I still remember the first time I bought this album. I was going on fourteen years old, on a school trip to New York City. I found the tape in a little store off the beaten path. Nevermind had just come out, but no one could foresee the impact on music Nirvana was going to have.

Fast forward to 2009 and I sit here admiring a gorgeous 180-gram white vinyl 2 LP set. Album #1 is a remastered pressing of the original Bleach LP. The other is a February 9th, 1990 show at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon.

Digital hi-fi never really went away, but it’s back and better than ever after taking a bit of a beating.

If your golden ears have shied away from the digital domain before, though, it’s time for another listen. Not only are old formats like SACD finally reaching their full potential thanks to pure digital interconnectivity, the new high-resolution audio formats found on Blu-ray are making access to eerily  high-fidelity music playback easier than ever.

I know what's about to happen. I'm about to sit here and type a thousand words or so, waxing left and right about The Beatles: Rock Band, how it fits into the current glut of music/rhythm games, whether it does justice to the band and their legacy, blah blah blah...

When really, what it all boils down to is this: if you like The Beatles, go buy this game. Now. If you like the Beatles and don't own a PS3 or Xbox 360 (or Wii, I guess), go buy one of those. Now. And then buy this game. Right after that.

Within half an hour of Tweeting the fact that I finally got my paws on the new stereo Beatles remasters this week, my email inbox was clogged with the same question repeated practically ad infinitum: “So... don’t leave me hanging. How do they sound?” The ellipses were often stretched to the point of abuse, and the question marks ranged from solitary to the obscene, but I read that exactly question so many times I almost started to have Tweet remorse

Honestly, though, who doesn’t want to know how these discs sound? So I’ll cut to the chase and tell you all what I told them:

On Music and Filters

Did rock die in 1972? Are "old people" just glamorizing classic rock and ignoring modern music?

In our most opinionated, animated and heated podcast yet, Brent, Geoff, Kevin and Steve get into a debate on the state of music.

Download link after the jump.

Note Perfect 

Along with the labels "Riverside" and "Impulse," the words "Blue Note" are synonymous with Jazz.  

Unfortunately for music lovers and record collectors, the original pressings of Blue Note's catalog are difficult to locate (especially in pristine condition) and often prohibitively expensive to acquire. Rejoice! There is no need to be blue anymore... for fans of the Blue Note recordings of the 50's and 60's, two separate vinyl reissue series are now at hand.  

All the info after the jump.

An Abundance of Riches!  

Vinyl is having something of a resurgence, being pretty much the only category of physical media in the music industry currently showing growth.

Having previously reported on the sonic benefits available to those of us who spin the old fashioned vinyl LP, I would be remiss if I failed to call to your attention several of the titles which have been recently reissued on vinyl.

The greatest thing... ever.

I admit, I'm way late to the party on this one.

Still, if you haven't checked out Pandora, you really have to.

Mini "review" after the jump.

Our 10 Best Software Award winners.

Nothing less than our picks for the best demo material of the past year.

Avoid the crowds and get your money’s worth with these spectacular concerts on Blu-ray.  

I’ve just about done with concerts.Not that I don’t love live music—nothing compares to being in the same room with talented musicians doing their thing—but it's just not worth the hassle anymore.

Where is the joy in paying $250 for a nosebleed seat, only to have to strain to hear the music over all of the Chatty Cathys, while some old drunk dude in a two-sizes-too-small Motorhead T-shirt spills Bud in your lap? With the advent of Blu-ray, I honestly cannot find a reasonable answer to that question.