postjack

Actually, it's the satisfied customers of Postjack International that will be the real innovators.

no worries, Postjack International will soon be doing enough innovation to satisfy the whole market.

Have you considered a Panasonic Plasma? I've been doing a lot of research into televisions the past few months, and though my budget is different then yours ($500-700, 42-46in, 720p or 1080p) I keep being driven back to the plasma by all the reviews I read. Also my friend works at Best Buy and is a huge plasma fan, he thinks they are the only way to go and has for years. Benefits are you have none of the motion blur associated with LCDs because of the high refresh rate (600hz as opposed to 60-120hz in most LCDs) and more realistic blacks. Actually another friend of mine just bought a 46" 1080p Panny Plasma from amazon delivered for just under a grand. I need to go over to his place and check it out.

I'll always be a fan of the RS-1. I agree with your description of the overall signature sound being a bit "lighter". A bit more crack to the drum hit, a bit more air to the vocals, a little more life in the electric guitar, at least going from memory. I've owned a bunch of different RS-1s, but ultimately I prefer the HF-2's bass presentation. It reminds me of the MS2i's bass presentation but with more life, which also reminds me of the HP-2's bass presentation, at least in terms of slam, not perfection. Its almost like the bass in the HF-2 is like the John version of the Joe bass sound, if that makes any sense. FWIW I think the HP-2 has the best bass of any dynamic can. The biggest win the RS-1 has over the HF-2 is the RS-1 rocks with FLATS baby! the HF-2 sounds terrible with flats. Ooh, this reminds me, somewhere in this thread I remember remarking how terrible I'm sure the HF-2 would sound with bagels. Well I actually got a chance to try the HF-2 with bagels recently, and you know what, it sounds pretty darn good! Worth checking out if you have some bagels laying around.

word. regardless they need to come play in the U.S. i'll take a great show or a sucky show, I just want to dance!

