AAA Vinyl

Well, it’s one for the money (pause), two for the show (pause) . . . and I bet you know the rest. Seeing how we’re fast approaching the 70th anniversary of the song those opening lines adorn — Carl Perkins’ perennial rockabilly classic, “Blue Suede Shoes” — the timing couldn’t be any better for an audiophile-centric reissue of this January 1956 single. To that end, Intervention Records have just announced that the first vinyl release in their new Intervention Sun Records Hi-Fi Series will be the album that “Blue Suede Shoes” ultimately landed on — 1957’s Dance Album of Carl Perkins — and it’s expected to ship in December 2025. Read on to see how the historically important AAA 180g 45rpm mono LP Dance Album reissue came to be. . .

Oh, where did the time go. . .? It’s been yet another year of acquiring, archiving, cleaning, spinning, and listening to LP after LP, and box set after box set — and sometimes, even some EPs and 45s got into that mix as well! Naturally, before the big mid-week holiday festivities take over our front-of-mindsets, 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 — and we’ll be covering our favorites of the year in two installments. 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 2025 apiece, so check out Part 1 to see what our 10-plus favorite archival reissue LPs of the year are. . .

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. . .

Analogue Productions have recently released a tremendous 200g 2LP 45rpm UHQR version of The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s December 1967 album, Axis: Bold As Love in both stereo and mono. Read Mark Smotroff’s review of the stereo edition (and AP editor Mike Mettler’s extended footnotes) to find out why it’s worth the investment, and then carry on into Mettler’s footnotes to see why the mono edition is also top-shelf. . .. . .