LATEST ADDITIONS

Mark Smotroff  |  Jul 20, 2023  |  7 comments

Welcome back to the third installment of our ongoing Review Explosion series, Short Cuts edition! This time, we have three new jazz releases sharing some common threads that connect the artists in question, yet are about as different as night and day. Read on to see what Mark Smotroff has to say about a pair of excellent new AAA Bill Evans Trio and Miles Davis Quintet OJC studio 180g 1LP reissues, plus a legendary lost archival live John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy 2LP set — but note that the latter release comes with one important caveat. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Jul 19, 2023  |  4 comments

Tom Waits hit a new creative stride in the 1980s, starting with his acclaimed September 1983 masterstroke Swordfishtrombones — a breakthrough “junkyard orchestral deviation” (his words) — that culminated four LPs later with November 1993’s The Black Rider. Starting September 1, Island/UMe is re-releasing all five of these key Waits midperiod Island Records LPs via 180g black vinyl and limited-edition color variants with the first three titles slated for September 1, and the remaining two to follow on October 6. Read on to find out more about which specific Waits Island-era titles are forthcoming, and what they each entail. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Jul 18, 2023  |  5 comments

Cool gear from Origin Live just happened to be shown and demo’ed in the Millercarbon room at Pacific Audio Fest (a.k.a. PAF 2023) back in June, so we thought it would be well worth tracking down the, er, origin of said products by going directly to the Origin Live team in the UK to learn more about it all firsthand. Read on to find out what’s what with the company’s Sovereign-S MkV turntable and Enterprise MkIV tonearm respectively. . .

Mark Smotroff  |  Jul 14, 2023  |  4 comments

Universal ushers in a new era of limited-edition Pete Townshend solo 180g 1LP reissues with a pair of Abbey Road Studios half-speed-mastered editions: 1) Rough Mix, Pete’s September 1977 collaboration with Ronnie Lane, and 2) April 1980’s Empty Glass. Read Mark Smotroff’s combo review to see how these two new half-speed-mastered versions stack up with the originals. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Jul 13, 2023  |  8 comments

We’ve long admired SME’s turntable-and-tonearm combos, but often wondered if/when we’d be able to get any of the Sussex, England-based manufacturer’s fine M2 Series tonearms separately here in North America. Their management and distribution teams must have been tuned into our thought patterns here, seeing how SME and Bluebird Music distribution have just announced four M2 Series tonearms are now becoming standalone product offerings on this side of the Pond. Read on to find out more about the quartet of SME M2 Series tonearms that are being offered, and what their respective SRPs are in both the U.S. and Canada. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Jul 12, 2023  |  6 comments

You can’t keep a good man down, especially when his name is Peter Frampton. It’s no accident Frampton’s current 27-date summer tour is titled — semi-tongue-in-cheek, mind you — Never Say Never. While Frampton continues touring, he is also on the cusp of the release of a historical new box set on July 28 via Intervention Records — namely, the all-analog Frampton@50: In The Studio 1972-1975 180g 3LP numbered, limited edition box set that tops out at 2,500 copies. During a recent Zoom interview with AP editor Mike Mettler, Frampton discusses his hands-on approach with the test pressings for what ultimately went into the Intervention box set, how he’d like to see his iconic 1976 double-live album Frampton Comes Alive! make it back to vinyl, and the one album in his catalog he’d rather not be reissued on vinyl at all. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Jul 10, 2023  |  9 comments

Triangle Art had such an impressive active room display at the recent Pacific Audio Fest (a.k.a. PAF 2023) that we here at AP felt it was worth shining today’s gear spotlight on a pair of the truly amazing turntables being shown there — especially considering lead designer Tom Vu was on hand to demo them and discuss how they came to be. Read on to see why Vu has every right to be especially proud of Triangle Art’s Maestro and Anubis ’tables accordingly. . .

Mark Smotroff  |  Jul 07, 2023  |  2 comments

The once-buried archival recordings that comprise Frank Zappa’s new 180g 2LP set Funky Nothingness are not just the components of a lost album, but more of an insightful transitional link into FZ’s compositional mindset. This new album also connects many musical dots between the aftermath of FZ’s October 1969 landmark jazz fusion masterpiece Hot Rats and October 1970’s Chunga’s Revenge — and beyond. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see just how quickly Funky Nothingness should jump to the front of your LP listening queue. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Jul 07, 2023  |  1 comments

Texas-raised alt-country singer/guitarist Dale Watson likes to keep things authentic, and that’s exactly what’s he done with the 12 songs on his upcoming gutbucket-rockin’ Starvation Box LP on Cleopatra Records. AP has been asked to exclusively premiere “Streets of Gold” from the upcoming LP edition of Starvation Box which is set to be released as a 140g LP, so read on to get a taste of Watson’s patented deep baritone in action. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Jul 06, 2023  |  2 comments

Those of us needing sturdy wall-mount options for our turntables always have to look quite carefully at shelving-gear specs to ensure these products are truly capable of accommodating the weight of our favored ’tables. To that end, Pangea Audio has upped the ante with their just-announced Turntable Wall Mounted Premier SE Shelf MKII. Read on to see if the new Premier SE Shelf MKII might suit your own particular turntable-shelving needs. . .

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