Been trying to type up my impressions of last weekend for a while, but school and work have kept me busy. Quick summary is it was an amazing weekend that way exceeded my expectations. We got stuck in crazy traffic before the Lake, and ended up looping around to the Northshore and taking the toll bridge across Pontchartrain into Metairie. A long way around, but I think it saved us time, and driving across the Lake was absolutely beautiful. We got checked into the hotel (Marriott on Canal) and the place was already buzzing with freaks, whether there for Voodoo, Panic, the Saints game, or just Halloween, New Orleans was packed out with partiers of varying persuasions. Because of the traffic we missed the first act I wanted to catch, Rusko, so we just relaxed for a bit and then caught the streetcar at Harrahs to the park. A long drive but a fun one, every stop brought more Voodoo folk on board. Hit the park, walked a ways to the entrance, line wasn’t so bad, not much of a bag search, and we were in the park! Day One Jonsi – we caught bits of other bands, but Jonsi was the first full set. I’d never heard post-rock live, and wasn’t sure how it would work out. It worked out beautifully, Jonsi delivering a wonderful set of very chill yet still quite epic music. Jonsi has a great band, especially the drummer. You could tell they all were having a blast playing these odd and very challenging songs. I’ll definitely be picking up his solo record. Metric – I’m a passing fan of Metric. I was impressed with their set, very high energy, and I didn’t realize how hot the lead singer is. Great songs played well with a great energy. Weezer – Hash pipe opener, then we started to walk off but they played Undone, so we walked back, then we started to walk off again but they played Surf Wax America, so we walked back. Finally they played a new song so we got out of there. If they had played In The Garage I probably wouldn’t have been able to leave. Like most Weezer fans I absolutely adore Blue and Pinkerton but beyond that they don’t do much for me. Having said that Rivers and the rest of the band were in high energy mode and were rocking hard. Rivers made a comment about the lasers, saying Muse was trying to defeat their alternative rock with their technology. Then he said he was just kidding and Muse were nice guys. Anyway we left Weezer to head to Le Plur (dance stage) to check out Hot Chip – fuck yes. New Order is one of my favorite bands of all time, but I’ve never really been exposed to Hot Chip. Seeing them live I realize how much the two bands have in common, the difference being that Hot Chip is really, really good live (my understanding is New Order is not, I haven’t personally seen them). A fucking great dance show played to perfection, with some incredibly smooth segues. Had the dance tent boppin’. I definitely want to see Hot Chip again at a stand alone show, and will be exploring their catalog more deeply. Muse – headliner time. Another band I’m not really familiar with, though I enjoy the new record, most notably for its heavy Queen influence. These guys play stadiums in Europe but they haven’t quite caught on that big in the U.S. Luckily because of their hugeness in Europe they have an amazing over the top stage/light show, complete with screens, lasers, and crazy glittery outfits. They looked every bit the rock stars, like Noel Gallagher without the whole “I drink like Rod Stewart but not in a fun way” vibe. Fucking great rock and roll show. Offbeat later reported there was some lip syncing going on from Muse. I can’t confirm or deny this, all I know is I enjoyed the show thoroughly and rocked my ass off. I would go see this band again. Leaving the festival that night was a confusing mess. After a bit of walking around in the dark and chaos scratching our heads, we realized there were three lines: the taxi line, the streetcar line, and the bus line. They all line up out in front of the park. The Voodoo shuttle buses are able to drive up closer to the festival gates, but I still think at $50 a pop for a weekend shuttle pass they are a very poor value. The taxi line was very long and very slow moving, the streetcar line was slow moving, but the bus line was pretty short, and they kept the buses coming and were excellent at loading fans on to them. The bus was $1.25 and took us straight down canal into the quarter. If you are staying in the quarter or nearby in the CBD or other downtown area, this is the only way to go. Late night snacks included a calzone from the tiny pizza place next to the Marriott. Greasy and delicious. My GF and I woke up the next morning at 8-9am. We let the other couple sleep and snuck out the door to get in line at Mothers. This was my first time eating at this institution, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go to New Orleans without eating there again. The process to order and eat is a bit confusing, but after you go through it once you will see how easy it is. Line up outside, folks pass menus around the line so you can get prepared to order. An employee will tell you when to come inside and get into the other line. You order and pay at the register, then take your receipt to any table. A server will come by and pickup your receipt and go get your food. Since Mother’s boasts the world’s best baked ham, I had Mae’s omelet, which comes with, IIRC, ham, onions, green peppers, maybe something else. Included with the meal are some amazing grits, coffee, a biscuit, slab of butter, and raspberry preserves. I love biscuits, and this is the best biscuit I ever had. I put the butter and raspberry preserves on there, and when I took my first bite I had a totally unexpected visceral emotional reaction to this biscuit. I’m not going to say I cried, but I did almost tear up. That is a hell of a biscuit. I’m not much of a preserves guy, but the raspberry preserves must be eaten. Of course the omelet was delicious, and the ham made me want to eat more ham. Later we got up with our friends back at the hotel and met up with some other friends in town for Panic at Du Monde. Beignets and coffee, then back to the hotel to lay down for a minute and deal with all the sugar and carbs. We caught a cab to the fest this time because we didn’t want to be late for the afternoon acts. Day Two Boyz Noize – good DJ set, very old school techno-y and analog synthy sounding. Basin Street Records Revue – revue of a new label/store that Kermit Ruffins is running. We caught Jeremy Davenport and Dr. Michael White. I especially enjoyed Dr. White, who told stories about the classic New Orleans jazz tunes he was playing. A really pleasant respite from some of the douchey madness at the Le Plur stage, we just relaxed and enjoy some excellent music played well. We did bail before Kermit came out to go see: Die Antwoord – if you haven’t heard of these guys you owe it to yourself to at least watch the viral youtube video “Enter the Ninja”. The first time I saw it I thought it was the worst thing I ever saw. Then I played it for my GF to show her how awful it was, and we both watched it and remarked that actually