Stephen Mejias

To congratulate myself for getting our 2010 Buyer’s Guide out the door on time (pretty much), I zoomed out of here this past Tuesday night and headed straight to Other Music for some new records. I think the people who work there are starting to recognize me.

I haven’t listened to Monster’s Beats, the large and flashy headphones branded by hip hop producer Dr. Dre, but I have noticed more and more people wearing them on the streets and in the subways, so I was definitely intrigued by Matt Calderone’s e-mail. The PR rep for New York City’s Dobbin/Bolgla Associates wrote:

Lady Gaga wanted to create a headphone that would combine Dr. Dre's sense of sound with her own sense of style. The result is Heartbeats, which have a look inspired by the studded jackets Lady Gaga and her friends once wore.

Stereophile's founder, J">http://www.stereophile.com/historical/66/index.html">J. Gordon Holt, who passed away in July, was also a recording engineer. Here we see one of his projects, a rare 1958 LP of British-born American folk singer, Richard Dyer-Bennet, the "twentieth-century minstrel."

Let's just say I had a little bit too much fun at last night's CD release party. Let's just say beer, tequila, and rum. Let's just say hot girls in summer dresses making out on the cushioned booth. Yeah, let's just say that. At one point, I turned away from the stage to see that the front room had been transformed into The">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQJexFOxolI">The Tequila Scene from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. It was like a dream, I tell you, and it may have been the most wonderful thing I've ever witnessed in my life.

The Zeppelin Mini: It looks great anywhere&#151even in the kitchen&#151but you'll want to avoid potential early-morning accidents or you might end up buttering your iPhone.

Me, in the middle of another intense stare-down with my computer screen. (The screen always wins.)