Stephen Mejias

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Stephen Mejias
Classic Album Sundays: Kraftwerk's Autobahn
Stephen Mejias  |  Apr 05, 2012  |  0 comments
The April NYC edition of Classic Album Sundays will take place on Sunday, April 8, 5–8pm, at Bellwether (594 Union Avenue, Brooklyn). As a bit of solace to fans that couldn’t get tickets to the upcoming Kraftwerk performances at the Museum of Modern Art, Classic Album Sundays will present Kraftwerk’s Autobahn in its entirety. Cool.
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Stephen Mejias
Video: Benga’s “I Will Never Change”
Stephen Mejias  |  Apr 05, 2012  |  1 comments
Nine hundred sixty individually cut LPs were used to create the video for Benga’s “I Will Never Change.”
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Stephen Mejias
Kendrick Lamar’s “The Recipe”
Stephen Mejias  |  Apr 02, 2012  |  20 comments
In recent conversations with myself and with others, I’ve been trying to explain my addiction—and I truly do believe it’s an addiction—to music, new and old. A lot of times, when I’ve got an unfamiliar album in my hand, I feel like I just need to hear it. I just need to know what it sounds like. Why? I think I’m searching for connections between different times, places, and musical styles and artists. Why? I don’t know, exactly. I imagine there’s some magnificent story to be told through music, that all recorded music is somehow connected, and, if I can just trace those connections, I’ll learn something deep and special about myself and the world.

Searching for odd connections in music: It’s a game that I play.

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Stephen Mejias
Shintaro Sakamoto: How to Live With a Phantom
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 30, 2012  |  3 comments
I knew nothing about Shintaro Sakamoto, but there was just no way I could have resisted such provocative album art or a title like How to Live With a Phantom.
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Stephen Mejias
Divine Ricochet at the Guggenheim
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 28, 2012  |  0 comments
Divine Ricochet is a three-part music series made to accompany John Chamberlain: Choices, on view through May 13 at the Guggenheim Museum. The series takes its name from Chamberlain’s 1991 work, a large and colorful, mangled assortment of painted and chromium-plated steel.
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Stephen Mejias
Neneh Cherry and The Thing: The Cherry Thing
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 23, 2012  |  1 comments
I’m in a daze. My mind is officially, seriously blown.

Nothing, seriously nothing, could have prepared me for the news that Neneh Cherry—Neneh “Raw Like Sushi” Cherry—is heading a new project with the powerhouse free jazz trio of Mats Gustafsson (saxophone), Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (bass), and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums).

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Stephen Mejias
Record Store Day 2012
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 21, 2012  |  7 comments
My favorite holiday, Record Store Day, falls on Saturday, April 21—just one month from today. Independent record stores across the nation will celebrate with contests, giveaways, all kinds of limited-edition releases, in-store performances by exciting bands, and lots of other fun stuff. Check the Record Store Day website for details and participating stores near you.

This year’s Ambassador, Iggy Pop, has this to say:

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Stephen Mejias
Birth of the Magnepan Mini-Maggie System
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 20, 2012  |  1 comments
"Daddy?" asked the young audiophile.

"Yes, son?"

"How are loudspeakers made?"

"Hmm...Maybe it's time we had a little talk. Follow me into the listening room..."

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Stephen Mejias
In the Morning
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 15, 2012  |  13 comments
The system, as it is right now: Rega P3-24 turntable with Elys 2 cartridge and Boston Audio Design Mat 1, NAD C515 BEE CD player, Sony Playstation 1 CD player, NAD C316 BEE integrated amplifier, Parasound Zphono USB phono preamplifier, PSB Alpha B1 loudspeakers, Kimber Kable PBJ interconnects, Kimber Kable 8VS speaker cables, Furutech eTP-60 power distributor.
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Stephen Mejias
Thinksound’s ms01 in-ear monitor
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 15, 2012  |  0 comments
The first model in Thinksound's Monitor Series: the ms01, shown here in Chocolate Gunmetal finish.

