Stephen Mejias

The gorgeous gatefold opens up to show watercolors of The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney. In the left sleeve, you'll find a glossy lyrics sheet and a complete promo CD!

I'm not quite sure what's going on in the art here, but I can't stop looking at it. I love the colors. If music wasn't meant to be played, I'd hang this up on my wall.

Truth is: I know diddly-squat about Frank Zappa. I've heard this and that, of course, and all I've heard has always been intriguing, but, for no good reason, I've just never taken the time to dive into Zappa's world. Perhaps it's because his world seems so enormous and wild and foreign. His world is full of barking pumpkins and utility muffins and Sprechstimme and other things I can neither imagine nor pronounce. I mean, even his name is strange. Like an exclamation, like a shot of electricity. Zappa! Say it three times, and something bad might happen. <i>Zappa! Zappa!</i> (No, don't!)

I ran into Lauren on the way home last night. Lauren is from Leicester, England. She is twenty-five years old, friendly, bright, and beautiful. It was a little before 9pm, and we were both just coming in from work. She complained about her hours. Lauren would prefer a nine-to-five job. These eleven-to-eight hours are taking up the best bits of her day. But it's a job. She's had it for only two weeks, but she's already looking for another. She doesn't know what she wants to do. By thirty-five, she hopes to be retired.

It is spring! Without doubt, it is spring. The skinny trees on Monmouth Street have suddenly bloomed all pink and purple and white, while the birds outside my kitchen window have learned to sing new songs. They make a wonderful racket in the morning. I like it. It makes me feel somehow closer to the world, to nature, to love and god and shit. This music of spring is a nice contrast to the sirens and jack hammers that normally make up a Jersey City morning.

Remember <a href="http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=35628&an=0… forum thread</a> <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/040108id/">I mentioned</a>? It's still going on. It reminds me of one of the black and white films I watched in my avant-garde cinema class. Jean-Paul Sartre and Jean-Paul Sartre is staring into a mirror is staring into a mirror, with a with a with a knife in his hand knife in his hand, demanding demanding that the image that the image in the mirror mirror answer his questions his questions. He is outraged because the image in the mirror refuses to answer his questions. Answer his questions. Answer my questions! Demanding. Outrage!

Speaking of vinyl, Sonic Youth has announced the <i>vinyl-only</i> release of <i>SYR 7</i>, the seventh installment of their self-released improvisations. These long pieces are often entirely instrumental, and they are lovely, moving, and beautifully-recorded. The hypnotic artwork is by artist and filmmaker, <a href="http://www.visitordesign.com/">Chris Habib</a>. In the past, the CD packaging for each release has mimicked a gatefold LP, with the CD simply sliding into an inner sleeve.