Mark Smotroff

Another year of LP acquiring, cleaning, listening, archiving, and spinning, and archiving has come and gone — and not necessarily always in that order, either! — so, naturally, before the big holiday week takes hold of our respective calendars, we here at AP feel it’s the exact right time to determine the best of what we’ve heard on vinyl during the past 12 months. Between the two of us — i.e., 1) Mike Mettler, your intrepid AP editor, and 2) chief LP reviewer, Mark Smotroff — we have listened to multiple-hundreds’ worth of albums on vinyl in 2024 apiece, so read on to see what our 20-plus favorite reissues and new LPs of the year are. . .

Yesterday (December 11, 2024), we shared Part 1 of our holiday LPs shopping list, which focused on new releases. And now, as promised for today (December 12, 2024), here in Part 2, we move on to discussing some additional favorite holiday album chestnuts from over the years. Read Part 2 of Mark Smotroff’s holiday LP roundup to see which of these half-dozen vintage holiday vinyl releases are worth seeking out for your own holiday listening/gift-giving needs. . .

In the Beatleverse, it is generally well known and quite accepted that the mono mixes of the early Beatles recordings are considered superior to the stereo counterparts for many reasons. Thus, a new box set assembling 21st century recreations of the U.S. Beatles albums in their original monaural sound has a special sort of appeal — and that’s where the 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono 180g 8LP box set, which was released by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe on November 22, 2024, comes into play. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if The Beatles’ 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono 180g 8LP box set is fab enough to put on your holiday-purchase list, or if you should buy each album individually. . .

As the 1980s gave way to the 1990s, legendary British Invasion songwriter, singer, guitarist, and all-around rock icon Pete Townshend of The Who was working hard, reinventing himself as something of a senior statesman clearly not ready to follow the directive of his iconic band’s October 1965 breakout hit single, “My Generation.” To that end, two of his more adventurous solo releases have just been reissued as new half-speed mastered 180g vinyl editions: June 1989’s The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend and June 1993’s Psychoderelict: Music Only — the latter making its first appearance on vinyl ever, and as a 2LP set to boot. Read Mark Smotroff’s combo review to see if either/both of these underappreciated latter-era Townshend solo LPs belong in your collection. . .