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Nicely done, Haj. Looking good. There's always something satisfying about wrapping up a project like this. Congrats.

I decided to expand on my mid-year report card for my end-of-year ranking. Any one of the albums receiving an A could be considered my Album of the Year, but if forced to choose one it would have to be Rasputina's Oh Perilous World. The rest of my ramblings are as follows... A | Catherine Anne Davies - The Piano EP Another haunting collection of songs from Ms. Davies. Nothing groundbreaking here, but the simple and straight-forward songs and her voice create a haunting atmosphere that's difficult to describe but not easily forgotten. Samples available here. A | Epica - The Divine Conspiracy Since picking this up, I've explored their back catalog and came away unimpressed. But wow, this is one hell of an album. Stunning female vocals, great varied songwriting and interesting instrumentation and arrangements keep me coming back for more. A | Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band EP I love "Colleen," and her touring bands contributions to the reworks of "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" and "Cosmia" are welcome additions to her catalog. After listening to the bootleg "Live at Bottletree" so much, I've really grown to love what her band brings to the table. A | Nellie McKay - Obgliagtory Villagers Such a short album comes as a bit of a shock after she split with Columbia over the length of Pretty Little Head, but it's filled with some great songs. You can really hear the joy she has in making music, and it's a top-notch group of musicians she has recorded with. Another great album from her that blend all sorts of musical styles seamlessly. A | Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero I can understand the issues people have taken with this album... Short on hooks, high on repetition. But to me it's probably strikes the best balance of angst and accessibility of all of the NIN albums. I find it very listenable, with a number of memorable songs. The mood and tone are just right, and as always, the layering of textures and sounds always keeps things interesting. A | Rasputina - Oh Perilous World I'm a huge fan of Melora Crager's Neo-Victorian Chamber Rock, and have loved pretty much everything she's put together. But losing Zoe Keating and the prospect of a concept album had me a little worried. And I have to admit, after the first listen, I was less than impressed. But a few more listens has revealed an album that while less accessible, is just as enjoyable as the rest of their albums. A- | Feist - The Reminder I was a little late to the game on this album. After reading so much praise in so many places, I was hesitant to buy in. But I'm sure glad I did, because this is a great collections of songs. I've since picked up Let It Die, and this has been one of my favorite finds of '07 thus far. A- | Moonsorrow - V-Havitetty A full-length album with 2 tracks usually screams of pretentious, self-absorbed musicians whose ambition exceeds their abilities. This is not the case on this album... Not at all. The 2 tracks actually feel like 4, and the balance of folk metal, viking metal and black metal make for an amazing musical journey. I think I still prefer Verisakeet, if only for "Jotunheim," but V-Havitetty is stunning. A- | Nina Nastasia & Jim White - You Follow Me An excellent follow-up to last year's On Leavnig, with the blending of her voice and guitar and his drums is much better than I could've ever imagined. The only reason it's not ranked higher is there are a few times where I wish the drums weren't quite so prominant. But otherwise they struck a great balance, and her voice is always amazing. A- | The New Pornographers - Challengers I'm admittedly a late-comer to TNP, and only checked them out because I knew Neko Case (who can do no wrong in my eyes) contributes vocals on a number of tracks. And while "Challengers" and "Go Places," the two tracks she sings on are my favorites, the rest of the album is pretty spectacular from start to finish. I'm not familiar with their discography enough to rank it, but from what I've heard, it's another near-flawless release. A- | Opeth - The Roundhouse Tapes One of the best live recordings I've hear, this set has some of my favorite tracks as well as some that were pleasant surprises live. The only thing that could've made it better was if Martin Mendez had managed to stick around on drums, but otherwise a great release with excellent SQ. A- | Tristania - Illumination To my ears, this is their best album since Widow's Weeds. I know World of Glass is often referred to as their best, but it never did much for me. Illumination is pretty straight forward, but they have the best post-Morten male vocals and it's probably the best Vibke has ever sounded... Which will only make me miss her more. A- | Virgin Black - Requiem - Mezzo Forte While I've enjoyed parts of their previous albums, this is their first release that really works for me as a whole. The male vocals are much improved, the addition of classical female vocals really fleshes out the sound, and the guitar sound is still to die for. I'm really looking forward to the other two parts of the Requiem project. B+ | Dean & Britta - Back Numbers I don't know how else to describe this album other than just striking me as cool, hip and fun. The lush