Stephen Mejias

Update

Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 4, 2010

At home, I’ve been playing around a little bit with my new Anniversary Ringmat 330 replacement platter mat for my Rega P3-24 turntable. However, I haven’t been in the best mood for comparative listening sessions—I came home from work with a headache the last two nights, and I’ve still been suffering from some post-static stress disorder (PSSD) while playing LPs—so I’m not ready to make any value judgments.

This isn’t the best time for inserting new variables into the system.

I did receive the latest LP from Not Not Fun Records, a split 12-inch featuring Psychic Reality and LA Vampires. Not Not Fun continues to be one of my favorite labels, releasing interesting work from young artists primarily situated in the psychedelic/noise/ambient/free realm. And, you know what’s awesome about Not Not Fun? Besides everything? When you place an order with them, they almost invariably send you cool bonus surprises. Lagniappe! Like an old album art transparency, or a loose LP label, or a limited edition CD-R, or a leftover liner insert scrawled across the back with the tallies from a card or dice game. Which is totally not not fun. I love it. I will order from them forever and ever, amen.

The Psychic Reality/LA Vampires split is an edition of 450 with alluring (sort of frightening, yet completely sexy) album art and similarly alluring, frightening, and sexy sounds. Psychic Reality is San Francisco’s Leyna Noel tapping the keys and dropping the beats and letting loose charming melodies through a white-hot mic. I’m reminded of US Girls and Best Coast and weirder shit from the 60s like Anita O’Day on acid. I like it. LA Vampires is even hazier, with dubbed-out rhythms, eerie clicks and clacks, shadowy jazz elements—is that a guitar or is it a trombone?—and intoxicated mantras, slurred more than sung. Psychic Reality and LA Vampires will be touring together throughout the year, and I’m looking forward to their stop in New York City this May. Future LA Vampires collaborations with Sun Araw and Zola Jesus also look promising.

In the office, we’re getting close to the wire with the May issue. I’m proofreading stuff and making a mess with my red pen. On the road, John Atkinson, Michael Fremer, and Jason Victor Serinus are covering the events at Jacksonville’s AXPONA. That stands for Audio Expo North America. The show opens to the public tomorrow at 1, so let’s look forward to exciting audio news from Florida.

COMMENTS
ken mac's picture
Submitted by ken mac (not verified) on March 4, 2010 - 10:27am

oh my my. Got any of this in a Joanna Newsome?

rvance's picture
Submitted by rvance (not verified) on March 4, 2010 - 5:33pm

Holy Modal Rounders!!

Jim Tavegia's picture
Submitted by Jim Tavegia (not verified) on March 4, 2010 - 5:38pm

I've got to get me one of those Z stat things...if this is what happens!!!! Just exactly how bad is your personal build-up of static charge?

stu Gatz's picture
Submitted by stu Gatz (not verified) on March 4, 2010 - 6:05pm

The Joanna pix would be itty bitty

d duvall's picture
Submitted by d duvall (not verified) on March 4, 2010 - 7:33pm

Are you sure those aren't San Francisco men??

Tom Collins's picture
Submitted by Tom Collins (not verified) on March 5, 2010 - 6:20am

you need an excuse to post boobs on the net?

Paul S.'s picture
Submitted by Paul S. (not verified) on March 5, 2010 - 7:13am

This "noise" genre fascinates me. Kinda inspiring in these days of crass commercialism and mindless entertainment. Makes me want to dust off my old Roland analog keyboard and make some noise. Really, it has about an inch of dust on it because I store it under my bed. Oh, great album art too. Not just the boobs but all the covers on Not Not Fun. It would be cool to be able to hear some sound samples on their site.

Stephen Mejias's picture
Submitted by Stephen Mejias (not verified) on March 5, 2010 - 8:09am

Paul: Several of the Not Not Fun artists have Myspace pages where you can listen to complete songs. Just google the band name + Myspace.stu, d duvall: Why would you say something so dumb and boring and ugly? Keep it to yourself.

Buddha's picture
Submitted by Buddha (not verified) on March 5, 2010 - 3:10pm

This would make a great topic or two on the Rants and Raves Forum - 1) best boobs on an album cover. 2) Dear Rants and Raves Forum,....

james's picture
Submitted by james (not verified) on March 5, 2010 - 4:14pm

one time my Not Not Fun package had an entire Family Underground LP as a bonus (which I had actually wanted anyways)their bored fortress 7" subscription series is a lot of fun in the summer, too!

edever's picture
Submitted by edever (not verified) on March 5, 2010 - 9:01pm

I'd never heard of Not Not Fun...thanks to this blog post they now have about $100 of my money. Thanks :)

R.R.R.'s picture
Submitted by R.R.R. (not verified) on March 5, 2010 - 10:08pm

This is LP is pretty much standard fare for Not Not Fun in that it is completely fucking awesome. I'm especially digging the LA Vampires side. I'm sure it'll top my year-end list. For the folks who only recently discovered the NNF label, just know that everything they put out is gold and they totally deserve your money, so snatch up the new releases before they're gone!

FSonicSmith's picture
Submitted by FSonicSmith (not verified) on March 7, 2010 - 6:47am

I just want to say (again) how much enjoyment I get out of this Blog. I've been a S'phile reader for 15 years but over the last few years had stagnated a bit in terms of enjoying listening to music, tragic but true. Then my 16 yr old son asked for a turntable. He didn't even have a stereo, but something caused this IPod listening boy to want vinyl. His request prompted me to buy him a Music Hall MMF2.2 and me to buy a Pro-ject RM-5se. Just a few months later, I am already upgrading to a VPI Classic with Benz Glider (and found myself compelled to give my son my 15 yr old B&W M805s and buy Acoustic Zen Adagios and AZ Halogram speaker cable and of course, I had to buy a phono stage-I chose a Simaudio LP5.3) and the point I am trying to make is damn, this blog is fun as it strikes a sympathetic chord with what I am going through and with my own new-found enthusiasm. Vinyl is fun. Vinyl has helped me reconnect with something no life should be without. You know what that is.

stu Gatz's picture
Submitted by stu Gatz (not verified) on March 7, 2010 - 9:38am

Enough of the pictures of the ladies who declined Stevie's invite to the junior prom.

rvance's picture
Submitted by rvance (not verified) on March 9, 2010 - 12:43am

Hey stu Gatz (balls? really? wow.) It's guys like you that give assholes a bad name.

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