Mike Mettler

If there’s a musician who’s taking better advantage of that figurative Dorian Gray picture on their wall than singer/songwriter/guitarist Dion DiMucci, we haven’t met them. The eternal Bronx-born Wanderer is still going strong at age 84, having issued three all-new 180g 2LP sets in the past four years. The most recent of which is Girl Friends, a four-sided, 12-track affair that celebrates Dion’s collaborative spirit and spark with a plethora of female artists, and it was just released by Keeping The Blues Alive this past Friday, March 8. In a recent Zoom interview with AP editor Mike Mettler, Dion discussed why he sequences his LPs like a live show, how “The Wanderer” is one of his definitive “bragging rights” songs, and why he’s considering resurrecting some of his personal favorite songs from years past on vinyl. . .

Lenco and turntable expertise go hand in hand — and now, the venerable Swiss manufacturer is poised to reinforce that fact with the flagship entry in their Expertise line, the LBT-345WA turntable. Read on to see more of the specs and features for the new LBT-345WA table. . .

Paula Cole didn’t want to wait any longer to take full control of her career — so the acclaimed, heart-on-her-sleeve singer/songwriter started her own 675 Records label a little over a decade ago, and she hasn’t looked back since. The latest fruit of Cole’s vinyl-centric labors is a new 2LP studio set, Lo, her 11th solo album, which was released on 675 on March 1. Produced by Cole herself, Lo teems with the caliber of songwriting depth and arrangement breadth she’s long been known for as an artist. In a recent Zoom interview with AP editor Mike Mettler, Cole discussed why listening to vinyl is a “full body” experience, why Lo had no choice but to be spread across three LP sides, and why she feels passionate about reclaiming the rights to re-release her first three albums on her own label.. . .