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Album Reviews
The Greatest Artist Resting Or Alive? Kanye’s JESUS IS KING Revisited
Malachi Lui  |  Jul 01, 2020  |  189 comments
No matter your (likely misguided) opinion of him personally, Kanye West is indisputably one of the greatest artists of all time. While in certain occupations others come close, only Kanye has the wide scope and collaborative energy to succeed in everything. Whether it’s music, fashion, or film, he enlists world-class multimedia artists’ assistance, precisely executing most media (except opera). As the man himself said in “Kids See Ghosts,” “[I] don't like being less than any a competition in any of my professions/So I gotta guess then, I gotta stay the best man/What else you expect from, uhhh, Mr. West man?” He lives up to his word; despite the often delayed and cancelled album releases (through online groupbuys the material eventually leaks), within a matter of time he accomplishes everything he talks about. Currently, he’s working on a budget clothing line with Gap (fulfilling his 2015 promise to make YEEZY garments affordable), IKEA-type affordable housing developments, and creating American jobs through prison reform systems. His wide range of artistic disciplines and personal achievements make him without question “the greatest artist resting or alive.”

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Short Cuts
Vinyl Review Explosion: Yves Tumor, Grimes, Perfume Genius, and King Krule
Malachi Lui  |  Jun 30, 2020  |  1 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, Review Explosion focuses on the previous few months’ new releases.)

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Album Reviews
Black Pumas' Psychedelic Soul Eponymous Debut
Evan Toth  |  Jun 29, 2020  |  3 comments
Great music doesn’t exist, nor is it created in a vacuum. It evolves from years of being influenced by composers, performers, producers and genres. We don’t reward musically mediocre derivatives; rather, we celebrate musicians who manipulate their favorite influences to create a composite that results in something new and exciting— like Black Pumas’ music.

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FeaturesVinyl Reports
Vinyl Reports: Real Life Record Shopping Returns!
Malachi Lui  |  Jun 28, 2020  |  36 comments
(Vinyl Reports is an AnalogPlanet feature aiming to create a definitive guide to vinyl LPs. Here, we talk about sound quality, LP packaging, music, and the overarching vinyl experience.)

As the world moves to reopen, record stores are slowly allowing customers back in. Here in Portland, OR, Music Millennium recently held a week of appointment-only personal shopping experiences (charitable donation necessary), then subsequently reopened with a 10 person limit and new safety measures. I shopped during the “be the only customer inside!” period and reviewed below are four recent acquisitions.

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Album Reviews
Jaime Branch's FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise
Jeff Flaim  |  Jun 26, 2020  |  4 comments
Avant-garde trumpeter Jaimie Branch has a lot on her mind; racism, love, compassion and the state of our union. Tackling these issues is not an easy task, especially for someone who plays instrumental music. On FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise, her second album—recorded live over a few nights at London’s Total Refreshment Center—the New York based musician delivers a passionate, searing set of tunes.

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News
Prince Estate and Warner Records Announce Seriously Expanded Sign O' the Times Double Album++++
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 25, 2020  |  12 comments
(Photo: © The Prince Estate | Photographer: Jeff Katz)
The Prince Estate in partnership with Warner Records announced today an expanded reissue of Prince's "epochal" Sign O' the Times double LP including a "Super Deluxe" edition featuring 8 CDs+DVD or 13 LPs+DVD. Also a 3 CD/4 LP 180g Deluxe Edition and a remastered 2 CD/2 LP peach vinyl edition for those fans trying to moderate their Prince intake.

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Short Cuts
Review Explosion: The 1975, Iggy Pop, Yung Lean, & More
Malachi Lui  |  Jun 24, 2020  |  12 comments
(Review Explosion is a recurring AnalogPlanet feature covering recent releases that due to time constraints we cannot sufficiently explore. Curated by AnalogPlanet contributing editor Malachi Lui, Review Explosion focuses on the previous few months’ new releases as well as archival titles and reissues.)

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Neil Young's "Long Lost Masterpiece" Homegrown Released 45 Years Later
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 24, 2020  |  16 comments
Billed by his label as a “long lost masterpiece by Neil Young”, referred to by fans as “one of Young’s mysterious, great ‘lost albums’” and described by Young himself as “the one that got away”, Homegrown was recorded mostly between late 1974 and early ’75, with one track from late spring ‘74 and another from late summer of that year.

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Album Reviews
Rhino’s Massive Use Hearing Protection: Factory Records 1978-79 Box Set – Worth It?
Malachi Lui  |  Jun 22, 2020  |  11 comments
A lawsuit. A specific club night. Films that you’ll never see. A stray cat. Extremely rare posters and promo items that probably ended up in landfill. An unrealized menstrual abacus egg timer. Several buildings.

Mentioned above are Factory Communications catalog items that frustrate completists; they’re unobtainable. Sure, you can get pieces of the buildings, or a picture of the cat, or track down people with (drug-influenced) memories of the party. But if you weren’t there, you really weren’t there and can’t go back. Only remnants of the Manchester label’s catalog oddities remain.

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News
Qobuz Announces New "Family Plan"—Up to Six Members Per Account: $24.99/Month
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 22, 2020  |  4 comments
Qobuz, the Hi-Res streaming and download service, just launched a "family plan" that allows up to six members per account for $24.99 per month—or $10 more a month than the current "solo" plan.

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