Features

The official National Calendar says today, August 12, is National Vinyl Record Day, so I cued up a few of my favorite new vinyl offerings — including the latest 2LP studio set from a longtime favorite, a 4LP box set with an album I’ve been waiting decades to get on vinyl, and a brand-new-to-2024 throwback 45 — to celebrate the theme of the day. Read on to see what they are, and feel free to chime in about your own favorite LPs you were spinning on your own turntable on this most hallowed of days. . .

You have to hand it to Jack White. The multi-talented, multi-hyphenate producer/vocalist/guitarist has successfully created a personal brand of stylistic flair alongside his own multifaceted music and musical tastes — and he’s also known as the force behind Third Man Records, which he co-founded with Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank in 2001. Read on to see everything our Julie Mullins came across during her recent onsite visit to the Third Man Records record store locale in Nashville. . .

What better way to enter the impending summer season than with the second 2024 installment of our ongoing Table Toppers series? Back in late 2023, we posed a simple question to you, the AP faithful — in short, quote, “show us your turntables!” And hence, the almighty Table Toppers section was born, and we’re more than happy to continue on with this popular series as we approach the midpoint of the year. Read on to see how Dave Millon of Royal Oak, Michigan recovered from a devastating gear loss and wound up centering his system around a coolly restored Thorens TD 124 turntable — along with some VPI TNT tables to boot. . .

Table Toppers returns anew here in 2024! Recently, we asked the AP faithful to “show us your turntables!” for an all-new feature section titled Table Toppers — and now it’s time for the first series installment of the new year. Here in Take 3, we introduce you to the system of Vince, who lives in the Santa Cruz mountains in Northern California. Read on to see all the cool gear that constitutes Vince’s setup, what his favorite stereo shop to frequent is and why, how he resolved a noise issue with his table, and what his current favorite LPs to spin on it are. . .

Looks like another year has gone by with a seemingly endless release-cycle parade consisting of scores of brand-new LPs from both known artists and untested newcomers alike, along with a myriad of archival vinyl reissues and overstuffed box sets galore — a good number of them presented in the much-preferred AAA form to boot. With the calendar set to turn over to 2024 any day now, that means it’s high time to assess the best of what we’ve heard on wax during the past 12 months. Read on to see AP editor Mike Mettler and chief LP reviewer Mark Smotroff’s respective lists of the top archival and new LP releases of 2023. . .

Back in September, we asked you, the AP faithful, to “show us your turntables!” for an all-new feature section titled Table Toppers — and did you ever respond in full. Since then, we’ve been sifting through a cavalcade of your many great submissions, and we figured what better way to kick off the month of November than with the debut installment of Table Toppers — namely, a truly terrific trio of ’tables owned by Diogo Alfaiate of Lisbon, Portugal. Read on to see a score of cool pics of Diogo’s amazing system, plus get his firsthand account of his lifelong love of vinyl. . .