, but they inherited a ghetto-blaster and never applied any saving discipline or whatever to reach any goal whatsoever, so they simply, blindly blame and disregard everything, but their beloved/hated ghetto blaster, period.

The "penny-pinchers"... sometimes wealthy people with short arms;-) - they pollute the forums asking for advice and pat-patting about the purchase of a DL-103...

The "I own the best, period"... among the most dangerous: they try to sell a cheap Philips disk player for 4-digits amounts... because, "hey, I pre-owned this!"... and every piece of gear they own is, simply said, the best ever built, bar-none!

The "violent dudes"... they're not interested in audio or music or whatever... they only love their own ego, period. You can find them, using different nicknames and avatars, in rose-breeding, audio, boats, mountaineering and stamps collecting-related forums... and they're ALWAYS angry with the world... an angriness maybe caused by some sexual harassment and abuse they suffered when younger!

The "trans-genders"... yes, folks... there are, as I'm aware of, a couple of audio-buffs who sign themselves as ladies... it's amusing seeing them signing as "Judy" while being a "Dick";-)... and, amusingly, Web audio-machos overly galant and supportive and kind... and they, the bastards, having lotta ill-fated good-time.

The "gamblers"... I know some double-faced guys who claim they own this or that, but their digital-camera is always broken and the computer pixes folders always in troubles, so impossible to "see" any actual pictures of their stuffs... and they will NEVER invite you to have a listen to their ALL Western Electric systems because, in ten years or so, their children are always having a bad flu (...)

The "pro-offender"... so you own a DL-103, you motherfucker, s.o.b.?!?!? You still use a Thorens TD-125?? ... you, father-raper... you little dicky... you... you... etc. etc. etc.

Seriously... the patterns are as various as the difference you can find in a crowd; what I feel confortable to suggest is the following: I prefere arriving to audio chatting after a live concert, if the case... the audio-lover in a music-lovers audience is far, far more enthusiast about music and its message and meaning than the average audio people attending to any audio fair on the planet.

Also if an amp or a turntable isn't a BMW 740 or a Lotus Elan, it's, nonetheless, something which still gives some space to ego & power-games - i.e. as a 2 litres car has to give route to a 4 litres on an highway overtaking lane, the owner of a Rogers LS 3/5A should surrend, hands-up, to a Grand Utopia owner!?!

I deeply disagree and blame it.

Western Electric - myth and reality

An interesting discussion is happening at Roman Bessnow's always great forum, concerning the real sonic value, pros & cons, of old cinema Western Electric's large baffles, horns and field-coils drivers based systems.

I had several exposures to WE sound (and some G.I.P. replicas, hand-made in Japan) in both mono and stereo configurations: Paris in the '80s, Tokyo in 2009, Munchen in 2008, all using WE 15A-555W mids/597 highs and Jensen's 18" boomers - ALL field-coils/Tungar's P.S.U. - and, IMO, yes... WE's sound means something to ANY serious music/audio lover: impressive, natural, life-like... but someway subtleties shy and "romantically" forgiving...

Have a read to Romy the Cat's threads: enriching thoughts a go-go.

... and, why not, some WE porn

The Art of Mastering - Stan Ricker

From his early days at RTI in Menlo Park, CA and his collaboration with the young Will Ackerman and his new-born Windham Hill record-label to MoFi and UHQR glory to present days, Stan has always been the VERY best of the crop.

Have a read to an interesting interview
here - part 1, here - part 2,
here - part 3, here - part 4,
here - part 5
etc. etc. etc.

Just scroll at the end of the pages to arrive to an end of interview...

An artisan: skill, passion and genius, without loosing the target... Music.

F.I.M. - First Impression Music

Stan Ricker and Winston of F.I.M.



Why do FIM CDs sound superior?


How is a FIM CD born?

The audiophile community knows that FIM CDs sound audibly superior!

But do you know why? Please take a minute to find out the answer.

A normal CD is generally produced through three major steps:
A producer finds the music.
An engineer records the music, and another engineer masters the recorded material in a format that is suitable for production.
A replication plant manufactures the discs in quantity.

