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AAA VinylNews
Blue Note Announces Classic Vinyl Reissue Series
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 23, 2020  |  28 comments
(Blue Note Press Release): OCTOBER 23, 2020—We’re proud to present the Blue Note Classic Vinyl Reissue Series, a continuation of our acclaimed Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series which was launched in celebration of our 80th anniversary in 2019. The Classic Series will once again feature all-analog 180g vinyl pressings in standard packaging that are mastered by Kevin Gray directly from the original master tapes and manufactured at Optimal in Germany.

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Turntable Reviews
The Schiit SOL Turntable (Updated 10/26/2020)
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 22, 2020  |  65 comments
(Schiit just announced it is producing a new pulley that will run the turntable at the correct speed and will send them free to all existing customers.)Executive decision: no Schiit jokes, ok? Especially since the Sol turntable is so well conceived, designed, executed, made in America and remarkably priced at $799 including a $119 Audio Technica AT-VM95EN cartridge.

That said, if you want an “open the box, plug and play” type turntable, the SOL might not be for you. On the other hand, if you buy one with the cartridge already installed, Schiit makes the Sol reasonably easy to set up.

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News
Paul McCartney Announces McCartney III  50 Years After McCartney
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 21, 2020  |  4 comments
50 years after releasing his first solo album on which he played all of the instruments, wrote all of the songs (including "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Every Night" and "The Lovely Linda") and self-engineered, Sir Paul returns with McCartneyIII. In 1980 he released his second solo album McCartney II.

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Album Reviews
Lang Lang—The Classical Music Superstar Critics Love to Hate Hate Delivers his "Goldberg Variations"
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 20, 2020  |  29 comments
Lang Lang, a certified classical music "superstar" much loved by audiences for his performances of the romantic repertoire and detested by the cognoscenti and critics for being overly dramatic and self-indulgent, waited until age 38 to release a fully realized recording of Bach's mathematically certified "Goldberg Variations"—a piece definitely at odds with his romantic "sweet spot" and one he says he mastered—at least technically—20 years ago, though he performed it for a teacher at age 17 from memory.

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Analog Gear NewsNews
Audio-Technica Debuts AT-PEQ30 "High-Performance" MM/MC Phono Stage
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 20, 2020  |  3 comments
STOW, OH, October 20, 2020 -- Audio-Technica today announced the introduction of its AT-PEQ30 MM/MC phono preamp. The new phono preamp provides either 35dB (MM) or 59dB (MC) fixed gain, and 47kOhm (MM) and 120 ohm (MC) loading.

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Short Cuts
7” Review Explosion: Blur, Spiritualized, and Billie Eilish (+ An Art Book Flexi)
Malachi Lui  |  Oct 19, 2020  |  3 comments
(Review Explosion is a recurring AnalogPlanet feature covering recent releases for which we either don’t have sufficient time to fully explore, or that are not worthy of it. Curated by AnalogPlanet contributing editor Malachi Lui, this particular Review Explosion focuses on new and old 7” releases.)

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News
Revox Re-Enters the Turntable Market With T700
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 19, 2020  |  12 comments
Revox recently introduced the $4000 T700, its first new turntable in many years. The company's first platter spinner, the Revox 60 was originally introduced in 1956. A series of tangential trackers followed. The new T700, manufactured in Germany, features a built-in MC phono preamplifier and comes standard with an Ortofon Quintet Bronze moving coil cartridge.

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Features
Preaching And The Blues: The Folk Blues Career of Son House
Joseph W. Washek  |  Oct 12, 2020  |  15 comments
Yes, I’m gonna get me religion
I’m gonna join the Baptist Church
I wanna be a Baptist preacher so I won’t have to work

In June 1964, Nick Perls, Dick Waterman, and Phil Spiro, three young white men from the North, traveled to Mississippi in search of Son House (1902-1988), a blues singer/guitarist whose career had been so abject a commercial failure that he was completely forgotten and unknown, except to a small group of perhaps two dozen country blues collectors who, based upon the recordings available, maybe twenty minutes in total, had proclaimed him to be the greatest of all the Delta Blues singers.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Big Star's #1 Record  Gets Five Stars From Our Newest Contributor
Nathan Zeller  |  Oct 11, 2020  |  8 comments
We find ourselves during the ongoing pandemic abstaining from pleasurable activities like hanging out on the street. Listening to the 1970’s power pop group Big Star will one day help ease the way back to that once taken for granted lifestyle.

Discovering older musical acts like Big Star is for a child of the 21st century like me mostly a matter of pure luck. I happened upon Big Star’s song “Thirteen” on an episode of “That ‘70’s Show” airing on Netflix. That tune, a captivating piece of tender musical perfection, led me to discover Big Star the group and boy, am I thankful for that!

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Album Reviews
Gimme Some Truth  John Lennon The Ultimate Mixes
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 09, 2020  |  30 comments
Another murder most foul to revisit. Where were you on December 8th 1980 when the terrible news broke that John Lennon had been assassinated? A girlfriend and I were having dinner with Chuck and Nancy (not Schumer and Pelosi) and with Arnold and Maria (yes, Schwarzenegger and Shriver).

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