LATEST ADDITIONS

While we’re saving our final determinations for what the best box sets of 2025 are for later in the year, the new mega-multi-LP collection from David Bowie, 6: I Can’t Give Everything Away: (2002 – 2016), is certainly a contender. In short, it’s an amazing study of the man, his music, and enduring vision. Read Mark Smotroff’s review of this massive 180g 16LP/2EP collection to see why it’s well worth the investment. . .

As much as we continue to live and love the ongoing vinyl revolution, we’ve also been pleased — and somewhat surprised, truth be told — to see the resurgence in the audio cassette market. To that end, a pair of tape titans — the U.S.-based National Audio Company, and the Swiss manufacturer Revox — have just announced a joint cooperation for producing music cassettes and empty cassettes for the worldwide marketplace. Read on to see what this important new alliance entails, and what the next steps they’ve already been taking together are. . .

We’ve long been fans of Hong Kong-based accessories manufacturer HumminGuru — especially when it comes to their ultrasonic record cleaning machines (RCMs) — and now they’re ready to add the all-caps LUMI record stabilizer to their top-shelf product offerings. Read on to see all we know about the LUMI, and all that it can do for you. . .

For a British band with such a potentially foreboding name as The Darkness, their music is anything but grim. Instead, they choose to celebrate what we call a “tongue in chic” (spelling intended) wink/nudge approach to rock conventionalism by meeting all of it head on with layered riffs, clever arrangements, and operatic vocals galore — and their latest smokin’ hot LP, Dreams on Toast, is the living analog proof. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s interview with Darkness guitarist/producer Dan Hawkins to see what he doesn’t want to hear on test pressings, why “flow” is critical to vinyl sequencing, and what albums he and his older brother, Darkness lead singer Justin Hawkins, bought and shared together when they were growing up. . .