How FIM does it

We seek out music that has special quality and uniqueness, and arrange for its performance by unsurpassed artists.
We find the best engineers available. Winston Ma often works with engineers who are professors in recording technology, and chief engineers of mastering studios. Winston works with the engineers throughout the process and attends all master sessions to ensure that the sound quality meets the standard he wishes to achieve.
The normal replication process follows this pattern: the mastering engineer sends a CDR/CDCR containing the mastered music file to the replication plant for glass-stamper making, then CDs are pressed with the stamper, packed, and shipped to the label company.

From the viewpoint of FIM, this process can create uncertainty in several areas of quality control:

The music file is dubbed from the hard drive onto a CDR through a CD burner or similar equipment in the mastering studio. The quality of the burner, the power supply, and the cable cannot be ascertained. In addition, two generations of transfer of the musical signal are incurred, i.e., from the hard drive to the CDR burner/recorder, and then onto a CDR. The quality of the CDR varies from disc to disc, sometimes quite significantly. This is true for the burner as well.
The technical staff at the replication plant dub the music file onto their equipment, such as a hard drive or the glass-stamper making machine. The quality of the transfer is not consistent due to the possibly unsatisfactory condition of the machines or other technicalities. Two more generations of transfer of the music signal are also incurred. This is often part of the reason why a good recording may result in an inferior sounding disc.

FIM’s requirements

(i) The music file in the master engineer’s hard drive is uploaded to the computer of the glass-stamper machine directly via FTP (File Transfer Protocol), bit by bit, at no loss, eliminating two generations of transfer and lowering the jitter rate. (FIM believes generations of transfer will lead to possible loss of information and increase in coloration.)

(ii) FIM specifies that the average block error rate (BLER) of each disc is below 20. In fact, in most cases, the BLER is below 10. The Red Book industrial standard is 220. Hence, the quality of FIM discs can easily excel normal CDs by 22 times.

(iii) From October 2008 onwards, all FIM regular discs are made of 99.9999% silver; all Collectors’ Edition and Direct-from-Master Edition discs are made of 24 K gold.


Why silver and gold?

Because of FIM’s research in metallurgy.

The laser head of a CD player employs reflection to read the musical signal from the metal foil of the polycarbonate disc.

It is well know that silver, followed closely by gold, yields the highest reflectivity among the metals. Aluminum is commonly used material because it is less expensive, however it is also less durable over time compared to pure gold and silver. In addition, 24k gold is an inert non-corrosive metal which will not oxidize over time, extending the CD’s lifetime.

Furthermore, gold, followed by silver, provides the ultimate in malleability, meaning the foil has a smoother surface and fewer pinholes, and thus more linear reading and less drop-out can be achieved. A visual inspection shows that FIM discs are thicker and stronger (for less fluttering and resonance); the foil is much less transparent (thicker foil improves data storage capacity while reducing BLER and jitter); and nearly free of pinholes (for less drop-out of information), in comparison with other kinds of discs.

(iv) FIM maintains a high level of quality control:
A test run is required for every new album.
Winston Ma personally auditions the test pressing before giving approval for production.
All production discs are then subjected to a stringent final visual inspection before being packed in-house.

Digital how it should be done!

Thanks to Fabio for hinting this...

LAGUARDA, PEP & TAPINERIA - Brossa d'Ahir

LAGUARDA, PEP & TAPINERIA Brossa d'Ahir (Discmedi Blau Records)
Wow! What a dreamy Spanish psych-folk gem this is! A gorgeous sonic gem from the late 70's only making it to our eager ears nearly 30 years later. Turns out this is the only album that Pep Laguarda released, but what a timeless record left for future generations to enjoy. With production and assistance from Daevid Allen of Gong and Soft Machine, Brossa d'Ahir is the kind of record you put on and then just drift away and get lost with. So breezy and well crafted, these are songs designed for long daydreams, windows down as the wind comes rushing in and the scenery breezes by. Pep Laguarda & Tapineria is reminding us of the Chilean cosmic psych-folk of Congregacion, the tender touch of Caetano Veloso and the sprawling beauty of Neil Young albums like On The Beach or Comes A Time. We can imagine that if they aren't already, current day folks like Brightblack Morning Light, Devendra Banhart, Will Oldham and Vetiver would be drooling over the beautiful melodies and flowing ambience of this three decade old document of psych-folk perfection!

