Analog Planet

Grandmaster Flash on Pioneering the Art of Turntablism, the Quik Mix Theory, and His New Book, Birth of a Culture Grandmaster Flash is a stone-cold master of turntablism. Born Joseph Robert Saddler, Flash is a true vinyl-culture pioneer who is also known — undisputedly — as the first DJ to transform the turntable into an instrument.

A legacy brand in cartridge production, Sumiko may be best known — at least amongst the crowd I hung with back in the day — for their Sumiko Blue Point No. 2. The Blue Point was a moving coil (MC) cartridge available in two versions: high output 2.5mV or low output 0.5mV, and it featured an elliptical stylus, mass of 6.0g, tracking force of 1.8g–2.2g, and load of 47kohms. Some believe that, if not for Sumiko, moving magnet (MM) designs might still dominate the market.

Three new reissues of popular — and often hard to find — blues recordings from three different, seminal record labels are the focus of some recent reissues from Craft Recordings’ Bluesville line, and they are the subject of this week’s Short Cuts review roundup. Featured in this combo review platter are a trio of iconic LPs by three very different blues legends: Jimmy Reed, Skip James, and Albert King.

Believe it or not, there are still active shopping malls in the U.S. — and at least one, Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, leases to a modern record store, The Sharp Notes. The notion is so retro, it’s almost quaint. The store is even situated opposite a Gap, the quintessential and perennial mall staple. What is this, 1988? The Sharp Notes is owned by Evan Toth.

It’s always been more than just about the way they moved, the way they acted, and the color of their hair. I’m talking about, of course, British Invasion icons The Zombies, who have just announced that the Continue Here (Mono Remastered) LP is set for release on October 30, 2026, via Beechwood Park.

Making a turntable’s platter spin at exactly 33⅓ rotations per minute sounds like it should be an easy task, but in fact, it’s hard to do precisely. Just getting the platter to turn is easy enough, but there are two forces trying to stop the platter that you need to overcome: friction from the bearing that supports the platter, and friction from the stylus riding in the groove. With most turntables, you can perform a couple of simple tests to see these forces in action.

Marvin Gaye’s Sensual-Smooth Soul-Funk Classic 1973 Album Let’s Get It On Grooves Sweetly on Its New Definitive Sound Series AAA 180g LP Originally released on Tamla on August 28, 1973, Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On LP was a landmark recording that resonated with audiences at the time of its release, and it has continued to do so for decades since.

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.