Stephen Mejias

Sort of like a drunk wandering around the East Village in search of companionship or something, I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97dec/vinyl.htm">this outstanding article</a> by <i>Stereophile</i>’s former senior contributing editor, Jonathan Scull. The piece, “All Sales Are Vinyl,” which appeared in the December 1997 issue of <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i>, takes the reader on a brisk tour of Greenwich Village record shops. Though many of the shops mentioned are long gone, others such as A-1, the Jazz Record Center, Academy Records, and Other Music are still going strong, and Jonathan’s writing is at its best. Not only does he capture the joy of the vinyl hunt, he illuminates this unreal city, and does so with his unique, charming wit&#151his comic timing is brilliant.

Well, I just got off the phone with Steve Daniels of The Sound Organisation, US importer for Rega, and while I don’t have a ton of information on Rega’s new RP-1 turntable, I do have some good news:

And look who’s back: It’s Ariel Bitran! Ariel worked as our part-time editorial intern, enabling us to complete the 2008, 2009, and 2010 editions of the <i>Stereophile Buyer’s Guide</i>, before departing for a full-time gig with Mini-Circuits.

On Tuesday, September 14th&#151two days before my 33rd birthday&#151<a href="http://www.anti.com/artists/view/43/Grinderman">Anti- Records</a> will release <i>Grinderman 2</i>, the second studio album from Nick Cave’s heathen child, Grinderman. And we are in for a treat. The review will appear in our October issue, but I’ll just let you know now: The album is violent, powerful, horrifying, and hilarious.

<i>Photo: Melissa Horn</i>

Several years ago, under different ownership, the magazine was moved from our 110 Fifth Avenue office in Union Square to our current 261 Madison Avenue location in Murray Hill. They put us on the 9th floor. It was nice. I made some friends. A couple of years later, we were moved from the 9th floor to the 6th floor. And a couple of years after that, we were moved again, from the 6th floor to our current location on the 5th floor.

Two more recent articles on the cassette tape revival: The Los Angeles Times tells us “<a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-ca-cassette-revival-… tapes are back in the mix</a>,” while Fact Mag offers “<a href="http://www.factmag.com/2010/07/26/cassette-playa-in-praise-of-tapes/">C… Playa: in praise of tapes</a>.”