The San Francisco Audiophile Foundation recently invited me to interview John Curl—a true audio designing legend whose decades spanning career includes working for Ampex, Mark Levinson, Parasound, Constellation and many other companies as well as designing a few equally legendary products he self-marketed like the Blowtorch and Vendetta Research preamps. Phono preampfification is a particular Curl speciality.Keeping Mr. Curl on the "straight and narrow" was... Read More

(Press release): Two of the most iconic West Coast jazz recordings return in definitive form: Way Out West by Sonny Rollins and Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section, now available as Ultra High Quality Record (UHQR) editions for pre-order via Analogue Productions. Pressed on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl at Quality Record Pressings and cut at 45 RPM for the highest fidelity possible, these limited editions—each capped at 2,750 numbered copies—are mastered AAA directly from... Read More

Never deemed ‘cool’ in the eyes of the mainstream and scowled by record critics, Canadian trio Rush were the textbook definition of ‘the people’s band.’ Guitarist Alex Lifeson, drummer Neil Peart, and bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee were anomalies amongst contemporaries who praised rock’s lewd and lascivious side. Their body of work explored science fiction, fantasy-driven, and philosophical lyrical realms while adapting to whatever musical climate they were... Read More

Guetersloh, Germany / Charlotte, North Carolina / Cleveland, Ohio – 4. August 2025 – Sonopress, a global leader in media manufacturing, is proud to announce a new partnership with Gotta Groove Records, a highly respected U.S.-based vinyl production company. As part of this collaboration, Gotta Groove Records will offer the innovative EcoRecord, Sonopress’s environmentally friendly LP record solution, to its customers in the United States.

Amina Claudine Myers should be a lot more famous than she is. A composer-pianist-organist-singer of spiritual depth and grand virtuosity, she has been recording, as a leader or accompanist, for nearly a half century, but mainly for small labels and as a member of an alliance—the avant-garde Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), which also spawned the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton, and many others—that didn’t (and... Read More

This past May I visited the Munich High-End show for the very first and, as it turns out, last time. Next year the exhibition will take place at the beginning of June in Vienna, the city that served for centuries as the capital of the Hapsburg empire before it collapsed at the close of World War I. Despite Munich’s displacement, the mood at this year’s show was anything but funereal. I was pumped to discover a passel of enjoyable and exciting audio exhibits, including... Read More

Revisiting a rave review can be uncomfortable. Was the product as good as you’d written it was? As conceptually groundbreaking and sonically spectacular as you’d described it? You never know until you return to it, unless of course you bought it and regularly use it, and even then, sometimes after a while you say to yourself “What was I thinking?” Or that but laced with expletives.The Supatrac Blackbird Farpoint got a rave review, and I bought it, but it’s not been in... Read More

Wilson Audio Specialties introduced the new $28,000 Sabrina V loudspeaker at a July 24th event at Innovative Audio in New York City. Long time Wilson employee--Director of Sales-- and award winning recording engineer Peter McGrath plays the music, only a bit of which is included in this video because what's the point of picking it up with Bluetooth microphones? Industry veteran and new Wilson employee Patrick Butler describes the considerable differences between... Read More

In the heart of the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, just under the Market Street Elevated (‘the el’ as the locals call it), is a mural of text and visual interpretations of songs from a native’s album. That mural alone cements Kurt Vile's place within the city’s culture. Originally from the borough of Lansdowne, Kurt’s career progressed from creating low-fidelity bedroom recordings to the slickest-sounding nuggets from his home studio. Vile’s twist on... Read More

Acoustic Sounds announced today a 75th anniversary Chess Records series, with 6 titles to be rolled out 2 monthly starting October 17th, all cut from original master tapes by Matthew Lutthans and pressed at Quality Record Pressing, housed in archival quality gatefold "Tip on" jackets.

With superstar pianist Yuja Wang on top form, and conductor Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra completing their Shostakovich cycle (available on CD individually or in a box), this vinyl release of the composer’s exciting, very accessible piano concertos rivals the best of the Original Source Series in its vivid sonics.  Proving that digital can be done right, is this a new Audiophile Classic?

Michael Ochs, music journalist, author, record label publicist and the preeminent music photo archivist of all time, died on July 23, 2025, at his home in Venice Beach, Calif. He was 82 and cause of death from Parkinson’s disease, with which Ochs had been diagnosed five years ago, he was also suffering from COPD, kidney and heart related issues. The younger brother of 60s singer-songwriter Phil Ochs, Michael Ochs created a business of collecting images of musicians... Read More

Few music-related fair use debacles quite measure up to the “Frippocalypse” – a years-long period in which Robert Fripp’s team copyright-struck every King Crimson album review, meme, anything, posted to YouTube. I felt like I was walking on eggshells every time I reviewed a King Crimson album.Some of my peers flew closer to the sun; losing entire YouTube channels over posting excerpts from the Brondesbury Tapes.In the context of The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles... Read More

Mary Halvorson is the jazz guitarist of the moment. The just-published Downbeat Critics’ Poll ranks her as #1 Guitarist of the Year, her Amaryllis Sextet as #1 Group of the Year, and Halvorson herself as #2 Artist of the Year (outflanked just barely by tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis).As if to sharpen the point, her new album—About Ghosts, her 14th as a leader since emerging as a wildly adventurous 27-year-old in 2008, her 4th release on the Nonesuch label... Read More

What self-respecting audiophile’s heart does not gladden at the sight of an LP store? There it was, a sign, black print in gothic script on a yellow background, jutting proudly from the facade, announcing Buch Spieler Records in downtown Montpelier, Vermont, only a few blocks from the gleaming golden dome of the State House. Just boffo.I ventured inside to discover a cornucopia of records, including some fine jazz reissues as well as originals. The prices were fair—10... Read More

(Press release): The Making Of Five Leaves Left, a project nine years in gestation, will be released this Friday, July 25 via Island/UMe. This Nick Drake Estate authorized edition comprises more than 30 previously unheard outtakes from the sessions which gradually became Nick Drake’s debut album, Five Leaves Left, and will be available as 4CD and 4LP boxed sets. The reason for the lack of any previous typical anniversary-related ‘deluxe’ set, was the Estate’s wish... Read More

I think I was 18 or 19 years old the first time I heard Title Fight play. I remember standing in the hot summer Texas sun at the Mohawk on Red River street waiting for Converge to play, and all of a sudden this group of unassuming kids in loose-fit denim from Kingston, PA took the stage. They were followed quickly by a cohort of 20 or so teenagers that took over the crowd with the kind of energy that made damn sure everyone knew that we were watching the greatest punk... Read More

Ortofon's MC X line introduced at last Spring's High End Munich show is an all new moderately priced moving coil series that from bottom (X10) to top (X40 reviewed here) is a major mechanical and electrical upgrade from the older Quintet lineup introduced in 2017. Despite the all new design, and worldwide inflation between 2017 and now, Ortofon has kept prices relatively stable. The Quintet Black (and Quintet Black S that Malachi Lui reviewed on AP during... Read More