Features

Ozzy Osbourne passed away earlier today, July 22, 2025, at age 76, just a few scant weeks removed from the triumphant Back to the Beginning celebration of Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s storied and eternally influential respective legacies at the already legendary all-day event that took place at Villa Park on July 5, 2025, in their hometown of Birmingham, England. Read on to see our in-the-moment appreciation of his long and storied legacy on vinyl . . .

Mark Smotroff takes us through the many on-vinyl highs of the rich recorded life of Brian Wilson, the visionary pop composer who passed away at age 82 on June 11, 2025. Read on to see which Beach Boys records and Brian Wilson solo LPs are worth surfing through again and again on vinyl. . .

Manhattan’s All Blues played host to Zev Feldman’s traveling Record Store Day (RSD) cavalcade this past Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Joined by jazz journalist, Jazz and Coffee’s Syd Schwartz, Feldman gave the backstories and played selections from his upcoming RSD 2025 releases. These six RSD releases followed Feldman’s typical Jazz Detective approach, mining tapes from radio stations, performance venues, and collector’s vaults, pressed to virgin vinyl. The accompanying video, shot by our resident jazz expert Ken Micallef, gives you a deeper taste of what the night looked and sounded like. . .

Jazz-listening bars have been popping up across New York City and many other U.S. cities seeking to replicate Japan’s jazz kissa culture, where listening is sacred and talking is verboten. Our resident jazz fanatic Ken Micallef recently commenced a semi-regular gig as a jazz DJ at Tokyo Record Bar in New York City, and here’s his firsthand report on how he got ready for it, how he tweaked their in-house system, and how the gig is going. . .

It is always refreshing to share a truly good story about a person with a vision achieving bonafide success in the music business — especially when it comes to selling records. Surfing the wave of the resurgent interest in all things vintage vinyl, San Francisco’s Tunnel Records. Read Mark Smotroff’s interview with shop founder Ben Wintroub to see just how he’s made not one but three great Tunnel Records SF locales thrive. . .

In a world of endless Spotify playlists and 24-bit streaming, why are people flocking back to reel-to-reel players and tapes, a format invented nearly a century ago? Read Part 2 of Leslie Shapiro’s insider series (featuring Revox, Ballfinger, Metaxas & Sins, Recording The Masters, and more) to find out exactly why reel-to-reel remains as vital as ever. . .

The Gruvy Awards are back yet again! An annual event, The Gruvys are given to the best products AnalogPlanet reviewed in the most recent calendar year. This time around, the Gruvys honor the gear we tested in 2024 and subsequently found to possess a combination of high build quality, exceptional sonics, and in the case of less expensive gear, provide great value for the money. Read on to see what products made the 2024 AP Gruvy Awards cut, plus which ones gained Honorable Mentions. . .