LATEST ADDITIONS

AXPONA 2025
AXPONA 2025 Part 9: Børresen, Aavik, Linn, DS Audio, DeVore, Leben, Well Tempered Lab
Julie Mullins  |  May 09, 2025  |  1 comments

Hello and welcome to Part 9, the final installment of Julie Mullins’ AXPONA 2025 show report series. In this series-ending chapter, Mullins checks out cool gear from the likes of Børresen, Aavik, Linn, DS Audio, DeVore, Leben, and Well Tempered Lab. . .

Continue Reading »
AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Bill Evans Trio’s Masterful Final Studio Recording, 1961’s Explorations, Receives a Most Excellent AAA 180g 1LP Small Batch Treatment
Mark Smotroff  |  May 09, 2025  |  0 comments

Explorations, the 1961 second and final studio release by the classic first Bill Evans Trio featuring piano maestro Bill Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian, is remarkable on many levels. Craft Recordings’ recent, late-2024-released Small Batch AAA 180g 1LP edition of this influential, highly sought after jazz classic is sure to be appreciated by jazz aficionados and audiophiles alike who have been searching for as definitive a pressing as possible. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why this Small Batch Explorations LP is well worth your time and money. . .

Continue Reading »
ALBUM RELEASE NEWSNew Wax Wednesday
New Wax Wednesday: R.E.M. Stations Their Radio Free Europe 2025 EP for September 12 Release
Mike Mettler  |  May 07, 2025  |  2 comments

Welcome to our new weekly New Wax Wednesday column, in which we will highlight upcoming new LP releases and/or important vinyl reissues worthy of preordering and spinning again and again once they arrive in prime, direct from doorstep to turntable fashion. What better way to start off this new series than by commencing with a calling out to transit, as the saying goes — as in, sharing the news that R.E.M.’s Radio Free Europe 2025 five-track benefit EP is set for release via Craft Recordings on September 12, 2025. Read on to see what rare tracks and new mixes will appear on this limited-edition 10-inch orange-vinyl EP. . .

Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2025
AXPONA Part 8: MoFi Electronics, Thales, Clearaudio, Yukiseimitsu Audio
Julie Mullins  |  May 05, 2025  |  1 comments

Welcome to Part 8, the penultimate chapter of Julie Mullins AXPONA 2025 show report. In this installment, Mullins checks out the latest analog gear from MoFi Electronics, Thales, Clearaudio, and Yukiseimitsu Audio. . .

Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2025
AXPONA Part 7: VDM Records, Grand Prix Audio, VTL, Pure Fidelity, Lab12, Nordost
Julie Mullins  |  May 03, 2025  |  2 comments

Hello and welcome to Part 7 of Julie Mullins’ AXPONA 2025 show report. In this installment, Mullins checks out the latest and greatest offerings from VDM Records, Grand Prix Audio, VTL, Pure Fidelity, Lab12, and Nordost. . .

Continue Reading »
Album ReviewsShort Cuts
Short Cuts, Vol. 25: Rhino High Fidelity Series Strikes Again With a Pair of 180g 1LP Winners From Alice Cooper & Black Sabbath
Mark Smotroff  |  May 02, 2025  |  3 comments
The prospect of reviewing two new Rhino High Fidelity reissues featuring seminal recordings by hard-rockin’ proto-heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper is both exciting and daunting. Read Mark Smotroff’s combo review of the new 180g 1LP versions of Cooper’s 1971 classic Love It to Death and Sabbath’s pivotal 1970 release Paranoid to see if they both make the (up)grade. . .

Continue Reading »
Interviews
Mike Peters on the Eternal Love, Hope, and Strength of Listening to The Alarm on Vinyl
Mike Mettler  |  May 01, 2025  |  1 comments

We lost a true hero the other day. Mike Peters, frontman of the iconoclast Welsh alt-rockers The Alarm, passed away at age 66 on April 29, 2025, in Dyserth, Wales, following a three-decades-long battle with cancer. In a previously unpublished interview conducted in 2024, AP editor Mike Mettler and Peters discuss his favorite record shops he went to while growing up in Wales, the importance of understanding sleeve notes, and why early Alarm records were quieter on vinyl than they should have been. . .

Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2025
AXPONA 2025 Show Report, Part 6: AirTight, Reed & AXISS Audio
Julie Mullins  |  Apr 30, 2025  |  2 comments

Welcome to Part 6 of Julie Mullins’ AXPONA 2025 show report series. In this installment, Mullins visits one of AXISS Audio’s rooms featuring cool new gear from AirTight and Reed. . .

Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2025
AXPONA 2025 Show Report, Part 5: Treehaus Audiolab & SME
Julie Mullins  |  Apr 28, 2025  |  3 comments

Hello and welcome to a new week, and to Part 5 of Julie Mullins’ AXPONA 2025 show report series. In this installment, Mullins heads into the Treehaus Audiolab room to check out the SME Model 12 MKII turntable along with some classic, old-school tube gear. . .

Continue Reading »
Album Reviews
Elton John & Brandi Carlile Collaborative Who Believes in Angels? LP Is a Somewhat Surprising SQ Winner on Tri-Color Vinyl
Mark Smotroff  |  Apr 25, 2025  |  4 comments

By now you’ve probably heard the news that Elton John has paired up with Americana crossover phenomenon Brandi Carlile on their fine new Top 10 LP Who Believes in Angels?, which was released by Rocket/EMI on April 4, 2025. Given all the advance hype, we suspect some of you fence-sitters are probably wondering how the album actually sounds on vinyl, so read Mark Smotroff’s review to see how it holds up to repeated spins. . .

Continue Reading »

Pages

X