Buy it!

Thanks to Blog-bro "aeSOTERIC Sounds"... a music goldmine!

Ypsilon Electronics from Greece

LCR Phono and other goodies

Very cool designs and products from Greece.

Superb LCR and Hybrid/SET vertical-built amps.

Pure and tasty.

An open-reel dream - Kostas Metaxas, Stellavox and the Music

I had the pleasure to swap some emails with Kostas, years ago, and I own some of his great analog recordings, always made using classic Swiss-made masterpieces by Stellavox and/or Nagra...

I recently found by chance he's selling a SUPERB Stellavox TD-9 open-reel and some first generation 1/4 inches tapes he made in Australia...

Beside the Ebay's auctions, sure worth a look have a passionate and in-deep look at this...

Mr. L. & Western Electric vs. the pigeons

My friend L. has almost completed the restoring of another classy Western Electric piece of gear... 86, 91, 142, 300B, 211, 274A... are all honey to L. ears...

Have a look what a single man is able to do, in his spare time: fearless, bravehearted, with always the finished, restored amps in his mind.

Well done, L. - clever, and bravo!


P.S. - the "pigeons" I quoted are the ones which nested for years inside the amplifiers, when he found'em... he arrived just in time before the gear get damaged TOO seriously... as we all know: Rust (and pigeons shit;-)) Never Sleeps;-)

Luigi Russolo and Horn Addiction in early '900 - a Futurismo dream

... i.e. bringing "noise" into "Music"... the Futurismo movement, with Balla, Boccioni, Marinetti and many others was dreaming about the "Machine" as a possible saver for humanity.
The machine, any machine, was - romantically - seen as a Golem against Death and Hard Work... where Men would be allowed to lay in laziness and pleasure, while those mechanic creatures would have managed all annoying, dangerous and unpleasant jobs on Earth... too BAD, decades before Devo and Kraftwerk, all were wrong...

Luigi Russolo and his horns based "noise-makers" were invented and conceived in 1910/14 and used in Francesco Balilla Petrella scores and concerts and followed and appreciated also by Igor Stravinki... mechanic frogs, wolves, winds, ALL horn-loaded BIG boxes and absolutely cute and beautiful in their fragile appearance... nonetheless, interesting, as "horn-loaded" single-string boxes, sort of a giant hurdy-gurdy, were used as mechanic, man-made imitations of Nature and animals. Very childish... just have a look to the Dr. Mabuse-like's laboratory picture!

Intriguing and weird... dadaist, more than "Futurista"...

Time Machine - Record of the Year 2002

Sea Change (album)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Studio album by Beck
Released September 24, 2002
Recorded Spring–Summer 2002
Genre Alternative rock, alternative country
Length 52:24
57:14 (MFSL)
Label Geffen Records
Producer Nigel Godrich
Professional reviews
Allmusic 2002
Robert Christgau (B) 2002
The Guardian 2002
Pitchfork Media (6.9/10) 2002
PopMatters (favorable) 2002
Rolling Stone 2002
Slant 2002
Stylus (B+) 2003
Vibe 2002
Village Voice (mixed) 2002

Beck chronology
Midnite Vultures
(1999) Sea Change
(2002) Hell Yes EP
(2005)




Sea Change is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck and was released in September 2002. Inspired by the dissolution of a relationship, Sea Change received glowing reviews upon its release [1].

Sea Change peaked at #8 on Billboard's Top 200 chart and was eventually certified gold in March 2005[2]. In the UK charts, it peaked at #20. As of July 2008, Sea Change has sold 680,000 copies in the United States.[3]

Contents [hide]
1 Details
2 Track listing
3 Personnel
3.1 Other
4 External links
5 References


Details
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (November 2009)

Much of Beck's trademark recondite, ironic lyrics are replaced by more sincere, simpler lyrical content. On Sea Change, Beck eschews the heavy sampling of his previous albums for real, live instrumentation. In interviews, Beck cited the breakup with his longtime girlfriend as the major influence on the album.

