Stephen Mejias

Some things have led us to consider what we want — exactly, more or less, I suppose — from music. Feel free to substitute "the band," or "art," or even "life," for music. That is:

Alright, dammit, I give in: The new Sonic Youth album is pure beauty.

Robert has asked me to review the new Sonic Youth album, Rather Ripped. You'd think I'd be thrilled about this. I would be, normally. But, so far, I find the new Sonic Youth album to be disappointing, an underachievement. Having to review the new Sonic Youth album is beginning to stress me out. Thus: this, therapy.

Love,
Remember when we first met — standing at the bar, admiring the jukebox's warm glow? How I somehow got around to telling you about that $90,000 turntable? It almost seems silly now. The small talk of first meetings often does, I suppose, seem silly. But not ours. Nothing "silly" about it. And nothing small. I don't know what made me think I should mention it — this silly turntable — but, a day later, you'd call and leave a message saying you'd like to hear more. "Fascinating," was the word you used.

This mild-mannered bunch of classical guitarists had me wanting to jump up on my seat and curse my brains out.

Imagine HiFi's Paul Lim redirected my attention to Almarro's cute A205A amplifier in sassy iPod white finish. The price of this amp with iPod input has yet to be determined, but the standard version goes for $800.