And I Hope Neil Young will remember....

You're absolutely right, of course. The best response is Johann's.

In the David Crosby interview he mentioned how their touring income had been destroyed by the pandemic. But the real value to the artists of these streaming services is marketing. That last sentence is me agreeing with you not what David Cosby said.

 

India Arie is one of the musicians that pulled her music from Spotify. She put together the clips of Joe Rogan using the n-word. I watched Joe Rogan's apology. His explanation was that he was not using the n-word in a negative context and so thought it would be okay. The clips of him using the word don't show the context. (Joe Rogan's words, I'm not really interested in finding the video and watching it.) He also stated that he stopped using the n-word completely years ago. I believe him. If anything I like him even more because I think he's handled himself with thoughtful integrity. I'm sure he'll be fine.

Regarding you equating digital age book burning with the fight against pandemic misinformation, that is just nonsense in my opinion. Pandemic misinformation is killing Americans. It is important that it be stopped.

I see what Maniac Craniac was talking about. Hopefully this thread will be folded into the Neil Young thread as well.

 

Love their Artcores as well and have been eying one for awhile. Even Morello, as mentioned above, has done some of his most famous riffs on one!

As for Deep Space Blonde… absolutely!

 

I know VERY little about electronics, but one of the things I DO know is: IM (intermodulation) distortion is much more likely to be audible than harmonic distortion, in hi-fi equipment. A certain smidge of harmonic distortion can be tolerable, whereas IM distortion has to be kept to extremely low levels or the sound gets very messy. So, if that can be done more easily with tube amplification in Hi-fi equipment, that's a plus.

Probably why there are still tube hi-fi amps (e.g. MacIntosh) for the gonzos that cost $5K or $10K used. For guitars - I dunno. I thought many rock musicians (even some major star players) feel that ANY kind of distortion is a plus - the more the merrier. That's why they make distortion pedals and put distortion dials and "clean/dirty" buttons on amps. No?

I think some rockers just like the sound of an old tube amp that's in rough shape - like it's fallen off a station-wagon roof on Highway 61, going from Clarksdale MS to Memphis, for a recording date, in 1951. (One did: Ike Turner's station wagon. His group: "Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm." The fallen amp belonged to Willie Kizart (1932-1998) who played guitar on that date.) Good explanation of early guitar distortion here. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/50-years-of-making-fuzz-the-sound-that-defines-rock-n-roll/71959/

 

My own take:

If I want to play dirty (and I do, where appropriate - mostly blues) I have my dirty fingers and my dirty mind. Those should be adequate for the task. Nothing artificial. My four electrics - Miss Maxine, Miss Danielle, Miss Vanessa and "Little Sister" ( Miss Autumn - A Les Paul Junior, 1954-style) have many voices of their own - and emotional ranges to match. They inspire me to do my best - without "distortion" gadgets.

 

I suspect that if you were to blindfold me and play through a good tube amp and a good solid state amp I could not hear any significant difference. Things like IMD can be measured, however, and the figures show that tube power amps tend cleaner than solid state amps. Where this shows up in my life is on the amateur radio bands where less clean linear amplifiers spread their artifacts up and down the band outside the signal's proper bandwidth. Again, this can be measured but you don't really need to go to the trouble; just look at the amplifier manufacturer's own spec sheets. The difference is right there in B&W and from the horse's...umm...mouth.

 

I suspect that if I were to blindfold you, we'd both be in the wrong forum.

 

Vinyl is just fine with me. As someone who came of age in the seventies and eighties I have a huge rack of LPs but no desire to buy new vinyl. I have a dear friend who spends entire weekends searching thrift stores and antique shops looking for just the right LPs. I join him sometimes but my search is not for recordings of any kind. One day, I kno I will stumble across a pristine Leica M-2 or M-4. At the end of the eighties the Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa had a massive 'Sight and Sound' section. Some of the big camera and Hi Fi manufacturers had representatives on sight.Oh! how I do wanted some Nakamichi Dragon components. I bought a Sansui set-up and a pair of Bose bookshelf speakers. That was what my budget could handle. Some thirty-four years later the set-up Turntable, CD player, and cassette still sound amazing through the bose speakers Yet, everything sounds so much better through my discount store surround sound speakers amped through my discount store Blue Ray system. Vinyl Sminal

 

So you were among those who celebrate the return of Ektachrome?

"Momma done took my Kodachrome away...!"

