Counterfeit Vinyl

While I would never defend bootleggers, I will say that this particular company filled a void in the market with at least a few of their titles, specifically recent hip-hop releases that never saw official vinyl release. We're talking big names too... Kanye West, Drake, Jay-Z, etc. I actually own their pressing of Frank Ocean's Channel Orange and you'd never guess it was a boot from the sound quality. In fact, it sounds quite a bit better than the (official) pressing of Kanye's Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The rumor was that there was an official source at Def Jam leaking the hi-Rez masters to them.

Anyway, there's a very easy solution to stop vinyl bootlegging: Release the official pressings! Yes, I'm talking to you, Tool and QOTSA....

 

There were tons of these phony cassettes and 8-tracks sold in independent
gas stations and truckstops along the East Coast in the early to mid-70s.

 

The new Mute/Spoon Can LPs that I've seen (I've held them in my hands) say 'Spoon 2014' on the rear, not 2013. Whilst there are a lot of fake UA Can albums out there I believe that there are fake Spoon copies also. Before the release of the current legit' Can LPs, Discogs was full of sellers claiming they had new/sealed Can LPs on Spoon. None of these can have been genuine.

My advice is buy direct from Mute if you can (Can)...

 

I have "Soundtracks" and it definitely says "2013" on cover and label. Concerning Spoon fakes: Totally possible but the first official Spoon vinyl versions definitely have stamped matrix numbers. And I have yet to see a newer counterfeit with stamped numbers.

 

Are the Can reissues being officially released in the US on Mute in september? I'm tempted to get the Amazon imports of these, but they're pretty pricey. Can on vinyl is such a minefield...

 

Just was at a store that had ALL Can reissues up to "Saw Delight" and they all said "2013". BTW: "Future Days" has an embossed sleeve and "Soon Over Babaluma" is silver foiled

 

Nice! Amazon.com gives a 7/29 availability date for "Future Days" here in the US. At almost $50 a pop, these are nothing to sneeze at...

 

Now I'm beginning to doubt my own sanity...! (not for the first time...). I will check again when I am next in the city. I want a copy of Monster Movie and Ege Bamyasi so that will give me an excuse. I have an original UK UA copy of Future Days - it's a bit battered but still sounds remarkably respectable. I can't bare to part with it really and I don't have shelf room for another copy so I'm sticking with it... I have one of the earlier (legit') Spoon copies of Tago Mago so I won't be getting the new version of that either (though I would have done if they had released it in the original UK sleeve). That's me done for Can I think. Though there's also Soundtracks... Grrr!

 

We're reversed! I have a legit reissue of Monster Movie and original Ege, but need Tago and a real Future Days. I have a pirate Future Days that is seriously noisy, but it looks cool as hell on translucent purple vinyl. It even has an embossed cover.

 

I agree on two counts; first of all, this company really was filling a void. And second, the stuff I heard from them was typically better than anything I have ever got from Def Jam.

And it's a little amazing it took this long to bust them if the authorities were serious about the copyright issue - they were openly advertising this stuff on their website. So it would not have taken much effort to find them.

 

One of the worst offenses in bootlegs - because of the really large pricetag and the inferior sound quality - is Roger Waters "Amused to Death." So many (do a search( have been bit by that one, sometimes at $200 to $400 a copy! Ouch. I'm glad QRP is bringing this title out.

One that I bought last year off of Amazon was a "Japanese repressing" of Talk Talk's "The Colour of Spring." It was really a great effort, with a very authentic OBI strip, the main disc in black vinyl, and a bonus disc of live rarities in colored vinyl. The rarities were actualy quite good, although the main disc was a mess (varying thickness...like an unevenly poured pancake). The cover art was also great. Discogs, though, had it pegged as an unauthorized reproduction. I contacted the seller, and they took it back without question. There IS an actual repressing available, which I subsequently bought. The real one has a bonus DVD audio.

One that I bought knowing it was a boot, and that I'm very pleased with on all levels is the Smith's "B-Sides and Rarities" album. Really terrific, and most sounds like it was professionally sourced. Some say it was an unofficial "release" by the band of outtakes and rarities.

 

Don't forget we are on different continents Just because you saw this and I saw that doesn't mean one of us is wrong. I guess they pressed more than 100 copies of the Can albums so it is totally possible that here are leftovers from the box (hence the 2013) but also newly printed sleeves with 2014.

 

I guess there are different kind of forgers out there, the ones that are well connected and actually care about the quality of "their" product and the blatant fakers that are trying to imitate rare albums to cash in. The latter are producing this widely spread garbage that has fulfilled it's use once the unknowing victim has paid for it. Never heard the Roger Waters but a friend got burnt with "Mellon Collie" (Smashing Pumpkins) and Tom Waits' "Bone Machine". Both sounded horrible even before we compared them to originals.

