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So Fresh and So Clean Clean

BillB brings up a good point. He writes:

Stephen, if I read that right, the PURE Rinse is just water, correct? Very pure water, but still... If I've got that right, the Rinse would not tempt me, at $1 per ounce.

Bill's comment led me to revisit the price of the Mobile Fidelity PURE Record Rinse, and it's a good thing Bill wrote because I had mistakenly reported the price to be $25 for a 30-oz bottle. I am very sorry about the error. The correct price is $25 for a 32-oz bottle, which comes out to be about $0.78 per ounce. And, yes, as far as I can tell, the PURE Rinse…

Make Music New York!

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.

The Make Music New York celebration takes place tomorrow and will decorate every inch of the city&#151streets, playgrounds, parks, and porches&#151with free live music. It is our very own version of France's…

Audacious Audio

The e-mail popped in at around 4pm last Friday afternoon.

"Hi JA," Jon Iverson wrote. "As I was looking at the Cabasse review, it occurred to me that we could create an "Audacious Audio" category for products like this…."

"You must be psychic, Jon," returned JA, "as I was thinking the same thing while looking at the Cabasse review. Let's do it!"

"So, do we go with Audacious Audio?" Jon asked.

"I like it," I responded. "Plus, I can't think of anything more alliterative."

A flurry of enthusiastic e-mails zipped back and forth between me at 261…

Maybe Time Knew It Then

Melissa's been listening to Fleet Foxes. She told me so yesterday, as we walked along Newark Avenue, into the setting sun. Like old times.

"Fleet Foxes. You're the fourth person to recommend the album to me," I replied.

"Well, you know me, Ging. I wouldn't steer you wrong."

"This is true."

"And it's on vinyl," she emphasized.

First Robert, and then Michael, and then Jon, and now Melissa. All of them listening to Fleet Foxes, and now I'm listening to Fleet Foxes, and, yes, it is good&#151a gentle mix of early Arcade Fire and earlier My…

Exile in High School

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 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.

And Liz Phair.

Liz Phair's shockingly great…

A Certain Kindness and Warmth

Ah! And it looks like I have another reason to revisit Florida: Rock 'n' Roll Heaven.

Road trip!

Bill Shafer of Growing Bolder sends along this video.

On the Subject of Student Loan Default

"I hope you don't mind me drawing your attention to the following music video on the subject of student loan default."

Not at all, man…. Wait, what?

"I wonder if you'd consider mentioning it or posting it on your Stereophile blog?"

Um, I don't see what this has to do with hi-fi. But, c'mon, let's get serious: That never stopped me before.

I received this in my inbox this morning, watched it once and thought: "Eh, whatever."

Then I watched it again and thought: "Yo, I feel this!"

Matt Kresling thinks we all might be better off if we just…

Big Ideas: Don't Get Any

Awhile back, Radiohead held an online contest, asking fans and other ambitious artists to remix their song, "Nude," from the superb album In Rainbows. I forwarded the link to my good friend Todd, knowing that he could win it all&#151win it all!&#151if only he cared enough to spend the time with it.

I don't think he bothered. He's been too busy re-mixing his own stuff.

Today, however, Todd sent me a video created by a fellow named James Houston. James submitted the video as his final project in a graphic design course at the Glasgow School of Art. James…

Like An Old Friend

After explaining to Robert my plan for changing the music industry, I whipped around the corner to my cubicle. A voicemail! What a nice surprise. It's always great to see that someone loves you, or at least needs your help with some spreadsheets. But just as I entered my voicemail code, nature called. It made sense. I had just downed a can of Coca-Cola with my delicious Lazzara's pepperoni pizza, a healthy staple in the Stereophile office. On my way out of the loo, I noticed a little black power chord next to the trash stack. Another gift awaited me, this one much better than a voicemail…

MBAR and the Black Boys

By now, I'm sure you've already committed the name to memory: Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson.

Miles Anthony Benjamin Robinson. Wait. Miles Robinson Anthony Benjamin. Huh? Miles Robinson Benjamin Anthony!

You'll have to make an acronym out of it to keep it straight. MBAR.

Sure as heck has a lot of names, don't he? And multi-syllabled ones at that. I read somewhere that it has something to do with being honest with himself, being pure, showing his true colors. And I'm thinking: Dude, if you want to be simple and all, why not just go with Miles Robinson?…