Technics recently introduced a pair of under $1000 direct drive turntables. The less costly SL-40CBT includes Bluetooth connectivity and a less costly cartridge. Technics sent for review the $899.99 SL-50C, featuring the Ortofon 2M Red, built in defeatable phono preamp and 3 speed operation.Built-in MM phono preampHow did Technics achieve cost savings to bring the price down to $900? Not by skimping on the direct drive motor. The SL-50C uses an "SL-1500C... Read More

Resolution Audio's 7500 square foot hi-fi / smart home facility in Brooklyn recently experienced a 5-alarm fire—or more specifically the entire building was hit one way or another. While the fire did not spread directly to Adam Wexler's retail space (spotlit in a June post), there was water and smoke damage caused by the fire, which burned for more than 24 hours. On September 23rd, DeVore Audio's John DeVore organized a Go Fund Me campaign to help... Read More

If the music wasn't so interesting and singular, the story behind the album recorded in 1967 and released in 1968 would easily be more so. Dumped by Decca after having a string of great singles including "She's Not There", the group self-financed this project, recorded much of it at what later would be called Abbey Road Studios (with some at Olympic), signed to CBS, put out two singles and then this album released April, 1968 a month after the band... Read More

Joan Baez has sung for presidents, marched for justice, and filled concert halls with her voice. But here, for the first time, she sets aside the guitar and lets her words do the singing. When You See My Mother, Ask Her To Dance is Baez's debut book of poetry — now transformed into a limited-edition spoken-word album, exclusively distributed by Acoustic Sounds.With her unmistakable warmth, wit, and wry honesty, Baez narrates poems about the icons she knew (Bob... Read More

October 3, 2025 – Six decades later, the music still wows, baffles, and inspires. What happened over two nights in a tiny, unassuming Chicago club under a bakery was a fascinating and unplanned documentation of a pivotal moment in the evolution of Miles Davis's leadership and sound. Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, today announce the reissue of these legendary recordings: THE COMPLETE LIVE AT THE PLUGGED... Read More

"The Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman best known for his worldwide vault discovery jazz issues on Resonance, Elemental and other labels, just announced a new venture: Time Traveler Recordings —a wide ranging program of reissues and newly discovered recordings that will cross over beyond jazz to other musical genres. For starters though Feldman is reissuing, in association with Craft Recordings, titles from the long dormant Muse Records catalog. The "Master... Read More

Now for part two of our David Bowie vinyl guide aka “how Parlophone botched most of their current remaster series” (part one here). Before we dive in, I’ve read all the comments about part one and have a couple things to address:Yes, the '70s albums inherently aren’t the most dynamic mixes, nor would I want them to be. Yes, Bowie and Visconti (when applicable) often went for a thick, processed sound, and they achieved that on the originals. That’s what Bowie... Read More

(October 2, 2025 - Los Angeles, CA) Rhino revisits The Monkees’ most sonically adventurous studio album with two new editions of Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. On October 3, the album will receive its first-ever vinyl pressing from the original analog stereo master reels as part of the Rhino High Fidelity series. Alongside the High Fidelity pressing, returns in an expansive 4CD/7-inch Super Deluxe Edition featuring previously unreleased recordings, new... Read More

Back in 2016, while interviewing her for a New Yorker profile, I asked Cécile McLorin Salvant, who was 28 years old and just emerging as the era’s greatest jazz singer, whether she might cover contemporary pop tunes. The question made her wince. “There are some new songs that I really like,” she replied, “but I never think, ‘Maybe I’ll sing this song.’ I don’t care whether what I do is modern or of our time. I want to sing songs that have this timeless quality… I love... Read More

(Press release): 10/1/2025 Intervention Records is proud to announce the first vinyl release in its Intervention Sun Records Hi-Fi Series, Carl Perkins' groundbreaking rockabilly classic, 1957's Dance Album of Carl Perkins.This December 2025 premium vinyl release commemorates the 70th anniversary of Sun's Sam Philips recording Carl Perkins' smash "Blue Suede Shoes," which was released as a single on New Year's Day 1956. Dance Album... Read More

By 1974, Genesis was on its way from being lauded an underground cult favorite to an entity with commercial potential within the English progressive rock scene. Selling England By The Pound peaked at No. 3 in the UK album charts, and it spawned their first minor hit, “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).” In a concert setting, frontman Peter Gabriel became the group’s central figure, captivating audiences with an abundance of costumes and headdresses that elaborated... Read More

Celebrating 35 years in the subwoofer business this year was a major landmark for REL Acoustics. On September 23rd, 2025 the company launched a completely new and "reimagined" Serie S line featuring four new models: the 212 Black Label, Carbon Special Black Label, S/850 and S/550. REL also held a September 17th and 18th event at its Berkeley CA headquarters, inviting journalists from traditional print magazines and websites as well as a group of "brand... Read More

In Part 3 of my detailed survey of these groundbreaking recordings, I examine the unique qualities Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra brought to these still benchmark accounts of this challenging repertoire. I also offer a detailed review of each record, and suggestions for further exploration of the Second Viennese School - on vinyl, CD, SACD and in a fine new biography of Schoenberg. (Part 1 of this series of articles presented an account of Schoenberg's development of atonality and serialism, and Part 2 examined the history of recordings of this repertoire prior to the original release of Karajan's set in 1974).

Tears For Fears' multi-platinum-selling second album, Songs From The Big Chair, will be reissued in multiple formats on November 14, marking its 40th anniversary and celebrating its enduring impact. Originally released on February 25, 1985, Songs From The Big Chair became a global sensation, topping the US charts and spawning five hit singles: “Mothers Talk,” “Shout,” “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” “Head Over Heels,” and “I Believe.” The album captured a... Read More

September 24, 2025 - Nearly five decades after its original release, The Rolling Stones are set to celebrate their groundbreaking 1976 album Black and Blue with a definitive Super Deluxe Box Set, arriving globally on November 14, 2025 from Interscope/UMe. Originally released in April, 1976 Black and Blue marked a bold new chapter for the band and now returns in a stunning, remixed and expanded package across multiple formats.Available as a 5LP vinyl box set and a 4CD... Read More

Jazz Patterns is a live album recorded in 1970 by the same great Joe Henderson band that recorded the classic Milestone album, If You’re Not Part Of The Solution, You’re Part Of The Problem. Since its release in 1982 on the Everest Archive of Folk and Jazz Music label, Jazz Patterns has always been an elusive and mysterious album. Everest, once highly regarded by audiophiles, had by 1982 long fallen into the deepest depths of the budget label netherworld and... Read More

With the arrival of the sixth and final David Bowie anthology box set I Can’t Give Everything Away [2002-2016], Parlophone has finally completed a decade-long undertaking: ruining the sound of Bowie’s entire catalog.It’s quite impressive, actually. Six hefty remaster box sets from 2015 to 2025, most with some problem of some sort, and none of them having the sound quality these records deserve. Not all of the box set remasters (and the equivalent individual album... Read More