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Album Reviews
David Bowie's "....Ziggy Stardust..." Gets Vinyl Reissue From Original Master Tapes
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 16, 2012
Originally released in June of 1972, Bowie's "rock concept album" broke the then still obscure musician and changed the face of rock'n'roll forever—and that ain't hyperbole. If this wasn't the album that gave Freddie Mercury his dream, I can't imagine what was.

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News
VPI Traveler/Dynavector 20x2H Contest Now Includes Mikey Microscope Set-up
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 12, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
Before the lucky winner gets his or her VPI Traveler and Dynavector 20x2H combo, they will be shipped to the editor's home......

Note - to sign up for the sweeps, you need to go to the sweeps page.

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Album Reviews
The Doors At 45 On 45!
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 11, 2012
Do you really need a musical discussion at this point in time? All I can say is that in the "Summer of Love" of 1967, all you could hear coming from car radios, and open windows was the edited version of "Light My Fire." It defined that summer for most of my peers and was the perfect calling card with which to beg for some action from a date. Hard to believe that was 45 years ago.

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Can I Have My Money Back?
GM Just Screwed Me! (And Not in a Way I Like)
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 09, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
OK this feature is where I vent about things non-audio. The name refers to a Gerry Rafferty tune from the album of the same name. It's a fantastic record, and on the UK Translatlantic original, it sounds so too. The American Blue Thumb is not bad.

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Album Reviews
Thelonious Monk Plays Just For You
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 06, 2012
You can tell me yours, but my first encounter with Thelonious Monk was the 1963 Columbia album Criss-Cross(CS 8838). I'd given up on rock'n'roll, which had become all Fabian and Frankie Avalon-ed out and new musical adventures of a more adult nature were in order for this high-schooler.

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Ask Mikey
Being a "Persistent Nutjob" Pays Off!
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 06, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
Dear Mr Fremer, I curse you, Sir! You are the devil. Not only have you converted me to appreciate the many virtues of vinyl playback.... But you have also quite remarkably managed to make me question my own sanity!

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Album Reviews
Which "Wish You Were Here" Do You Want?
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 05, 2012
It's a bit late in the day to write a review of the music on this album, which concerns itself mostly with how the music business chews up musicians with dreams and spits them out—not that Syd Barrett, the subject of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was done in by the business.

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News
Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate and Jon Hein Visited Today
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 05, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
Howard Stern Show producer Gary Dell'Abate and Stern show staffer John Hein stopped by today with a video crew of eleven.
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Album Reviews
Nick Lowe Waxes Melancholic at 45 (RPM)—He's Considerably Older, Of Course
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 02, 2012
NIck Lowe has aged more than gracefully—he's never been better melodically and especially lyrically. On his latest release, issued by Yep Roc on a "wide groove 45rpm" record, Lowe waxes both melancholic and bemused about a break up.
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Set-Up Tips
How to Use a USB Digital Microscope to set 92 Degree Stylus Rake Angle (SRA)
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 29, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969
The stylus rake angle is the angle the stylus’s “contact patch” makes to the record surface. If you have a relatively inexpensive cartridge with a spherical stylus you don’t have to worry about SRA because the contact area remains the same regardless of arm height. On the other hand, elliptical styli along with the more severe “line contact,” Shibata, Geiger, Ortofon and other long, narrow contact patch “cutting edge” (poor metaphor!) stylus profiles require careful SRA setting to perform as designed.

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