Stephen Mejias

I'm telling you: Matador's Buy">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/buy_early_get_now_sonic_youth… Early Get Now plan is the gift that keeps on giving. First of all, I've been streaming The Eternal every day for the last couple of weeks. It's great. Then, with the pre-sale ticket offer, I scooped up four seats (Orchestra, Row C) for Sonic Youth's July 3 performance at the United Palace Theater in Manhattan. Now, I'm freaking out to this shredding, blazing train wreck of "Silver Rocket" from last year's Fourth of July River to River Festival held at Battery Park. I wasn't there.

While putting together yesterday's entry, I stumbled upon this video of Mike Bones performing a version of Grinderman's excellent "No Pussy Blues." This was back in the summer of 2007, during a music festival in New York City's East River Park. I wasn't there.

Though he, like many others, moved to New York City as soon as he could, Mike Bones is from New Jersey. Bloomfield, or Belleville, or maybe Bayonne. Somewhere around there&#151somewhere not far from a good view of the Manhattan skyline. You can hear it in his lyrics. Only a boy from New Jersey could write and sing a song called "Today the World Is Worthy of My Loathing."

Michael Fremer, Stereophile's senior contributing editor, has been everywhere lately. First he was Gizmodoedhttp://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/gizmodo_hearts_audiophiles/">…;, then he got Boing-Boingedhttp://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/04/15/gizmodo-audiophile.html">Boing…;, and now he's">http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/05/06/on-being-gizmodoed-b.html">he's boinging back.

Wednesday's Spring Fever event at Stereo Exchange was outstanding, and exactly the kind of thing our little high end hi-fi hobby needs. To celebrate the Exchange's 25th anniversary, store owner Dave Wasserman opened his doors, somewhat timidly, to a large crowd of enthusiastic music lovers.

During the Stereo Exchange's Spring Fever event, our own Michael Fremer demonstrated the odds and ends of turntable setup. Here he is, determining azimuth, or vertical something or other, or something.

Sooloos's Rob Darling was at the Stereo Exchange Spring Fever celebration, demonstrating his awesome music server system.