Images of Life comprises three LPs; Strange Mysterious Sounds (1965-1970) centers on Lucas' early bands; Rainy Days (1970-1974) gathers solo material from the lead-up to his 1975 self-titled album; and Impossible Love (1979) is a 'lost' album produced by Don Was.
The AT-LP120XUSB features basically everything you could want from a modern, upgraded turntable. The built-in phono preamp lets you easily swap the turntable from your headphones to your speakers without any extra steps or hardware.
Every single element in the set is printed, no stickers anywhere, including new tile pieces featuring equalizer bars and musical note graphics that were debuted specifically for this set. The needle swivels and can be tucked behind a small antenna piece when not in use. Flip it around, and there are printed red, white, and grey ports on the back representing stereo channels, details that nobody asked for and that audio enthusiasts will immediately clock.
The collection includes two wireless speakers that both feature Bluetooth 5.5 with Auracast support, an IP67 rating so they can survive the occasional short dunking, 24 hours of battery life, neon colored buttons, and multicolored LED lighting. Cassette tape functionality hasn't been carried forward from Philips' original '80s Moving Sound devices, but both speakers have color LCD screens displaying a stylized animation of spinning cassette reels, and other playback details.
Usually, my handbag is a medley of digital devices and life essentials my phone, iPad, chargers, keys, tampons. But lately, you're likely to also find a half-done newspaper crossword, a ton of stationery, the book I've restarted three times, and whatever scraps and trinkets I've picked up throughout the day to put in my scrapbook. Analog is back, and it feels like we need it more than ever.
My father kept manuals for products we hadn't owned in years, filed alphabetically in a cabinet. When I asked why, he looked at me like I'd suggested burning money. "What if we need to look something up?" The concept of finding any manual online in seconds just doesn't compute for a generation that had to rely on these paper lifelines.
The traditional museum experience, pausing in front of an object, and absorbing its history visually or by reading its description, has long shaped how collectors and others relate to cultural treasures. Yet, over the last few decades, digital technology has quietly rewritten many of those rules, changing not only how collections are exhibited but also how they are documented, preserved, and even inherited.
We might be exposed to more ads and commercials today than ever before in human history, but the idea of advertising itself is certainly not a new concept. According to Instapage, the first signs of advertisements actually appeared in ancient Egyptian steel carvings from 2000 BC. Meanwhile, the first printed ad was published in 1472, when William Caxton decided to advertise a book by posting flyers on church doors in England.
What telling people to touch grass ignores, in part, is that grass is not all that good to touch. It's itchy and sticky - there could be bugs in there. There's a far more profoundjoyin touching machines, as is shown again and again in Albert Birney's Obex, which functions as both a shrine to and warning about our reliance on technology.
Last year saw the highest vinyl record sales since 1984, signaling a strong desire among music enthusiasts to return to a simpler time of physical media. Even cassette tapes are making a comeback, with major artists including Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift releasing their material on the iconic plastic, four-inch audio reels. Now, self-described "party slam" metal band Party Cannon is taking the nostalgia play - often framed as an act of defiance against greedy and AI-slop-infested streaming platforms - to a new level.
For this time around, however, the concept player here stays within the audio listening gear domain; nonetheless, has clear signs of a TE-inspired design. The retro Bluetooth player is a music accessory that's reminiscent of the classic cassette tape player design, but on the inside, it's a modern music player that plays music wired or wireless. The aesthetics are purely for arousing the nostalgic feel of listening to music on a cassette player, while the audio is digitally played via a DAC for high-resolution output.
Chances are this does exactly what you need. It will play your old CDs, your new CDs, your homemade mixtapes, the whole nine yards. You can even listen wirelessly thanks to onboard Bluetooth. It's got a decent battery life that can last you up to six hours, and it uses a USB-C to recharge. We usually have one of those on hand.
It takes the classic tape deck design and turns it into a smart speaker with two tiny 1.5-inch circular OLED displays. They're in that place where the spinning reels used to be, since this isn't exactly a cassette player. On the left, you get the playback controls and on the right side, you get a digital waveform or equalizer. Both screens are touch-sensitive, letting you interact directly with the device without constantly reaching for your phone.
