The Spendor S3/5R² loudspeaker reminds me of Art Dudley. My friendship with Art began more than 25 years ago, long before either of us joined Stereophile. Frequently, we would sit down to discuss music, guitars, and audiophiles. Art didn't have much patience for a certain category of audiophile who would evaluate an audio component based on how many points on their sonic checklists they could tick off. Image specificity? Check. Soundstage depth? Check. Lower-bass extension? Check.

Let's say you're lucky enough, or just plain old enough, to have bought a copy of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood on January 12, 1966. Let's say you're lucky enough or just plain smart enough to have held on to it and kept it in perfect shape for the past 47 years. And let's say it was one of the first 500 copies, which the author signed. If so, congratulations: For once in your life, even the smuggest collector can't claim that his copy of a book is "better" or more valuable than yours.

You should know, I'm an absolute sucker for pop music. You should also know, I'm an absolute sucker for love. Or better put: "love".

Shlohmo! I had a Hebrew School teacher who went by Shlohmo. He smelled like fish skins and wore square, camel-toned, thick-rimmed glasses. Random gray strands of hair dangled from his chin as he tortured us with lessons on silent vowels and morality. His neck bounced when he talked, and he wore his armpit sweat stains like badges of honor. Not sexy, right?

That's why I'm always surprised to hear very sexy music from electronic beat maker Shlohmo.

While John Atkinson, Jason Victor Serinus, and many more of our friends and colleagues prepare for Axpona in Chicago, where they’ll face what we all hope is this winter’s last frigid gasp, I’ve got my eyes set on this summer’s Pitchfork Music Festival, to be held Friday–Sunday, July 19–21, at Chicago’s Union Park.

I hear it's gonna be hot.

Tickets are on sale now, with single-day passes priced at $50 and three-day passes selling for an attractively discounted $120. But, taking into consideration the outstanding headliners and the well-rounded initial lineup, I suspect most music fans will have a very difficult time attending this Pitchfork Music Fest for just a single day. Three-day passes are practically mandatory.

The initial lineup, highlighted by Bjork, Belle & Sebastian, and R. Kelly, was announced this week:

A little over two years ago, I raved in this space over Rhino's 180-gram vinyl pressing of Ornette Coleman's 1959 album The Shape of Jazz to Come, one of the greatest and most important in all of jazz. Now I'm here to rave louder still (with one frustrating caveat) about another reissue, mastered by Bernie Grundman at 45rpm for the audiophile label ORG.

It was around 9:30am on Monday, November 12, when my plane landed in gray and chilly London. I managed to get through Customs with nothing more than the usual amount of stress and embarrassment, satisfactorily answering all of the agent’s odd questions. That out of the way, I next had to find my host&#151KEF’s head of brand development, Johan Coorg. Because my cell phone wasn’t working, I was worried that I’d be left stranded at Heathrow, but I recognized Coorg immediately: At the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, he had introduced me to the stunning KEF Muon, and, at KEF’s lavish 50th Anniversary celebration, he had introduced me to a delicious Pimm’s Cup. Now he was standing casually at the Arrivals gate. He wore a dark brown blazer, striped button-down shirt, gold cufflinks, faded blue jeans, shiny leather shoes, and a look of comfort. He was busy pressing buttons on an iPhone.

“Johan,” I said.

“Hello! You made it!”

He led me from the airport, through the parking garage, and to an impressive black Mercedes. After loading our bags into the trunk, I instinctively walked around to the right-hand side of the car and nearly opened the door.

“Wrong side, mate. Unless you want to drive.”

It was a mistake I’d make a few more times before our three-day trip was over.

It's not just the first audio show in Chicago in 14 years, since Stereophile's Hi-Fi ’99 at the Palmer House. It's also the first in a millennium where computer audio is changing every aspect of the music and audio industries.

Nor is it a minor effort. AXPONA Chicago, which runs March 8–10 on five floors of the Doubletree by Hilton O'Hare Airport, promises 90 separate exhibit rooms, 74 table displays in approximately 30 different booths presenting 100 or so brands, and equipment from over 400 manufacturers. Dealers exhibiting number 26, with 15 from Chicago, and others from New York, California, Florida, and other states. That's a lot of show.