The exclusive vinyl thread

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Let me start with Cat Stevens: Back to Earth from 1978.
There is just one song on it which I like, and this is the instrumental "Nascimento". A funky lil tune that you wouldn't necessarily expect on a Cat Stevens album. All the other songs I find a bit paltry, trying to turn the corner into the 80s, pandering conventional tastes of that time, mixing it in an unimaginable way with what is known as being "Cat Stevens" music. Has to go. It's the sort of record that the second hand vinyl shop in town will be happy to get.


Moz, Moz, CCR: see above

Tomita's The Planets: Very nice. Seems that I have the original US version from 1976 on the RCA Red Seal label. Sound quality is pretty bad, pops crackles and surface noise, etc. killing the listening experience. This album surely needs an audiophile reissue. Seems that it has been a coppola decades since the last normal vinyl reissue anyways. I'm not sure though, if we live in a time in which this playful electronica meets classical music thing is still interesting for folks. If ya wanna appear distinguished musically nowadays, ya better buy some jazz audiophile records. Collect me, if I'm wong.

Kurt Vile, Bottle it in from 2018 on the Matador Label in limited blue vinyl. Well, I got this for free, believe it or not. I wanted to purchase the orange-yellow sunburst version, but this one here arrived at my place coz it seems the seller didn't notice the difference in colour, even though there is a sticker on the front saying blue vinyl limited, the vinyl is striking blue, and the copy was no longer sealed. Okay, I thought, you were scammed, folks are gettin more and more criminal these days, at the same time they are playing it innocent, lying into your face without movin a muscle, it's a rotten world, cannot trust anybody any longer, etc. So I was expecting never to hear from this seller again, but a few days later all the money was sent back and I was told to keep the record as compensation for all the trouble and pain caused. Well, I told him that I would keep it and talk with him about another, lower price, but the seller didn't want to hear anything about it.
So, to cut it short, it's a fine record. The music is chilled out in a cheerful way, which I need once in awhile to wind down a bit to pacify the inner voices. It's a bit monotonous though, the songs do not vary a lot, but as I said, it is a nice folksy, indi, rootsy, chill-out record.

Tausend Augen's "Westend" on the This Charming Man label from 2021: It's the kind of music that is a real zinger, but you are not yet sure if it will pass the test of time, or rather starts to wear out musically after some listens. But we don't know if this will happen, and I am really abuzz with these proto psych-punk, retro-krautrock, synthie pop, electro tunes at the moment. Quite a treat.
 
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Okay, it's Sunday morning again, and I have had a coppola days to de-shit my brain. Not through with all of it, though. In professional circles it's called "mental hygiene", implying that it's not your own shit, of course not, but the shit that other folks successfully got rid of themselves, leaving it on your doorstep to take good care of it, or work through it, like a sewage plant, coz they rather not look at it themselves. Anyways.

Now, lemme quickly say some words about this Roxy Music album.

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That's a half speed mastered reissue of "For Your Pleasure", as you might have noticed, from 2017 on the Virgin label. It comes in one of those very sturdy, oversized and heavyweight, tight gatefold covers, resembling a dinner tray, or, more apt in this case, an uncomfortable and murderous stiletto shoe. The corners of the jacket are so sharp, you can kill somebody with it, which back in the 1970s must have been considered to be the epitome of titilating and hard-core sexiness, I assume, the ultimate vagina dentata in black, which, for all your (male) pleasure, is gonna snatch off ya lil dicky, makin' ya yowl in frenzied pain, leavin' behind a murderous mess, before swiftly dashing off into the nearby jungle again, where them other vaginas and blacks live.

I know that Mozzer once called this album the best British album of all times, or something of that sort, most likely refering to the music and not so much to Karl Stoecker's glam photographical art work, which, in some circles, is considered "iconic" nowadays. Probably you have to add a historical perspective to become more aware of its significance. After all them lousy hippies growing old and wrinkly, this imagery must have been something newly and dangerously titillating to arouse the inside of them olden pants, a male menopausal thing, dreaming of spanking juicy buttocks while clad in leather, I guess.

Musically the album has survived the decades nicely, I would say, and as you know, I am not one of those "everything that was great back then, naturally has to be great nowadays too"- kind of person. There is a test of time, which many formerly considered exceptional albums simply do not pass. It is completely subjective, of course, but not putting these old albums through some test of this sort, comes across as utter senility, naiviety, and an attempt to relive a past that has never been that way anyway.

