Vinyl records make a return

im still interested in hearing about which records you guys got from john storm roberts's collection!

yeah i def buy a lot of vinyl but always have, but i echo other sentiments about CDs! great deals now all over the place...

seriously you can get like every great jazz record ever made on some fancy pants new great sounding remastered CD issue for like peanuts!

buying dollars cd's is the new buying dollar records

cool scott i'm in northampton so i'll definitely pay your store a visit when it's open

my sister-in-law lucia lives in northampton. she's a peddle person.

I wonder if that Chris Gaines CD is any good. Seems like an important period piece.

CD sales in Norway increased by 30-40 per cent from the first three months of 2008, so it seems it isn't only vinyl that makes a return.

i've been buying up used House albums and mix CDs, shit like the Metro Area album (which i already have doubles of on wax ;) for $2.50. you cant really argue with that. Dimitri from Paris mix CDs are for suckers @ $16, decent value for $1.

CD sales in Norway increased by 30-40 per cent from the first three months of 2008

^ Geir got his tax return, bought three or four CDs

For no good reason, I associate the decline and return of the LP with the rise and fall of American conservatives. The Clinton years even coincide nicely with the Incredibly Strange Music crate digging years.

So what kind of mastering job can I expect if I buy one of the major label vinyl reissues/new releases? Do they compress it all to hell just like it was a CD? Do they even bother mastering it differently for the vinyl release, counting on the fact that most people will buy it as a fetish object and never actually listen to it?

Good question - haven't heard a new major label LP in a while. I will say that most indie 7"s are mastered very badly. They don't send back test pressings b/c they aren't up to snuff as often as they used to, it seems.

i think the last major label vinyl i bought was the robert plant/alison krauss album and it sounds great.

Bought a batch of punk rock 7" lately that do not sound as good as the versions on their respective myspaces.

last Al Green LP sounded nice on wax.

New albums sound better on CD than vinyl in most cases.

i thought that post was going to be by Geir

I bought the Neil & Crazy Horse at the fillmore LP and it sounds great! But it's a fancy schmancy audiophile deal (Quiex!) and probably not representative. complaining about the fidelity of punk singles, btw, seems like a losing battle.

One thing I noticed while DJ-ing a couple years ago, mixing occasional recent indie 45s into lots of old 45s and LPs, is that the newer vinyl seemed to be mastered noticeably quieter, and thinner sounding, in comparison -- it really drove me crazy during segues. Not sure if that's improved during the vinyl quasi-boom of the past couple years since or not. (Of course, the 45s I was playing weren't necessarily representative of recent vinyl in general -- they may well have been exceptions to the rule, though I did notice a trend.) And something that became clear when Ed Christman reported his long return-of-vinyl cover story that I edited for Billboard the year before last is that, even if people are buying incrementally more vinyl than they were in the early '00s, that doesn't mean the vinyl pressing plants can afford to stay open -- lots of them have shuttered. And even for the ones that do stay open, replacement parts for the machines aren't being manufactured like they used to be, and the people who used to be trained to run those machines are getting older and retiring or dying. It's not a job young people tend to seek out anymore. So sometimes I wonder if the skill set and materials just aren't there anymore to make quality vinyl. And either way, I'm skeptical that the format could come back full force without those workers and machines. (And right, heavy-gram audiophile vinyl would obviously fit the "quality" requirement, but that seems even more a specialty market than vinyl in general. Those records are real expensive.)

i agree about most new stuff sounding better on cd. most are made digitally FOR cd. so, most new vinyl is just a vinyl copy of a cd. so, unless you are a dj or a collector it seems silly to buy, like, new electronic albums on vinyl.

I's also guess that the costs of decent fidelity are rather prohibitive if you're dealing in such small quantities of records, compared to the old days when vinyl was the only way you could put a record out.

