LATEST ADDITIONS

Album Reviews
Paul McCartney and Wings’ Red Rose Speedway Finally Gets Its Due on Vinyl, Thanks to a Half-Speed-Mastered 180g 1LP Release on Record Store Day 2023
Mark Smotroff  |  May 03, 2023  |  15 comments

Beatles fans generally fall into two camps when it comes to how they feel about Paul McCartney’s solo and Wings eras — they either love them, or they more or less loathe them. That said, one Wings album we’ve really grown to love over the years is April 1973’s Red Rose Speedway. We’ve explored different pressings of this LP all along the way, and it’s always hinted there might be something sonically stronger hidden within the grooves. And now, with the half-speed mastered Record Store Day 2023 180g 1LP release of Red Rose Speedway, we finally have an answer. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to find out why this new RSD 2023 vinyl edition is worth your spinning time. . .

Continue Reading »
Analog Gear News
AXPONA Show Report, Part 2
Julie Mullins  |  May 01, 2023  |  3 comments

Welcome back for Part 2 of our AXPONA 2023 show report! Furthering what we did in Part 1, we continue to dive even deeper into our reporting on some of the truly amazing turntables and other cool analog gear we saw and heard in some of the listening rooms and expo-hall booths alike at this truly great Chicagoland event. Read on to see what our Julie Mullins found during Part 2 of her in-person AXPONA adventure. . .

Continue Reading »
News
On This Week's Vinyl Obsession, Charles Kelley of Lady A & Country Singer RaeLynn Each Pick Their Top 5 LPs
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 28, 2023  |  1 comments

Who's on this week's episode of AXS TV's Vinyl Obsession? Glad you asked. This upcoming Sunday, April 30, Charles Kelley of Lady A and country singer RaeLynn take us along during their respective shopping trips at Grimey's in Nashville as they each seek out their Top 5 LPs. Read on to get an AP-exclusive sneak preview of that show. . .

Continue Reading »
Interviews
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson Tells the Spiritual Tale of The Band’s New Album RökFlöte, and Further Decrees the Importance of Letting Things Breathe on Vinyl
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 26, 2023  |  7 comments

Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson has been on a deeply entrenched spiritual quest of late. On Tull’s latest and 23rd studio album overall, RökFlöte, which was released on vinyl via InsideOut Music on April 21, he addresses the tenets of Norse paganism. In a recent Zoom interview with AP editor Mike Mettler, Jethro Tull’s once and future leader discusses the inner workings of RökFlöte, when he finally felt like Jethro Tull had gotten the right mix of their music on vinyl, and how the act of breathing is vitally important when it comes to both his singing and his flute playing. Read on to glean all of Ian Anderson’s earthly vinyl proclivities. . .

Continue Reading »
Analog Gear News
AXPONA Show Report, Part 1
Julie Mullins  |  Apr 24, 2023  |  4 comments

As we noted in our earlier video-centric post, AXPONA ruled Chicagoland large last week, and now we’re going to dive deeper into reporting on some of the truly amazing turntables and other cool analog gear we saw and heard in some of the listening rooms and expo-hall booths alike. Read on to see what our Julie Mullins found during Part 1 of her personal AXPONA adventure. . .

Continue Reading »
Analog Gear News
AXPONA Video Report: Turntables Galore!
Mike Mettler,  |  Apr 24, 2023  |  5 comments

Last week, AXPONA ruled large in Chicagoland, and we tasked our main product reviewer Ken Micallef to shoot as much video footage as he could of all the cool turntables he came across at the show. Check out the videoclip that’s embedded within this story to see a cavalcade of great turntables, as well as some interesting cleaning products in action, a few new cartridges and tonearms — and some choice vinyl too. . .

Continue Reading »
Album Reviews
Chet Baker’s New 180g 2LP Record Store Day 2023 Release, Blue Room: The 1979 VARA Studio Sessions in Holland, Shows Just How Good the Jazz Detective Label Is at Tracking Down Top-Shelf Archival Material
Mark Smotroff  |  Apr 21, 2023  |  3 comments

The Jazz Detective label has done truly great work in preparing Chet Baker’s new 180g 2LP set, Blue Room: The 1979 VARA Studio Sessions in Holland, for its Record Store Day 2023 release on April 22. Read on to see why Mark Smotroff feels should be near the top of your own RSD 2023 acquisition wishlist. . .

Continue Reading »
Interviews
AXS TV’s Vinyl Obsession Is Our Favorite New TV Show, and Executive Producer Katie Daryl Tells Us Exactly Why You’ll Love It Too
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 20, 2023  |  7 comments

Is it any wonder why something called Vinyl Obsession instantly became our favorite TV show? Airing on Sunday nights at 8:30 p.m. EST on AXS TV, this half-hour LP-centric show follows a pair of musicians and/or rock-adjacent celebs shopping for their five favorite albums at Grimey’s in Nashville. Naturally, we had to find out how Vinyl Obsession came to be, so AP editor Mike Mettler got on Zoom with executive producer and AXS TV VP of programming Katie Daryl to get all the LP-obsessive details. Read on to see what Daryl had to say about how the idea for Vinyl Obsession moved from brainstorm into reality, who her main dream guest would be for Season 2, and what her own personal top LP choices are. . .

Continue Reading »
Review Explosion
AnalogPlanet’s Record Store Day 2023 Preview
Mark Smotroff,  |  Apr 19, 2023  |  First Published: Apr 18, 2023  |  16 comments

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Record Store Day — and it really should, as the very next RSD is slated for this Saturday, April 22. Since its 2007 debut, RSD has grown into an international pilgrimage event for vinyl-loving music fans around the world — and it shouldn’t surprise you in the least that we collectively love Record Store Day here at AnalogPlanet, seeing how we’ve been proud RSD supporters since Day 1. Read on to see what two of AP’s intrepid album lovers, vinyl evaluators, and inveterate collectors — namely, chief LP reviewer Mark Smotroff and AP editor Mike Mettler — cite as their top-tier RSD 2023 choices. . .

Continue Reading »
Analog Gear News
Seen at AXPONA: SOTA Quasar Turntable
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 18, 2023  |  9 comments

AXPONA is officially in the books, and what an amazing show it was! Let’s all do it again next year, shall we? As mentioned here last week, our full show report is forthcoming in both text and video form. In the meantime, I’d like to draw our collective analog attention to another cool product seen at the big show — namely, the SOTA Quasar turntable. Read on to learn more about the Quasar and all its earthly-yet-cosmically cool features. . .

Continue Reading »

Pages

X