The Kickstarter for the Aural Pleasure 45RPM pressing of King Gizzard's Polygondwanaland is now LIVE

Eeeyup! Mastered at Sterling Sound, plated at Welcome to 1979, pressed at GZ. My reasons for going through them are outlined in the original Kickstarter page - I felt that using these 3 would make for the best possible end product, given the particulars of what I was looking to achieve with this release.

 

Anybody else receive this LP set yet? Just got mine today. Listening to side 1, so far so good, maybe a few random pops. I have not cleaned the vinyl yet. I got the kick starter deal that included 5 additional random records. Originally I thought these would be future releases done by Aural Pleasures instead of random $1 bin records, so kind of disappointed with the extra record selection, 3 classical, a George Carlin, a Pattie Page single in G condition and one called Secrete Love, a comp of love songs. Most of these extra records were in VG- shape at best. Back to the King Gizzard pressing, both vinyl and cover is top notch, very pleased with album. Sound Quality is very good to excellent so far.

What are other peoples impressions?

 

Got mine yesterday too - sounds phenomenal! Zero pops/noise, and all I did was give it a quick brush before playing.

Flat, quiet, the dynamic range is near perfect. I have one other Polygon vinyl from Vinyl Moon, and while that one is great, this one smokes it.

The outer sleeve is really nice too - great texture for the art. Only issue is that the insides aren't slick, so the record sleeves were crushed/torn as they were forced into the outer sleeves. Not a huge deal, as I replaced them with plastic inner sleeves.

 

Finished listening to both LPs last night, just dry brushed clean. Vinyl was pretty quiet, sounded excellent, so glad I got this one! I think it is the only 2 LP at 45 RPM made, is that right? There are lots of different pressings listed on Discogs.

 

Looks and sounds good!

 

So glad to see you’re all enjoying these! I still have quite a bit left to ship out, but everyone sharing their pics and comments on this pressing all over the web… it’s such a trip. I’m really thrilled to see that people are truly cherishing these and glad to have them in their collections.

@hartonr - sorry to hear about your initial disappointment with the mystery LPs - I had it stated in the “Mystery LP” reward description that these were vintage records and conditions would vary, but I can see now how that description may not be as clear in higher reward tiers where certain rewards from lower tiers are bundled in. On the other hand, IIRC I think that “secret love” comp was a 3LP set - so there’s a little extra bang for the buck! Plus, that George Carlin LP has the classic “7 words” routine, which is essential listening. I was a little tempted to hold onto that one for myself

 

Yeah, 4 show tunes albums and a live Nils Lofgren album here lol. Happy with the Gizzard album though, so all good...

 

The "Bonus Discs" pledge point was an artful scam.

Thanks for the Show Tunes, sleeveless 45 and Henry Mancini. I am sure they'll enjoy them at the landfill.

 

Yeah, me too. What's worse, is when I opened the box with a knife, I cut a deep gouge in my Gloria Gainer 45 lol...

That said, I'm really enjoying the Gizzard album and 24/44 download. Its well pressed and the cover is well done. Gonna have to dig in to these guys

 

So

You'll Survive ???

 

Lol

 

As happy as I am to have the 45RPM pressing in my possession now, and looking forward to listening to it this weekend, I am inclined to agree with you about the "bonus discs." It's not good when a customer receives a package from your record label, initially excited, only to open it up and see disappointing item after disappointing item contained within.

I regret paying extra for the bonus discs pledge, and I'll be more wary of future purchases as a result. Bummer -- hopefully the negative energy around this will dissipate quickly, so we can all (hopefully) enjoy the main attraction of this pledge.

EDIT: I truly believe that there were good intentions behind the bonus discs and I at least appreciate the intention. It's a new label; hopefully something will be learned from this and applied to future endeavors.

 

Here's my copy of Polygondwanaland on my JVC QL-Y5F turntable:

 

Here is the description of the "Ultra Instant Record Collection." Notice the "Sell-Out Special" listed below it. $46 for 10 mystery LPs, presumably of the same quality selections as the ones in the "Ultra Instant Record Collection." I am curious how those backers feel about their pledge?



And here is what I received as one of the 104 backers who chose to spend $25 more for "five mystery LPs and a mystery 45":






(A post is limited to five images; I'll share the rest in the next post.)

Contrast these photos with a different offer that I responded to from Joyful Noise recordings. $25 for 3 mystery LPs and a flexi single. I got three interesting full-length sealed LPs by Sebadoh, Sisyphus (a project featuring Sufjan Stevens, spread across 3 LP sides), and David Yow. Flexis by Briana Marela and Ought. They understood me and did a great job of guessing what I might like.

Perhaps that experience with Joyful Noise made me think I'd get something comparably cool from Aural Pleasure. It probably contributed to my disappointment that I actually got far less for my $25.

Craig.

 

Here's the rest of what I received in the "Ultra Instant Record Collection."

