Love this dude:

Watch what he says about downloads and ripping off fans near the end. Note to Prince..lol.

He's always been badass/awesome/stand-up/crazy/sexy/cool

rdhull, where you gone?

Dude's an audiophile.

I read this in Stereophile magazine...


I Am an Audiophile

By Henry Rollins • Posted: Aug 3, 2011

[img:$uid]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/jbodine/Music%20II/811awsipromo_.jpg[/img:$uid]

I was fortunate enough to be raised in an environment where music of many kinds was played often. I lived with my mother in small apartments in Washington, DC, in the 1960s and '70, and most of the time, music was playing. Chopin, Wagner, Beethoven, Coltrane, Miles, Sonny Rollins, Streisand, Baez, Dylan, Miriam Makeba—even the Doors, Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.
We went to a record store near Dupont Circle quite often. I don't know how my mother found out about new recordings, but she always seemed to be picking up something to listen to. I had a record player in my room and listened to everything from children's records to Strauss, from the Beatles to a copy of Isaac Hayes' Hot Buttered Soul that somehow ended up back there.

For many years, sound quality never really occurred to me. I listened to music, and if I could hear it, that was good enough for me. You must understand that this is a very long time ago—when you're young and working at a minimum-wage job, high-end audio might not be at the top of your list. I also know that there are many hi-fi hardcores reading this right now who toiled ceaselessly at various places of employment, in conditions wrenched from the dank pages of a Dickens novel, with a single-minded determination to get precisely those speakers—and for that I salute you.

In those days, I was buying records with all the extra money I had; playback wasn't as important as getting the records. I have no regrets on that point. Many of the records I bought for a few dollars then I now see selling on eBay and in other places for astronomical amounts. I am glad I always went for the records.

All through the '80s and into the early '90s I had only the most rudimentary of stereo systems, if I had one at all. Those were lean yet eventful times for me. I was, for the most part, on the road touring, or writing, or recording. I had gear accumulated from here and there. Again, as long as I could hear the records, I figured I was doing okay.

That began to change when I started spending more time in the studio and hearing playback on the huge pair of Altec Lansing speakers that were at a studio we worked at a lot. I started thinking of how great it would be to have something like that happening in my room. In those days, I didn't even have a room, but I would daydream about a great listening environment.

My bandmates and I bought most of our gear at a place called Russo Music Center, in Trenton, New Jersey. It's still there. Russo's was the pit stop for our endless laps around the world. Our man there was Dan Brewer. He and I had a running joke that if I ever made some money, I would call him and he would set me up with some burly stereo gear.

In 1991, I got a small publishing advance and called Dan. I told him that I had some funds and it was time to make the move. I ended up with a pretty good system—perhaps not the most sonically sweet, but one that lasted me for many years and rocked pretty hard: a pair of Tannoy 12-inchers with an 18" sub, a Carver rack-mounted preamp, and a Rane crossover. Don't laugh—I told you it wasn't audiophile. For me, it was more than I ever thought I would have.

About 13 years ago I started to upgrade. I ascended steadily with great enthusiasm as I discovered what was possible. As you know, once you have heard a truly well-considered and balanced system in a good room, you compare all listening experiences to that one.

There were many of those jumping-into-ice-cold-water moments when I found out how much one can pay for a cord. If audiophile retailers could have only a dollar for every time someone looked at a cable in their hand like it's a black mamba and asked, as the blood drains from a face that is now a fright mask of horror and disbelief, "How much did you say this costs?!" There was a lot of that.

I have five systems in my home. The one I spend the most time in front of is perhaps amateur hour to hi-fi heavyweights like yourselves, but I like it very much: Wilson Audio Sophia 3s, McIntosh amps and preamp, Rega Planar 3 turntable, and Rega Valve Isis CD player. At the end of 2012 that system will be moving to a different room, and Brian from Brooks Berdan Ltd., in Monrovia, California, will come in with his sturdy crew and we will start all over again.

Okay, that was the autobiographical. Now, here's the philosophical.

Why spend so much time and money to achieve optimum playback? For me it is simple, perhaps brutally so: Life is short, and music is humankind's ultimate achievement. Michelangelo, Picasso, Einstein were all unfathomably brilliant, but I would toss any one of them off the center spot of my couch when I put on this pristine copy of Hawkwind's Doremi Fasol Latido I got a couple of months ago. As soon as that music starts, every dollar becomes well spent, time becomes precious, and there is no place I would rather be.

Listening to music is perhaps the greatest and most profound source of happiness I have ever known. It has been this way since I was a teenager. I live in a house with over 30 years of accumulation from all over the world: music, posters, flyers, set lists, clippings, photos, etc. All of the albums and the people on them are existential family members. I am often on the road for long periods of time: Africa, the Middle East, Southeast and Central Asia, Australia, Europe, etc. In the taxi on the way back to the house, I am already lining up what I will listen to that night.