During my recent trip to Seattle for Definitive Audio’s Music Matters 7 event, I decided to compare Thinksound’s ts02 ($79.99) to their ms01 ($99.99), the first model in the company’s new Monitor Series.

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Stephen Mejias
Unison Research Demos at the Audio Doctor
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 14, 2012  |  0 comments
Marc Phillips and Collen Cardas of Colleen Cardas Imports introduce the Unison Research S 6 integrated amplifier at the Audio Doctor in Jersey City, NJ.

On Saturday, March 3rd, during an unusually warm and sunny afternoon in Jersey City, the Audio Doctor held an open house to introduce new products from Unison Research. Our hosts for the event were Dave and Paula Lalin of the Audio Doctor and Colleen Cardas and Marc Phillips of Colleen Cardas Imports (CCI), the exclusive US distributor for Unison Research and Opera Loudspeakers.

Before listening, Lalin invited us into the kitchen for some delicious food and drink. “This is a party!” he said. After I stuffed my face with meatballs, chicken wings, chips, and cookies, we headed into my favorite of Lalin’s four listening rooms—a medium-sized room at one corner of his beautiful Victorian home, packed with hi-fi gear, and home to “The Rack.”

There, Colleen Cardas introduced herself and told us the story of how she and her business partner, Marc Phillips, the Vinyl Anachronist, became involved with Unison Research and Opera.

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Stephen Mejias
Nite Jewel: One Second of Love
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 08, 2012  |  First Published: Mar 09, 2012  |  1 comments
The first time I heard “One Second of Love,” the title track from Nite Jewel’s new album (released earlier this week on Secretly Canadian), I didn’t think much of it. It was another pop song from another young, indie artist, recalling the late 1980s and early 1990s—enjoyable, but unimaginative.

I was crazy. My initial reaction was wrong: The more I listened, the more I enjoyed the song’s motoric drive, insistent, each cold verse followed by seductive chorus, its gentle harmonies contributed by fellow LA-based artist, Julia Holter, its insolent snarl and alluring coo. I can’t get the song out of my mind. I wake up with it, come back to it throughout the day.

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Stephen Mejias
Sophia Knapp: Into the Waves
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 08, 2012  |  1 comments
It’s one of those things. I can still clearly remember the moment I first set eyes on Sophia Knapp. She was strolling through the back room of Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ, with a confidence, flair, and singularity that left no room for questions: She was in the band.
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Stephen Mejias
Julia Holter at Other Music
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 08, 2012  |  0 comments
Last night, before heading over to Other Music for Julia Holter’s in-store performance, I stopped by In Living Stereo and had a nice conversation with sales manager Steve Cohen. I got to hear a few of Steve’s own recordings through a system made of Dynaudio loudspeakers and Rega electronics, including the new, slick-looking Apollo CD player ($1095). Though the recordings were made using simple keyboards and sent straight to 4-track, the richness of the music and balance of the system far overshadowed any sonic limitations. It sounded great.

I was also pleased to see that In Living Stereo now carries Wharfedale’s affordable overachiever, the Diamond 10.1 loudspeaker ($350/pair), and its considerably bigger brother, the 10.2. At just $100/pair more than the 10.1, the 10.2 at least looks like it can provide a much bigger, more solid and controlled sound.

Julia Holter hit my radar in November 2011, while I was preparing my year-end list of favorite recordings.

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Stephen Mejias
Neptune Music Co.
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 05, 2012  |  8 comments
It was already way past dark and I could hardly make it out, but it was the first thing that really caught my eye upon arriving in Seattle for the Definitive Audio Music Matters event (report to come). Could it be possible that there was a record store right across the street from my hotel? I had seen the black and white sign—Records, CDs, and Tapes—but still, I couldn’t be sure. That sign could have announced a place that once was, a place once filled with treasures, long forgotten or dearly missed.

I decided to check it out as soon as I could. When I did, I was very happily surprised by what I discovered. Neptune Music wasn’t merely real: It was unbelievable.

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