In 2002, Sea Change was one of only two albums to receive Rolling Stone magazine's highest rating–five stars–the other being Bruce Springsteen's The Rising. The magazine went on to call it the best album of 2002. The next year, the album was ranked number 440 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Sea Change was released with four different album covers, each version containing distinct artwork on the CD and the booklet. There are also different hidden messages (lyrical snippets) written under each version's CD tray.

The original cover art for the album was used as an effigy in the music video for Beck's single "Lost Cause".

It is said that the album sound concept is inspired by the sound of Serge Gainsbourg album: "Histoire de Melody Nelson".

The album was remastered and released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in June 2009.

Track listing
All songs written by Beck Hansen.

"The Golden Age" – 4:35
"Paper Tiger" – 4:36
"Guess I'm Doing Fine" – 4:49
"Lonesome Tears" – 5:38
"Lost Cause" – 3:47
"End of the Day" – 5:03
"It's All in Your Mind" – 3:06
"Round the Bend" – 5:15
"Already Dead" – 2:59
"Sunday Sun" – 4:45
"Little One" – 4:27
"Side of the Road" – 3:23
"Ship in a Bottle" – 3:11 (Japanese bonus track)
[edit] Personnel
Beck Hansen – vocals, acoustic guitar, background vocals, electric guitar, percussion, synth, glockenspiel, banjo, harmonica, keyboards, piano, string arrangement, wurlitzer
Justin Meldal-Johnsen – electric bass, upright bass, percussion, background vocals, glockenspiel, electric guitar, piano
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – clavinet, synth, background vocals, percussion, piano, wurlitzer, banjo, Indian banjo, glockenspiel, harmonium
Smokey Hormel – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, acoustic slide guitar, percussion, background vocals, bamboo saxophone, megamouth, piano, tape recorder
Joey Waronker – drums, percussion, background vocals, beatbox drums
James Gadson – drums
Jason Falkner – electric guitar, background vocals, percussion
David Campbell – string arrangement, conducting
Nigel Godrich – keyboards, percussion, string treatment, synth
Suzie Katayama – cello
[edit] Other
Nigel Godrich – production, engineering, mixing
Darrell Thorp – assistant engineering
Bob Ludwig – mastering
Autumn de Wilde – cover photo
Jeremy Blake – artwork
Kevin Reagan, Beck – art direction, design


The above, cold Wikipedia's facts don't say this very disc by Beck Hansen is among the best musical issues ever... I own a standard disk copy, a Japanese disk (for the bonus track;-)) and two vinyl double-sets: a stock version and the MoFi recent issue, a true winner...

I let this discs spinning for friends who weren't aware of Beck Hansen and they compared to "If I could only remember my name" by David Crosby (...)

Classic, West Coast-ish atmospheres, gorgeous acoustic guitars landscapes, slides and beatiful voice(s) with a touch of Nick Drake... the sound is nothing short of an audiophile dream: dynamic, broad soundstage, sincere and naturally sounding

A masterpiece worth searching/buying/enjoying... but not try - as I did - to find the same atmospheres in other Beck's recordings!

Vinyl collecting

Why 120, 140, 150, 180 or even 200 grams of PVC should have average price-tags spanning between EUR 0,50 to 3-4-500 or more?
I tried to understand the above carefully considering Ebay and Gemm offers of various items from several sellers coming from different countries, using different "auction styles".
My most beloved seller is a gentleman from England who put his records in front of a window, where natural light in close-up pictures let wax shining to show pristine, well kept pressings.
He quotes matrix and stampers on disc inner rim, a very cool habit - once only used for classical Decca, RCA and EMI's - near the label and shows also tiniest cover defect.
Records are not hideously priced, as the records auctioned aren't truly collector's items, only nicely preserved discs from, say, Television, David Sylvian, David Bowie, King Crimson and other UK's artists, but that added value - i.e. the sense of quality coming from those auctions - are a joy for eyes and wallet - i.e. you can be sure that the chosen disc will be the best copy you can find, period.
Then, there is a seller from Hong Kong who's dealing in jet-set priced waxes - first japanese pressings, unplayed, looking so well kept like coming from being stored in a vault, absolutely not showing being 40 and also 50 years old...