These admissions fairly beg for criticism, and perhaps analysis, I know. One could fairly wonder if the obsession with ultimate playback could be seen as a cart leading a musical horse—that one is more interested in the mechanics than in the actual music itself.

To that I say, spare me your cynicism. When you think of what some of these artists sacrificed to put this music across, what trends they pushed against, all those nights in the middle of nowhere, bringing it to the stage, what incredible misery and misfortune they too often encountered, just because they were burdened with a staggering talent and the courage to share it with the world, the least you can do besides buying their records is pay the respect due them by giving their music the best possible means to fill the air. Feel free to use that one any time.

High fidelity is like any other rarefied interest. If it moves you, then you move to it; if not, you go elsewhere. I do not waste time trying to convert anyone to the higher levels of audio. They don't know what they're missing, but to each their own. Thankfully, my road manager and I are both audiophiles and record-collecting maniacs. We travel all over the world and spend countless hours on the topic.

People can hurl any epithet they want about the snobbishness they think audiophiles retain. Let them drink their wine from boxes. The sound of my Bob Ludwig–mastered pressing of Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy coming through my system cuts through their contempt like Toshiro Mifune's katana blade!

http://www.stereophile.co...audiophile
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=



Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

2freaky4church1 said:

rdhull, where you gone?

que?

He can be intimidating if you ever get to meet him - with the tattoos and being built - but a complete music geek.

I asked him what he had lined up, and proceeded to give me a 10 minute itinerary, and this was after he did one of his 3 hour "spoken word" shows, completely spent. Then he signed my "Get In The Van" audiobook.

He's on KCRW (in LA) every Saturday night, but check the time it's on, because it's webcasted and podcasted.

I see him in Hollywood a lot. Very cool guy! and huge fan of Black Flag/Rollins Band

Never been moved much either way by his music, but I've always dug this guy.

What's cool about him is that he makes money without having to play the game. He can do what he likes but he makes good money. I admire that. Most of that would want that life.

theAudience said:

Dude's an audiophile.

I read this in Stereophile magazine...


The sound of my Bob Ludwig–mastered pressing of Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy coming through my system cuts through their contempt like Toshiro Mifune's katana blade!

Beat me to it. First thing I thought of when I read the title....

My Bob Ludwig–mastered pressing of Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy is kind of average but I was never crazy about the sonics of HOTH to begin with.

Ludwig's LZ II is the holy grail (still looking as is everyone else I suppose, scarce) I don't even spin my Mofi LZ II much because all I think about is that it's not the Ludwig version...

I was very surprised by how short and little he actually is because of how big and muscular he comes across on videos. I just saw him here in Ann Arbor hosting an Iggy Pop concert. I was surprised to find out Iggy Pop was from Ann Arbor.

ufoclub said:

I was very surprised by how short and little he actually is because of how big and muscular he comes across on videos. I just saw him here in Ann Arbor hosting an Iggy Pop concert. I was surprised to find out Iggy Pop was from Ann Arbor.

Rollins looked like he was around 5 foot 7.

Danzig's really short though. He might be Prince's height...

dalsh327 said:

ufoclub said:

I was very surprised by how short and little he actually is because of how big and muscular he comes across on videos. I just saw him here in Ann Arbor hosting an Iggy Pop concert. I was surprised to find out Iggy Pop was from Ann Arbor.

Rollins looked like he was around 5 foot 7.

Danzig's really short though. He might be Prince's height...

Was walking behind Henry Rollins at a record convention looking for Prince boot (me not him ), he was right in front of me, and I'm only 5'6" and he seemed the same height! I was just so surprised because of his larger then life shouting image on video (like that one where he's painted red). He seemed like a little guy that worked out a hell of a lot. He just happened to be going in front of me to the same stands, where different dealers were all saying hi to him. This was in 1994 I think.

ufoclub said:

dalsh327 said:

Rollins looked like he was around 5 foot 7.

Danzig's really short though. He might be Prince's height...

Was walking behind Henry Rollins at a record convention looking for Prince boot (me not him ), he was right in front of me, and I'm only 5'6" and he seemed the same height! I was just so surprised because of his larger then life shouting image on video (like that one where he's painted red). He seemed like a little guy that worked out a hell of a lot. He just happened to be going in front of me to the same stands, where different dealers were all saying hi to him. This was in 1994 I think.

When someone says "short", I consider that around 5 foot 4 and under. They always talk about Tom Cruise being short, but he winds up with girls taller than him. But it's funny because there's pics where he's taller and shorter than Katie.

Long time ago, but what a git he is here picking on an intimidated little kid.

Henry is putting together a weekly playlist on spotify.

You need a spotify account to join.

http://www.rhinofy.com/

Lammastide said:

Never been moved much either way by his music, but I've always dug this guy.