Just like me, Belle and Sebastian write about love. The band’s new album is due out here in the States on October 12. It will be mine. You can listen to a clip on <a href="http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2010/08/16/belle-sebastian-write… Matablog</a>. The song, “I Want the World to Stop,” sounds just as dark and groovy and infectious as you might imagine. I’ve listened to it about 69 times already.
The October issue of <i>Stereophile</i> shipped to press yesterday afternoon. (Hallelujah.) We are already deep into the November issue, while our new editorial assistant, <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/the_young_guy/">Ariel Bitran</a>, is tackling the <i>2011 Buyer’s Guide</i>. In addition to all of that, and on top of the regular stuff, the entire office is in <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/boltz_cd_rack/">the process of moving</a> onto the 6th floor of our 261 Madison Avenue location. Construction crews are tearing down walls and building new cubicles, painters are turning white and gray into blue and cream, movers are carrying tables and desks up flights of stairs. My office is cramped with <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/buried/">boxes</a>, but this time they’re moving boxes.
Everyone wants something different from a loudspeaker. Some people value midrange neutrality above all, while others will sacrifice some of that accuracy to get extended lows or a speaker that will play immensely loud with only a few watts of power. Some want stereo imaging that is sufficiently delicate, stable, and accurate that the speakers open a transparent window on the recording's original performing space. Some will sacrifice all of the above to get a speaker whose "jump factor" can jerk zombies out of their stupor. And there are those who are prepared to lose just a little bit of everything in order to have a speaker that may not excel in any of these areas, but communicates what they want from their music in the most effective overall manner.
Sort of like a drunk wandering around the East Village in search of companionship or something, I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97dec/vinyl.htm">this outstanding article</a> by <i>Stereophile</i>’s former senior contributing editor, Jonathan Scull. The piece, “All Sales Are Vinyl,” which appeared in the December 1997 issue of <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i>, takes the reader on a brisk tour of Greenwich Village record shops. Though many of the shops mentioned are long gone, others such as A-1, the Jazz Record Center, Academy Records, and Other Music are still going strong, and Jonathan’s writing is at its best. Not only does he capture the joy of the vinyl hunt, he illuminates this unreal city, and does so with his unique, charming wit—his comic timing is brilliant.
Well, I just got off the phone with Steve Daniels of The Sound Organisation, US importer for Rega, and while I don’t have a ton of information on Rega’s new RP-1 turntable, I do have some good news:
And look who’s back: It’s Ariel Bitran! Ariel worked as our part-time editorial intern, enabling us to complete the 2008, 2009, and 2010 editions of the <i>Stereophile Buyer’s Guide</i>, before departing for a full-time gig with Mini-Circuits.
Today is my 10th anniversary with <i>Stereophile</i>. Hmm…on the way home today, maybe I’ll buy myself a nice beer. Or a record…