3 'n the Mornin' Part Two [MF's haunt]

If you're planning on buying a physical version of the release, be advised the Daymare CD from Japan comes with three exclusive tracks.

In typical, frustrating Boris fashion.

 

I do like Stereolab, though more as an entity that existed and created a vast body of work. I find that---for me at least---their albums become a bit hard to distinguish from one to the next, so I tend to invoke them collectively lmao.

Though I do recall driving along in downtown Houston one fall, the skies clear and the temperatures unseasonably seasonable (that is, chilly); I can vividly remember hearing their Margerine Eclipse album for the first time and melting into a puddle of piezoelectric jelly.

 

Hey there folks. I’ve realized for some time that my ‘blog’ here needed an update; it’s one of those things that lingers in the back of your mind and seems destined to live there perennially. A lot of things have changed for me over the past year or so: some things for the worse, but a lot of things for the better. Still more exists as neither here nor there, just different.

I still get notes on that other forum asking me what gear I’ve been using lately or what I’d back in some hypothetical showdown between two legendary headphones. I find these kinds of questions charming, even though I have no intention of answering. That’s not an elitist thing either: there’s just not enough time in the day to write out all the responses. As for notes asking for advice, I learned one crucial fact early on in my days as a headphone “expert” or whatever:

Nine times out of ten, people asking for advice already know what they’re gonna do. The reason they’re asking for your opinion on the matter is for validation. They want to be told that what they want is the right thing to want.

It might sound absurd to some of you, but it’s true. I cannot recount how many times I’ve gotten into the verbal equivalent of a Greco-Roman wrestling match, trying to “advise” someone to stay far away from Product A or to reconsider Product B. Sometimes they will out themselves completely, becoming defensive when they start hearing the answer they didn’t want to hear. They will literally argue with you over your opinion, when they came to you asking for advice. At one point I considered this a Devil’s Advocate approach, an attempt to draw out more reasoning for my suggestions. But no. In the end, they will politely thank you for your help despite going ahead and doing the thing they were originally going to do anyway.

“Thanks, but I think I’m going to go ahead with the deal on the HD700...”

We all have an infinite void in our lives, and we all try to fill it at one point or another, in one way or another. The cycle of consumerism is merely the attempt to fill those abyssal depths with finite things. That ever changing object of desire: I’ve embarrassed myself enough on that site by talking about it. The latest headphone or amp or DAC not only promises an end to some fabricated “journey,” but it also seems to offer a semblance of self fulfillment. As if things will fall into place and our lives will finally receive that missing something-or-other.

Desire is a powerful thing. It’s an important motivator. We get addicted to the feeling, yet desire is desire only so long as it remains unfulfilled. As soon as we acquire that new pair of headphones or amp or DAC, the target shifts, and we start desiring something else. Ultimately we find disappointment as a finite thing falls into the bottomless pit, and so we move on to the next thing. The next promise for fulfillment.

The whole “journey” thing that was a popular notion five years ago or thereabouts is dishonest at best. When one is in this mode of desire, there is no endpoint: it’s a cycle. If it sounds like I’m being critical here, it’s only because of the smoke and mirrors. I have zero qualms about people collecting gear for the sake of, well, collecting gear. As long as we can be honest with ourselves, I don’t see much of a problem really. Sometimes it’s not “just about the music” y’know? Sometimes we’re just adults with the latest toys. And I think that’s fine in and of itself, provided it doesn’t bring about misery. People can easily burn themselves out—even suffer depression—over this stuff. At that point it’s no longer a hobby.

Anywho, here are a few quickies now that I’ve stepped off my rickety soapbox.

1. King Krule’s new album The Ooz is definitely a contender for album of the year IMHO. I’ll probably talk more about it later but... it's gotten under my skin and wrapped itself around my lizard brain.



2. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the Focal Clear is one of the sexiest looking headphones ever. I mean look at that Beetlejuice sandworm inspired cable...

https://b7ud21s25131qhuz11ocr8ye-wp...p-content/uploads/Clear_34_Cable_preview.jpeg
https://b7ud21s25131qhuz11ocr8ye-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/Clear_Dos_preview.jpeg

3. Hollow Knight is one of the best games ever. So is Quake Champions. What do they have in common? I find both to be extremely cute.

4. The new Bladerunner is satisfying.

5. I’m engaged. With that in mind, let me just say that two audio freaks who enable one another can be a dangerous thing. How dangerous? Visiting with a Sennheiser concierge dangerous.

To be continued...