Album Reviews

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Album Reviews
Alta-Rock Royalty: Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 01, 2004

Calling himself Palace Music, or Palace Brothers, or Push, and of late Bonnie “Prince” Billy, the enigmatic Will Oldham, aided by a group of musical cohorts, has been making a spare brand of dry, mournful country/rock music for more than a decade. Before the term alta-country had been coined, it could be argued, the 34 year old Oldham had both invented and perfected the musical form on a series of genre-shattering albums issued on the Chicago based Drag City label beginning in 1993.

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Album Reviews
Alvin Brothers Unlock Key to Big Bill Broonzy
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 22, 2015
What can these two tow headed little brothers pictured on the cover know about Big Bill Broonzy? Obviously plenty as you'll hear on this inspired collaboration—the Alvin brothers' first together in almost thirty years.

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Album Reviews
American Music Club Reunites, Re-ignites
Andy Goldenberg  |  Mar 01, 2005

Well it took almost a decade but it was worth it! Whether the highly successful Pixies reunion was the catalyst or not, American Music Club (AMC) consisting of Mark Eitzel on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Vudi (Mark Pankler) on lead guitar, Danny Pearson on bass have come up with a set of songs that easily measure up with and perhaps surpass anything in their illustrious canon.

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Album Reviews
An Ancient Japanese Fable Becomes a Charming Rock Opera
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 01, 2007

Decemberist leader Colin Meloy has crafted a charming, hour long folk/ rock opera based on an ancient Japanese fable dealing with greed, loyalty and betrayal. A poor man finds a wounded crane, which he rescues and returns to good health. Shortly after releasing it back to the wild, a mysterious woman arrives at his home. The two fall in love and get married. To make ends meet, she agrees to weave silk garments to sell at the local market. Her only condition for doing the work is that he never watches her doing it.

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Album ReviewsFeaturesNews
An RSD Special: Albert Ayler Revelation  The Complete ORTF 1970 Foundation Maeght Recordings
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 21, 2022
Jazz historian, Resonance Records Co-President and tireless searcher for unreleased jazz treasures Zev Feldman in 2015 was searching the French Institut National de la audiovisual (INA) archives when he came upon the complete, never before released in their entirety, Albert Ayler’s 1970 ORTF 1970 Fondation Maeght Recordings, recorded by Radio France, using professional recording equipment—a completely different STEREO source for this material than the radio broadcast, parts of which had previously been issued.

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AAA VinylAlbum ReviewsFeaturesShort Cuts
AnalogPlanet’s Top LPs of 2023
Mike Mettler, Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 30, 2023

Looks like another year has gone by with a seemingly endless release-cycle parade consisting of scores of brand-new LPs from both known artists and untested newcomers alike, along with a myriad of archival vinyl reissues and overstuffed box sets galore — a good number of them presented in the much-preferred AAA form to boot. With the calendar set to turn over to 2024 any day now, that means it’s high time to assess the best of what we’ve heard on wax during the past 12 months. Read on to see AP editor Mike Mettler and chief LP reviewer Mark Smotroff’s respective lists of the top archival and new LP releases of 2023. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum ReviewsFeatures
AnalogPlanet’s Top LPs of 2024
Mike Mettler, Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 20, 2024

Another year of LP acquiring, cleaning, listening, archiving, and spinning, and archiving has come and gone — and not necessarily always in that order, either! — so, naturally, before the big holiday week takes hold of our respective calendars, we here at AP feel it’s the exact right time to determine the best of what we’ve heard on vinyl during the past 12 months. Between the two of us — i.e., 1) Mike Mettler, your intrepid AP editor, and 2) chief LP reviewer, Mark Smotroff — we have listened to multiple-hundreds’ worth of albums on vinyl in 2024 apiece, so read on to see what our 20-plus favorite reissues and new LPs of the year are. . .