it was kind of neat, definitely fresh and original, and its hard to deny the vocalist’s ability. They are from South African, with beats that sound like a rave from the 1980s and vocals about, shit, I don’t know. Ninjas, putting dicks in champagne glasses, your mother’s pussy is in a fish paste jar. Fucking weird is all, but fiercely original. I’ll leave it up to the listener to decide if it’s a total joke or actually something new and relevant in hip-hop. I’ll definitely take it over 99% of the hip-hop bullshit on the radio today. The set started with some serious audio issues, which I hate to report was common at the Le Plur stage for about the first half of the fest. Pretty amateur stuff considering how long Voodoo has been around. This totally sucked the energy out of the opener, and the dude in Die Antwoord said he was leaving the stage and they better have the sound fixed in 3 fucking minutes. They did fix the sound for us, but it took a few more songs of throwing in free style lyrics relating to “turn up my fucking monitor” to get the sound right for the performers. Beyond that, the hip hop show was well executed: the female half of the group was particularly impressive. They told stories explaining a lot of their indecipherable South African lingo, and at one point the male singer took off his pants to reveal Dark Side of the Moon boxers. Weird. Then he put on pokemon onesie pajamas. All in all I thought it was a crazy fun set, and I would venture to see Die Antwoord again at a solo show. Crystal Method DJ Set – pretty awesome electronic show to bring in the inevitable weirdness of the evening in City Park. I wasn’t blown away but still had a good time. Ozzy Osbourne – the surprise set of the weekend. My plan was to catch a song or two of Ozzy, then head over to Paul Van Dyk to close out the night. But Ozzy came out full steam, dog cussing the crowd and sounding really spectacular. “Bark at the Moon” opener had me rocking, which he followed with a track from the new album which wasn’t so bad, and then “Mr. Crowley”, which is what really hooked me. When he announced he was going to play an old Sabbath tune, he surprised me with “Fairies Wear Boots”, one of my favorite Sabbath tracks. “Suicide Solution”, “War Pigs”, then some awesome 80s Ozzy with “Shot in the Dark”. Brought back great memories of rocking Live and Loud and my boombox in grade school. “Rat Salad” brought extensive guitar and drum solos so Ozzy could walk off stage, probably for his reanimation shot, then “Killer of Giants”, “I Don’t Want to Change the World”, and the inevitable “Crazy Train”. Encore was more awesome 80s Ozzy with the ballad “Mama I’m Coming Home”, but he left us head banging, closing with “Paranoid”. I knew when I saw Ozzy I’d probably get a few good minutes out of that “ohmygoditsozzyosbourne” thing (what I like to call the “Dylan Effect”), but I didn’t expect to be so thoroughly impressed and entertained throughout the whole set. I’m really glad I got to see the Prince of Darkness in such good form. The next day we ate at Mother’s again, this time a little later for lunch. Our friends who missed out yesterday had to have some after we raved about it. I went for the roast beef, ham, debris, and gravy po boy this time, plus a biscuit. Fucking right, this po boy was the shit. Recognize. Day Three Headed to the fest earlier today because we checked out of the hotel. We heard Toyota was offering free shuttles from Marconi Meadows, so we went and parked there and hopped in a Toyota to the park. Turns out you could actually cut through the park, so we knew the walk back wouldn’t be bad. We were excited to catch Jannelle Monae, but she was 45 minutes late for her set. I heard later it was worth the wait, but ROMS is ROMS. Ferry Corsten – a great DJ, young standard bearer of that old school trance sound. A fun set on a beautiful day at Le Plur right on the water. Back over to what voodoo was calling “Frenchmen Street” (Bingo Stage, WWOZ Stage, Preservation Hall Stage) to hear the: Preservation Hall Band – a favorite for the GF and I. A great show with a great crowd was made greater with a guest appearance by Jim James, who sang a few songs with the band, saying “Preservation Hall Jazz Band… what a blessing!” A really special moment on a special day. After the show we stepped next door to the WWOZ stage for: Voice of the Wetlands Allstars – I didn’t know who all would be playing with the band today, so I was floored and delighted to see, amongst a host of other NOLA musicians whose names I don’t know, Big Sam, Tab Benoit, Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, and Dr. John! They played a bunch of great NOLA music with some crazy extended jamming, which sometimes worked, and sometimes didn’t, but it was always fun. A great time for the musicians, and a really great time for the fans, who were getting down and having a great time. Afterwards we caught one song from MGMT (not nearly as bad as I thought they would be based on live show reviews. They were dressed as Scooby doo and smiling and having a great time), we stepped over to Le Plur for the moment the whole weekend was building up to, for me anyway: Deadmau5 – I’ve been pretty enraptured with this guy since I first saw him in NOLA at the CAC last jazzfest. To me, his music is dancetronica with all the cheese ripped right out of it (no pun intended). Excellent build ups, slamming midbass beats, and perhaps best of all, long periods of introspective and beautiful chord layered ambience, which is inevitably followed by the aforementioned excellent build ups and slamming midbass beats. Well my-oh-my, has Deadmau5 improved his stage show since the last time I saw him. Apparently the same people who built Daft Punk’s stage built his, and it shows. I saw a lot of great electronic music Voodoo weekend, but Deadmau5 absolutely slayed every other performer on Le Plur. I mean an absolutely incredible visual/auditory/dance experience. He played as the sun went down and on into the night, and the vibe was just outstanding. His new stage setup has to be seen to be fully appreciated, but basically his rig is on this large V shaped screen wrapped object, with a light henge type setup behind him. But the coolest part about the setup, IMO, is the new electronic version of Deadmau5’s signature mouse ears helmet, with a full screen on it, so his helmet can also show all the same crazy visuals going on around him. Musically it was just an outstanding set, though I was definitely scraping the bottom of my energy reserves to run around in circles and dance and jump and scream. I’m really looking forward to his new album, because the new material shows a maturity and patience only hinted at in his earlier work. Then we walked back to the car and headed home. A pitstop in Wendy’s put us home in time to go to bed a little after midnight. Not bad. Probably the best way of highlighting what a good time I had is that I bought tickets for next year already. About $90 apiece after fees and whatnot. I can’t think of any other way I’d rather spend Halloween(ish) weekend in 2011!

