Stephen Mejias

In recent conversations with myself and with others, I’ve been trying to explain my addiction&#151and I truly do believe it’s an addiction&#151to 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.

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.

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.

My favorite holiday, Record Store Day, falls on Saturday, April 21&#151just 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:

"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..."

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.

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&#151a 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.