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Analog Gear News
High End Munich 2023 Preview: Goldring E4 Moving Magnet Cartridge
Mike Mettler  |  May 16, 2023  |  5 comments

With High End Munich 2023 right around the corner, we’re already getting word about some of the cool new analog gear debuting at the show. One such item that’s caught our eye is Goldring’s new E4 moving magnet cartridge. Read on to see what you can expect to get with the flagship E4 MMC. . .

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Analog Gear News
Metaxas & Sins Papillon Reel-to-Reel Tape Player
Mike Mettler  |  May 15, 2023  |  36 comments

Reel-to-reel tape players have been making quite the comeback of late, something we’re indeed excited to see for such a vaunted analog format. Relative to that, we’re even more pleased to note how the well-respected Metaxas & Sins brand name is making its new North American-distribution deal with Reel Sound Distribution known via a fine array of high-end gear, including the flagship model known as the Papillon reel-to-reel player. Read on to learn more about how the stunning Papillon operates in the modern age. . .

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News
On This Week’s Episode of Vinyl Obsession, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s & Country Vocalist Brantley Gilbert Select Their Top 5 LPs
Mike Mettler  |  May 14, 2023  |  3 comments

Who's making their Top 5 picks on this week's episode of AXS TV's Vinyl Obsession? Glad you asked. This Sunday evening, May 14, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's and country vocalist Brantley Gilbert bring us along during their respective shopping trips at Grimey's in Nashville as they both search for their Top 5 LPs. Read on to get a pair of AP-exclusive sneak previews of tonight's ep. . .

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Album Reviews
The Grateful Dead’s Plangent Processes-Restored Boston 5.7.77 180g 5LP RSD 2023-Exclusive Box Set Completes One of Their Essential Live Trilogies
Mark Smotroff  |  May 12, 2023  |  10 comments

On Record Store Day 2023, Rhino Records issued another entry in their fine series of super-deluxe multidisc vinyl box sets celebrating the road trips of the Grateful Dead, a 180g 5LP box set titled Boston Garden, Boston, MA 5/7/77 (a.k.a. Boston 5.7.77). This new edition is an important historical puzzle piece in the band’s storied legacy, effectively completing a trilogy of live releases culled from their epic spring 1977 tour peak. AP’s resident Deadhead Mark Smotroff got his hands on one these new limited edition collections, so read on to see his reasoning as to why it’s an instantly essential entry in the Dead’s live legacy on vinyl. . .

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Interviews
Ian Hunter May No Longer Be a Young Dude, But He Proves How Hard He Can Still Rock on Vinyl With a Little Help From His Friends on a Killer New Solo LP, Defiance Part 1
Mike Mettler  |  May 11, 2023  |  1 comments

Ian Hunter is a survivor. Not only that, but the veteran British vocalist of Mott the Hoople fame and a lengthy and fruitful solo career shows no signs of slowing down at age 83. The keen evidence laid out before us are the ten balls-out rockers populating his latest solo album, Defiance Part 1, released via Blue Cat/Sun Records on April 21 on black vinyl. In a recent Zoom audio interview with AP editor Mike Mettler, Hunter discusses what he means by recording his music “back to front,” why Mott the Hoople’s version of “All the Young Dudes” endures to this day, and how Jerry Lee Lewis first got his juices a-goin’ to become a killer performer and recording artist. Don’t be shy — read on to get fully bitten by the Hunter mystique on vinyl. . .

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Album Reviews
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis & Shirley Scott Serve Up a Tasty Soul Jazz Recipe For a New Historical All-Analog Grundman-Remastered 180g 4LP Stereo Box Set, Cookin’ With Jaws and the Queen: The Legendary Prestige Cookbook Albums
Mark Smotroff  |  May 10, 2023  |  2 comments

Cookin’ With Jaws and the Queen: The Legendary Prestige Cookbook Albums is a wonderful new 4LP stereo box set collection from Craft Recordings that offers cause for rejoicing among fans of soul jazz, and most specifically fans of saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis in particular. Culled from three classic 1958 Cookbook session recordings, the albums in this box are some of the backbone entries of a musical artform that would explode in popularity over the next 20 years, and ultimately onward into the 21st century. Read Mark Smotroff’s ready-to-serve review to see if the Cookin’ With Jaws and the Queen box set is indeed tasty enough to add to your regular LP-listening diet. . .

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Analog Gear News
Plinius Koru Phono Preamp
Mike Mettler  |  May 09, 2023  |  14 comments

When we saw some cool Plinius gear in the system utilized for a Kuzma demo at AXPONA 2023, it reminded us that we needed to see what’s been going on with the vaunted New Zealand-born company of late — and thus, here we are with our eye firmly planted on the Plinius Koru phono preamp. Read on to get all the Koru spec details. . .

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News
On This Week's Vinyl Obsession, Ajay Popoff of Lit & Vocalist Chris Kirkpatrick Choose Their Top 5 LPs
Mike Mettler  |  May 06, 2023  |  4 comments

Who's making their picks on this week's episode of AXS TV's Vinyl Obsession? Glad you asked. This upcoming Sunday, May 7, Ajay Popoff of Lit and 'NSYNC vocalist Chris Kirkpatrick bring us along during their respective shopping trips at Grimey's in Nashville as they each seek out their Top 5 LPs. Read on to get an AP-exclusive sneak preview of that ep. . .

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Short Cuts
Prominent Ambient Jazz Label ECM Records Returns to Vinyl With a Slew of New LP Releases From John Scofield, Avishai Cohen, Tord Gustavsen, Enrico Rava & Mark Turner
Mark Smotroff  |  May 05, 2023  |  13 comments

ECM Records is back! Well, they never really went away in the eyes and ears of many audiophiles, but now the legendary ambient jazz label has decided to rejoin us here in the vinyl pool, and the idea couldn’t have come at a better time. Read on to glean Mark Smotroff’s capsule reviews of five current ECM LP releases from John Scofield, Avishai Cohen, Tord Gustavsen, Enrico Rava & Mark Turner. . .

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Interviews
Steve Howe Explores the Science Behind Having His Short-Lived 1960s Band Tomorrow Reimagined on Vinyl Today, Plus He Unveils Some Other Topographic Revelations From the World of Yes
Mike Mettler  |  May 04, 2023  |  2 comments

It’s never too late to reclaim your legacy on vinyl. British guitar icon Steve Howe knows this concept quite well, in fact, and it’s the main impetus for what you see here —namely, the full revamping of his pre-Yes 1960s band Tomorrow’s debut February 1968 LP, now duly recast and retitled Permanent Dream, which was released in its new, 140g 1LP form by Spirit of Unicorn Music/Parlophone on April 28. In a recent Zoom interview with AP editor Mike Mettler, Howe discusses his “psychedelicized” impetus for revamping the original Tomorrow album, why the Permanent Dream tracklisting needed to be both revised and resequenced, and why the song that takes up the entirety of Side 1 of Yes’ iconic December 1973 double LP Tales From Topographic Oceans is actually shorter than it was intended to be. Read on to found out how Howe decided to bring Tomorrow into the vinyl world of today. . .

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