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Album Reviews
Analogue Productions "Goes to the Dogs"—Its "Scheherazade" Living Stereo Reissue Sounds Best
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 12, 2013
This ravishing beauty, originally released in 1960 or fifty three years ago, has been a long-time audiophile classic. It's also considering to be among the finest if not the finest performance on record or any other format.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Analogue Productions Presents a 200 Gram, Clarity Vinyl UHQR Are You Experienced
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 25, 2022
The original British pressing of Are You Experienced? (Track 612 001) was a tepid looking and sounding monophonic affair and despite the label’s name, the jacket didn’t list the tracks, nor did the front offer the band’s name.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Analogue Productions Unleashes the Funk on Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters
Simon Guile  |  Aug 18, 2021
With a career spanning more than six decades, Herbie Hancock is one of the most treasured names in jazz. From his early days with Blue Note, to his last release (2010’s The Imagine Project), there are more than a few of his impressive 46 albums that people consider to be favourites. My personal favourite however, is the fusion classic, 1973’s Headhunters.

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Album Reviews
Analogue Productions' Rhapsody In Blue/American in Paris "Living Stereo" Reissue Beats Original
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 05, 2014
A thousand United Airlines commercials later and Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" still sounds fresh, lavish and grand. It epitomizes New York City in its golden jazz age and with every listen opens the mind's eye to yellow incandescent lit Art Deco granite skyscrapers and the general urban dazzle of pre-WWII America. I never get tired of listening to it, the later at night the better for some reason. It could only have been written in America by an American.

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Album Reviews
Analogue Productions’ 180g 45rpm 4LP Vinyl Reissue of Buena Vista Social Club: Where Outstanding Performances Meet Audiophile Excellence
Mark Smotroff  |  Mar 27, 2025

In September 1997, an album of inspired Cuban music, Buena Vista Social Club, was released to near universal acclaim, inspiring music fans and musicians around the world. Produced by legendary guitarist and world-music champion Ry Cooder, Buena Vista Social Club was a smash hit in the CD era, but Analogue Productions’ new, super-deluxe 180g 45rpm 4LP vinyl reissue of Buena Vista Social Club may very well be the best-sounding version of it to date. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why he (and we!) feel the new 4LP edition of Buena Vista Social Club is a clear winner. . .

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Album Reviews
Analogue Productions’ Truly Premium UHQR 200g 2LP QRP Pressing Of Steely Dan’s Can’t Buy A Thrill Reels Through the Layers to Reveal New Detail and Distinct Textures for a Super-Deluxe All-Analog Listening Experience
Mark Smotroff  |  Nov 15, 2022

Last week, we sung the praises of the new 180g 1LP Geffen/UMe edition of Steely Dan’s November 1972 debut album, Can’t Buy A Thrill. This week, we cue up Analogue Productions’ 200g 2LP UHQR edition of Thrill, and — spoiler alert! — it’s one of the best listening experiences you’ll have this year (or any other). Read on to find out all the pressing details why this 200g Thrill is one for the ages. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Analogue Productions’ UHQR 200g 45rpm 2LP UHQR Version of Steely Dan’s Gaucho Finally Actualizes the Near-Perfection and Soulful Grace Lurking Amidst the Grooves of Its Clinically Clean, Grammy Award-Winning Original 1980 Vinyl Edition
Mike Mettler  |  May 15, 2024

Gaucho is the fifth entry in Analogue Productions' comprehensive 200g 45rpm 2LP Steely Dan UHQR reissue series, and this one has been sourced from a 1980 analog tape copy originally EQ'd by Bob Ludwig, who also mastered the original album itself. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s in-depth review to find out if the new Gaucho UHQR improves upon the original release’s Grammy-winning sonics. . .

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Album Reviews
Anders Koppel's Mulberry Street Symphony  Is Made For These Times
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 07, 2022
Danish immigrant Jacob Riis’s photojournalism book “How the Other Half Lives” published in 1890 documents the squalid life in New York City’s teeming Lower East Side slums crowded with Irish, Jewish, Italian, Chinese and other newly arrived immigrants. The muckraking book made an immediate impression upon New York’s upper classes and led to many reforms.

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