Rhino Entertainment and Warner are aiming to Start Your Ear Off Right in 2025 with 26 limited edition LP reissues and releases. The current group of albums in the series includes a varied mix of 180 gram, clear vinyl 140 gram, and cool colored-vinyl 140 gram LPs. Start Your Ear Off Right encompasses a diverse... Read More »
Here are more really great audio systems that I felt really had it going on at the Florida International Audio Expo 2025. There were an abundance of exhibitors at the show this year, but the rooms I chose to highlight are the ones that really spoke to me, were technologically sensational, or played music that... Read More »
The 2025 Florida International Audio Expo (FLAX) was new and improved this year, and the show took place at a new location, the Sheraton Tampa Brandon Hotel. The Sheraton offered a refreshingly new vibe compared to years past, and was strikingly more modern than the previous site, the Embassy Suites Westshore. It was a bit... Read More »
AC Records is the brainchild of jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer Adam Czerwiński. He's been performing in the jazz world as a leader and sideman for over forty years now, and has provided the rhythmic foundation from behind the drum kit for a myriad of famous and respected musicians. Among them, notable jazz artists... Read More »
Craft Recordings continues their reboot of the Original Jazz Classics (OJC) series with another heavy-hitting 180 gram LP reissue, Thelonious Monk's 1957 release, Monk's Music (Riverside Records). Monk's Music is a cornerstone from his middle period on Riverside Records, and features an all-star lineup of some of the greatest players in jazz, including John Coltrane,... Read More »
Craft Recordings has just released the latest installment in their premium Small Batch audiophile LP series with a reissue of the Bill Evans Trio's classic 1961 sophomore effort, Explorations. The album would mark the final studio session with Evans' classic trio that featured Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums, and would come... Read More »
Impex Records continues to honor the legacy of celebrated guitarist Al Di Meola with a new 180 gram LP reissue of his 1977 jazz fusion classic, Elegant Gypsy. The album sold a half-million units in the year of its release, peaking at the number 5 position on Billboard's jazz album charts while earning Guitar Player... Read More »
Over a decade ago, the late John Sunier of Audiophile Audition called me with a hardware review offer for the original AURALiC Aries streamer. I was clueless as to what a streamer was or what it was supposed to do, John was unable to offer any explanation of its function to me, and I only... Read More »
Craft Recordings continues to drop great late-year releases, and I have four more here you'll definitely want to check out! These albums criss-cross the genres of classic jazz, alternative pop, post-grunge hard rock, and jazz fusion, and feature reissues of rare, long out-of-print, and hard-to-find classic and noteworthy LPs. Including a new Miles Davis compilation... Read More »
Rhino Entertainment has just released four sprawling, color-coordinated, exclusive 16-LP box sets for Harry Potter: Original Motion Picture Soundtracks I-VII. The comprehensive box sets feature distinctive, brightly colored slipcovers with individualized artwork for each of the four Hogwarts houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Each set of 16 LPs are also color-coordinated with red vinyl... Read More »
Rhino Entertainment has another eclectic and impressive slate of limited-edition LPs available for Record Store Day Black Friday coming on November 29th. Once again, Rhino's offering of 21 rarities, enhanced, and specialty releases are only a few of the hundreds of exciting albums that will be available from both online sources and at independent record... Read More »
Craft Recordings has announced a striking offering of limited-edition LPs for the upcoming Black Friday celebration of Record Store Day 2024 on November 29th. Once again, Craft is presenting a diverse selection of rarities and specialty releases that will be among the hundreds of ultra-desirable LPs available online and at independent record stores everywhere. For... Read More »
Early this year, I flim-flammed Vera-Fi Audio main man Mark Schifter into sending me one of his new Vanguard Caldera 10 subwoofers. I was desperately in need of ultra-low bass following the untimely demise of my beloved REL T9, which had been a true and faithful servant for a dozen years. I honestly had no... Read More »
Four years ago, Impex Records contracted a pair of Grammy award-winning engineers and tasked them with reviving the original analog tapes for Frank Sinatra's transitional masterpiece, 1950's Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra. Andreas Meyer of Swan Studios handled the restoration and transfer of the original tapes, and Chris Bellman of Bernie Grundman Mastering mastered... Read More »
Rhino Entertainment has launched their Roctober and Now Playing Fall 2024 LP series, which combined feature 48 limited edition LP releases, with many of them being offered in ultra-cool colored-vinyl versions. The release package covers a broad range of artists and musical genres, and includes catalog album reissues, rare and long out-of-print LPs, previously never-released... Read More »
Craft Recordings has a diverse slate of new release and reissue albums that they're offering heading into the last part of 2024, and I have a generous handful of them here for your consideration. As is typical for Craft, their new releases will appeal to a range of musical interests, and feature rare, long out-of-print,... Read More »
Rhino Entertainment, in cooperation with Sunset Boulevard Records is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of Bob Neuwirth's self-titled debut album, Bob Neuwirth. Many of you are probably asking yourselves the same question I asked upon receiving the initial press release for this LP from Shore Fire Entertainment: "Bob Neuwirth? Who is Bob Neuwirth?"... Read More »
Varèse Sarabande is a specialty imprint of Craft Recordings, and is one of the world's most prolific producers of motion picture and television soundtrack recordings. While originally established in 1972 as an avant garde classical music label, it has since found a successful niche specializing in the release of film scores, original soundtrack recordings, and... Read More »
When singer, songwriter, disco diva, and queer icon Sylvester walked onto the stage of San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House on March 11, 1979, it would prove to be not only an important pinnacle in his all too brief career, but also a historic moment for the city's LGBTQ+ community. The evening would become a... Read More »