Mike Mettler

We’re always happy to see when new vinyl-centric record labels crop up with a clear mission, and that leads us directly to the M.O. that’s fueling Inner Groove Records. The fledgling label’s inaugural release is a 180g 1LP reissue of Lim Taylor’s long lost 1974 funk/soul gem You Hear Me Knocking, an album that initially surfaced on Ray Charles’ custom Crossover Records imprint. Read on to see how you can secure your own copy of Knocking before this strictly limited-edition LP is gone, gone, gone. . .

Trevor Rabin is a truly cinematic artist — and we don’t just say that because he joined a band called Cinema that soon enough brought its name back around to Yes before they released November 1983’s 90125. In the interim, Rabin has scored over 50 films and television shows, continued to work on and off with various Yesmates (hello, ARW), and he’s also released a number of wide-ranging solo albums to boot. His latest effort, Rio, is being released today in various 2LP configurations via InsideOut Music. During a recent Zoom interview with AP editor Mike Mettler, Rabin discusses the vinyl-centric impetus of Rio, why it’s important for him to personally attend as many mastering sessions as he can, and why he feels Bob Ludwig’s mastering “saved” 90125. . .

In honor of Audiophile Day, we here at AP thought we’d put the spotlight on a new turntable that gets our high-end hi-fi juices flowing — and the Reed Muse 3A ’table fits that bill to a T. Read on to glean more about this noted Lithuanian company’s latest turntable endeavor. . .

Rega does it yet again here in Year 50. The British company’s new Naia turntable builds upon the design legacy of their Naiad test-bed ’table from a few years back — which in turn means we now have a market-ready Naia ’table available for one and all looking to get in on having that special Rega experience firsthand. Read on to glean more about the British company’s latest and greatest, the Naia turntable. . .