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Omar, the local crazy homeless guy, died the other day. A lot of people didn't like him but I didn't have a problem with him. He was either an obnoxious drunk or a funny, insightful, interesting dude. He and I would talk about 80's music, a passion of his. One thing that has been lovely is that the community has come together, there have been all sorts of tributes/signs/even parties in his honor, and they're still coming.

On a lighter note, I'd like to thank whoever here recommended this book about the comedy group The State. I loved it and I fucking love The State even more now.
Also my outfit today is pretty cool.

I love, love, love my Sennheiser HD598's.

This review sums them up pretty well. You'll fall in love.

They're $100 off Sennheiser's price over at amazon.

The reason I posted this is because of personal experience. I developed tinnitus last year due to a perforated eardrum surgery (surgery went well besides the tinnitus...) and after surgery I not only have experienced tinnitus but also sensitivity. I can't be at a party, a bar, or even a friend's house sometimes without wearing earplugs. It's fucking depressing and I don't want anybody else to have to go through this. My other ear which is also perforated has now developed tinnitus as well. It is one of the most depressing things in the world especially since I am currently in school studying to enter the music industry. (non-musician side)

It's hard for anybody to not want to turn their music up loud and jam out or go to a ton of concerts. In fact it's pretty unavoidable. What you can do though is get a pair of nice earplugs. Not the foam kind even though those do work they just muffle sound. The kind I'm talking about can in fact improve your concert experience and they allow you to hear what's important (the music) and you can still carry on a conservation with them in! I'll be honest they weren't the best pair for me in the last live event I was at. I was at a house show and the speakers are right there next to you so that on top of my sensitivity was probably what did it. They do have higher level protection though. [Here's] (http://www.amazon.com/LiveMus-HearSafe-Ear-Plugs-Hypoallergenic/dp/B00H2F87I8) a link if anybody is interested!

Mine is a book called [Twee] (http://www.amazon.com/Twee-Gentle-Revolution-Television-Fashion/dp/0062213040) that I think everyone should read. It's about 'hipster' culture in general and twee culture specifically. But it's also a great history of underground music, film, and literature. Talks a lot about The Smiths, The Modern Lovers, Nirvana, and even more modern bands like The Shins and Vampire Weekend. I think it's a really eye opening book about modern culture and made me look at the media I consume more critically as well.

I am a huge fan of the format. a few of my favorites:

Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests

The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests

Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN

The Union of The State

Slimed!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age

I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution

Yo! I just bought my first pair of nice headphones: Audio-Technica M50x's. I absolutely love them, the sound quality is great, I wear them at my work desk for HOURS and get no discomfort. Plus it's got a removable/replaceable cable. Big fan o' these. Worth the investment.

These ones from Etymotic have served me well. It's such a great feeling to be able to enjoy a show and not worry that I'm doing permanent damage. Also, the sound quality is much better than the muffled noise you'll get with cheap foam earplugs.

What does the ringing sound like? Is it like sleigh bells or more like just a constant high pitched noise? I'll definitely be more cautious about music volumes now and I'll prolly get those earplugs you mentioned if I can get them in by thursday. Are these what you have?

The Superlux HD668B headphones are fantastic. Pretty affordable, too. Can confirm that they handle GY!BE and Illinois pretty damn well.

I preach "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" by Bob Stanley to all my friends.

It has been the most informative book about the creation of different music genres over the last 50-60 years. I will cherish it until I die.

Runner-ups:
Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World by Rob Sheffield

Dust & Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting by Eilon Paz

To be honest, buying a record player with built in speakers just isn't worth it. You're better off just sticking with mp3s at that point.

This would be my recommendation for an entry-level turntable. You'll need to get speakers separately though. On the bright side, it does have a built-in preamp so you don't need to buy that separately.

Go find some actual reusable earplugs. I have been using the same pair for like two or three years that I won free in a RSD giveaway. I know it might be a bit late, but something like these will change your life.

Porta Pros baby. They let out a lot of sound, but have amazing balance.

