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Too often, a once-loved band or musician resurfaces after a lengthy time away and releases an album that leans on nostalgia, trading on a wellspring of happy fan memory. Twenty-four years after their last album, Pulp has released More. It doesn't fit the pattern. Indeed, on hearing it, all I can say, is: Wow!

It's not that it's a massive departure from the Pulp of Different Class (1995). The songs are similar in that they are stories of standard…

Five decades later, even dedicated fans of former Procol Harum guitarist Robin Trower have had to admit that they appreciate his solo albums for more than just his guitar gluttony. To be sure, For Earth Below's title track and his other blues-rock jams, obviously influenced by both the tone and approach of Jimi Hendrix, are foundational for today's stoner-rock subgenre. But while Trower wrote the tunes and is the headliner on all his solo albums, including a new 50th anniversary reissue of For Earth Below on Chrysalis Records, time has shown that the…

How was last fall for you? Mine was crazy. I traveled much of October: the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest one weekend, emceeing Chad Kassem's Blues Masters at the Crossroads Blues Festival the next, and the week after that, appearing at two Audio Advice stores, in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. From there I traveled to Los Angeles to attend a 30th-anniversary celebration for Tron at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, where, standing in front of the screen, I talked to a theater full of Tronnies…

These recent adventures have reminded me how close and hands-on the relationship is between a record collector and their phono equalizer. Watching analog shaman John DeVore play 78s while…

My first audio event was the 1973 hi-fi show in Brussels, Belgium, held at the massive Brussels Exhibition Centre, near the famous Atomium landmark. Today, it's hard to imagine a hi-fi show big enough to fill a huge convention…

Audiophiles who attend my seminars on turntable setup often ask the most basic questions about tonearms, including the meanings of terms with which I (incorrectly) assume everyone is familiar. This is a good thing—it indicates that new people are entering the ranks of vinyl enthusiasts. This column is for them.

Here I don't discuss so-called "tangential tracking" or "linear tracking" tonearms, or those that use magnets and monofilament instead of more typical bearings. I feel those are best…

David Abel & Julie Steinberg: Sonatas For Violin & Piano
(Brahms, Violin Sonata No.1 in G; Debussy, Violin Sonata in G minor; Bartók: Rumanian Folk Dances, arranged for violin and piano)
David Abel, violin; Julie Steinberg, piano
Wilson Audiophile Recordings W-8722 (original LP), 0054536872228 (24/176.4 FLAC, Qobuz). 1987/2014. David A. Wilson, Sheryl Lee Wilson, Daryl C. Wilson, prods.; David A. Wilson, eng.; Bruce Brown, digital remastering.

As an erstwhile violinist, I have always been bothered by recordings that exaggerate the…

Lenny & The Squigtones: Lenny & Squiggy Present Lenny And The Squigtones
Casablanca NBLP 7149 (LP). 1979. Hank Medress, Dave Appell, prods.; Wayne Tarnowski, Bob Mocklar, Stewart Whitmor, engs.

Don't laugh: Nascent TV comedy duo Lenny & Squiggy of Laverne & Shirley fame closed out the 1970s by dropping a wink-nudge live-album homage to '50s harmonies and FM rock tropes that presaged how a certain faux-British outfit ascended to unforeseen metal-mockumentary heights five years later in This Is Spinal Tap. Analog formats are currently…

Over time, that focus has shifted. The requirement that the selected recordings be "sonically impeccable" has been relaxed…