mediageek

Tag: music

  • Turntables at CES: Still Mostly Cheap Plastic

    The annual Consumer Electronics Show has come and gone, with the usual array of new gadgets ranging from the cool to useless, to vaporware. Over at RadioSurvivor I covered some of the news relating to radio. Along with radio and a metric ton of iPod/iPhone accessories, there were some new vinyl playback devices at CES,…

  • mediageek called the cassette revival way before anyone

    I’m not generally one for tooting my own horn, but here at the end of 2009 it looks like I was a good two years ahead of the curve when I predicted the cassette revival waayyyy back in February of 20022007. I must admit that my prediction was a bit tongue-in-cheek, not so much because…

  • Environmental Encroachment on the mediageek radioshow – sound, pictures and video

    In a change of pace from the otherwise talk-dominated radioshow, my guests this week were the magic circus band Environmental Encroachment. They played several songs in WNUR‘s multi-use studio number 105, in addition to our interview. The show is now available for listening and download at the radioshow site. Because the EE marching band is…

  • Cassettes Are a Weird Way to Distribute Music?

    My, oh my, where has the time gone. Sure, cassettes might be nearly obsolete and decidedly retro. But weird? Wired’s Epicenter blog recently compiled “10 Weird Ways to Distribute Music.” But, really, the list might be more accurately characterized as “10 Unique Ways,” rather than weird. Seems that some popular indie bands like Dirty Projectors…

  • The Irony of the Vinyl Resurgence

    Back in the 1980s when the Compact Disc first hit the market there was great excitement in the high fidelity and audiophile world anticipating the arrival of crystal-clean digital sound that would be unmarred by the vagaries of analog playback long suffered by music lovers. Whether vinyl LPs’ clicks and pops or cassette tapes’ hiss,…

  • Don’t Be Spooked by Threats of Obsolesence

    One of the unfortunate effects of our capitalist economy is the constant drive for new and better. Well, really it’s mostly new and novel, with better being a secondary consideration. That means obsolescence is something that constantly looms over industrial products, especially tech products. But obsolete does not equate with useless or worthless–not remotely. With…

  • Occasionally There Is Justice: free103point9 Receives an FM License

    There are so few open frequencies for new full-power noncommercial radio stations in the US, so it’s all the more exciting to learn that the great folks at free103point9 have received a license from the FCC to start a 3,300 watt FM station in New York’s Hudson Valley. free103point9 is an amazing group that promotes…

  • Free Chicagoland Music

    WFMU’s Free Music Archive–as discussed Friday on the blog and radioshow–is featuring a whole mess of music from artists around my new hometown of Chicago. Happy downloading and listening!