Old Vinyl Anachronist columns at PSF...

I've had a couple of emails over the last few weeks concerning all of my Vinyl Anachronist columns on Perfect Sound Forever. The first was rather terse and confrontational and criticized me personally for not including a link to all of the other columns at the bottom of each page. I tried to explain that a) Perfect Sound Forever is not my website and all comments should be directed accordingly and b) there is a link on the home page of PSF that allows you access to all of my columns from 1998 to the present. I tried to be as gracious as possible. Honestly, I tried.

The second email was much more courteous but still troubling. "Whatever happened to that e-zine you used to write for? Why don't you write for them anymore?" I had to reply that I did still write for Perfect Sound Forever, and that my 77th column for them appeared just 18 days before I received this particular email.

So I thought it was time to once again plug my association with Perfect Sound Forever and its editor, Jason Gross. As long as Jason wants me to write for him, I will write for him. Jason was the very first person who ever published anything I ever wrote (way back in 1998!), so I'll be forever loyal. My 12th annual year-end review and awards article will appear on December 1. Since the February 1 issue is one of those special editions that is edited completely by noted music critic and scholar Robert Christgau, I will not have a column. I will resume with the 79th column in the April 1 issue.

Until then, here's a link to all of my PSF articles: http://www.furious.com/perfect/vinylanachronist.html. If you do choose to re-read them, please take note of the date they were written (which appears at the beginning of each article). I do get the occasional email from someone who wants to correct me on some detail that was correct AT THE TIME IT WAS WRITTEN. Other than that, I still stand behind most of what I've written over the last 13 years!

Next Perfect Sound Forever article...12th Annual Vinyl Anachronist Awards for Analog Excellence

I know it's not even Halloween yet, but I just sent in my annual year-end wrap-up for Perfect Sound Forever, featuring the 12th Annual Vinyl Anachronist Awards for Analog Excellence. I've named 2010 as the Year of Rediscovery, following 2009 as the Year of Discovery. For those keeping score, 2008 was the Year of Settling In, 2007 was the Year of Grumpiness, 2006 was the Year of Implosion, 2005 was the Year I Didn't Do a Year-end Article because PSF was in a state of transition, 2004 was the Year of Music, 2003 was the Year of Plenty, 2002 was the Year of Triumph, 2001 was the Year of Confrontation, 2000 was the Year of Compromise, 1999 was the Year of Transition and 1998 was the Year of the LP.

This year, the awards categories are Best New Release in the Vinyl Format (an old veteran who used vintage analog equipment to record one of his best albums yet), Best Reissue in the Vinyl Format (another release from my favorite band), Cartridge of the Year (two budget carts that are perfect for entry-level Regas), Turntable of the Year (hint: golf ball) and a new category of Best Analog Moment of the Year (it involves a favorite guitarist, a favorite audio person and certain social network).

This article will appear in the December 1 edition of Perfect Sound Forever. Since the February 1 edition will be edited by noted music critic Robert Christgau, I will probably take a break. Christgau did this once before and included articles he collected from others. In April I will return with a column about listening to 78s!