Stephen Mejias

I was the Mix-Tape Master of Deltona High School. Deltona, Florida, USA. Somehow, after all these years, I've even kept tapes from way back in the day. You">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/062607letting/">You reading this, Kim? I still have that tape you made for me, all covered in bubblegum wrappers and Band-Aid brand bandages and your sweet profanity. Tapes packed so tight and deep with angst and desperation that songs get chopped off at their bitter ends, are left to rot in some chocolate brown Memorex hell. All Siouxsie Sioux and Jesus and Mary Chain and Jane's Addiction.

Those of you in New York City this weekend should have no trouble finding a bit of music to enjoy. In fact, it might prove difficult to avoid. You may even find yourself dancing&#151wildly, uncontrollably&#151as you stroll along one of the city's many great stretches of sidewalk. The sidewalks themselves will vibrate like drum heads, bend like strings.

Me, holding a very big tube, at Nori Komuro's place in Brooklyn. To my right, Komuro's prototype VT-52 sits quietly. Photo by Michael Lavorgna.