Chuck, I know you left NYC, but within the last year a new pressing plant has opened AND Hitbound re-opened. Now along with Brooklyn Phono, there are three in Brooklyn alone. TBH Hitbound and the other place (dudes name is Will, forget the name of the business proper) don't do as good a job as Brooklyn Phono who produce EXCELLENT vinyl LPs. They do all of the Locust titles, fer instance.

xpxp That's why a lot of small run LPs now cost upwards of $20 and people will still pay it without a second thought.

The companies who press vinyl these days suck because any album that's longer than 45 minutes is made into a 2-record set, which makes no sense at all.. There were plenty of records pressed before 1990 that had 25 minutes per side..

The only example I can think of right now is not a very good one.. OK Computer is a record I wouldn't own on vinyl anyway because it's just one of those albums that's supposed to be heard digitally.. (For this reason, it does seem weird to me that Radiohead is currently one of the highest selling vinyl artists..) But there's really no reason why Capitol couldn't fit 6 songs per side. It's a 55 minute album.. is it really that difficult?

Also the 180 gram thing is overrated.. I notice no difference at all on my turntable between thick records and thin ones.

The loss in fidelity when you make the grooves smaller can be pretty serious. Ideally 20-25 minutes a side, any more than that and you're really pushing it. Also, the single LP/double LP divide can have a lot to do with the lengths of individual tracks.

Also the 180 gram thing is overrated.. I notice no difference at all on my turntable between thick records and thin ones.

― billstevejim, Wednesday, April 29, 2009 10:41 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i thought the thicker vinyl was supposed to be more durable.

I have no idea.. if there's an actual purpose for making it thicker, than I guess that's cool with me..

MacArthur grant for Howie Weinberg, to teach the children.

thicker vinyl = deeper grooves = richer sound, more durable/long-lasting medium

right?

you're probably right.. maybe i'm just ignorant..

From that article on best buy... : Compared with a CD, vinyl costs more to make and retails for a higher price -- $22.95 vs. around $13.99 for a CD -- but has lower margins.

I thought vinyl was inexpensive to press years ago.. Is it possible that all these extra "audiophile" elements to the record-making process, which seemed not all that present before the 90's, are now increasing the cost?

i think it's more that the scale of production has gone down, so the price has gone up.

I notice a difference in sound with thicker records, but I think it depends on the record. All this stuff is relative. Your turntable/receiver set up makes a difference, your needle...analog playback varies a lot more from stereo to stereo.

I heard that the difference between digital data and analog data is the digital can be deleted but analog must be destroyed.

cost prices of new vinyl..u make about 2 or 3 dollars after retail markup


RESTOCKS
Ben Harper Shimmer & Shine (10'') Virgin Records 95014 $3.19
Bloody Beetroots WARP (feat. Steve Aoki) 12'' Downtown/Dim Mak DM133 $5.19
Chingy Fly Like Me (Featuring Amerie) Def Jam B001058711 $3.99
DJ Felli Fel Feel It (feat. T-Pain, Sean Paul, Flo Rida, Pitbull) (12'') Def Jam B001270911 $3.99
Jamie Foxx Blame It (feat. T-Pain) 12'' J Records 88697462661 $4.69
Soulja Boy Tell'em Soulja Girl (Feat. I-15) Interscope B001021711 $3.99
Terror Squad Lean Back Universal B000270411 $3.99
Weird Science Haus Of Cards 12'' Downtown/Dim Mak DM125 $4.99
Slayer Psychopathy Red (Red Vinyl) (7'' w/ Picture Sleeve) Columbia 886975070671 $5.19
Sublime Superstar Punani / April 29, 1992 (Leary) (7'' w/ Picture Sleeve) Geffen/Gasoline Alley/Skunk Records 602527017792 $4.59
Bob Dylan Together Through Life [2 LP] (180 Gram Vinyl + CD of entire album) Columbia 88697438931 $17.36
Charles Spearin (of Broken Social Scene) Happiness Project [LP] (with Braille cover) Arts & Crafts 3900 $12.49
Common Resurrection [LP] Relativity Cat 12081 $5.77
DJ Rob Cartoon Breaks And Sound Effects Volume 1 [LP] Yosumi Records YSJ008 $8.89
Ida Maria Fortress Round My Heart [LP] Upper 11 B001282801 $8.39
J Dilla Donuts [2 LP] Stones Throw Records STH2126 $14.49
M.I.A. Kala [2 LP] Interscope B000971501 $10.77
Portishead Third [2 LP] (includes full album MP3 download card) Island B001114201 $10.77
Public Enemy Rebirth of a Nation [2LP] Guerrilla Funk GFK31021LP $11.29
Ray LaMontagne Gossip In The Grain [2LP] (w/full cd insert) RCA 88697326701 $17.40
Smif-N-Wessun Dah Shinin [2 LP] Nervous Records NRV 020051 $10.06
Tori Amos American Doll Posse [2 LP] [180 Gram Vinyl in Gatefold Sleeve] Epic 86140 $14.89
Van Morrison Astral Weeks Live At The Hollywood Bowl [2 LP] Manhattan 93423 $15.59