So, here we go. I can still find pleasure in Roxy Music without having to attach a historical hue to it. Brian Eno's synthesizer playing sticks out most, I would say. My favs are "Editions of You" and "Every Dream Home a heartache" on the A-Side. With regard to the half speed mastering, I have to say that I cannot detect any difference to other recordings. But could be a turntable thing.
 
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When it comes to coloured vinyl, this one here is one of my prettiest, in translucent swamp green:

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It's a 2020 country album by Swamp Dog called "Sorry You Couldn't Make It." This record, released on Joyful Noise Recordings and Pioneer Works Press, is really in pristine shape, and when unwrapping it, which I did some months ago, you immediately notice that they haven't left anything to chance production-wise. Everything is tastefully done, and the result of top-notch craftsmanship.

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It a gatefold cover that comes with an OBI-strip, a hype sticker, a bonus 3-track 7-inch and 24-page art booklet.

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Swamp Dogg has been in the music biz since the 1950s when he began recording under the name (Little) Jerry Williams Jr. as a classic blues and R'n'B singer. From the 1070s on, he called himself "Swamp Dogg", allegedly after a mind-expanding LSD trip, and that's when he started to experiment with all sorts of musical influences of that time. That's why he can't be put into any categories, but "Sorry You Couldn't Make It" is defo a country album.

The idea for the title is explained on the back cover of the album but also in the 24-page art booklet.

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And that's really one of the most beautifully and tastefully made booklets I've ever found in an album jacket. The fonts, as you can hopefully see, are printed in extra-large letters, easily to be deciphered by us olden folks with presbyopia.

Actually, I only wanted to show this swamp green vinyl record, so that's it.
 
It's baffling, but a copolla minutes ago, the vg+ German 12" Single of Barbarism Begins At Home RTD 021T was sold for almost 130 euros on ebay. I just wonder when this bubble of sky rocketing vinyl prices is gonna explode. Probably not for these old collector's items, but the limited new releases that shortly after their release are sold for double or three times the price on discogs, e.g. But then you wonder, who is actually buying up all these records, maybe to create a false impression of demand? And then everybody else is jumping on this bandwagon. Just guessing. I have the impression that some people want vinyl buyers to see records as a kind of stock market share, with your discogs account being your financial depot. But as I said, I wonder whether this is gonna be a short term or long term phenomena, if there's gonna be a "stock market crash" of some sorts sooner or later.
 
In the light of just another partyless Saturday night and persistent ass cold rainy weather outside, here is a new batch of vinyl which is currently drying in the kitchen, all washed thoroughly and scrubbed too.
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No shit this time. Partly Second Hand purchases, some new ones too that had to be cleaned nevertheless. One of them came with some strange milky surface that looked like dried silt water and had an extra fingerprint on it. Others had white flaky crumbs scattered all over them which would fly back to the record straight after I had blown them off, in the meantime some cat fur had made it to it too.
 
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We are making progress here. The Rolling Stones album in poor condition is the only inherited item in this batch. I don't wanna go into boring details here.

I do not know what to do with the Roxy Music Album. It doesn't fit into any outer sleeves, and with its black colour, every little scratch and irregularity becomes immediately visible. There has to be a solution for that. Any ideas? Probably they just released this issue modelled on a box set album, which is fine coz it is in top-notch tip-on quality, but if I cannot cover it up, it'll have lost its exclusive glossy shine and sharp corners in just a few weeks time, and won't be a pleasure to look at any longer.

It needed a wash, as everyone can see, after havin' been played only twice___
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World Peace is in immaculate shape, the vinyl as well as the jacket, but was sold as VG+. Not sure why.
My old CD is pretty worn out after having spent some years in the car, so I am happy I got hold of this copy.
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This is defo not "gold". I mean, are all vinyl selling folks colour blind? If you are kind, you can maybe call it "caramel", but this vinyl colour reminds me of some other stuff first of all.
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I am curious, how it's gonna sound, being remastered and all.
 
