Whenever the calendar turns, almost inevitably, new Steve Hackett music is on the horizon — and thus we have before us the British guitar maestro’s 30th solo album, The Circus and the Nightwhale, which is being released tomorrow, February 16, 2024, as a 180g 1LP set via InsideOut Music. In a recent Zoom interview across the Pond with AP editor Mike Mettler, Hackett discussed the genesis (pun intended) of Nightwhale music, the importance of deploying volume dynamics whenever possible, and why Genesis was in no way going to compromise the depth and the integrity of the song arrangements they came up with for the initial vinyl release of their groundbreaking 1972 LP, Foxtrot. . .

Origin Live knows turntables, so it’s no surprise that the British company has just announced the launch of their new Strata multilayer platter mat, a universal upgrade for all turntables. Read on to see the design philosophies behind the Strata and why it might be worth taking its rightful place on top of your own table. . .

We’re always on the hunt for young companies looking to make their mark in our analog-centric world, and today we put the spotlight on Kestrel Audio. A budding young British manufacturer, Kestrel Audio is now entering its second year of operation by offering up the KT-100 turntable, an upgrade on their entry-level KT-50. Read on to see what the feature set for the KT-100 entails. . .

In February 1977, Elektra released Marquee Moon, the debut LP by New York’s groundbreaking art rock group Television — but finding a good-sounding vinyl copy of such an acclaimed album has historically been a bit of a challenge. But now, the new AAA 180g 1LP Rhino High Fidelity (RHF) edition of Marquee Moon may have just changed that distinction forever. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if this RHF edition finally helps Marquee Moon achieve the untethered, uncompromised, and uncompressed all-analog glory it so richly deserves. . .

Record Store Day just got a whole lot hipper — and that’s because The Tragically Hip, Canada’s favorite musical sons from Kingston, Ontario, a) have just been announced as the official Canadian Ambassadors for Record Store Day Canada 2024, b) will be releasing an exclusive standalone live album, Live at CBGB’s, on said Record Store Day on April 20, and c) it will be available in both the U.S. and Canada. Read on to find out what nine tracks are on the LP and how it all came together so fully, completely. . .

Table Toppers returns anew here in 2024! Recently, we asked the AP faithful to “show us your turntables!” for an all-new feature section titled Table Toppers — and now it’s time for the first series installment of the new year. Here in Take 3, we introduce you to the system of Vince, who lives in the Santa Cruz mountains in Northern California. Read on to see all the cool gear that constitutes Vince’s setup, what his favorite stereo shop to frequent is and why, how he resolved a noise issue with his table, and what his current favorite LPs to spin on it are. . .

British hi-fi stalwarts Goldring have just introduced a special edition of their vaunted Ethos moving coil (MC) cartridge, which is appropriately named the Goldring Ethos SE. Read on to find out all the upgrades, features, and specs that make the Ethos SE cart as special as its name says it is. . .

When Steely Dan’s Gaucho came out in November 1980 on MCA, it was at a time when that label was notoriously cutting corners, and quality control suffered. Fast-forward four-plus decades to the here and now, wherein we have a new 180 1LP edition of Gaucho to consider, one that’s been remastered by Bernie Grundman from a 1980 analog tape copy originally EQ’d by Bob Ludwig. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if this new vinyl edition of Gaucho is worth putting on your turntable. . .

Recently, we here at AP decided to resume reviewing record cleaning machines (RCMs) on a more consistent basis — but where to start? The new Record Doctor X vacuum record cleaning machine (a.k.a. the RDX VRCM) fit the bill perfectly. It’s an RD series update that offers new features like a bi-directional turning motor that alleviates the need to turn records by hand, and it also sports a vacuum swing arm that vacuums the top surface of an LP while the bottom gets vacuumed by way of a slot under a sweeper strip. Read on to see how well the RDX VRCM cleaned both old and new records alike, and if it’s worth the notable price of admission. . .

Continuing with our mission this week to help audiophile newbies join us here in the analog-centric listening family without breaking the bank, we now turn our attention to looking at cartridge-upgrade options — and who better to do that with than Grado Labs? Read on to find out how the Brooklyn-based company’s Prestige Red3 cartridge is yet another good entry point for the budding analog-loving audiophile that also serves as a good option for the longstanding AP faithful to consider as well. . .