arrangements and Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham's detached vocals really work well to create an atmosphere I enjoy. B+ | Norah Jones - Not Too Late I'm glad she decided to take a chance and contribute more to songwriting. The mood is definitely darker here, and the album is better for it. Not as immediately accessible as her first two albums, but I think it's the strongest of the three. B+ | Lumsk - Det Vilde Kor After discovering this band last year, I was really looking forward to hearing what they came up with next. This album sounds little like their first two releases, with no metal influences at all. But what's left is a beautiful folk sound with stunning female vocals. B+ | Roisin Murphy - Overpowered Excellent electro-pop... Her voice is great, and the album flies by. This is a fun album with surprising staying-power. B+ | Swallow The Sun - Hope The balance of the heavy and melodic reminds me a lot of Opeth, as do the clean vocals. However the sound is a bit different, with deeper growls and a sound that's more doom than death metal. The songwriting is great, production is strong and everything sounds just as it should. B+ | Ulver - Shadows of the Sun A quiet understated release that has quite a bit going on. Hard to believe they started out as a black metal band. This is an excellent compainion piece to their previous album, Blood Inside. Their cover of "Solitude" is the album's high-point. B | Tori Amos - American Doll Posse I really wanted to give this a higher grade. There are some songs on here that are the most enjoyable she's written in ages. But it's a little too uneven to move it up, and after listening to A Piano a lot recently, I realize that just because it's the best she's done in a while doesn't mean it's among the best she's done. Still an enjoyable album, and it gives me hope for what's to come... Just not something I reach for very often. And quite possibly one of the worst album covers in recent years. B | Emilie Autumn - Laced/Unlaced While she is a classically-trained violinist, her music has strayed away from that more and more. This double album is an interesting work... The first disc, Laced is a collection of recordings of straight forward violin pieces. Some are your standards you'd expect someone to record, while others are original compositions. Unlaced, however, is the collision of her classical training and the "Victoriandustrial" direction she's exploring. Electric violin, noise, distortion and no vocals makes the 2nd disc a lot to swallow, but there are some very enjoyable moments to be found here. B | Callisto - Noir What should sound like a pale imitation of Isis really holds its own with a better sense of atmosphere than any of the Isis releases and some interesting choices in instrumentation and song structure keeps you on your toes. B | Jesca Hoop - Kismet A very creative artist who draws from almost any style or period. I've had The Silverscreen Demos for a while and have always enjoyed it. Her growth is obvious, and the songs that carry over from the demos really benefit from the increased production budget. B | Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower This is another album that doesn't have any real flaws, but just hasn't connected with me. I still love her voice, and there are some great tracks on here. But it's another one that's just not the kind of stuff I've been listening to lately. B | Within Temptation - The Heart of Everything Nothing groundbreaking here, but a throughly enjoyable listen. Sharon den Adel's voice is great, and the straight-forward songwriting is quite good. B- | Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55 I really like this album when it's on... Her voice is beautiful, the songs are pleasant enough and there's nothing wrong with it. It's just that other than the chorus of the title track, I've found it kind of forgettable. It strikes me as background music... Excellent background music, but background music none the less. So the B- might be a little tough, but until something from this album really clicks with me, here is where it stays. B- | Pelican - City of Echoes I'd like to think of myself as a pretty big fan of Australasia and The Fire In Our Throats..., but I haven't really enjoyed this one as much as their previous efforts. It's a strong album, with some great moments. But it's another one that hasn't really left a strong impression with me. B- | Sleepytime Gorilla Musuem - In Glorious Times This sounds to me like a pretty big step forward. I enjoyed Grand Opening and Closing, but it's a pretty challenging listen and wasn't something I reached for often. This is much more accessible, and an album I've really been enjoying, but another that leaves little lasting impression. C | Blonde Redhead - 23 I was really looking forward to finally checking out this band, after reading a ton about them over the years. But this was a pretty big disappointment for me... kind of an average release that I enjoy when playing but rarely seek out. C- | Nightwish - Dark Passion Play I was never a big Nightwish fan, so I'm not coming to this as someone who was disappointed they had a new singer. I was actually very impressed with the vocals... For me it was just too bombastic and busy. So for me at least, it was another great year of music. And with released from Goldfrapp and Draconian coming in early 2008, next year isn't looking too bad either.