If you look at the stuff that Scorpio distributes, you are paying 11.99 retail for a "regular" vinyl reissue and 13.99 for the 180 gram ones, and that shit sounds amazing. There is a crappy cd/video game/dvd shop in my town that sells Scorpio catalog reissues almost exclusively and I am always very happy with the product.

Danbunny dropping knowledge.

One thing about LPs that wont come back, but I miss, is the inner sleeve advertising the label's other offerings. Like pulling out the first Led Zep, and seeing these

http://www.kalamu.com/bol/wp-content/content/images/roberta%20quiet%20fire%20cover.jpg
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm181/karl_ktarn/1-39.jpg

brklynphono

sumone else do th math pleez

PRICING

Mastering per side (side under 20 minutes)

$165.00

Mastering per side (side over 20 minutes)

$200.00



Plating per side (1 step and replacements)

$85.00

Plating per side (2 step)

$135.00



Labels printing:


_1 color

$165.00

_2 color

$215.00

_3 color

$300.00

_4 color

$400.00



Sleeves

$0.00



Jackets (stock black or white, with or without hole)

$0.35



Press set up charges

$150.00



Test pressing (5)

$25.00



140 gram record (black vinyl)

$1.25

(color vinyl is also available - ask for pricing)




Shrink-wrap (per record)

$0.15



Stickering and inserting (per item/per record)

$0.05

orig deep groove mono black label riverside

Once again... M.I.A.'s Kala is 47 minutes and it's a 2-disc set. I'm not into that idea.

the place you really lose money with new vinyl is with singles. to turn a profit a single has to be wholesaled for a minimum of $3.50-$4.25, so in store then this shit is costing like $6+. for a single! xp

One thing about LPs that wont come back, but I miss, is the inner sleeve advertising the label's other offerings. Like pulling out the first Led Zep, and seeing these

I was amazed looking at one of these that Redd Foxx has an album called "You Forgot To Wash Your Ass" or something to that extent.. I was 8 or 9 years old at the time, so naturally I laughed at this for several minutes.

Elvis Costello Complicated Shadows b/w Dirty Rotten Shame (exclusive track) (7'' w/ Picture Sleeve) Hear Music ELVISC7 $1.59
Menahan Street Band The Wolf b/w Bushwick Lullaby (7'') Daptone Records / Dunham Records DAP-1045 $3.99
Champion Jack Dupree Blues From The Gutter [LP] Doxy DOYLP 614 $20.39
Charles Mingus Trio (180 Gram Vinyl) [LP] Doxy DOXLP 815 $20.39
Charlie Feathers Liaison Field (180 Gram Vinyl) [LP] Doxy DOYLP 615 $20.39