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I am very happy about this 1974 Japanese reissue of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet's "in San Francisco" based on a live recording from 1959.
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I added a Kill Uncle and a Smiths GSA Rank to my pension plan vinyl portfolio this week. Sorry, no pix today coz I'm too tired and lazy and will need a few nights of rest first.
The Beyond Meat share sky-rocketed today, so I sold a few to pay the vet doing an ultrasonography of my poor cat's old heart, which is far too big, as I was told afterwards. But for his age, he is still doing pretty well. I dont want to lose my lil fella, but one day goodbye will be farewell, and then no share values will be able to save him.
I don't think Beyond Meat can be called a sustainable share or investment, neiter can vinyl. Most of the vegan food of the "Ersatz" kind, is sold in enormous amounts of plastic, so is vinyl. Beyond Meat is cooperating with KFC in China now, their meat will be sold in some of their fast food restaurants. It all depends on the Chinese to develop a taste for it, but originally they've never been big meat eaters anyway, unlike the US Americans.
Anyways, the vegan food market needs a sustainable alternative packaging idea in order to conquer the world, I wonder if plastic-free vinyl is thinkable at all. It is too enrooted in the dirty 20th century for that.
 
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I am listening to American Gypsy's Angel Eyes, their first album from 1974. It's a US/European funk band that released three albums under this name, and a copolla others under all sorts of names.
This is a remastered audiophile reissue on Music on Vinyl. Sound is funktastic. The first song "Inside Out", which starts off like a Beethoven symphony, benefits from it most. Here is a needle-drop:


We'd rather not want to comment on the colour of the record, which supposedly is just another GOLD vinyl. I added the sparkles on the photograph, hoping to make it somehow look like gold, but to no avail, let's call it sand or beige, to be kind, and which is more realistic. Cover is interesting too.

The songs I would call pastiche funk, alluding to all sorts of styles and bands of the 1960s and -70s. Some Beach Boys influence, the Shaft trumpet, Lou Reed, you name it, etc, but it never gets boring as the band is able to combine it all and their own stuff in an organic, self-sustained way.
 
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I was listening to the first disc of the two LP-set of World Peace today, on my headphones for a change. It is a great album, and I can only guess that folks who expressed their dislike feel uncomfortable with its sincerity. Musically, production-wise, sound-wise, it is a super record. The sincerity of the emotions expressed in the vocals and lyrics bestow a mature radiance to the songs that you won't find anywhere else. The lyrics often appear novelistic, like in Istanbul or Stairways to the University, but I can always sense the underlying emotional state, most prominently in I Am Not a Man, and I do not understand why this song hasn't been released as a single.

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I was surprised about the heavy surface noise of this copy after all, as it is looking spic and span clean as a whistle. I couldn't detect any faults. But now I know why it was declared VG+ by the seller. I appreciate sellers that actually listen to their records before selling them. On this copy, the surface noise is a constant sizzle and drizzle, but can only be discerned clearly inbetween the songs.

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Anyways, it is a different experience listening to this album on vinyl, and also with headphones. The sound is very spacious and deep, and as I said, the vocals express a lot of mature sincerity underneath the chimerical (?) stories told or rendered in a more direct way like in I am not a Man. Does anybody else detect the underlying Ennio Morricone current, esp. of the guitars, in World Peace (the song)?

Here is a needle drop for your pleasure:
 
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Sometimes it's defo worth the effort to actually check the 7" singles you have no particular interest in before giving them away. So, it seems that I picked up a promo single or test pressing in my mum's basement a few months ago....
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Who would have expected that?

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Still in pristine shape. I'll have to do some research on this one later on.

First, it"s important to get out today to find my balance again and gain some strength and a new perspective. Sun is shining. But it is difficult. From experience I know that nothing or no one else can help in these situations, only the sun.

Anyways, drifting off here.

 
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And the b-side is……erm……His Masters Voice :paranoid: :lbf:
I am sure, he can laugh about it together with you. And he corrected himself asap. Not many folks are capable of that.
After all, it does sound like a possible Morrissey title, doesn't it?

Btw, have you listened to your complete collection of 12" singles yet?
 
I am sure, he can laugh about it together with you. And he corrected himself asap. Not many folks are capable of that.
After all, it does sound like a possible Morrissey title, doesn't it?

Btw, have you listened to your complete collection of 12" singles yet?
Yes. Of course
Every so often I’ll play then in order of release. It’s a big effort to turn the records over so often though.
 
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