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Manufacturer's Evening at Stereo Exchange

I was very impressed by the hi-fi dealers I encountered while at the 2009 Salon Son & Image show in Montreal. Representatives from Son-Or-Filtronique, Audio Basics, and Coup de Foudre seemed intelligent, enthusiastic, friendly, energetic, and cool: All qualities the high-end audio industry could use more of.

I've been meaning to become more familiar with New York City's hi-fi dealers. I'll take steps in that direction starting on Wednesday, April 29th, when Stereo Exchange holds their "Manufacturer's Evening."

Wednesday, April 29, 4-7pm: Stereo Exchange (627…

Bat For Lashes: Two Suns

Remember that crush I had on Bat For Lashes' Natasha Khan?

Still got it.

Back in August, I wrote:

Natasha Khan's Bat For Lashes spent much of this summer on tour with Radiohead, and their debut album, Fur and Gold, was nominated for 2007's Mercury Prize. Fur and Gold is not available on vinyl. (Which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to me because I am positive that my Natasha would love vinyl.)

The band is now working on their follow-up. I hope it'll be on vinyl.

Well, I have since pre-ordered the vinyl release of Fur and Gold (months ago…

Open to Differences

At Salon Son & Image, I had my ears opened to the differences cables can make when Nordost's Bruno de Lorimier demonstrated several of the company's interconnects, from the popular Blue Heaven ($230/1m pair) to the hallowed Valhalla ($5000/1m pair). I wrote:

The change from Blue Heaven to Red Dawn resulted in subtle differences in volume (increased) and transient response (faster). Moving from Red Dawn to Heimdall, I noted a much more obvious change: Bass impact and quality were improved, percussive speed was again increased, and the sound was more immediate overall.…

Gizmodo Hearts Audiophiles

During our visit to Michael Fremer's house, alongside all the LPs and cables and enormous amplifiers, I found myself thinking: If only others could experience this, here, like this, they'd understand what all the fuss is about...

Well, guess what.

Gizmodo's John Mahoney got the chance. And he loved it.

The initial response:

I hear the needle drop on Air's "Run" from Talkie Walkie. It's a song I've never heard, but one that I'm now listening to all the time. Because, with all honesty, I have never heard anything like that song played on that stereo…

Buy Early Get Now: Sonic Youth's The Eternal

New York City's Matador Records rewards hardcore music lovers and promotes the growth of the music industry with their intelligent "Buy Early Get Now" plan. With BEGN, fans can pre-order upcoming albums through participating trustworthy retailers across the nation. In addition to the actual album, BEGN packages include exclusive bonuses such as MP3s, posters, band merchandise, and, a free, legal stream of the entire album weeks before the official release date. I like it.

I complain all the time about my pre-orders never arriving. Matador's plan helps to erase the…

This LP Crashes Hard Drives

Forum member, dbowker, gave me the heads-up on this special Record Store Day LP. With This LP Crashes Hard Drives, ten of my favorite hard-core crate-digging specialist labels came together to release one hell of a deluxe, limited-edition, gatefold masterpiece&#151just one of the many reasons to raise our voices and rejoice for Record Store Day. The awesome package includes a CD sampler, zines, catalogs, stickers, and posters from all participating labels.

The track list:

Los Destellos: "Guajira Sicodelica" (Vampi Soul)
P.E. Hewitt Jazz Ensemble: "Bada Que Bash" (…

Record Store Day

"Ariel?"

"Yes, Stephen?"

"You know what tomorrow is, don't you?"

Ariel hesitates, thinks. "Uh…" And then his entire being is illuminated and a youthful smile blooms across his face and he happily announces: "Tomorrow is Record Store Day."

"Yes! That's why you're our intern!"

"Was that a test?"

"Well, I didn't know it was a test until you passed, but yes."

Tomorrow, April 18, is my second favorite holiday of the year: Record Store Day! (I'm a sucker for Thanksgiving.)

This is the one day that all of the…

A Glorious Day

It was a glorious day. The Good Lord smiled upon our little blue world with clear skies, warm sunshine, and limited edition 7" singles. I strolled into Tunes at 11:30am, just a half-hour after the store had opened. A large crowd of happy shoppers was already huddled round the main display shelves. Radiohead singles from every era of the band's brilliant career and so many colorful 7" discs and samplers and posters and platter mats and they have already run out of the Sonic Youth/Beck splits. What? Figures! Oh well. I am not disappointed&#151not too terribly. Instead, I am…

Boris Isn't Smiling

After sticking my copy of Boris' Smile in the freezer for a few hours, Jenna thought it'd be a good idea to thaw it out in the microwave. Thanks, Jenna!

Etched in Vinyl

Grails' Interpretations of Three Psychedelic Rock Songs from around the World, part of Southern Records' incredibly dope, limited-edition Latitudes series, was a gift from Michael Lavorgna. Note the radical etching of the white vinyl. Only 700 copies are/were available.

My copy came back home safe and sound, thank god!

(I know: I used the words "dope" and "radical" in the same post. But, c'mon, man: White freaking etched vinyl totally deserves it.)