I guess Most of their exclusives they buy from the record companies and get them sent . So they probably never see test presses. I guess there are test presses for the high violet 3lp run, those get approved by the label and then all the coloured variants go out from the pressing plants directly to the different seller's. For Vmp the additional problem is that they get those record directly send to the warehouse which is not even in the same state as vmp hq. So they might not see the final product before it is sent out.
Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)
- Thread starter Captainfog
- Start date
IA's Obis are sooooooo classy and beautiful.
sylvian
Member
I'm quite curious, what would be your ideal 'Essentials' record if you could choose one? What would be included, such as inserts, extra material, the color of the record (or variant), etc. On the other hand, what would be your "nightmare" 'Essentials' record, one that you would avoid at all costs and would wonder for the rest of time that VMP even considered this as the pick.
NathanRicaud
Well-Known Member
My Ideal Essentials ROTM would be A Tribe Called Quest’s “Midnight Marauders”! The current pressing sounds compressed, so this VMP Essentials pressing would be 2LP, on 180g vinyl. One disc would be yellow and the other would be green, to compliment the album cover!
My “Nightmare” Essentials ROTM would be any DJ Khaled album, especially his latest one - Father of Ahsad - as I think all his albums are terrible. I would be shocked and heartbroken at the same time if VMP made DJ Khaled an Essentials ROTM!
gaporter
Well-Known Member
Lol this is reminding me of this tweet
NathanRicaud
Well-Known Member
If VMP made a Khaled album an Essentials ROTM, I would also be heart-broken, shocked and disappointed!
sylvian
Member
Selaws
Well-Known Member
This is actually a great question, I've never really thought of what I would love to see.
Regardless of what it actually is, I would love a decent set of liner notes and a background to the album (with session photos). No disrespect to the guys at VMP, but I would much prefer these to be written by someone that actually knows and has a connection to the album. I often find that with the VMP liner notes the information provided is something which we could all learn within half an hour of googling the album. Resonance Records, Gearbox Records and Real To Reel go into great depths with their releases and include interviews with the people that 'discovered' the recordings, interviews with the musicians and/or family members etc. It really builds a great platform and adds to the music when you finally hear it. Jazz especially tends to have a politically or emotionally charged 'story' specific to a certain album, and knowing about that before hearing it just makes it so much more understandable and powerful.
AAA pressings are by far my favourite, although I know these cant always be achieved.
I could honestly do without the whole cocktail recipe, J-card, stickers and art print, but what would be great is a high quality 12x12 session photo of the musician (like those that come with Sams Records, Blue Note Review, etc).
I often feel like a lot of special or club releases throws a lot of cheap and unconsidered add-on's into a release to make it look like you are getting a lot for your money. In reality just a few basic pieces (gatefold, linernotes book, photo print) done really well provide much more.
sylvian
Member
I should've mentioned my current ideal 'Essential' record would be Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges's Clube da Esquina, which has been awfully difficult to get physically unless you're native to Brazil or have the money to spare for the record, whether it's an original (which has sold on Discogs for as high as 225 USD) or a more recent reissue, which still fetches up to 130 USD. In this prospective offering, we'd be getting the album as is, on black vinyl, with a tip-on jacket. As tempting as trying to for a green/yellow splatter would be, going simple with the color/variant would be nice. Within the package, along with the record, would be the lyrics booklet (perhaps, with translated lyrics as well to go along with the original lyrics), and a small booklet regarding the making of the album and interviews with both artists involved (which would be still possible as both Nascimento and Borges are still alive and well).
On the other hand, VMP continues to push out multiple records I have no love for or interest in and that alone is far worse than them deciding upon a record that I'd want to avoid for years to come. Their selection leaves a lot to be desired, and for every Spiritualized, Queen or Fiona Apple, there's a Stevie Nicks, John Mayer or White Stripes to come along to show me I am certainly not a part of their target audience for the most part.
On the other hand, VMP continues to push out multiple records I have no love for or interest in and that alone is far worse than them deciding upon a record that I'd want to avoid for years to come. Their selection leaves a lot to be desired, and for every Spiritualized, Queen or Fiona Apple, there's a Stevie Nicks, John Mayer or White Stripes to come along to show me I am certainly not a part of their target audience for the most part.
Selaws
Well-Known Member
Oooooh I will stream this album tomorrow. My brother's girlfriend is Brazilian and the last time they were there they picked me up a load of Brazilian records (Tim Maia, Tom Jobim) and a Milton Nascimento compilation. Really fun music!
sylvian
Member
Milton is fantastic. Really, any of this records from 1970-1977 would be a perfect fit for Essentials or definitely Classics. The complete album should be on Youtube. IIRC, the Spotify version is missing a side of the album, but I'm not sure if they fixed that or not. Refer to the discogs page for it I suppose before listening.
I'm not gonna lie, while it may not be my top album by any stretch, I think this upcoming Spiritualized release is a quitessential essentials album. Almost universal praise from every corner of the music world, an album that many will have probably never heard, or even heard OF at all. By all accounts aside from MAYBE the OG there are no good pressings of it that exist, mainly due to the black hole of suck "Plain" having the rights to it for the past little while. It's been remastered WITH the artists oversight, and apparently has the original Elvis edit of the title track... And it is one of the best packaged albums you'll ever find, all done up like a pharmacy prescription complete with the foil and labeling. As I've said earlier on here, it's deluxe "Mondo" packaging before Mondo was a thing. I think it's pretty close to a perfect example of what this sub should be.
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TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
The Wrens - The Meadowlands would be my shut up and take my money
pick. I would just ask to have it pressed and remastered well and a gatefold sleeve would be nice. My Second choice would be Clem Snide - The Ghost of Fashion. Same as stated before but I think it would be nice if the wax was translucent blue with a white swirl and red splatter that matched up to the cover art.John Mayer - Continuum
wmeugene
Well-Known Member
This album definitely would have been on my list of what I would want to see in Essentials.
Other albums I'd want to see:
Tom Petty - Wildflowers
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
The Wrens - The Meadowlands
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Tyranny of Distance
Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (3x LP, I know)
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad, & The Queen
Willie Nelson - Shotgun Willie
Waylon Jennings - Honky Tonk Heroes
Billy Joe Shaver - Old Five and Dimers Like Me
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the 36 Chambers (if they could ever improve the fidelity, which I know is unlikely)
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele
I know there's a bunch I am leaving out.
This would be my choice.
The Wrens - The Meadowlands would be my shut up and take my money
John Mayer - Continuum
I'd love for Eef to be able to reissue Clem Snide-Meat of Life, that was always my favorite. I'm hopping his newfound association with the Avett Brothers can maybe get the ball rolling on some of those.
radiodead
Well-Known Member
The Wrens- Meadowlands is also on my white whale list and VMP needs to be hammered to make it an Essentials pick.
Gavaxeman
Well-Known Member
I’d like ..
Fountains of Wayne “1st album”
Shack “HMS Fable”
Fountains of Wayne “1st album”
Shack “HMS Fable”
I would sign back for Clube da Esquina then cancel one month later. Unfortunately VMP would do a green and yellow 2xLP exclsuive that would actually be blue and red, warped of course. So I'll wait for an affordable copy of Brazilian Clássicos em Vinil reissue.
