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Album Reviews
Peter Gabriel's "Passion" Reissued at 45rpm, Half-Speed Mastered
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 04, 2018  |  16 comments
Silly me! I thought all Hans Zimmer lifted for The Gladiator soundtrack were bits and pieces of Holst's "The Planets". Everyone does that so no offense, but after playing this reissue I heard from where came the best parts of The Gladiator soundtrack. Surely this was on the CD player when Zimmer created his track. Don't get me wrong, it's still a masterful soundtrack and filled with sonic and musical jolts, but here's from where it originated.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
BBC Late Junction Sessions: "Unpopular Music"
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 03, 2018  |  0 comments
Step away from your predictable audiophile fare and consider this double 45rpm LP set from the U.K.'s Gearbox Records of artists you've mostly never heard of playing music you've probably never heard either.

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Album Reviews
Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly" — Mobile Fidelity Does the Digital One-Step
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 03, 2018  |  23 comments
Before getting to the audiofool controversy surrounding the release of a 3M digital recording on expensive vinyl, there's the music. You're smacked in the face on the side openers "I.G.Y." and "New Frontier" (on the original single LP) by the exuberance and sunlit optimism of the "certain fantasies" entertained by "a young man growing up in the remote suburbs" back when science was venerated and not denigrated as it is today in certain circles as a "liberal plot".

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Analog Corner
Analog Corner #68
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 02, 2018  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2001  |  2 comments
In 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick depicted a Pan American Airlines shuttle whizzing space commuters to an orbiting circular station, where they communicated with earthbound loved ones via a Bell Telephone videophone. Pillbox-hatted stewardesses served up vacuum-bagged space gruel sucked from straws.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
"Willie Watson Folk Singer Vol.2" Goes Long on Authenticity
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2018  |  4 comments
During the great folk music revival of the 1960s how many buyers of Peter, Paul & Mary's stunning debut album knew who was the Reverend Gary Davis, writer of the apocalyptic side 2 opener "If I Had My Way"? Probably very few. In those days you'd have to visit the local library to find out who he was, assuming you paid attention to label credits in the first place.

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Album Reviews
The Gospel According to Zimmerman: "Trouble No More" The Bootleg Series Vol. 13/1979-1981
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 28, 2017  |  10 comments
What always felt like it would be a nasty bump in the Dylan Bootleg Series road turns out to be a smooth walk on the water thanks to a concept the Dylan boot team perfectly executes by covering the mutable artist's evangelical period with highly charged live performances, outtakes and rehearsals that will turn you into a believer, if not in Christ, then in Dylan's absolute commitment to what he then preached and in the power of the songs and especially the supercharged performances he delivered.

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News
Reverb LP A New Online Record Selling and Buying Site Opens Its Digital "Doors"
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 26, 2017  |  8 comments
The website Reverb.com recently announced an open beta launch for Reverb LP. Backed by what it claims is "the world’s most popular music gear site", Reverb LP aims to be "the best place online to buy and sell records".
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Record Cleaning Fluid ReviewsRecord Cleaning Machine ReviewsRecord Cleaning Tips
Another AnalogPlanet Record Cleaning Extravaganza!
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 26, 2017  |  48 comments
The most expensive record cleaning device in this video is Pro-Ject's $499 VC-S. That's good news! The other gizmos include the new Allsop Orbitrac 3, the Vinyl Vac (about $30 on Amazon.com), which is a wand that you use with a shop vac, and a few others.

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Features
Last Minute Holiday Gift Giving Suggestions—But Hurry!
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 21, 2017  |  11 comments
Here are some gift-giving ideas for this holiday season that come late, but not too late! Among the suggestions are books, record cleaning accessories,records and vinyl boxed sets. The embedded video has more suggestions.

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Analog Corner
Analog Corner #67
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 20, 2017  |  First Published: Feb 01, 2001  |  0 comments
Comparing DIN-to-RCA phono cables is a daunting enough task without the distraction of watching a nation unable to figure out who it elected president, partly because it relies on 40-year-old punchcard technology to tally votes. Haven't election officials heard that digital is perfect?
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