Oh I've already got my analog component CD burner - the problem is my amp and, especially, my turntable are starting to clap out on me (the amp has earned it, though - I bought it in '77). So I can transfer cassette to CDR with no problem, except that the audio quality bites syphilitic rat penis.

I saw there's a newfangled scanner coming out, on which you just lay your old vinyl on top of it and it apparently scans the grooves and transfers that into digital data. Seems too good to be true - but I've got my fingers crossed.

I think this is the stereophonic equivalent of the kitten in the microwave. I remember, back around '89 or so, that there would be a laser turntable that would read vinyl grooves and by-pass scratches, dirt, static, and pops. The common take was that it was a conspiracy of the major labels to push the CD format (and hence repurchases of millions of pieces of vinyl) that kept the technology off of store shelves.

I'm still waiting.

Yep, that's it...& yep, it is.

I can remember the day I skipped school my Sophomore year of high school & road tripped to Joplin MO ( about an hour away from home ) to the nearest Musicland with $100 cash in my pocket to blow. Snagged that album & several others.

On the burning vinyl to CDR issue...I know there's a lot of programs out there where you can take all the pops & hisses outta the vinyl when you burn, but I actually LIKE 'em in there.

Gerling

Electronica
Sunny Pop

Their debut album, When Young Terrorists Chase the Sun, was released before September 11, so it was immediately banned in America because of its name, thus depriving lots of people of a great record.

They're like two bands in one, a band that makes great dance tracks, and then a band that churns out these great organic sunny pop songs.

RIYL: Their pop moments are like the Shins except more fun, and their dance music is kinda like Ladytron and the Avalanches put together.

I think I pretty much do this kinda thing on a regular basis with bands like Shrimp Boat and Martin Newell.

I'll try another one:
Blue Ruin
RIYL: Nick Cave (The Birthday Party years), Jon Spencer (without the irony)

It's the drummer from The Birthday Party I guess they sound like Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, but if they were genuinely dangerous. Heavy blues vibe, without the cliché 12-bar jam-band crap.
Cool, guttural baritone vocals and wailing.

Hell, here's another one, and it's anotherone with a Nick Cave connection:
Barry Adamson
It's like moody soundtrack music, wothout a movie. Great jazz-influenced vibe music.
RIYL - Ennio Marcone, Miles Davis, some other bands that I've probably never heard before.

Was also the bass player in Magazine.

two terrible bands in one

the song with Jarvis Cocker is pretty awesome

Max Richter

I've mentioned him quite a bit, and I know a few have taken notice. Simply some of the best ambient/soundtrack/emotional electronic type music around. Fucking DEEP. If you don't own his album "The Blue Notebooks", you NEED to get ahold of it.

^good choice

Blue Notebooks is much more focused and lean then Memoryhouse

did you ever check out that Vashti Bunyan album he produced..."Lookaftering"?

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I'd start with "Sticks and Stones" or the Island Records self titled (not to be confused with the other self titled commonly referred to as "Pray Naked.") If you are lucky enough to find them, and end up not liking them, you can sell them on e-bay for anything between $20-$40.

I've only heard 2+ albums from him (Oedipus Shmoedipus [or however it's spelled] and The King of Nothing Hill) -- what else do I need to get? (Or rather, what do I need to get next?)

Sabir Mateen:

Noise, Free Jazz

The guy produces an incredible range of sounds on any instrument he touches (tenor sax, alto sax, clarinet, flute). Though I certainly wouldn't compare him to (as far as being on the same level as) Kawabata there are a lot of similarities in structure (or lack thereof) between the two. The best example being the record he recorded with David Nuss and Daniel Carter, Tenor Rising, Drums Expanding, which ranks among my top twenty noise records of all time. Just phenomenal mind altering rhythms and non-melody for the better part of 45 minutes.

RIYL: Arthur Doyle, No Neck Blues Band, Acid Mothers Temple

Speaking of Miles Davis:

Erik Truffaz

Irresistible cool jazz produced after 2000 as if Miles were still alive, listening to the zeitgeist, and lived in Paris. Try “Walk of the Giant Turtles.”

RIYL: um, Nils Pettar Movaer?

And

Bexar Bexar, Haralambos

Extra octane chill ambient. Post-compositional with analog instruments. Has a rare quality of always sounding new.

RIYL: Dntel, Mum, Eno

no, i always thought Vashti Bunyan was Devendra Banhart et al type of freak folk crap (im aware she predates him), which really isnt my cup of tea. Am i wrong?

Admission:
I posted Barry Adamson based upon only hearing Oedipus Schmoedipus. Although I plan on picking up Moss Side Story – his debut and the actual soundtrack to an imaginary movie.

not as freakish as DB, but yeah, it's folk.