Stephen Mejias
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Looking Forward: Sharon Van Etten’s Tramp
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Nov 29, 2011 • 2 comments
I’ve quickly and deeply fallen in love with Sharon Van Etten’s album, Tramp, to be released by Jagjaguwar on February 7th. My review is scheduled to appear in our March issue, but I’ll tell you now that this is an album worth owning and playing again and again.
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Sound By Singer’s Grand Re-Opening
News, Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Nov 28, 2011 • 10 comments
On Thursday, November 17, Sound By Singer celebrated the grand opening of their new showroom with an evening of music and product demonstrations.
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What is Sound?
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Nov 17, 2011 • 1 comments
SoundCloud, the neat “social sound platform” that allows users to create and share sounds with anyone who has an internet connection, turned to design company, The Wilderness, to help answer the question, “What is sound?”

See what the experts—Moby, Imogen Heap, Julian Treasure, Martyn Ware, and others—have to say.

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Now on Newsstands: Stereophile, Vol.34 No.12
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Nov 16, 2011 • Published: Nov 15, 2011 • 2 comments
The December 2011 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. Here are 60 reasons to buy it:
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Hi-fi Hootenannies at Whetstone Audio
News, Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Nov 15, 2011 • 4 comments
Look eye! Always look eye!

Friday, December 2, 6–9pm: Whetstone Audio (2401 East 6th Street, #1001, Austin, Texas) will host an evening of music with Bob Clarke of Profundo (Heed, Transfiguration, VivA, Trenner & Freidl, Silent Source) and Colleen Cardas of Colleen Cardas Imports (Unison Research, Opera Loudspeakers).

Brian Di Frank of Whetstone Audio says this is just “the first of many hootenannies” and he offers a warm invitation:

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The Collect-i-Bowl Record Show: Winter Edition
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Nov 11, 2011 • 1 comments
Mark your calendars: The Winter Edition of the vinylicious Collect-i-Bowl Record Show will be held at Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn), from noon to 6pm, on Sunday, December 4th.

Admission is free. For more info, visit Brooklyn Bowl. And be sure to bring your appetite: The food at Brooklyn Bowl is heartstoppingly good.

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Last Friday Night
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Nov 09, 2011 • 4 comments
Photo: Tio Denny.

Last Friday night, my old band, the Multi-Purpose Solution, played a show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. We hadn’t performed since 2006, and, because we had only managed to get together for three full rehearsals prior to the show, each member of the band felt a certain amount of anxiety. But when we saw the room quickly fill with fans, family, and friends, we knew nothing could go wrong.

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Everything is An Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Nov 08, 2011 • 1 comments
Tomorrow night, from 7 to 8pm, in the Rare Book Room of Manhattan’s wonderful Strand Bookstore (828 Broadway), author Kevin Avery will sign copies of his new book, Everything is An Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson.

Who was Paul Nelson?

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The Multi-Purpose Solution: Live at Maxwell’s
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Nov 02, 2011 • 2 comments
Lately, I’ve been listening almost exclusively to CDs and CD players. It hasn’t been bad at all. In our December issue, I’ll talk about the Emotiva ERC-2 CD player ($449); in January, I’ll compare the Emotiva to Michael Lavorgna’s longtime digital reference, the original Sony Playstation 1 (typically $15–$75, used); and, in February, I’ll listen to NAD’s C 515BEE ($300), the disc-spinning counterpart to that company’s awesome C 316BEE integrated amplifier.

It’s been the perfect time for me to listen to CD players because my old band, The Multi-Purpose Solution, is reuniting to play a show this Friday, November 4, at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ.

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Mark Hollis: The More You Love
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Oct 12, 2011 • 6 comments
In our December issue, I review Emotiva’s ERC-2 CD player and use Mark Hollis’s eponymous solo album as a reference. It’s a gorgeous disc, both sonically and musically—full of emotion, power, urgency, and lifelike detail. It was only earlier this year that I discovered Mark Hollis and his band, Talk Talk, through the kindness of Steve Cohen, salesman at In Living Stereo and friend of Other Music.

I had just met Steve.

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New Music: Oneohtrix Point Never’s “Replica”
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Oct 11, 2011 • 1 comments
I’ve mentioned my excitement for Oneohtrix Point Never’s upcoming album, Replica. Scheduled for release by Mexican Summer on November 8, it’s sure to be one of my favorite albums of 2012.

A month ago, we listened to “Sleep Dealer,” and now we can listen to the title track, a steady and introspective 4:36 of piano, synth, and tape drones.

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Sandro Perri’s Impossible Spaces
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Oct 10, 2011 • 0 comments
On the surface, Sandro Perri’s Impossible Spaces is an ordinary pop album: We hear pleasant guitar, intelligent percussion, and a voice that, while lovely, is easily appreciated, palatable, unchallenging. But there’s a depth and darkness to this music that begs to be uncovered.

It’s the sweetness of the voice and the liquid tone of the guitar that draw me in, but the subtle shifts in key, the clever instrumentation, the aching cello and odd flute, the broken lines and strangely abbreviated melodies that make me listen again, confuse and enchant, charm and intoxicate.

Here’s the video for “Love and Light,” the second track from Impossible Spaces:

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New Music: Suun’s “Bambi” & “Red Song”
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Oct 07, 2011 • 7 comments
I’ve been enjoying “Bambi” and “Red Song,” two new pulsing, angular, seductive tracks from Montreal’s Suuns.

Suuns - Bambi b/w Red Song by DOJAGSC

The band explains:

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KEF: 50 Years of Innovation in Sound
News, Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Oct 06, 2011 • 1 comments
All photos: Kristen Somody Whalen.

On the evening of Tuesday, September 27, KEF dealers, friends, and associates celebrated the British loudspeaker company’s 50th anniversary. The event was held in the impressive penthouse residence of British Consul-General, Danny Lopez, where guests were treated to tall glasses of Pimm’s, delicious hors d’oeuvres, and electric views of Midtown Manhattan and Long Island City.

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A Cup of Tea, a Light, and Your Stereo
Stephen Mejias
Stephen Mejias • Oct 06, 2011 • 10 comments
Several weeks ago, a dear friend reminded me of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs on June 12, 2005, at Stanford University. The entire speech heaves with wisdom, hope, and love, and I tend to come back to it every now and then, just as I do Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass—for comfort, compassion, direction, perspective. I meant to write something about it then, but things got in the way.

Here’s a pertinent excerpt:

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

And here’s an image of Jobs at home in 1982.

Photo: Diana Walker.

“This was a very typical time. I was single. All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that’s what I had.”—Steve Jobs

I'm reminded to live simply, full of love.

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