FIRST TIME
Archies vs BP vs Effcee Satisfaction/Sugar Sugar Cleopatra CLP-SI-1369 $4.29
Black Flag Six Pack [12'' EP] SST Records Inc. SST 5 $5.39
BP vs Effcee vs A Flock Of Seagulls I Ran (So Far Away)/New Year's Day Cleopatra CLP-SI-1378 $4.29
A Flock Of Seagulls I Ran (So Far Away) Space Age Love Song Cleopatra CLP-SS-1938 $5.89
Black Flag Louie Louie / Damaged 7'' SST Records Inc. SST 175 $3.39
Black Flag Nervous Breakdown 7'' SST Records Inc. SST 1 $3.39
Black Flag Six Pack [10'' EP] SST Records Inc. SST 920 $6.59
Black Flag Six Pack 7'' SST Records Inc. SST 5 $3.39
Black Flag TV Party 7'' (non-LP version) SST Records Inc. SST 12 $3.39
Johnny Thunders Glam Punk & Junk - Chinese Rocks / London Boys [7''] Cleopatra CLP-SS-1933 $5.89
Leif Garrett I Was Made For Dancin' Cleopatra CLP-SS-1947 $5.89
Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens What Have You Done? (7'') Daptone Records DAP-1036 $3.99
Sharon Jones How Long Do I Have To Wait For You ? (Ticklah Remix) (7'') Daptone Records DAP-1040 $3.99
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings 100 Days, 100 Nights / Settling In (7'') Daptone Records DAP-1037 $3.99
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings I'm Not Gonna Cry / Money Don't Make The Man (7'') Daptone Records DAP-1031 $3.99
Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings / Dap-Kings, The Got A Thing On My Mind (7'') Daptone Records DAP-1001 $3.99
Daptone Records Slipmats (Glow-In-The-Dark - pair) (includes Daptone sticker) Daptone Records G379 $12.99
Black Flag Damaged [LP] SST Records Inc. SST 7 $8.09
Bob & Gene If This World Were Mine...[LP] Daptone Records DAP-010 $10.99
Che Guevara The Voice Of The Revolution [LP] Cleopatra CLP-LP-2430 $14.99
Daktaris Soul Explosion [LP] Daptone Records DAP-009 $10.99
Larry Levan Paradise Garage [2 LP] Salsoul SSL-LP-1018 $16.59
Poets Of Rhythm Practice What You Preach [LP] Daptone Records DAP-007 $10.99
Sid Vicious F#@K Off You C#%T [LP] Anarchy Music ARY-LP-8089 $14.09
Various Artists Como Now: The Voices Of Panola Co., Mississippi [LP] Daptone Records DAP-014 $10.99
Various Artists Punk As Fuck [LP] Cleopatra CLP-LP-2725 $14.99
Various Artists Under The Sun Soundtrack [2LP] Ubiquity UBR11238-1 $16.49


