![BRILLIANT CORNERS - Come Hell or High Water](https://cdn.magzter.com/1394478161/1685106011/articles/lyMdP0QLb1686298249932/BRILLIANT-CORNERS-COME-HELL-OR-HIGH-WATER.jpg)
New Yorkers love to complain about the summers, with their wafting miasma of hot garbage and urine; about the superannuated subway system, which only sometimes resembles a psilocybin trip gone really wrong; about the purgatorial agony of finding an apartment; about the affronts of existing shoulder-to-shoulder with the stupendously rich.
New York will never make onto a "most livable cities" list, and it attracts a particular kind of person. Despite the influx of suburban corporate workers that has transformed it over the past three decades, the city remains a haven for the strange and those drawn to strangeness, for artists and obsessives, for people hooked on the pursuit of more than ample parking space and an affordable breakfast burrito.
This situation is alluded to in the title of Waylon Jennings's 1992 album Too Dumb for New York City, Too Ugly for L.A. and also by the odd fact that John Waters, the filmmaker responsible for underground art-trash classics like Pink Flamingos, once attended New York University. "I didn't go to class," Waters recalled. "I went to Times Square every day and saw movies. I stole books from their bookshop and sold them back the next day to make money. I took drugs. I probably should've been thrown out." Waters was eventually expelled, after getting arrested with a quantity of marijuana. I think about him every time I teach a class at NYU.
Denne historien er fra July 2023-utgaven av Stereophile.
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Denne historien er fra July 2023-utgaven av Stereophile.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![My last Far East trip](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/aEItiXEGu1724762735486/MY-LAST-FAR-EAST-TRIP.jpg)
My last Far East trip
First comes the anticipation, that initial jet of warm water, that miraculous searching, finding the sweet spot, then heaven on earth as it cleans and caresses.
![Riding the Common Wave](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/m5s8eYaZl1724762611904/RIDING-THE-COMMON-WAVE.jpg)
Riding the Common Wave
In the e-commerce era, brick-and-mortar dealerships must give customers compelling reasons to stop by. Los Angeles hi-fi dealership Common Wave's owner Wesley Katzir keeps customers coming through the door with a simple idea: that music matters in our everyday lives and that what he enjoys, other people will enjoy, too.
![Mind Games to the bottom of the rabbit hole](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/X4tEo86l21724762439034/MIND-GAMES-TO-THE-BOTTOM-OF-THE-RABBIT-HOLE.jpg)
Mind Games to the bottom of the rabbit hole
After a wild decade in the biggest pop music group ever, John Lennon's post-Beatles years were spent in protest, in various kinds of therapy, in immigration court, and in search of a new musical identity.
![Trane meets the Motor City](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/4-LZL7hkh1724762332940/TRANE-MEETS-THE-MOTOR-CITY.jpg)
Trane meets the Motor City
Detroit became a destination for migrating African Americans early, starting with the Underground Railroad; the city's proximity to Canada was convenient for those seeking to escape Southern slavery.
![Vital art never rests](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/8Uk3N32Tf1724762169534/VITAL-ART-NEVER-RESTS.jpg)
Vital art never rests
At this late date, it seems impossible that there could still be \"lost\" albums lingering in the vaults by musicians as important and successful as Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney.
![DUKE IN 10](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/Ped4C6r-R1724761656461/DUKE-IN-10.jpg)
DUKE IN 10
TO COMMEMORATE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DUKE'S DEATH, ROBERT BAIRD SELECTS A DOUBLE HANDFUL OF EXEMPLARY TRACKS FROM PERHAPS AMERICA'S GREATEST MUSICAL GENIUS.
![Piega Coax Gen2 811](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/EcFc4VTnI1724761024565/PIEGA-COAX-GEN2-811.jpg)
Piega Coax Gen2 811
It's funny how we discover some music in unexpected, twisting ways.
![Pass Laboratories XP-27](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/6qbCjKWEC1724760143040/PASS-LABORATORIES-XP27.jpg)
Pass Laboratories XP-27
One of the pleasures of reviewing-and also using-products from Pass Laboratories is an encounter with Nelson Pass's writing, which can usually be found in the owner's manual and is always competent, insightful, and sometimes funny.
![EMT 928 II](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/2Vty9XUsU1724759639934/EMT-928-II.jpg)
EMT 928 II
Modern turntables are a paradox.
![Dynaudio Contour 30i](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5798/1789372/YoRj_o-0w1724758944223/DYNAUDIO-CONTOUR-30I.jpg)
Dynaudio Contour 30i
Ah, Denmark. Land of the Vikings and blue-eyed, blond-haired folk with faces sculpted just so.