Two weeks ago, Record Store Day announced the list of special releases for independent record shops on Saturday, April 18. The past few years have been mostly underwhelming aside from archival jazz releases, but the 2026 RSD list is easily the best since 2020. Sure, there are still needless 7”’s of album tracks, Doors cash grabs, and zoetrope picture discs, though thankfully that’s balanced out by interesting archival projects and reissues of deserving albums that haven’t already been reissued to death. Without further ado, here’s our guide to some Record Store Day 2026 releases worth seeking out.

Toneoptic manufactures a really neat rotatable wall hanging rotatable record rack that I wrote about some years ago at my previous endeavor. You can show your records by the spines as is typical, or you can easily rotate the whole thing and display them record store like, jackets forward. Not cheap, but efficacious. Now the company has something new that's less expensive but still not IKEA priced but they appear to be beautifully designed and well manufactured... Read More

Los Angeles — January 21, 2026 — In the mid-1970s, the unexpected success of two back-to-back Top 10 greatest hits albums pushed The Beach Boys toward their early surf-and-cars past, fueling hits-laden nostalgia tours at sold-out stadiums and arenas across the U.S. Amidst this era, America’s Band, led by Brian Wilson’s return to songwriting and producing, quietly made some of the rawest, unexpected, and most emotionally exposed studio recordings of their career at... Read More

The first time I was a guest on Steve Westman's YouTube channel the subject was the Mo-Fi cuts from digital file story. Steve assured me a "whistleblower" was going to come forward in a few days and break the news. First, I really didn't believe it could be true. Why would a company with such a deep reputation not inform readers about it? If it thought it a superior way to go, make it public and certainly discontinue how the process is described in... Read More

It’s astonishing to consider that Yes was only five years shy of working together professionally when they peaked on Close to the Edge in 1972. The band saw it as a moment defining the ambitious compositional and musical scale they had set out to achieve. Drummer Bill Bruford felt that leaving the group after reaching an insurpassable milestone was the natural progression. Alan White, drummer of John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band, joined the ranks of a band that was... Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Chicago, IL -Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs is known for more than four decades of analog mastering, but that same attention to detail also lives on in MoFi Electronics. With the UltraPhono Pro,MoFi brings much of the performance DNA of its flagship MasterPhono to a more accessible price point.Designed by industry veteran Peter Madnick, the UltraPhono Prois a single-input phono preamplifier built around the same ultra-low-noise circuit concepts and... Read More

WEST SUSSEX, UK - Audio Note (UK) is pleased to announce the release of the Oto SE 35, a significant update to one of the most enduring integrated amplifiers in high-end audio. The release marks 35 years of continuous production for the Oto, which has been a cornerstone of the Audio Note (UK) range since its debut in 1991.Originally conceived by Audio Note (UK) founder Peter Qvortrup and designed by Andy Grove, the Oto was the first amplifier to be fully developed and... Read More

MAPLE GROVE, MN (January 28, 2026) – Sumiko, a leader in analog audio innovation, today announced the launch of the Oriole Phono Cartridge, a new benchmark in high-performance sound positioned between the company’s acclaimed Songbird and Starling models. Crafted in Japan, the Oriole Phono Cartridge delivers elevated musical detail and dynamic accuracy through a nude Shibata stylus and low-impedance generator rated at 5.5Ω (0.3mV output). These refinements reduce... Read More

Early January I flew to Phoenix AZ and visited the Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems factory where distributors from around the world, domestic dealers and a few journalists got the opportunity to see how the company builds amps and preamps in an open space environment and listen to the new Momentum Z monoblock amplifier in the D'Agostino's home system. It was a fun and informative event I covered in print and on video for The Absolute Sound. I think... Read More

Frank Sinatra’s classic 1956 Capitol Records album Songs For Swingin’ Lovers! will be reissued in Blue Note’s acclaimed Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Series on March 27 marking the album’s 70th anniversary. Produced for release by Joe Harley, the new Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and comes packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket featuring session photos... Read More

Hana cartridge importer Musical Surroundings and the Excel Sound Corporation/YouTek Partnership launched Hana's new $11,500 Umami Black cartridge at the Hana G-6 Summit/Hana Umami California Fest last October 7-10. Excel Sound cartridge designer Masihiro Okada and YouTek's Hiroshi Ishihara joined Musical Surroundings Garth Leerer who hosted the event that included distributors and journalists from around the world. While the celebration wasn't intended... Read More

LOS ANGELES – Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi), the limited-edition audiophile vinyl reissue series, returns with two albums that helped reframe rock at the dawn of the 1970s: The Stooges’ Fun House and the Velvet Underground’s Loaded. Each album was cut from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at Optimalin Germany. Both releases feature glossy gatefold packaging with “tip-on” jackets and newly written liner notes. They are... Read More

And while it’s interesting to note all the artists they opted not to sign (Fleetwood Mac, Joe Walsh, Yes, and 10cc for starters…) the extended anecdote here of how they passed on the first Crosby, Stills and Nash record after being given a live audition of the trio’s material is almost beyond belief.

David Bowie fans not from New Jersey first became familiar with musical comedian "Uncle" Floyd Vivino from the reference in Bowie's song "Slip Away" (originally called "Uncle Floyd") from the 2002 album Heathen. Bowie's first encounter with Vivino was at The Bottom Line in New York, when he attended an "Uncle Floyd" performance at the club at the suggestion of John Lennon who also was a fan as was Iggy Pop.Much like... Read More

(January 21, 2026 - Los Angeles, CA) Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live offers an unprecedented look at Talking Heads’ earliest years. Arriving March 6 from Talking Heads and Rhino, the 3CD collection charts the rapid evolution of the original trio—David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Tina Weymouth—through a trove of newly unearthed demos and live recordings.

Analogue Productions announced this box set reissue earlier in the month and we missed it. This is an essential Miles set. Here is the press release: One of Analogue Productions' most successful and collectible projects has been the Miles Davis Quintet/The Great Prestige Recordings deluxe box set on 33 1/3 LP. Now, that beautiful five-album set is being reintroduced. Featuring a 12" x 12" 12-page gorgeous booklet, packaged with the LPs (each housed in a... Read More

Mark Ward and Michael Johnson recently participated in a video conference call with the Decca Pure Analogue Vinyl Series execs and tech teams. Of course everyone interested already knows Rainer Maillard and Sidney C. Meyer, the team responsible for the highly successful and great sounding DGG Original Source Series as well as the DGG label exec Johannes Gleim who's participated in more than a few video calls published here since the inception of the DGG... Read More

Acoustic Sounds today (January 15th, 2026) announced its new 40th Anniversary 45rpm Warner Records series so Chad Kassem and I Zoom called about it and about much, much more. We go back to the mid 1980s and had a lot to talk about generally, and specifically about the new series as well as the recent Atlantic 75th anniversary series. We also talked about the upcoming October 16th weekend "Vinyl Summit" at Chad's Salina, Kansas headquarters, open to the... Read More

Analogue Productions unveils a new partnership with Rhino Records for 2026 and beyond: The Acoustic Sounds 40th Anniversary Series. Building on the success of the Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series, Analogue Productions and Rhino have partnered once again to bring iconic recordings from Warner Music Group’s storied catalog to vinyl, pressed at Quality Record Pressings (QRP) in Salina, Kansas.Beginning this January, the series will deliver two meticulously... Read More