Then - fortunately - there still is the old-timey alive browsing and shopping...

I used, in the several decades of records-collecting, almost every technique available: Web, flea-markets, specialist shops in London, NYC, Tokyo, LA, Paris, Berlin, Milan and Wien, friends going digital, record-fairs, passed-away collectors widows, book-shops occasionally dealing in vinyl, often in dusty corners and open-air markets, brocantage and Marche au Puces...

Every a.m. place or situation has its technique and methods, as well... finding a sought-after item you must pay utter attention and tame your happiness and joy, as sometimes records are not priced and - you know - cost is proportionate to the elusiveness and/or pleasure showed by the buyer;-)

If you see a thick little, worned out book, be sure the seller "knows" what's selling - Goldmine or several other specialized collector's items books are really something truly unfriendly for we buyers all... too bad.

Then, finding a treasure, you can keep with you while browsing several more records bins, then, among cheaper stuffs, playing the fool with the seller at a fair, treating the valued finding as an unassuming item... sometimes it works...

Vinyl treasures are coming both from famous and unknown musicians, also a zillion pressed Jacko's Thriller became a collector's item, after his death... a cover or a label with a defect is a possible collector's item... a seldom seen disc isn't necessarily and automatically a golden nugget... mono are both sough-after AND hated... it depends on artist... I own His Bobness (Bob Dylan) and Rolling Stones first discs in mono, and they're gorgeously sounding vs. stereo copies and worth something.

... but some classical music monos are throwed away for nothing... so a cheap method to own great performances.

Some unknown, obscure artists are cherished by collectors and others not... a true, veritable jungle!

When talking about records, prices and collecting with my wife... well, she has the power to let me feel a lunatic... "Why same record (different pressings vs. reissues) costs more or less?"

"What makes a record "rare"?" "In the case you gonna re-sell it, what will be the price-tag?" ... and again and again are her questions... and myself, talking about "fried-air facts" like: "A first pressing is nearer to the recording event, so to the artist and to the music..."

... followed by positiveness about the real-estate-like standing of those "right" records... am I sure?

An example: few months ago, an Archiv 3 Lps of Bach's Cello Suites played by Pierre Fournier was sold on Ebay for USD 500+... it was a 1961 first pressing with a "made in Germany" writing on label at noon position...

The above mentioned seller from HK sold for EUR 600+ a Japanese first pressing of same discs... few days ago I received an e-mail discs-list from a French merchant and he's selling the same - the VERY same?!?! - disc for EUR 895! Chance or...?

I paid EUR 150 for an Archiv box-set of same recording - the one with Leipzig view painting on cover and slightly more for the classic linen covered/silver label with "Prix du Disc" golden stamp.

Prices on Ebay are around EUR 200 to EUR 300 for both mono AND stereo pressings.

Are these differences among (apparently) same discs "sane" and worth spending? Are those prices ruled by Keynes' laws or there is a Pierre Fournier's related lobby or mafia;-)?

Don't have a definite answer, folks... my opinion is that, for a sum worth a day sking or two weeks cigarettes or two single malt bottles or.... two hours in Las Vegas at slot-machines,-) I got my memories back, my (long forgotten) past returned to my heart, as (remember?) my mom used to play those Fournier's cello suites when I was a kid...

I guess I would have paid more for listening to this music... so they're - IMO - well spent money, as also owning more editions of Bach's masterpiece, I never played it like I'm playing the Archivs'...

I'm not buying such an item and putting it on a dusty shelf, BUT lively enjoying it.

Collecting is mysterious, indeed... not only accumulating and ownership, not only enjoying... it's a mix, as life is.

Mysterious... and worthwhile.