Mark Smotroff

Album Reviews
Coldplay’s 140g Moon Music LP Surprises With Modern Pop Twists, Pressed on the New, Remarkably Quiet Eco-Friendly Vinyl Alternative Called EcoRecord
Mark Smotroff  |  Oct 11, 2024  |  4 comments

The challenge of writing a review about a band you are admittedly not intimate with — one that some interwebs sources consider to be “the most successful group of the 21st century,” having sold more than 100 million albums and counting — has upsides, as well as down. Such is the case with Coldplay’s new 140g LP Moon Music, which was released by Parlophone on October 4, 2024, on a new vinyl alternative called EcoRecord. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if the songs on Moon Music spoke to him, and how well the EcoRecord format got across the band’s intentions. . .

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Album ReviewsShort Cuts
Short Cuts, Vol. 18, Elemental Music’s 140g 1LP Motown Sound Collection Reissue Series Revives a Score of Treasured and Hard-to-Find ’60s Soul and R&B Gems
Mark Smotroff  |  Oct 04, 2024  |  First Published: Oct 04, 2024  |  4 comments

A new 140g 1LP reissue series from Elemental Music that’s officially been dubbed the Motown Sound Collection has been underway since this past May, so it’s high time we’ve gotten around to covering some of the LPs that have come out under its umbrella in the interim. Read Mark Smotroff’s Short Cuts review to see how five Elemental-reissued vintage Motown titles from The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and The Supremes all fared on his turntable. . .

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Album ReviewsShort Cuts
Short Cuts, Vol. 17: A Fine Mixture of Gospel, Jazz, Funk, Soul, Dance, Pop, and Disco Can Be Found on a Trio of Exciting Current LPs From Lady Blackbird, Chappell Roan, and Sylvester
Mark Smotroff  |  Sep 27, 2024  |  First Published: Sep 27, 2024  |  3 comments

A trio of new releases share some wonderful and often heartfelt aesthetics across a variety of genres, dance music-infused sounds, personal identity, and artistic freedom, and we’re covering all three of them today together under our Short Cuts album review banner. Read Mark Smotroff’s roundup review of three wonderful LPs from the always adventurous female singer Lady Blackbird, chart sensation and vocal marvel Chappell Roan, and a full live concert reissue from the vaults of the late, legendary dance music pioneer Sylvester. . .

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Album Reviews
Nick Lowe’s Storied Legacy Remains Very Much Intact With the Cool Music Found on His Fine New Yep Roc LP, Indoor Safari
Mark Smotroff  |  Sep 20, 2024  |  4 comments

The prospect of reviewing a new album by Nick Lowe is both exciting and daunting. How do you fairly encapsulate a new release from a man whose reputation is etched into the music history books via his many classic LPs and production work that arguably helped shape the sound of the late-’70s and early ’80s new-wave movement? Well, when you produce an album that sounds as good as Lowe’s new Indoor Safari LP does, it’s less daunting to review a record that can stand proudly alongside his legacy creations. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why Indoor Safari — which also happens to be “powered by” Lowe’s current tourmates, Los Straitjackets — belongs on your turntable today. . .

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Album Reviews
David Gilmour’s New Luck and Strange LP Is Another Fine-Sounding Solo Release Well Worth Spinning Alongside His Storied Studio Canon
Mark Smotroff  |  Sep 13, 2024  |  2 comments

With Luck and Strange, David Gilmour has graced us with another fine solo LP that he himself considers among his best. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see how Luck and Strange indeed stacks up with the benchmark releases in the storied Pink Floyd canon as well as with his prior solo work. . .

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Album Reviews
Visionary Armenian Composer/Pianist Tigran Hamasyan Takes Us All on a Progressive Spiritual Journey on His Expansive New 2LP Set, The Bird of a Thousand Voices
Mark Smotroff  |  Sep 06, 2024  |  1 comments

Trying to describe in simple words the sound and scale of a beautifully crafted new progressive rock work from a multi-disciplinary composer presents a number of journalistic challenges — but we’re up to the task. The work in question is a new 2LP deluxe box set by Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan titled The Bird of a Thousand Voices, which is both eye and ear popping in its presentation and sonic execution. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see how and why both discs of The Bird of a Thousand Voices are worthy of many multiple spins. . .

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Album ReviewsShort Cuts
Review Explosion, Short Cuts Edition, Vol.16: A Top-Notch Trio of 180g Pablo Records LP Reissues, One Each From Count Basie & His Orchestra, Count Basie Big Band, and Duke Ellington and Ray Brown, All Courtesy of Analogue Productions
Mark Smotroff  |  Aug 30, 2024  |  First Published: Aug 30, 2024  |  0 comments

Released in the 1970s and ’80s by legendary jazz producer/impresario Norman Granz, albums on the Pablo Records label were often lush-sounding affairs — and now, all these years later, Analogue Productions has seen fit to reissue and remaster many of the label’s key titles as 180g LPs, all cut at QRP. Read Mark Smotroff’s Short Cuts combo review of a trio of Pablo titles — one each from Count Basie & His Orchestra, Count Basie Big Band, and Duke Ellington and Ray Brown — to see just how essential these three LPs are to have in your collection. . .

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Album Reviews
Pat Metheny’s 1976 Debut LP, Bright Size Life, Sounds as Fantastic, Fresh, and Futuristic as Ever on Its Truly Outstanding ECM Luminessence Series Vinyl Reissue
Mark Smotroff  |  Aug 23, 2024  |  8 comments

Pat Metheny burst onto the scene in the mid-1970s as basically a fully formed, guitar-slinging compositional prodigy — and his official debut album, 1976’s Bright Size Life, has just been reissued as part of ECM Records’ vaunted Luminessence series. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see just how good this audiophile-grade LP edition of Bright Size Life is, and why you need to get a copy of it ASAP. . .

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Album Reviews
X’s Final Album, Smoke & Fiction, Finds the Legendary L.A. Roots-Punk Band Firing on All Cylinders on Surprisingly Good Standard-Weight Vinyl
Mark Smotroff  |  Aug 16, 2024  |  6 comments

The much bandied-about cliché of a “return to form” has been dragged out many times when referring to legacy artists who deliver an unexpected late-career masterstroke. But in the case of Smoke & Fiction, the new studio album by Los Angeles roots-punk legends X that was released via Fat Possum on August 2, 2024, that phrase may very well be warranted. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see how X delivered the best of their trademark sound on this vital new LP. . .

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Album Reviews
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention’s Previously Unreleased 180g 5LP Whisky A Go Go, 1968 Box Set Is a Primo L.A. Freak Scene Time Capsule, as Showcased on Remarkably Quiet Optimal-Pressed BioVinyl
Mark Smotroff  |  Aug 09, 2024  |  4 comments

There are numerous reasons why music fans should be interested in a previously unreleased 5LP box set featuring an entire performance of Frank Zappa and his original Mothers of Invention band in full flight in the heart of the Los Angeles freak scene of the late-1960s. Titled Whisky A Go Go, 1968, this lovingly curated collection — which was released by Zappa/UMe on June 21, 2024 — is a time-capsule snapshot moment in time when Zappa’s original band was reaching an arguable performing peak. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see just how good Whisky A Go Go, 1968 sounds, and why its Optimal pressing on BioVinyl was clearly a wise decision by the Zappa braintrust. . .

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