ahma buy this

Voodoo Fest last weekend, still typing up impressions. saw Galactic tonight, with Cyril Neville and Corey Henry from Rebirth Brass Band. part of the horn section from Levon Helm's band sat in (Levon Helm is playing in town tomorrow). it was a good show, it's probably been a decade since I've seen Galactic, they still hold it down and kick out the tight party jams.

man, great deal. hell of a budget rig with the minimax!

me too. I still think it might be the best thing John's done.

mike I think Galactic is coming to your area in January. I'm catching them this weekend.

more nola stuff: Papa Grows Funk has a standing gig at the Maple Leaf on Mondays. they are a very talented Meterish funk band. I've never been to the Leaf but I've always wanted to make it.

nice! well if you are the partying type you do need to walk down bourbon at least once. about the most touristy thing you can do but no one can deny how crazy the scene is. there's pride on bourbon anywho. keep walking past the gay bars and you hit Frenchmen street, the more authentic part of the FQ. great bars there like dba and blue nile where you can hear some great nola music. 11/24 anders osborne is playing tips uptown, a classic venue and a great artist. Tips is on the other side of town so you would have to drive. If at all possible, snag breakfast at Mothers (served all day), which is in the CBD right on poydras (close to FQ). They have the greatest ham and raspberry preserves in the world. the biscuit made me cry a little when I first tried it with the butter and raspberry preserves. of course then there is cafe du monde, beignets and cafe au lait. way touristy but i always go. central grocery is right down the road from there, where the muffaleta was invented, and it is the dankness. Anyway just check out tripadvisor for hotel options. Not sure what your price range is but there are tons of options in the FQ and CBD (central business district, right next to FQ). I'm sure the JW Marriott is very nice as well, but I'm betting the regular ass marriott is a better deal. you won't spend a lot of time in your room anyway, so just go for something with a good location where you won't get killed.

new Orleans Marriott (the other one). plenty of great chain hotels in the FQ, which I'm assuming is where you want to stay. parking is pretty much going to be ridiculous. have you been to Nola before? FQ is very touristy but still must be experienced.

when/what are you coming to NOLA for? I stayed at the Marriott on canal this past weekend for voodoofest. still a crazy place. valet parking is $30.90/day. friendly staff, amazing location. I'd stay there again.

ah, good news then! while we are talking about it, it sucks the MSRP has doubled over the past few years. actually makes me consider some of these newer ~$500 belt drive models as possibly a better deal. rega rp-1, project genie, etc. hell the genie comes with a sumiko pearl and is a good looking table, all for $500.

This has been rumored for quite a while. Sad to see the production cease, but DJs have been moving to laptops for a while, and the audiophiles who like DD tables (a tiny niche within a tiny niche) isn't near enough to sustain production. Its such a quality product though I'm sure I'll be rocking mine for years to come. I wonder what the hell KAB is going to do now.

I would love Borg designed headphones!

hey audiosceptic, do you know how close to the speakers the listening chair was when he had them spread far apart? I'd like to try this in my den.

yeah I love baltar. I love squirmy selfish awful characters, so long as they aren't to annoying. and yes I'm not surprised Caprica was cancelled, but I did enjoy it on it's own merits. some good acting, some interesting themes, just a little slow. then again I'm pretty forgiving of any halfway decent sci fi drama.

caprica cancelled. new BSG spinoff set during the first cylon war and starring a young Adama coming in the spring. I enjoyed caprica, but I understand it didn't have enough space lasers for the BSG fanbase. I'm assuming that's what the new show is all about. personally I'd prefer a sequel at this point. cylons decide to frak shit up again. moar baltar please.

909 at $3000? I paid $500 for mine. well $1000 for the 99 pre/909 combo.

I like 5 guys better then in and out, but I've only had in and out once. both are delicious. 5 guys fries are my favorite fries ever. salt em up and dip them in ketchup mixed with malt vinegar. feels like I'm in an awesome mixture of America and Scotland.

pint of fake blood and a can of silly string.

Dr. John - Gumbo (MFSL)