Stephen Mejias

The thing is heavy as all hell. It must be filled with lead shot or sand or the lives of many, many men.

Norway's Hegel Music Systems has made its way to the US market. I met Hegel and the company's charming founder, Bent Holter, at the 2007">http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2007/010907set/">2007 Consumer Electronics Show and then again in Las Vegas during the">http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2008/011208top/">the following year. On both occasions, I had a lot of fun listening to music and learning about Holter's designs. As I wrote last year, I was instantly attracted to the designer's combination of tech-talk and passion for music. The guy is at once serious and totally wacky.

My review of Helado Negro’s Canta Lechuza will appear in our June issue, and the album hits stores on May 10th, but you can listen to the hazy, languorous tunes right now on NPR’s First Listen. Helado Negro (Roberto Carlos Lange, son of Ecuadorian immigrants) is interested in sound, texture, color, rhythm, and you can hear all of that stuff swirling around and bubbling about in Canta Lechuza.

Siempre Ser Guajiro, Saoco (1976; Mericana XMX144)

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Remember our old intern, Ariel">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/the_system_is_down/">Ariel Bitran? He left us to become a rock and roll star. (But only after we managed to infect">http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/1108awsi/">infect him with a taste for high-quality sound and an even deeper appreciation for music.) His band, Heroes of the Open End, will be performing tomorrow night at Arlene’s Grocery (95 Stanton Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan). This is one of those extremely important shows in the life of any aspiring band: You know, if you don’t draw at least 15 or so people, the club’s manager holds your head down in the toilet bowl while the bouncer pulls out your toenails. It’s bad.

Friday, November 22–Sunday, November 24: The Hi-Fi Expo Sofia will be held at the Grand Hotel (1 Gurko Street, Sofia, Bulgaria). Over 250 high-end brands are expected to exhibit. Show manager Gergana Boeva reports that attendance has grown steadily over the show's first three years, attracting visitors from all throughout Bulgaria, as well as neighboring countries Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, and Romania. For more info, including a complete list of exhibitors, visit the show’s official website.