The latest album in Claude Nobs’ amazing series of official private-collection releases features none other than the late, great keyboard master, Chick Corea. Culled from the archives of The Montreux Jazz Festival, Chick Corea: The Montreux Years 2LP 180g set via BMG sounds remarkably fine and consistent across the years that span the multiple eras of these recordings. Read on to learn more about how the MQA-mastered Montreaux Years makes the grade on wax. . .
Luxman has just announced a pair of new products that we find very much of interest — and we think you will too. To wit, the PD-151 MkII turntable offers an upgraded tonearm, while the L-507Z Class AB integrated amplifier is the flagship entry in the company’s new Z series. Read on to find out more about both pieces of intriguing gear. . .
Let’s face it — January 1977’s Animals has always been considered to be somewhat of a dark horse in the Pink Floyd recorded canon. Yet here in Year 45 of Animals, the album is finally getting a rightly deserved re-evaluation, thanks to the just released Animals 2018 Remix. To learn more about the process of getting from there to here, AnalogPlanet spoke exclusively to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason about what elements of the original album stand out more on the remix, which Pink Floyd albums sound better in mono on vinyl, and why the band was compelled to make new music in 2022. Read on to find out why that Animals 2018 Remix is breaking away from the pack . . .
If you love Lyra MC phono cartridges like we do, then you’ll relish the following: Lyra has selected MIBS Distro to be its official U.S. and Canadian distributor. Read on to see what cartridges will be available, and at what price levels. . .
The hangman isn’t hanging but Steely Dan are stowin’ away the time, and they’re now back on vinyl where they belong. On November 4, Geffen/UMe and Analogue Productions commence an important year-long reissue series with 180g and 200g versions respectively of Steely Dan’s November 1972 debut album Can’t Buy a Thrill. Read on to find out more about what tapes are being used for this series, and what else is on the way on wax from Steely Dan’s 1972-80 heyday. . .
Last week, I told you about strawberry fields, where — sorry, wrong Beatles reference. One, two, three, four (cough) — last week, I told you how it will be on October 28, when Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe will be releasing The Beatles seminal August 1966 album Revolver in a 180g 4LP/1EP Special Edition Super Deluxe box set. This week, I talk exclusively with producer Giles Martin about mixing and de-mixing Revolver, the “analog vs. digital” question, what Paul McCartney told him when they both listened to the new and original Revolver mixes together, and who ultimately makes the final calls on anything he mixes for The Beatles. Read on to find out just what he said, he said. . .
Our man about town, Ken Micallef, attended the New York Audio Show 2022 last week, and he was ever-so-gracious enough to share the following video footage with us, which shows some of the coolest gear he saw and heard at the show. Read on to see what he saw. . .
There’s a fine new acoustic blues album by an artist some of you may not have heard of: Duwayne Burnside. Acoustic Burnside was made in the style of classic field recordings from a half-century or so ago using a vintage microphone and a monaural analog reel-to-reel tape machine. Burnside, who has an established electric blues career, also happens to be the son of the late, great R. L. Burnside. Read on to discover why this sweet field-recording LP bridges the generations. . .
British guitar iconoclast Steve Hackett, a key member of Genesis during their 1970s heyday, has since forged a formidable solo career after he left that progressive-leaning group 45 years ago. In Part I of this interview series, Hackett tells AnalogPlanet exclusively about the aural differences between his new 4LP/2CD release Genesis Revisited: Seconds Out & More and Genesis’ original October 1977 Seconds Out 2LP set, which guitar solo of his he considers to be the most well-known Genesis guitar moment, and the challenges Genesis faced in the 1970s when they pushed the boundaries of just how much music could fit on one side of an LP. Read on to find out why the vinyl path is clear. . .
Turn off your mind, relax, and drop the needle. If you’ve been wondering which Beatles album would next get the mega-deluxe treatment following last year’s Let It Be Super Deluxe 180g 4LP/1EP box set, wonder no more. On October 28, Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe will release August 1966’s seminal Revolver in a 180g 4LP/1EP Special Edition Super Deluxe box set. Read on to find out all the details, and what sources are being used. . .