Stephen Mejias

Last night, I listened to Mississippi Records’s latest Abner Jay release, Last Ole Ministrel Man, a lovingly packaged 10”, three songs on each side, rawer than winter in New York City.

I’ve been listening to Kompakt’s excellent Pop Ambient 2011 compilation, which opens with ANBB’s arresting “Bernsteinzimmer” from their album, Mimikry, and ends with Thomas Fehlmann’s interpretation of Gustav Mahler’s magnificent Symphony No.1. This is heavy stuff, and it forms the perfect bridge from the chaos of Las Vegas and the Consumer Electronics Show to the cold misery of mid-January in New York City. There’s warmth in this music, and it has a sort of transportational power. Meaning: It gets me the hell out of here.

As we recover from our holiday parties and work through the darkness of the post-holiday blues, the March 2011 issue is moving, invisibly, to our friends at the pre-press and we prepare for the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in glitzy Las Vegas.

Bruce Springsteen's The Promise is fascinating not only because of the high quality of each of its 21 "lost" tracks, but because of the way it bridges 1975's Born to Run and 1978's Darkness on the Edge of Town.

The January 2011 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands&#151a whole new year, a whole new volume of your favorite hi-fi magazine!

Michael Fremer wears a pair of special Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers by John Varvatos. Now, when Mikey shops for gear, he can also listen to some. John Varvatos fashion boutiques have become an official dealer for select McIntosh components, such as the MXA60 "Manhattan Home Audio System."

Great Britain is dreaming of a silent night. A new recording of John Cage's controversial piece, “4'33",” stands a good chance of becoming Britain’s best-selling single during Christmas week. (Woo!)