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FeaturesShort Cuts
Review Explosion: Post Malone, 070 Shake, Merzbow, & Whitearmor
Malachi Lui  |  Jun 15, 2022  |  2 comments
(Review Explosion, curated by contributing editor Malachi Lui, is a guide to notable recent releases and reissues. It focuses on the previous few months' new releases for which we don't have time or energy to cover more extensively.)
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Features
More Notes on the Rolling Stones Reissues
Malachi Lui  |  Jun 13, 2022  |  58 comments
Whether it's the 60s material controlled by ABKCO or the 1971-onward catalog owned by the band, the Rolling Stones' discography is among the world's most tirelessly and excessively reissued; every few years, there's yet another remastered, repressed, repackaged reissue of the same decades-old classics. After several mediocre reissues of the Rolling Stones Records albums (particularly the first and best two, Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street), AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer found the half-speed mastered 2018 Studio Albums Vinyl Collection 1971–2016 box set (now available as individual albums) to best capture the original LPs' spirit, even if sometimes lacking in transparent analog sparkle. However, I thought another perspective on the Sticky Fingers and Exile reissues, also taking into account the Japanese flat transfer CDs, would be useful.
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Munich 2022
High End Munich 2022 Analog Coverage Day 3
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 07, 2022  |  19 comments
Yukiseimitsu Audio AP-0 analog record player

One person can't possibly visit every room at a convention center show as large as High End Munich—even if your sole goal is to cover analog products. Maybe that was possible a decade ago but now? No way! You must make editorial decisions and pass by some rooms. For instance, having given Avantgarde Acoustics and its new powered G3 iTRON loudspeaker system full coverage at AXPONA, I decided I could skip their Munich room. Little did I know that SME would be demonstrating its new Model 60 in the Avantgarde Acoustics room, so the Model 60 is not covered here. However, I did visit the factory for a semi-exclusive look so if you've not seen the coverage, click on the hyperlink.

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Album Reviews
Combat Rock + The People's Hall: The Clash Cash In
Malachi Lui  |  Jun 04, 2022  |  23 comments
By 1981, The Clash was in shambles. Seeking more direction following their 1980 triple album Sandinista!, co-frontman Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon rehired the band's notoriously difficult original manager, Bernie Rhodes, to the dismay of other co-frontman Mick Jones. Jones sought to continue the band's expansive forays into dub, reggae, and hip-hop, while Strummer wanted something more streamlined. Yet despite all of that, plus drummer Topper Headon's spiraling heroin and cocaine addiction, The Clash toured and managed to record new material at The People's Hall in the Republic of Frestonia (a small area in West London populated by squatters hoping to secede from the UK) as well as Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
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Munich 2022
Munich High End 2022 Day Two - Action-Packed Analog
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 03, 2022  |  21 comments
Esoteric's $75,000 magnetic drive turntable with Ikeda tonearm

Munich High End 2022 day two was as analog action-packed as was day one. Second day videos tend to get somewhat lower viewer numbers, but you can be sure this video contains product debuts and events you really do not want to miss, including the saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh playing live in the Stenheim/darTzeel room backed by a recording of his bandmates. The illusion of the group playing live worked surprisingly well and even translated well recorded to stereo shotgun microphone. darTzeel introduced a new MC phono cartridge.

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FeaturesShort Cuts
Review Explosion: The Smile, Liam Gallagher, Harry Styles & Ethel Cain
Malachi Lui  |  Jun 01, 2022  |  9 comments
(Review Explosion, curated by contributing editor Malachi Lui, is a guide to notable recent releases and reissues. It focuses on the previous few months' new releases for which we don't have time or energy to cover more extensively.)
Continue Reading »
FeaturesShort Cuts
Vinyl Review Explosion: David Bowie; Tyler, The Creator; The Weeknd; Lola Kirke
Malachi Lui  |  May 31, 2022  |  6 comments
(Review Explosion, curated by contributing editor Malachi Lui, is a guide to notable recent releases and reissues. It focuses on the previous few months' new releases for which we don't have time or energy to cover more extensively.)
Continue Reading »
Album Reviews
Arcade Fire’s WE: Calculated & Concise, But Inconsistent
Malachi Lui  |  May 31, 2022  |  14 comments
Between the excessive sprawl of 2013's James Murphy-produced Reflektor and the failed experimentation of 2017's punchable Everything Now, it might seem as if Arcade Fire spent the last decade actively trying to lose people's interest. Now, however, they're back; at least, that's what their Nigel Godrich-produced new LP WE wants you to think. Split into more introspective "I" (A) and outward-facing "WE" (B) sides, WE is a concise 40-minute summation of the band's previous work. Every Arcade Fire record finds them striving for epic heights and always falling short, though you can't say they're not trying really hard.
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Album Reviews
On The Insufferable What's It Gonna Take?, Van Morrison Declines Even Further
Malachi Lui  |  May 30, 2022  |  67 comments
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
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Munich 2022
The World's Best High-End Munich 2022 Analog Coverage
Michael Fremer  |  May 28, 2022  |  11 comments
The Kuzma Safir tonearm

Explosive worldwide vinyl record sales growth over the past few years produced a powerful response from the audio industry, based on what was on display at Munich High End 2022. A profusion of new turntables, tonearms, phono preamps and accessories spread throughout the sprawling 28,000m2 MOC Event Center made difficult covering it all even with four days available to do it.

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