For me, the top metal album of the year was definitely Epica's The Divine Conspiracy. It has all of the things I really love in an album, mainly stunning female vocals and enough going on that you can discover new things with every listen. This is an album that gets better and better the longer I have it.

Mistletoe or not, good luck getting a girl to kiss you if you're wearing K1000s!!!

I ran a Denon DCM-560 changer w/ a variable out straight to my Adcom GFA-535 amp (which now powers my sealed 12" sub) powering my Boston Acoustics VR30 speakers for a while and really liked it. Of course, that was back in the day, before computer-as-source or much of a need for an external DAC. But the simplicity of that setup was nice.

Nate, For the record, it sounds like the same problem it had before... It was a bad relay on the right side that kept the front and rear channels from powering up. They share a relay which is why you lose both. I don't know how long it's been since I had it repaired, but it being the same issue is all the more reason to have Outlaw look at it again. Good luck!

You certainly can't have either of mine The DA-500 is a 1702 design, and the last stand-alone DAC Denon made AFAIK. The 1704 is in my DVM-4800, but I never got around to my comparison between the two. I'm still curious just how much of a difference there is.

x2 It's tough to say how much of the sound of an HF-1 (versus other Prestige Grados) is due to driver tuning and how much could be attributed to said driver being housed in a wood enclosure. But I'd agree with Grawk that the HF-1 benefits from modding... More so than other Grados, IMO... I've also done 325s, 325is and 125s, and none have had as big a change as the HF-1.

The driver will still be stuck in the plastic part you see when you take off the pads. I've tried (unsuccessfully) to free the drivers from the plastic enclosure... They're superglued in and won't come out. You can remove the 325i metal cup and woody the plastic driver enclosure. But no matter what, you're stuck with a prestige driver in its plastic home capped in wood. Trust me... I wish they could be freed. But I ruined a pair of 325s trying to free the driver from the driver enclosure. No need to ask me how I felt about that.

I haven't heard of anyone doing it. I've wanted to turn a one-piece enclosure like the RS-1 for a while, but removing the driver from the plastic of a Prestige series Grado is all but impossible. I'm sure it could be done... The drivers are removed from the RS-1 for recables, so I'd guess it's not a big deal. I don't know if the RS-2 is a 2-piece design, like the prestige series, or a single piece like the RS-1. If I had to guess, it's 2-piece and they used factory 2nds of the mahongany driver enclosure for the HF-1. I've seen a ton of variation of the lip used to secure the pads on the HF-1 enclosures. But beyond that I'm not sure... Good luck if you decide to rip apart of RS-1s... Dew iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!! And measurements would be all that's required from there.

Now I'm worlds of pissed. I spent over an hour shoveling my driveway, and an hour later I went back out and cleaned things up after the plow went by. I showered and was getting ready to go out and grab some food and my dipshit fucking neighbor tried backing a Saturn out without shoveling. So now he's stuck at an angle, blocking me in and as he's trying to shovel out in the dark, he's spreading snow across the area I went out of my way to clear completely. So almost an hour later I'm still fucked because some fucking douchebag had his head up his ass. Fucker must be brain-dead thinking he wasn't going to get stuck without digging out first.

Finished season 2 of Dexter yesterday. Such a great show.

Maybe it's because my commute is < 2 miles. Maybe it's because I ski and snowboard. But I say bring the fucking snow. Bring it!! Actually, I'm disappointed because the latest reports are only calling for 3-5 inches. Boooooooooooooooo!!!

Thanks everyone. Definitely excited.

Dexter S02E05, probably followed by S02E06.

Well, last time I mentioned it, it was for signing the P&S. But my closing was today, so I guess my condo officially qualifies. Pretty exciting day.

Dexter... S02E03 & S02E04

No offense to anyone who buys it, but the whole "It wasn't against the rules then" argument is bullshit. Just because MLB had its head up its ass doesn't mean that what they were doing wasn't against local, state and federal laws. I bet MLB doesn't explicitly state you can't kill a member of the opposing team when not on the field... But if someone did it, I doubt people would bother with the "It's not against the rules argument." There are bigger things than MLB rules... The spirit of the game and competition should outweigh some weasel's willingness to risk long-term health to gain an unfair advantage.

Nate... Be sure to trose them on the -fi to increase demand before listing them. Maybe even a "Post Pictures of your AT Woody" thread?

And I think you're wrong. Definitely wrong.

Wow... Just... Wow!!!

Oh nos!!1one

#1 way to come across like a jackass on a forum you're new to is to say something like "I'm learning as I'm typing here." Wait... That's exactly what you said... How about you step away from the keyboard and spend a little time here using only your mouse and figure out how things work. Save posting for when you have something to say and know how it will be taken here. As near as I can tell, more than haf your posts are throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. The others are justifying a deal that didn't even happen over here. So stop. Get to know the place, then post. Do not post to get to know the place, unless you want people's opinion of you to stay the same. And here's a hint... So far I'd have to say that said opinion isn't much to hang your hat on.

Hahahahaha! J/K Nate!

Phatbox HD-based .mp3 player for my GTI... A pretty cool voice-promted unit that takes the place of the CD changer and uses the stock head-unit. Getting the files on it at the office this morning.