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With AXPONA 2025 safely in the past, it’s time to hop back into the listening room with some records.
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In part two of his candid interview, Chad Kassem recalls the gritty rise of Acoustic Sounds from a record-crammed apartment to an industry leader, detailing the challenges of pressing plants, COVID’s business boom, and forging respectful industry alliances.
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MoFi’s 40th anniversary One-Step reissue of Michael Jackson’s Thriller stuns with unmatched clarity, staging, and vocal presence—so revelatory it feels like a remix, yet it’s the original master unveiled as never before.
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Three SPDIF cables from AudioQuest, Kimber, and Audience face off—each delivering distinct sonic strengths—while the old-school Auric Illuminator CD treatment surprisingly proves its worth, boosting clarity, ambiance, and realism across multiple discs.
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Motown met the Summer of Love in 1967 with “Reflections,” as psychedelic soul emerged—while Sly & the Family Stone’s electrifying debut laid the groundwork for funk, disco, and the future of R&B.
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Delaney & Bonnie’s fallout with Stax over their debut LP “Home” triggered a musical detour to L.A., where they recorded the fiery “Accept No Substitute” for Elektra—an album so compelling, it captivated George Harrison himself.
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Donna Summer and Moroder-Bellotte pushed disco’s boundaries with Once Upon a Time (1977), a groundbreaking double concept album. Hits like “MacArthur Park Suite” and Bad Girls cemented her legacy as disco’s enduring queen.
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Donna Summer revolutionized disco with Moroder and Bellotte, blending sensual Eurodisco and electronic beats. Hits like “Love To Love You Baby” and “I Feel Love” shaped dance music and sparked electronic genres.
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From jump blues and Ray Charles’s boundary-breaking “What’d I Say” to the polished hits of Motown and gritty grooves of Stax, this sweeping history traces soul music’s rise—and disco’s roots—in a racially and musically transformative America.