Mark Smotroff

The name Sun Ra and the term “free jazz” can conjure up all manner of strange musical imagery, especially amongst those unfamiliar with his music. Alternate identifiers such as “free improvisation” and the more umbrella-like “modern jazz” might ease those anxieties, but the reality is, a lot of Ra’s spirited music is not as random and difficult as some might think. Read Mark Smotroff’s Short Cuts combo review that focuses on five new and recent 180g Sun Ra-centric vinyl releases that we hope will intrigue listeners to explore this fascinating artist’s music with fresh ears and open minds. . .

Fifty-plus years ago, John Cale effectively drew a line in the sand between his past with The Velvet Underground and his future. Two of Cale’s seminal solo releases from that era — 1972’s The Academy in Peril and 1973’s Paris 1919, both long been out of print on vinyl here in the States — are the subjects of a great new LP reissue series from England’s Domino label, expanded and approved by the artist himself. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if either/both of these remastered vinyl editions deserve multiple spins on your turntable. . .

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. . .