Pat Metheny burst onto the scene in the mid-1970s as basically a fully formed, guitar-slinging compositional prodigy — and his official debut album, 1976’s Bright Size Life, has just been reissued as part of ECM Records’ vaunted Luminessence series. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see just how good this audiophile-grade LP edition of Bright Size Life is, and why you need to get a copy of it ASAP. . .

When I began looking into the new Auris MYSTiK turntable to see what it was all about, the soundtrack in my head immediately kicked into Neil Peart’s distinct percussive opening to Rush’s “Mystic Rhythms,” which seemed to be quite the logical and appropriate vibe for how to best appreciate the noted Serbian company’s new table. While nature seems to spin, read on to see all specs and features of the MYSTiK. . .

Lou Reed was — and still is, really — one of rock & roll’s most transformative and influential songwriters and performers. Before he made an indelible mark with The Velvet Underground and then as a solo artist over his five-decade career, Reed honed his craft by penning many a song for other artists as a staff writer for a legendary label during the early rock era. To celebrate that important early chapter of Reed’s history, Light in the Attic, in cooperation with Laurie Anderson and the Lou Reed Archive, has just announced a new 2LP set covering that era, Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65, will be released on October 4, 2024. Read on to see all the tracks written by Reed that are included on this important release. . .

Every year, EISA, the Expert Imaging and Sound Association, gives out Hi-Fi awards for the very best gear on the market in a wide range of product categories, as voted upon by their Expert Group members. Read on to see what analog-centric gear garnered EISA 2024-2025 awards, and why. . .

The much bandied-about cliché of a “return to form” has been dragged out many times when referring to legacy artists who deliver an unexpected late-career masterstroke. But in the case of Smoke & Fiction, the new studio album by Los Angeles roots-punk legends X that was released via Fat Possum on August 2, 2024, that phrase may very well be warranted. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see how X delivered the best of their trademark sound on this vital new LP. . .

We loved seeing DS Audio’s top-tier Grand Master EX optical cartridge deployed in a number of system demos at both High End Munich 2024 and AXPONA 2024 — and we’re equally pleased to see the recent emergence of a third-generation model, the DS-E3. Read on to see all the features and specs of the new DS-E3 cartridge, and its companion EQ/phono preamp. . .

Affordable turntables are always a good thing in our book, especially if they help usher audiophile newbies into the fold. That’s one of the main reasons why we’re going to take a look at Audio-Technica’s AT-LP70XBT fully automatic wireless belt-drive turntable today. Read on to see all features and specs for the AT-LP70XBT table, and why you can recommend it as a potential starting point for the budding audiophile(s) in your life. . .

The official National Calendar says today, August 12, is National Vinyl Record Day, so I cued up a few of my favorite new vinyl offerings — including the latest 2LP studio set from a longtime favorite, a 4LP box set with an album I’ve been waiting decades to get on vinyl, and a brand-new-to-2024 throwback 45 — to celebrate the theme of the day. Read on to see what they are, and feel free to chime in about your own favorite LPs you were spinning on your own turntable on this most hallowed of days. . .

There are numerous reasons why music fans should be interested in a previously unreleased 5LP box set featuring an entire performance of Frank Zappa and his original Mothers of Invention band in full flight in the heart of the Los Angeles freak scene of the late-1960s. Titled Whisky A Go Go, 1968, this lovingly curated collection — which was released by Zappa/UMe on June 21, 2024 — is a time-capsule snapshot moment in time when Zappa’s original band was reaching an arguable performing peak. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see just how good Whisky A Go Go, 1968 sounds, and why its Optimal pressing on BioVinyl was clearly a wise decision by the Zappa braintrust. . .

Bassist Roger Glover is the secret sauce of Deep Purple. His pub-rock roots fuel the sonic elixir that gives Purple’s musical bouillabaisse blend of rock, classical, and progressive the extra oomph it needs — and it’s something that’s well in evidence on Deep Purple’s latest, and 23rd, studio LP, the 180g 45rpm 2LP set named/numeraled = 1, which was released by earMUSIC/Edel on July 19, 2024. On a recent Zoom call with AP editor Mike Mettler, Glover discussed his instinctual connection with drummer Ian Paice, which version of the band’s classic 1972 LP Machine Head is his favorite, and what vintage Deep Purple albums he’d like to remix himself. . .