About a dozen years ago at a used record store in San Francisco I bought a “mint” original German pressing of The Beatles (“The White Album”). It was up on the store wall at $75.00. The laminated “top loader” jacket was mint, all of the head shots the poster and the black sleeves were inside looking as if none of it had been touched and the records appeared as minty as advertised.

AnalogPlanet.com editor Michael Fremer describes the features of, and shows you how to use Pro-Ject's recently updated VC-S wet vacuum record cleaning machine. The usual occasional hilarity ensues. Though in the video it appears that more than 2 revolutions are required to dry a record, 2 will do it for most records.

It's a circular mound of semi-gelatinous goop in a box, onto which you gently lower your stylus. After a few seconds, you lift the stylus, and it's as clean and residue-free as the proverbial whistle—or baby's butt. In fact, a baby's soft skin is what manufacturer Onzow likens Zero Dust to. The dirt left on the transparent mound is testimony to the effectiveness of the process.

The high drama of Elvis Presley's god-like 1950's rise, followed by his '70s era musical death and resurrection is probably second only to that of his savior (who was not Colonel Tom Parker). Sadly the only Elvis some younger music fans know is the overweight Las Vegas has-been and not the man who single-handedly created the musical template for all who followed—from the biz created wannabes like Fabian and Frankie to the next-gen real deals like Bruce Springsteen and yes, Justin Bieber.

Here's another interesting recording project from Berlin Philharmonic Records: a "one-point" microphone Beethoven Symphonies box set with Sir Simon Rattle conducting, on 10 180g LPs, priced reasonable at $299 (plus shipping) including a hardcover 52 page book as well as a download card for the original 192/24 bit files. It's available directly from the Orchestra's online music store.

Rhino Records' RSD offerings include three items David Bowie fans probably will want. They are Welcome to the Blackout (Live London 1978), "Let's Dance" (demo) and, available for the first time commercially, the rare Berlin-era U.S. promo album Bowie Now.

An AnalogPlanet reader just sent this Craig's List offering of 500 rock records in "good working condition" for $500.

UMe celebrates the centenary of Leonard Bernstein's birth with a late career "completist" agenda of his DGG and DECCA catalogs as both a conductor and composer. The series includes for the first time his complete works as a composer.

Indie records arrive more often than you might imagine from musicians giving vinyl a shot at reaching a new audience and possibly providing an additional revenue stream (though as most find out, it’s neither cheap nor easy). Unfortunately, vinyl doesn’t transform lackluster into exceptional music.

This video was produced by Acoustic Sounds. It skirts the "advertisement/useful information" divide but AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer felt it was worth posting for a few reasons.