Vinyl Me Please Essentials

displayname said:
I disagree with this statement. SK has been together for what, 25 years? It would take an awful lot for one person to come in and break that up in a year or two. I think that’s giving St. V too much power in the situation.

That would be like leaving a long term career job just because you got stuck working on one project that really wasn’t your thing. Let’s also not forget that Janet chose to stay through the recording process of the album, and even performed with them just a week or so ago.

I’m not a long term SK fan, I knew very little about them up until they came up in the forums. But just looking at a major decision like that from the outside, it seems clear things have been building for a long time, and it involves more than the sound. If it was just the sound or just St. V, Janet would have left during production. I think the fact that Janet has worked with other bands in the past, and this band has taken a long break in the past is telling. Not to mention the timing of the announcement is very vengeful and unprofessional. These are career musicians, not angsty teens. Janet knew exactly what she was doing with this timing. A lot things need to go wrong over time for things to build up to something like this.

I’m not saying St. V wasn’t a factor, but to blame her as the primary reason seems short sighted and overlooking the reality of complicated long term group endeavors.
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Noted.
 
FINALLY spinning Phoenix after getting the replacement copy. I have to say, if the rest of the pressing sounds as good as this first track, I am very impressed. Killer remaster and great pressing (once you get a flat copy).

VMP is certainly inconsistent, but it's when they get it right that keeps me coming back.
 
siremobunny said:
Can confirm that this Jorge Ben ROTM is 🔥
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I feel like something about the mastering isn't blowing me away (some songs sound good but not amazing while others sound great), I'm curious if that's just a product of how the album was originally recorded. That said, this album is fire and my copy is absolutely perfect (at least on side 1), so hopefully that's the same for other people.
 
Got my copy in and I have to say this Jorge Ben record is one of the better GZ pressing from VMP in a while. Flat, quiet and comes in a poly-lined sleeve. Agree with others that the record sounds just OK. It is indeed cut by Kevin Gray, but I think the source itself is holding the record back.

It just sounds like what you'd expect from the VMP YouTube video, a little bright and thin, lacking any real punch or slam that more big-budget US funk records had. Still for what the recording is, it sounds pretty good, very clear and airy at least. I’m figuring what we’re dealing with is a record recorded without fidelity in mind, vs any case of a bad high-res tape transfer. If anything this record is probably just accurate, but some may prefer the mastering engineer to monkey around with the EQ to taste. Despite Kevin Gray’s association with Steve Hoffman and the “breath of life” EQ choices, I would say his solo work at Coherent has mostly favored accuracy.

Anyhow on the subject of the music — DAMN. This is good stuff. I like how the liner notes frame this as being in dialogue with American funk, Brazilian popular music and Afro-Funk, and the cocktail is a truly unique one. I will be checking out more of Ben’s work and hopefully diving more into Brazilian music. I’ve had a casual interest in Afro-funk and Afro-pop for a while so this is a great gateway drug for me.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
So, would we say it's better to seek out an OG or Brazilian repress than grab the VMP version? I do love this album but if it sounds meh, I'm not going to bother.
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I don't have an OG, but my first impressions of the VMP press is the vocals are very much in the front. I personally like that bc the beat itself is funky enough to stand out still. But I could see some people not finding enough funky punch for them.
 
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