Analog Planet

When it comes to recordings of the blues, there are different pockets of reissue-related activity that remain of interest to many music enthusiasts these days. Three new recent LP upgrades from three different iconic names span several generations of interest: namely, mid-20th-century icons John Lee Hooker and Memphis Slim, along with Furry Lewis, who began recording in 1927.

All hail the mighty Maya cart! Or, to be more specific, meet the Segno Maya, a new moving coil (MC) cartridge that’s going to be distributed by Pure Sound. (European-based, Pure Sound is known for manufacturing and distributing their own valve/tube electronics, along with distributing turntables and tonearms from STST in Germany and phono preamps from Aurorasound in Japan, among other high-end gear.) The product name combo is an interesting one, to say the least.

Joni Mitchell’s Career-Spanning Joni’s Jazz 8LP Box Set Is Beyond Cool, and It’s Finally Coming Our Way on September 5 Joni knows jazz, and jazz knows Joni. To reinforce the point, Joni Mitchell is getting ready to release Joni’s Jazz, a massive 8LP passion project years in the making, via Rhino on September 5, 2025. It’s a career-spanning collection that features a wide range of recordings specifically chosen by Mitchell herself that reflect jazz’s profound influence on her music.

Happy National Vinyl Record Day, everyone! To celebrate, I’ve been spinning a number of favorite LPs as my soundtrack for the day, both old/reissued (Mobile Fidelity’s truly stunning Ultradisc OneStep 180g 2LP 45rpm upgrade of Van Halen’s underrated 1981 Warner Bros.

After receiving the official announcement about EAT’s all-new E-Glo 2 phono preamp the other day, I recalled how I first came across this model at High End Munich 2025, in one of the MOC venue’s main-level halls (Halle 3). There, it was displayed passively alongside additional EAT (a.k.a. European Audio Team) E-Glo models and various other components, as well as several of EAT’s striking turntable and tonearm designs.

Led Zeppelin Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Physical Graffiti With Reissue of Deluxe Edition 180g 3LP Set, Plus a Separate, Previously Unreleased 4-Track 180g Live E.P., on September 12 Sounds caress my ear and the story is quite clear, as Led Zeppelin have just announced plans for how they’re going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 1975’s seminal double-album extravaganza Physical Graffiti.

Texas-Based Indie Stalwart Salim Nourallah Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Nourallah Brothers Collaboration With a Stunning, Expanded 2LP Reissue As much as I love listening to my well-kept vintage LPs, new albums from artists I’ve long cherished, and/or high-end upgraded reissues on wax, I also like coming across those special vinyl gems comprised of music I’ve had limited exposure to previously and/or never even heard at all.

You say you want a Revolution, well, you know — we all want to spin some LPs. To that semi-thematic lyrical end, I’m happy to report that Systemdek is getting back in the vinyl-playback game with their upcoming Revolution turntable. Projected for a fall 2025 release, the Systemdek Revolution table is the first new product from the storied brand in a number of years.

“You put the load right on me.” That’s a line from The Band’s seminal 1968 song “The Weight,” which never actually mentions its title by name in the lyrics — but that above-noted key phrase, which serves as the linchpin line of its chorus, could also be the first thought an LP has the moment you put a record weight on top of it for stabilization purposes.

On Record Store Day earlier this year on April 12, 2025, one of those blink-and-you-missed-it releases was the first-time official vinyl pressing of Elton John’s 1977 performance for BBC Radio, Live From the Rainbow Theatre With Ray Cooper. Its initial run of 5,000 was labeled as an RSD First Release. As we’ve been seeing a lot of those copies being sold online, we suspect that perhaps this album didn’t quite get into the hands of as many actual Elton John fans as originally intended.