RESTOCKS
50 Cent I Get Money Interscope B000980811 $3.99
Betty Padgett vs. Artur Foy Sugar Daddy / Get Up And Dance 12'' Luv N Haight Records LHR 100571 $5.39
Black Eyed Peas Pump It Interscope B000630611 $3.99
Black Flag TV Party 12'' (non-LP version) SST Records Inc. SST 12 $5.39
Bloody Beetroots WARP (feat. Steve Aoki) 12'' Downtown/Dim Mak DM133 $5.19
Chingy Fly Like Me (Featuring Amerie) Def Jam B001058711 $3.99
Daddy Yankee Gangsta Zone (Machete Remix) Interscope B000702611 $3.99
DJ Felli Fel Feel It (feat. T-Pain, Sean Paul, Flo Rida, Pitbull) (12'') Def Jam B001270911 $3.99
Elvis Presley That's All Right Mama (Elvis vs 13 Cats Remix) 12'' Cleopatra CLP-SI-1377 $4.99
Eminem Encore (feat. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent) 12'' Aftermath B000383611 $3.99
Estelle American Boy (Feat. Kanye West) Atlantic 422972 $4.25
Estelle Wait A Minute (Just A Touch) Atlantic 405948 $4.25
Game Game's Pain (feat. Keyshia Cole) Aftermath B001156211 $3.99
Jay-Z Anything / Big Pimpin' Def Jam 3145626701 $3.99
Jay-Z/Linkin Park Numb/Encore ADA/Warner Bros. Records WBR 427730 $4.39
Juvenile Back That Azz Up Universal 0121564821 $3.99
Lady GaGa Just Dance (feat. Colby O'Donis) [Remix] Interscope B001129811 $3.99
Lil Wayne Got Money (ft. T-Pain) Universal Motown B001160211 $3.99
LL Cool J Baby (ft. The-Dream) / Rockin' With The G.O.A.T. Def Jam B001165911 $3.99
Ludacris Stand Up (Feat. Shawnna) Def Jam B000118311 $3.99
Mariah Carey I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time b/w Remix feat. T.I. Island B001177511 $3.99
Memphis Bleek Like That Def Jam B000377611 $3.99
Nas Hero (feat. Keri Hilson) Def Jam B001166011 $3.99
Ne-Yo Because Of You Def Jam B000867811 $3.99
Ne-Yo Closer Def Jam B001122211 $3.99
Ne-Yo Sexy Love Def Jam B000734211 $3.99
Ne-Yo So Sick Def Jam B000619011 $3.99
Plies Bust It Baby Part II (feat. Ne-Yo) b/w Who Hotter Than Me Atlantic 506620 $4.25
Shiny Toy Guns Le Disko (Remixes) Universal Motown B000829911 $3.99
Shiny Toy Guns You Are The One (Remixes) Universal Motown B000980911 $6.79
Simian Mobile Disco Hustler Interscope B001052911 $3.99
Weird Science Haus Of Cards 12'' Downtown/Dim Mak DM125 $4.99
Yuksek Tonight (includes new remixes) 12'' CherryTree/Interscope B001288411 $4.49
Yung Joc Bottle Poppin' (Feat. Gorilla Zoe)/Play Your Cards Bad Boy 334460 $4.25
Johnny Thunders Disappointed In You 7'' Cleopatra CLP-SS-3298 $5.89
Ramones I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend b/w Judy Is A Punk 7'' Norton NR 65 $5.69
U2 Vertigo [7''] Interscope Records B0003580-21 $3.99
Ultimate Breaks & Beats I Believe In Miracles Street Beat SBR774-7 $5.99
Vibrators Troops Of Tomorrow 7'' Cleopatra CLP-SS-3308 $5.89
I (turntable) Vinyl T-Shirt (Large) Warner Brothers MH-63804 $12.99
I (turntable) Vinyl T-Shirt (X-Large) Warner Brothers MH-63805 $12.99
Amy Winehouse Frank [LP] (180 Gram Vinyl Import) Island (Import) 1776241 $19.79
Black Flag Everything Went Black [2 LP] SST Records Inc. SST 15 $10.29
Bob Dylan Another Side Of Bob Dylan (180 Gram Vinyl) [LP] Sundazed Music SUN-LP-5121 $14.09
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan [LP] [MONO EDITION] Sundazed Music SUN-LP-5120 $14.09
Bob Marley & The Wailers Gold Collection 1970-71 Vol.1 (Picture Disc) [LP] Erika ER2002 28 $14.19
Bob Marley & The Wailers Gold Collection 1970-71 Vol.2 (Picture Disc) [LP] Erika ER2002 29 $14.19
Brian Wilson Smile Rhino Records RHI 765821 $20.59
Budos Band The Budos Band [LP] Daptone Records DAP-005 $10.99
Budos Band The Budos Band II [LP] Daptone Records DAP-011 $10.99
Common Be [2 LP] Geffen B000467001 $10.77
Daft Punk Homework [2 LP] (Import) EMI Canada MB 42609 $31.29
Dan Deacon Bromst [2 LP] Carpark Records CPK 700481 $11.79
Duffy Rockferry [LP] Mercury B001082201 $10.77
Erykah Badu New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) / [2 LP] Universal Motown B001080001 $10.77
Erykah Badu Worldwide Underground [LP] Motown B000073901 $6.19
Game Doctors Advocate Geffen B000793301 $10.77
Game LAX [2 LP] Geffen B001146501 $10.76
Jay-Z American Gangster Acappella / [2 LP] Def Jam B001052201 $10.77
Kanye West College Dropout Def Jam B000203001 $10.77
Killers Day & Age [2 LP] (180g + mp3 download card with photo + poster) Island B001219701 $13.39
Kinks Muswell Hillbillies [LP] Velvel Records VEL-LP-79823 $15.79
M.I.A. Arular Interscope B000484401 $10.77
Mariah Carey E=MC2 / [2 LP] Island B001027201 $10.77
Miles Davis Isle Of Wight Concert (200 Gram) [LP] (DMM) Vinyl Passion VP 80001 $15.49
Neil Young Sugar Mountain: Live At Canterbury House [2 LP] (200 Gram Japanese HQ Vinyl) Reprise A-512563 $53.39
Rihanna Good Girl Gone Bad [2 LP] Def Jam B000896801 $10.77
Shiny Toy Guns Season Of Poison [2 LP] Universal Motown B001220901 $10.79
Shiny Toy Guns We Are Pilots Universal Motown B000761501 $10.77
Snoop Doggy Dogg Doggystyle (Explicit Version) [2 LP] Death Row DRR-LP-63002 $13.29
The-Dream Love Vs. Money [2LP] Def Jam B001257901 $10.79
Timbaland Timbaland Presents Shock Value [2 LP] Interscope B000859401 $10.77
Various Artists Ultimate Breaks & Beats v.10 Street Beat SBR510-LP $11.79
Various Artists Ultimate Breaks & Beats v.11 Street Beat SBR511-LP $11.79
Various Artists Ultimate Breaks & Beats v.8 Street Beat SBR508-LP $11.79
Weezer Weezer [LP] (Blue Album) Geffen 424629 $26.69

