Meant To Be Played
I'm not quite sure what's going on in the art here, but I can't stop looking at it. I love the colors. If music wasn't meant to be played, I'd hang this up on my wall.
Stephen Mejias
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Zappa! Zappa! Zappa!
Truth is: I know diddly-squat about Frank Zappa. I've heard this and that, of course, and all I've heard has always been intriguing, but, for no good reason, I've just never taken the time to dive into Zappa's world. Perhaps it's because his world seems so enormous and wild and foreign. His world is full of barking pumpkins and utility muffins and Sprechstimme and other things I can neither imagine nor pronounce. I mean, even his name is strange. Like an exclamation, like a shot of electricity. Zappa! Say it three times, and something bad might happen. Zappa! Zappa! (No, don't!)
Record Store Day!
Tomorrow is Record">http://www.recordstoreday.com">Record Store Day. Celebrate responsibly. Celebrate appropriately. It will make you feel good.
On the Way Home
I ran into Lauren on the way home last night. Lauren is from Leicester, England. She is twenty-five years old, friendly, bright, and beautiful. It was a little before 9pm, and we were both just coming in from work. She complained about her hours. Lauren would prefer a nine-to-five job. These eleven-to-eight hours are taking up the best bits of her day. But it's a job. She's had it for only two weeks, but she's already looking for another. She doesn't know what she wants to do. By thirty-five, she hopes to be retired.
Between The Band and Betty Davis
It is spring! Without doubt, it is spring. The skinny trees on Monmouth Street have suddenly bloomed all pink and purple and white, while the birds outside my kitchen window have learned to sing new songs. They make a wonderful racket in the morning. I like it. It makes me feel somehow closer to the world, to nature, to love and god and shit. This music of spring is a nice contrast to the sirens and jack hammers that normally make up a Jersey City morning.
Really Listening
Managing Editor, Elizabeth Donovan, and I have spent all day in a training session for Adobe InDesign. We are finally switching over from Quark. It's going to be great, I think, but right now isn't the best time to spend an entire day in a training session. Elizabeth is also trying to ship the June issue.
Tales of Passion, Music, and the Brain
Remember that">http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=35628&an=0… forum thread I">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/040108id/">I mentioned? It's still going on. It reminds me of one of the black and white films I watched in my avant-garde cinema class. Jean-Paul Sartre and Jean-Paul Sartre is staring into a mirror is staring into a mirror, with a with a with a knife in his hand knife in his hand, demanding demanding that the image that the image in the mirror mirror answer his questions his questions. He is outraged because the image in the mirror refuses to answer his questions. Answer his questions. Answer my questions! Demanding. Outrage!
—Immediately, And Immediately
Speaking of vinyl, Sonic Youth has announced the vinyl-only release of SYR 7, the seventh installment of their self-released improvisations. These long pieces are often entirely instrumental, and they are lovely, moving, and beautifully-recorded. The hypnotic artwork is by artist and filmmaker, Chris">http://www.visitordesign.com/">Chris Habib. In the past, the CD packaging for each release has mimicked a gatefold LP, with the CD simply sliding into an inner sleeve.
Redecorating Our Record Stores. And: Five Tips From Josh Bizar!
Last week, Steve Guttenberg posted an">http://www.cnet.com/8301-13645_1-9906397-47.html">an entry at his Audiophiliac blog reporting that vinyl sales had recently surpassed that of the compact disc.
Line of the Week: Mahler's #8
Here, in the "Elements" blog, I like to try to point out some of the fun, interesting, entertaining stuff that can be found in other parts of the truly vast and wonderful webworld that is stereophile.com. That's, basically, what yesterday's post was all about—that and my own emotional and psychological issues, which I like to throw in there to keep things exciting for you readers.