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Album Reviews
The dB’s Jangle-Rich Sophomore Indie-Rock LP, Repercussion, Gets Long-Overdue First American Vinyl Pressing From Propeller Sound Recordings
Mark Smotroff  |  Oct 25, 2024  |  0 comments

There are probably many behind-the-scenes reasons why indie-rock/power-pop legends The dB’s just could not get their first two albums released by an American record company back in the early 1980s. Whatever the cause or the case, that outright crime for fans of all things jangly power pop and indie rock has long been overdue for amending. Thankfully, a new reissue series by independent record label Propeller Sound Recordings has gone a long way to make up for that unfortunate ’80s misstep. The second entry in The dB’s vinyl reclamation series is their 1981 sophomore LP, Repercussion. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why Propeller’s truly wonderful Repercussion LP reissue belongs on your turntable today. . .

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Analog Gear NewsBeatlesNews
Beatles For Sale: Completely Restored EMI TG12345 Abbey Road Recording Console Could Soon Be Yours, Courtesy Its Official Reverb and MJQ Ltd. Sales Listing Starting on October 29
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 23, 2024  |  6 comments

The music you make is equal to the console you make it on — or something like that. To that end, mega online gear retailer Reverb has just announced that the EMI TG12345 recording console used by The Beatles to record September 1969’s seminal Abbey Road LP is going up for sale through MJQ Ltd., their official artists partner, starting on October 29, 2024. Read on to see how you might be able to get your hands, and ears, on a true piece of recording history. . .

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Analog Gear News
Revox B77 MK III Reel-to-Reel Stereo Tape Recorder
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 22, 2024  |  4 comments

Good things come in threes — or, in this case, in III. What I mean by that is, Revox have seen fit to announce their new B77 MKIII reel-to-reel stereo tape recorder, and we couldn’t be more pleased to hear all about it. Read on to see all the specs and features of the mighty Revox B77 MK III. . .

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Features
Tale of the Tape: Spotlight on Maxell, the Origin of the Blown-Away Guy, and the Comeback of Cassettes
Leslie Shapiro  |  Oct 21, 2024  |  13 comments

Cassette tapes are in the midst of enjoying a major comeback — and perhaps it has been a somewhat unexpected development, at least to some. Read Leslie Shapiro’s insightful feature on the history of the longtime leading cassette manufacturer Maxell, the true origins of the infamous Blown-Away Guy, and the bigger-picture reasons for why the cassette format lives on (and on). . .

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ALBUM RELEASE NEWSAlbum Reviews
In Review: Albert King With Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Complete December 1983 In Session Performance in Ontario to Be Released as Complete 180g 3LP Set on October 18
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 17, 2024  |  2 comments

File this one under, “Reborn under a good sign.” Craft Recordings recently announced a Deluxe Edition release of In Session, the legendary December 1983 collaboration between the late, decidedly great blues guitar icons Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, as an expanded 180g 3LP set on October 18, 2024 — as in, tomorrow! This historically important live performance — culled from King and SRV’s early-1980s joint TV appearance together in Canada — will be available in its entirety in various formats, but the best way to cue this one up is most definitely on vinyl. Read on to see AP editor Mike Mettler’s listening impressions of this new collection, what its three first-time-on-vinyl tracks are and how they sound, and what the SRP is for this new tri-gatefold set. . .

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Analog Gear News
Keith Monks ReduxTwo Record Cleaning Machine
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 16, 2024  |  4 comments

The O.G. has returned to the fold — or rather, to the spindle. In conjunction with BBC engineers in London in the late 1960s, Keith Monks developed the first commercially produced electric device to clean records in order to meet the “exacting standards” of FM radio broadcasting — and thus, what we now refer to as a record cleaning machine (RCM) was essentially born. Fast-forward to the modern era, where the late company founder’s son Jonathan Monks has just seen fit to introduce the company’s latest RCM model, the ReduxTwo. Read on to see all the features and specs for the ReduxTwo RCM, and when it will hit the marketplace. . .

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Cartridge Reviews
Can Denon’s DL-103o MC Cartridge Ascend to the Iconic Levels of Its Rich Series Heritage?
Ken Micallef  |  Oct 15, 2024  |  4 comments

How does the limited-edition Denon DL-103o moving-coil (MC) cartridge fare when it’s paired with different phono preamps and SUTs? Read Ken Micallef’s review to see if the 103o is in alignment with Denon’s rich DL-103 cartridge series heritage. . .

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Album Reviews
Coldplay’s 140g Moon Music LP Surprises With Modern Pop Twists, Pressed on the New, Remarkably Quiet Eco-Friendly Vinyl Alternative Called EcoRecord
Mark Smotroff  |  Oct 11, 2024  |  4 comments

The challenge of writing a review about a band you are admittedly not intimate with — one that some interwebs sources consider to be “the most successful group of the 21st century,” having sold more than 100 million albums and counting — has upsides, as well as down. Such is the case with Coldplay’s new 140g LP Moon Music, which was released by Parlophone on October 4, 2024, on a new vinyl alternative called EcoRecord. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if the songs on Moon Music spoke to him, and how well the EcoRecord format got across the band’s intentions. . .

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FeaturesNews
Green Day Drops 15 Alternative Format Options for Dookie Demastered, Including a Wax Cylinder, X-ray LP, 8-Track, Music Box, Piano Roll, and More
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 10, 2024  |  1 comments

In our ever-expanding search across this ever-spinning globe of ours for all things of analog-oriented interest, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to drop this one on the AP faithful: Bay Area alt-punk progenitors Green Day have gone all-out punk personified with their Dookie Demastered project, billed as “the way it was never meant to be heard.” Dookie Demastered features 15 truly alternative format options if ever there were, including wax cylinder, X-ray LP, 8-track, music box, piano roll, and more. Read on to see why you should plop down an entry into the Dookie Demastered pool to get one (or more!) of them in hand for your own collection. . .

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Analog Gear NewsFeatures
Sublima Audio Research Mat Chakra Limited Platter Mat
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 08, 2024  |  8 comments

Many of us use platter mats to dampen resonances and minimize other vibrations whenever we play our LPs. For those not entirely in the know, these mats are typically “waffer-thin,” to borrow the enunciation of a quite specific Monty Python bit, and they go directly underneath the LP that’s spinning and in turn reside right on top of the turntable platter beneath it. Seeing how I’ve been getting, shall we say, a bit restless with my current mat rotation, I wanted to take a fresh look at and listen to something new, and that led me to the Mat Chakra Limited — a cool, current platter mat from the Italian manufacturer Sublima Audio Research. Read on to find out more about company founder Alessandro “Alex” Cereda’s philosophy behind the design of the Mat Chakra Limited, and how this platter mat just might work for enhancing the performance of your own LPs. . .

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