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Laughing Man

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Blog Entries posted by Laughing Man

  1. Laughing Man

    Dat

    By Laughing Man,

    Digital Audio Tape (DAT or R-DAT) is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987.[1] In appearance it is similar to a Compact Cassette, using 3.81 mm / 0.15" (commonly referred to as 4mm) magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As the name suggests, the recording is digital rather than analog. DAT has the ability to record at higher, equal or lower sampling rates than a CD (48, 44.1 or 32 kHz sampling rate respectively) at 16 bits quantization. If a digital source is copied then the DAT will produce an exact clone, unlike other digital media such as Digital Compact Cassette or non-Hi-MD MiniDisc, both of which use a lossy data reduction system.
    Like most formats of videocassette, a DAT cassette may only be recorded and played in one direction, unlike an analog compact audio cassette, although many DAT recorders had the capability to record program numbers and IDs, which can be used to select an individual track like on a CD player.
    Although intended as a replacement for analog audio compact cassettes, the format was never widely adopted by consumers because of issues of expense and concerns from the music industry about unauthorized high-quality copies. The format saw moderate success in professional markets and as a computer storage medium, which was developed into the Digital Data Storage format. As Sony has ceased production of new recorders, it will become more difficult to play archived recordings in this format unless they are copied to other formats or hard drives.
  4. Laughing Man

    Spiritual Healing

    By Laughing Man,

    FYE finally got in the copy I reserved of the 2-disc remastered reissue of Death's third album Spiritual Healing <3
     
    I've gotta say, the Relapse Records Death reissue series is by far the best remaster/reissue series in recent memory.
     
    unlike a lot of remasters/reissues that are put out without the knowledge or approval of the band, the various former members as well as the family of the late Chuck Schuldiner himself are directly involved, and the remastering is generally not a radical departure from the original sound, just better quality mixing
     
    the liner notes are extensive as well, having stories contributed by members and friends of the band as well as artists that Death inspired
     
    for example, this Spiritual Healing reissue contains 2-page writeups by each surviving member of the band's lineup during the recording of the album, was well as Chuck's sister Beth and (interestingly) the vocalist of Danish hard rock band Volbeat
     
    even the packaging is pretty sweet, with the discs housed in a jewel case along with a slipcover featuring the artwork with a really nice raised, textured feel
     
    I'm generally not a fan of reissues at all but these are top-notch examples of what a worthy reissue should be.
  5. Laughing Man
    the NECA Terminator Kyle Reese I ordered arrived today.
     
    pretty impressed with it overall, although the particular figure I got suffers from an unfortunate manufacturing error where his left foot slants upward and prevents him from standing without something wedged underneath it (such as a penny, as seen in the first terrible photo).
     
    but otherwise it's good, especially for the $9.99 price tag.
  7. Laughing Man

    #xmas #swag #yolo

    By Laughing Man,

    - $40 Visa gift card (from sister)
    - All the Lights in the Sky 「Complete」 CD by Area 11 (pre-order)
    - 5 Classic Albums CD box set by Rush
    - $170 Amazon gift card
    - a bunch of shirts
    - 16 snap-together CD storage boxes
    - Minecraft Creeper action figure
    - Minecraft Zombie action figure
    - Minecraft Overworld Survival Pack action figure set
    - Edgar Allan Poe action figure (?????)
    - Desktop drumkit
    - Touch screen-compatible gloves
    - 32GB iPod Touch
     
    happy Boxing Day everyone. don't forget to put your gloves on and go punch somebody.
  9. Laughing Man

    Disintegration

    By Laughing Man,

    (click for larger image)
     
    180 gram double LP in gatefold packaging, featuring the full 12-track album remastered from the original tapes.
     
    only my second vinyl purchase ever, but it was just $25 brand new at FYE. couldn't pass it up.
  10. Laughing Man
    that's right, last night I rewatched the original Friday the 13th!
     
    regardless of all the movies and shows he's done or his numerous Hollywood connections, I'll always remember Kevin Bacon as the guy who got stabbed in the throat with an arrow from underneath the bed.
  12. Laughing Man

    I'm feelin it

    By Laughing Man,

    the awakening, that is.
     
    just got back from The Force Awakens. instead of talking about how much I liked it, here's my ranking for the Star Wars film series from best to worst:
     