 

Actually, I've never been s slide (positive) shooter. I got spoiled by the 1 hour photo processers of decades past. There are still plenty of labs that will process color and black and white photos. my favorite also provides a CD with Jpeg files of my photos. Though trained in darkroom black and white processing, I never had my own darkroom. I think good old SilverHalide looks best. I use a different lab for B/W. Since before my high school days I've preferred rangefinders to SLRs. My budget still does not permit a film Leica Leica M. Last year,I brought down and bought a used M-8 (the first digital Leica M). My go-to camera is my Canon Model 7 (film). I do wish Canon would come out with a digital rangefinder. The big motivator for me getting the M-8 was to use my Canon lenses on a Leica body. This week'sday dream is to get my hands on a M-11. Amazing g.all M lenses from 1953 - into the future work on all M bodies.

 

I have gone through phases of intense picture taking and I expect to take it up again soon after I retire. I've developed and printed color slides and B&W at home but like you, I don't have a darkroom anymore. I love film, the process and results. but right now I have a mid-priced Canon digital that works so well I have a hard time justifying the expense and inconvenience of film. Cheaper digitals have a fatal delay between pushing the button and getting the shot but not the case with the Canon. (That matters a lot with young grandchildren of course.) Living where I do, surrounded by the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument, there's a lot to take pictures of. The Chihuahuan Desert is perhaps not as colorful as the Sonoran Desert but, like Autumn, "it has its music too." Then there's El Paso and Old Mexico not far away.

The problem with slides is how critical the exposure is. My father took hundreds of beautiful Kodachrome slides in the 50s and 60s with an ancient Argus Model 21. Not even a rangefinder! You had to guess for distance and exposure! But I never developed that fine instinct.

 

I was never serious about taking pictures till I was around 35 - and newly single again. I started with lots of pictures of my kids -and branched out from there - nature, city at night, portraits, whatever caught my eye. All film - paid a bundle, of course, for development. I got what I got - no possibility of enhancement, alterations.

In the early 2000's two things happened. Photofinishers started to give me CDs with my prints and negs - and I COULD alter those images with my computer -and get them re-printed. That was a start. Later, I got a budget Canon digital as a present - my son heard me complaining how difficult it was to lug my film SLR, chasing small grandkids around - and how clunky it was for sandbox use. That was great - still have it. I, too, progressed to a "midprice Canon" digital that had better resolution and a 10x zoom - 36 to 360. It's still my go-to for everyday use. My Nikon film camera sat in a desk drawer for 15 years and I gave it away - complete with 3 lenses. I don't even miss it.

If someone likes Leica - I've seen good digitals (Panasonic Lumix) that are equipped with Leica lenses for around $300. That's the way I'd prefer to go - I'm no Henri Cartier-Bresson. I've had good enlargements to 16x24 from the Canon and have a couple on my walls.

 

Sounds like the same model Canon.

 

Does anybody else here remember the Argus C3 "Brick"? A very strange but ubiquitous and capable 35 mm camera from my mis-spent youth.

 

I have two. One was my first 35 mm, purchased at a Navy housing Yard Sale in 19 Seventy something.

 

I love HCB! I plan on strolling the streets of Washington, DC in the coming days - HCB style - one camera with one fixed focal length lens. HCB initially saw himself as a Surealist photographer. He was also good friends with Henri Matisse. Matisse did the cover art for HCCB's book, 'The Decisive Moment.' I took part in two Internet Matisse classes last year. They were put on by the London Drawing Group. Both were fun and enlightening experiences.

 

I've never owned a Speed Graphic but I have taken a few dozen pictures with its little brother, the Crown Graphic. All I needed was a fedora with a press pass! Amazing camera but a bit bulky.

 

I'd agree with HCB totally. (He should know!) I like him - and all the other Surrealists - artists and authors. Best imaginations of their century. My first experience with literary Surrealism was learning about Guillaume Apollinaire, in a French Lit class when I was 17 - 1960. My first Surrealist Art exposure came years before. In a book, I saw Dali's "Persistence of Memory" as a much younger kid and was blown away. I'd already had the "Mondrian experience" (Cubist-influenced but maybe not mainstream Surrealism) when I was about eight, with "Broadway Boogie-Woogie." These were ALL really formative experiences for me, as I realized only years later. Maybe Mondrian influenced me to become a jazz fan. He was one. Who knows?

And of course, Henri Matisse's work has always impressed me since I first saw it. Although the "cut-outs" have a sadness, in a way, as they marked the last decade of his life, when he could no longer paint, they are really beautiful and imaginative accomplishments.

Surrealists lived incredible stories - in their internal and external lives - and told them with their works. Thanks for reminding me of them, Charles. You made my day!