Stephen Mejias

In our December issue, I write about the Emotiva ERC-2 CD player, which, at $449, brought me many hours of listening pleasure. Stereophile editor John Atkinson will describe the player’s measured performance in an upcoming issue. In January, I’ll write more about the Emotiva, and, in February, I’ll discuss NAD’s affordable ($300) C 515BEE CD player.

Obviously, I’ve been listening to a lot of CDs lately; and, while I have started to long for my LPs, I haven’t really gone crazy or anything. Listening to CDs can be fun, too&#151especially when the discs hold music by Alva Noto and Ryuchi Sakamoto, David Sylvian, and Matthew Shipp.

Meanwhile, Natalie and Nicole have mentioned a rumor that’s spreading all over the Internet:

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.

On Thursday, November 17, Sound By Singer celebrated the grand opening of their new showroom with an evening of music and product demonstrations.

The December 2011 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. Here are 60 reasons to buy it:

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:

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.

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?