Highly recommend the Etymotic ER20s, very good and affordable

These are far and away the best sounding and most comfortable headphones I've ever used: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-598-Over-Ear-Headphones/dp/B0042A8CW2

I know they might be outside your budget, but if you get them, you won't be disappointed.

The Koss Portapro is a super cheap, basic headphone with solid sound. $49 of the $50 retail price goes into the drivers, and they're my go-to commuting/around campus phones.

I got Agaetis and ( ) through amazon.co.uk a while back for a combined $70 USD. I'm not sure if they're still stocked, but it's worth checking out.

EDIT: Found it, looks like it went out of print again but is being reissued in February.

these work pretty well for me at shows

What kinds of concerts are we talking here? If it's Swans/Mogwai/My Bloody Valentine loud, you're gonna need something a bit stronger than, say, Fleet Foxes or Andrew Bird.

For most concerts, you can do with a 10-20 dB earplug made for musicians. I recommended these for most concerts.

If you're going to epically loud concerts (Swans, etc) you'll need something closer to 30-40 dB, and even then it may not be enough. When I saw them live the first time the bass was so loud it conducted through my bone structure and went around my earplugs. Only recourse at that point is to move back a bit.

(I studied acoustics in college, the science is actually pretty cool) What's your concert list?

Good call on the earplugs. I have a pair of Hearos and they're one of the best purchases I've ever made. They block out the sound without muffling it. It's magic.

[I've heard really good things about these and they have free shipping so that's nice] (http://www.amazon.com/OG-AUD63070-Multimedia-SHELL200-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B00G2DL5VC/ref=sr_1_2?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1458923958&sr=1-2)

i was thinking about going to college but i bought them instead and i do not regret it at all

Well both options are good and will cost you about the same when you get a phono pre-amp (built into AT LP120 and extra for U-Turn).

http://store.uturnaudio.com/products/orbit-builder

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT-LP120-USB-Direct-Drive-Professional-Turntable/dp/B002S1CJ2Q

I have the opposite problem, I can't fall asleep to music because it's too engaging... Do you have really nice headphones? Try getting some nice headphones with an aggressive, engaging sound signature like these. As a sound engineer, I wear headphones all day long, some I can fall asleep with, but I don't think it's possible with the Sonys.

no earplugs will do that, they just filter out the bad stuff and you can hear everything else perfectly, and in a lot of cases even better than you'd hear without them. i use these, but i used to use the cheapo $0.50 squishy hardware store earplugs for a long time, and those are still totally worth using.

There are earplugs out there such as these bad boys that are designed to muffle the sound as little as possible, and I'd say most tend to do a pretty good job and give a fairly clear sound compared to regular plugs. If you're worried about missing anything, pick something like those up.

A book about Yo La Tengo and indie acts around that time you may be interested in!

i use these and they are good

I don't know if this is a common sale or not but 50% off doesn't sound bad at all. ATH M50X for $119

We Owe You Nothing is an excellent companion piece to Please Kill Me.

It's also about punk, but also DIY and hardcore.

Here is the mobile version of your link

can anyone recommend some earplugs that don’t block out too much sound? i have these etymotic plugs but i can’t really hear much when i put them on so i usually end up taking them off halfway through the concert anyway

I use these. I have gone to about 50 concerts with them and have never experienced any comments about my appearance or hearing damage. The plus for these compared to the foam ones you can get at CVS or something is they don't block sound nearly as much, but offer you the same protection.

Etymotic plugs

not something like foam so music still sounds the same, just down some db!!!

Do you need Noise cancelling? Because I'd grab these KEF's or some mdr7506s or Audio technica m40x

i'd say with $100 you could buy at least 3 of these bad boys

Any Bjork fans read Story of the Eye? It's a short story published in the 20's. She mentions the book in her MOMA retrospective package. Really weird book. After reading it, I started noticing subtle references to it in a lot of her work. Lots of the more gross parts of Matthew Barney's River of Fundament are ripped directly from the book.