    1. The Empire Strikes Back
    2. The Force Awakens
    3. Star Wars (AKA A New Hope)
    4. Return of the Jedi
    5. Revenge of the Sith
    6. Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
    7. Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
    8. The Phantom Menace
    9. The Star Wars Holiday Special
    10. the Clone Wars theatrical movie
    11. the instructional VHS that came with the interactive Star Wars board game I had in the 90s
    12. Attack of the Clones
  17. Laughing Man
    normally I don't go for these "Original Album Series" box sets because they don't include booklets and the discs are packaged in cheap cardboard sleeves, but I found this on eBay and had to get it.
     
    all three of the Sisters' studio albums - First and Last and Always, Floodland, and Vision Thing - plus the collection of early EPs and singles Some Girls Wander by Mistake and the greatest hits compilation A Slight Case of Overbombing packaged together - basically the Sisters of Mercy's entire discography (give or a take a few remixes) for $20 - I couldn't resist.
     
    here's one of my all-time favorite music videos for one of my all-time favorite Sisters tracks, Dominion:
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeFC-rfQkVk
  18. Laughing Man
    this past Tuesday marked the release of another shameful record label cash-grab Michael Jackson posthumous "album" consisting of songs that Jackson rejected and likely never would've wanted released, updated to modern pop radio "standards" and featuring vocals that may or may not even be the real King of Pop himself.
     
    like anyone who legitimately respected the man as an entertainer, instead of supporting corporate greed and the desecration of his legacy I've elected to use this occasion as an excuse (not that one is necessary) to instead reflect on what I consider the best years of his career, the Epic Records releases of Off the Wall through HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book I.
     
    in doing so I've decided to follow up my previous "album collection" blog entries with one dedicated to the King of Pop.
     

     
    (click for larger image)
     
    stack on left, top to bottom:
     
    - Off the Wall (special edition)
    - Thriller (special edition)
    - Bad (special edition)
    - Dangerous (special edition)
    - HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book I
    - This Is It (single-disc edition; technically a posthumous release, but it was one that Jackson himself had approved and been involved with before his death, so I count it as his final legitimate release.)
     
    on the right is the "collector's edition" released last year of Jackson's 2003 compilation Number Ones. although it resembles vinyl packaging, it's actually an 8x8 digipak housing a standard CD and featuring an 8x8 version of the album's booklet with "enhanced graphics".
     
    I've yet to pick up Invincible - honestly, I've been holding off on it because I simply find it to be a disappointing release. that said, I do plan on picking it up sometime soon along with Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix.
     
    as a side-note, writing this has reminded me that I never posted any pictures of my completed The Cure collection - my favorite band of all time with the largest amount of albums by a single artist I own to show for it. I'll probably do that soon.
  20. Laughing Man
    those absolutely horrid CD "cases" that are literally just thin cardboard sleeves that they somehow expect you to slide the discs in and out of without scratching them
     
    which is, like, impossible
     
    seriously I have 3 CDs that just came out THIS YEAR and they're already scratched because of those wretched things
  23. Laughing Man
    okay so it's a few days late but that's the postal service's fault.
     




     
    I almost pre-ordered this from their UK webstore for about $40 USD when it was first announced. thankfully I didn't, because less than a month after it was released, I was able to get it from Amazon for $20.
     
    great set. I'm pretty sure the DVD is region-locked so it won't work for me, but I bought it for the CDs anyway. I'm a bit iffy on Judgement's remastering, but it's still great to finally own these albums, especially in a package as nice as this. the case is pretty much a hardcover book, and while I didn't get pictures of them, the actual pages inside are pretty cool. full lyrics, artwork, and credits for each of the albums plus some additional commentary and information.
     
    I also own a physical copy of their latest album Distant Satellites which I probably could've shown here, but maybe I'll save that for when I have more of their albums and I can do a collection post.
  24. Laughing Man
    proving once again that he has excellent taste in music, Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski recruited electronic music artist Anthony Gonzalez and his project M83 (whose release Hurry Up, We're Dreaming was my pick for 2011 album of the year) to create the soundtrack for his upcoming science fiction film Oblivion along with Joseph Trapanese (the score composer who had previously assisted Daft Punk on Tron Legacy), and the resulting album has been officially released on CD and digital download as of 12:00 AM EST.
     
    and it's absolutely fantastic.
     
    if you like movie soundtracks and/or dreamy, atmospheric electronic music I would highly recommend giving it a shot. there's an official stream out there and it's on Spotify for those who like to try before they buy, plus it's currently only $5.00 as a special sale price on AmazonMP3.
     
    for the interested, two tracks (including the spectacular end credits song, which is easily one of my favorite M83 songs to date) via the record label's official SoundCloud:
     
    - "StarWaves"
    - "Oblivion" (feat. Susanne Sundfør)
     
     
     
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