Well if they're going to keep stretching 47 minute albums into a 2-record set at least they could throw on some bonus tracks or something..

I think a lot of artists could benefit from a 40-minute ceiling for their records.

we're doing double vinyl for our new album but that's cuz its about an hour long

One thing about LPs that wont come back, but I miss, is the inner sleeve advertising the label's other offerings. Like pulling out the first Led Zep, and seeing these

Ha, I got a copy of Tangerine Dream's Rubycon the other day - the sleeve has ads for Acker Bilk 'Sheer Magic' and a Songs Of Praise tie-in record among others. Wonder how much crossover there was?

With prices like those, either the majors are gouging or they don't know shit about efficiency. (Or both, I suppose.) Break-even for small electronic labels is around 300-500 pieces of vinyl, as I understand it (and these are records that are retailing for between 8 and 10 euros; I think the wholesale is around 4 or 5). Granted, these may be bedroom operations with virtually no overhead, promotional budget, etc. But the cost of actually pressing vinyl, even with color sleeves, are not exorbitant, even in tiny runs.

please ban bendy for posting mann hair. rightous flack do can't even cancel that shit out.

(on my copy of push push someone wrote the name CHICO right on herb's belly. also a german pressing. sounds phenomenal.)

Hey cxuxk, is that return-of-vinyl Billboard piece you mentioned available online?

"Once again... M.I.A.'s Kala is 47 minutes and it's a 2-disc set. I'm not into that idea."

i never even made it through the last couple of wu tang albums. we are talkin' like 8 sides there. i can't be expected to get out of my chair THAT much.

It's laughable. I mentioned on the Neil Young thread seeing a reissue of Decade for $80. I'd estimate that $80 got me every Neil Young album from the first through to Re·ac·tor (14 albums) first time around--Rust Never Sleeps or Hawks & Doves at a minimum.

hi, bye

https://pitchfork.com/news/devastating-manufacturing-plant-fire-threatens-worldwide-vinyl-record-supply/