 

Hey @Guitarded and @CraigVC ! I'm really sorry to hear that you were both disappointed with your mystery LP purchases. To be honest with you, @Guitarded, I'm more than a little bewildered that you would go so far as to call this a "scam" - it is in my opinion that it was pretty clear exactly what was being provided with these rewards, and why someone might feel compelled to select one of these rewards. So with that in mind, I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding exactly what your expectations could have possibly been, now knowing that they have not been met. Surely anyone who thought that they might have found a set of "767 Lexington" Blue Notes or B&Y Parlophones in their mystery package would end up disappointed, but that hardly seems reasonable now, doesn't it

@CraigVC - I appreciate you taking the opportunity to share the exact wording of 2 of the rewards. If you don't mind, I'd like to share the descriptions of the standalone Mystery 45 and Mystery LP rewards as well, as these rewards founded the basis for bonus items that were also included in other tiers.

I'd also like to comment on the records you received - in the order of your photos:

• On and On - Gladys Knight & The Pips

Sometimes soul is best experienced at 45 revolutions per minute. Give it a whirl, it's a good song!

• The Explosive Betty Reilly

a 50's era LP that lyrically references Elvis... I kind of wish I had spun it myself before sending it, just to hear what it was like. Is that not at least mildly interesting to you?

• Peter Allen

A fairly unknown pop album with some very impressive session credits. I'm sure it's not one many here are familiar with, but with Steve Lukather playing on it is it not at least worth a listen?

• The Sting

This soundtrack is a classic. Besides, everyone needs at LEAST one recording of the Joplin rags in their collection, though I personally tend to prefer those performed via paper rather than human hands...

• The Mad Woman of Chaillot

Perhaps the recording is uninteresting... but one of the rare joys in record collecting is cracking open an album from decades past, as of yet untouched. How often do you get to open up a still sealed LP from 50+ years ago?

• Fantastic themes

It says "Fantastic" three times on the front of the jacket, how bad could it be?





Again, the purpose of these rewards was to encourage musical exploration and discovery, while also raising extra funds to help meet the stretch goals so that this release could be produced to it's fullest potential. When you hold the album and see the 180gm heavyweight vinyl, the tip-on gatefold jacket, the spot UV printing on the jacket, and the glow in the dark slipmat - understand that these stretch goals are what the higher reward tiers actually paid for. I do think enough information was provided in the description of these rewards to understand that genres and conditions would vary. If you understood that you were essentially playing record roulette and still thought there was a chance that you may not have enjoyed what was received, then in all honesty - these rewards were really not for you. If you went into it with an open mind, this was an opportunity to expand your collection and discover something new while also making an extra contribution to the campaign. Regardless, I do appreciate your very generous contributions to the project, and I am glad that you are otherwise enjoying the "main attraction" here - I hope you at least take some pride in the fact that your contribution helped make this release the best it could be. Cheers!

 

Also I can vouch for the quality of the Felix Slatkin record, as I feel he was one of the greats of his time. Fantastic (pun partially unintended) violinist, conductor, arranger and all around musical talent, so much so that Frank Sinatra handpicked him to be his concertmaster during the 1950's. Also died tragically young too; a heart attack at 47.

 

Thank you for sharing this, I learned something new today! My musical knowledge has grown, and I didn't even get the LP. If I see another of his recordings in the lot I may have to pull it aside for personal consumption...

 

I don’t find it misleading at all. I did not participate in the bundle special because i already had no idea who king gizzard was and was not interested in spending $45 on possibly all unknowns. That said even at 45 bucks for this quality pressing and its looks are cheaper than you are gonna get a multi colored 2lp set at 45rpm at your local shop. For 45 bucks you got the main item a slip mat, 5lps, and a single mailed to you at no additional cost.

 

EDIT

 

I'm guessing that this is what is waiting for me at the post office with an underpaid postage cost and a customs/handling fee (that could have probably been avoided if the underpaid postage hadn't made them take an interest in it).

 

Hey Gary, that definitely shouldn’t be the case as when I weighed each “type” of shipment (dependent on tier) I used an official USPS scale, and made sure to weigh an example that would be as heavy as it could possibly be. For example, album+5 mystery LPs - I’d weigh an example where the mystery LPs would all be very thick, heavy vintage albums, etc. then even added a couple of oz on top of that to account for any further possible variance for the tape + label, etc. It would be possible for the packages to weigh slightly less than what I paid postage for, but certainly not more! If you did not receive a tracking number in your email, I can check out the tracking info if you let me know your backer number. Otherwise, please let me know if there is any further issue with the shipment. Thanks!

 

I just bought another copy, the EGG edition, what cool vinyl! Have not played it yet. Only 88 made, still 6 left from the aural Pleasures web site. I could not believe this addition is not sold out yet, the Eye adition with 500 qty is already sold out. Anybody else get the EGG edition? For $35 these records are priced right!

 

Glad you managed to pick up one of the “Egg” variants! Is the /500 “Seeing Eye” really sold out already?

 

Just played it last night, it sounds great and vinyl was pretty quiet with just a few pops over four sides. Very cool looking vinyl. Great idea for a pressing. It says on your web site sold out for the eye vinyl.