Stephen Mejias

I love the styling of the latest Marantz gear&#151strong and masculine without being overblown or audacious. Though the late '80s through early '90s saw Marantz move away from their high end roots, the last decade has been a return to form. Under the ownership of D&M Holdings, the respected audio company seems to be embracing their cherished past. In May 2008, Michael Fremer was extremely impressed by their SM-11S1">http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/508mar11s1/index.html">SM-11S1 Reference power amplifier. He wrote:

For a long time, I wasn't sure if I would go to the show. Finally, on the day of the show, I decided I would go. I made the right decision. Marc Ribot, celebrating his 55th birthday at Le">http://lepoissonrouge.com/">Le Poisson Rouge, was something to remember. Little did I know he had played every night of the week, performing old and new material with several different bands at various venues throughout New York City.

And earlier in the">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/safe_sex_of_the_highest_order… night, I listened to an old Yazoo title: St. Louis Blues (1929-1935): The Depression, which has some amazing, moving cuts from Henry Townsend, Charley Jordan, Georgia Boyd, Peetie Wheatstraw, and Hi Henry Brown. Such pure, raw sounds are timeless, and are perhaps especially meaningful today.

This was my initial choice of cover motif for our June 2009 issue. We were concerned that these colors, however, would appear too similar to those used for our">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/now_on_newsstands_stereophile… May issue. One goal in designing a cover is to make it look as different as possible from the cover preceding it. So that buyers don't get confused, or something, I guess. While I understand the point, I must say that the Klipsch Palladium P-39F loudspeaker looks nothing like the">http://www.stereophile.com/turntables/sme_model_2012_turntable_312s_ton… SME 20/12 turntable.

The June 2009 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. At first, I was against the green border and font for the front cover, favoring a">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/in_shades_of_orange/">a red and orange motif instead, but I now think the green treatment looks excellent. It is appropriate for spring, and the Klipsch Palladium P-39F loudspeaker seems to leap right from the page. Like a (really freaking) gigantic squirrel leaping from the branch of a blossoming tree.

While putting together yesterday's entry, I stumbled upon this video of Mike Bones performing a version of Grinderman's excellent "No Pussy Blues." This was back in the summer of 2007, during a music festival in New York City's East River Park. I wasn't there.

I'm telling you: Matador's Buy">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/buy_early_get_now_sonic_youth… Early Get Now plan is the gift that keeps on giving. First of all, I've been streaming The Eternal every day for the last couple of weeks. It's great. Then, with the pre-sale ticket offer, I scooped up four seats (Orchestra, Row C) for Sonic Youth's July 3 performance at the United Palace Theater in Manhattan. Now, I'm freaking out to this shredding, blazing train wreck of "Silver Rocket" from last year's Fourth of July River to River Festival held at Battery Park. I wasn't there.