Feelin' a little Retro...

I don't recall from where I heard of it, but there's an open source (and free) application out there called Audacity which is a really, really handy utility for audio track manipulation. Sure, there's GarageBand for Mac, but what is there for Windows without having to steal software or pay money? Audacity is the way to go.

And who would really care about crap like this? Well, for sad schmucks like me who have been taking a stroll down Memory Lane via their cassette or LP collections, how else do you get them onto your MP3 player and take them with you in the car or wherever? Take that stereo output, plug it into the Line In jack on the computer, adjust levels, start recording, and then hit Play. Sure... you have to chop them up later and convert them to MP3 using either Audacity and the LameLib MP3 encoder or iTunes (or whatever), but still... how else could I listen to those old tapes of Minor Threat, The Smiths, The Replacements, and my new/old/new again fav-o-rite home-town heroes: Naked Raygun. (which, as I check out the link... appears they're going to be in Chicago Nov 5th for a reunion tour! How cool is that! ...just gotta get me some tickets now.)

Just like smells trigger specific memory, music I haven't heard in a while reminds me of everything that happened the year that I first heard it. So lately I've been walkin' my way through high school and college, one cassette at a time. Welcome back... to 1991.