The problem is that the older counterfeits are still out there and can easily be mistaken for originals. Some even fetch the original's price. I see this everytime "Without You I'm Nothing" by Placebo comes up in auctions. Because: "Without Gatefold I'm Nothing"

 

This will be an unpopular opinion on here I know but here is my opinion on it....I have no problem with it at all. There are many bootlegging plants not just in Germany but in France too and to this day they produce coloured vinyl and picture disc vinyl of not only albums but just your general 12" single with maybe 5 or 6 mixes/remixes on it. As someone who for many years (2010 being the last real year of them) I loved buying singles. Loved buying chart music 7" and 12" singles and yes I love hip hop music aswell. These plants fill a void and sell the records cheap enough at £6-£12 depending on it being a single/picture disc/album. Most of the time they are pressed at 180 grams, even the singles and yes weight doesn't matter and yes the sound quality could sometimes be off but like many others here said, many many times they put official labels to shame. They pressed music the labels wouldn't do. They aren't pressing music you can find in your local record store. That's the beauty of it. Are there a few exceptions? Absolutely but I see no issue with it. If music labels don't want to sell physical 12" singles anymore and don't want certain albums on vinyl then that void will be filled. They also sell very quickly as they are only pressed in limited numbers of a few hundred to 1000.

http://www.juno.co.uk/labels/unknown+label/vinyl/

Now some are doing etched vinyl too.



Look at this Iggy Azaela 12". She's supposed to be the next big thing. Look at the price. Coloured vinyl. 8 different tracks. Nice labels. Why can't the official label sell something like that?

http://www.juno.co.uk/products/iggymix-001-remix-ep/538985-01/

And that's me only showing you 12" singles and albums. Very easy to pick up. Like I said, if labels don't want to do it then let them do it.

 

I think your post was all right up to the point where you linked to sales...

 

There are lots of sites selling them in the UK and like others said, many independents carry them too.

 

Are there really pirate copies of Amused To Death? I've only ever seen this LP once and I bought it... Even though there was actually only half of it... It was just the sleeve, the booklet and record one. No record two at all..! That's how much I wanted it. It is genuine though...

Like a lot of people here, I've had the AP reissue on order for years (it feels like years anyway...)

 

Seen lots of them in record-fairs in the last couple years (so the trend has been growing?), different colored editions aswell albums that havent been repressed for long time etc.
Luckily most of the stuff being sold is genuine but once in awile theres some counterfeits.
Im not meaning unofficial recordings etc but straight counterfeits that are copied as much as to look like genuine (like topic meant also).

One seller even tried to sell me copy of album which was originally released in 90's and its been long OOP.
Well, the seller claimed that the copy he had was some repress, but without any matrix-code and poor printing (on both sleeve and labels) I could easily see it was counterfeit and the price was so low anyways.
I knew the background and history of this particular album and the fact that there hasn't been manufactured any represses so far (currently only original pressing exists but repress might be coming),
so I knew the seller was telling something else than the truth.
I said to him straight away that I will gladly wait for official repress of the album...

For what I have seen on some other forums, I suppose many people don't necessary check any info and just buy the counterfeit vinyl as blindfold and believe those are genuine.

 

In case you haven't seen it, check out Revelation "by" Morrissey.

 

I got a bunch of those bootleg Can LP's a while ago, before I knew they were counterfeit. Mine actually all sound pretty decent. I'll still get at least a few of my favourites of the re-releases, when I can find them for a decent price, if only just out of curiosity, to see how much better they sound, if at all. Can being one of my all-time favourite bands.

It's kind of funny to compare the Can bootlegs to 'legit' releases that are totally botched. I have a Stereolab Peng! LP that is just atrocious, as well as a couple of Elliott Smith ones that are a crime as well. They should have just gotten the bootleggers to do it for them, the Can LP's put them to shame. Funny that.

 

Thanks. I had my local brick and mortar shop put a pre-order for Ege and Tago.

 

Seen locally this week

 

What is the clue that the Crimson is a fake? Poor graphics or what?

 

I don't know if it is. I didn't have time to check, as I snatched that picture while the vendor had his back turned.
They seem to sell a mix of real (mostly Music On Vinyl) and fakes (everything else).
If you're interested, I can check the Crimson in more detail next week.

 

Had a look yesterday in more detail. From what I could tell, the Crimson looks to be legit.
They also had an Audio Fidelity Kate Bush that seemed genuine.