I bought Veckatimest on vinyl when it came out during the twilight of my interest in new indie rock and quickly traded it in. But I’m not so out of touch that I can’t recognize that, like the Strokes’ Room on Fire a few months ago, Grizzly Bear is a group that people a decade or so younger than me like, and it makes perfect sense as an Essentials pick. I’m in the “Beatles, Dylan, Stones, and R.E.M. forever” stage of my life, but, you know, the rest of the world moves on, and, once again, good for VMP for picking some titles outside of the same classic rock warhorses.
I just re-subscribed for another year at the higher price - basically, because I wanted the Lee Morgan & generally love VMP - but there’s not one record in the next 3 months that really excites me, & it’s been a while since there’s been anything in swaps that I want/don’t already have; I think I’ll be taking credit & waiting for exclusives that grab my attention.
You may be onto something. I was very much starting to lose interest in indie rock around that time. The Grizzly Bear record has zero appeal to me, but I'm probably a little older than VMP's target demographic.
I just received my Lee Morgan yesterday! Where can I see what records are coming up in the next 3 months?
Simplicity = Happiness You are right, we are spoiled with VMP, Tone Poets, Acoustic Sounds Series, AP, Mofi, etc. My wallet can't keep up or at least it shouldn't be trying. As much as I love these all analog reissues, I also love music that is made today. This type of music becomes more of the soundtrack of the life I'm living in this moment. This will be different for everyone. Oddly enough, Grizzly Bear was one of those bands for me in my late 20s/early 30s. I remember seeing them around the release of Yellow House in a small Nashville venue when they were still selling their own merch. I love that whole era of indie music (2005-2015). I don't need a reissue of Veckatimest but it's pretty cool they are spotlighting them and hopefully introducing them to a new crowd. It won't be everyone's cup of tea. On another note, I went to my first concert since early 2020 last night. It was Big Thief and as a band I kind of feel that are carrying on with some of that same energy, although sounding different, from that era. It may just be me though. It was pretty special and the type of in the moment creativity/music that I love being a part of. I'm also not here to call out anyone's frustrations with VMP though. A lot of it is warranted, especially QC concerns and some of the drop teases.
People want great choices monthly because we are paying for them monthly or worse in advance. If you pay for 3 months and out of 4 tracks you can’t find a great album each month, it’s a problem. If you prepaid for two or three tracks in advance and get mediocre choices across the tracks, it’s discouraging. Their albums aren’t cheap. They need to make great titles or lose subscribers. Why should I pay the same for a record I don’t want vs. getting a true classic from Speakers Corner or one of those labels? That’s what VMP are pushing people to chose.
It's absurd to assume that every month you will be super psyched about what VMP has chosen to press. This is why they offer store credit and swaps. Your idea of a "mediocre choice" is someone else's desert island disk.
Makes sense - for me, even during the leanest of times, I’ve always found something cool to at least swap for. I took a little break for a few months in 2020 but once things caught fire I came back on. These past few months I’ve been running a full 4 sub add on as there was so much stuff that was absolute fire! It appears they are slowing down, so I’m happy to just go back to my normal 1 record sub. I’m cool with their model because I know I can always back out and come back in as needed. I’ve never really had an issue finding a swap if I didn’t dig any of the ROTMS at the moment. And I’ve gotten so much great stuff these past few months that I’m ok if these next few slow down a bit or underwhelm.
Yep and it's also a chance to get into something new, albeit an expensive one. I never would have gotten into Spiritualized or Margo Guryan or TV on tbe Radio if not for VMP.
Haven't seen it from VMP themselves, but word is that it's half-speed remastered (Barry Grint) at 45 RPM
Apparently someone found all the info on Google, which lol. https://www.reddit.com/r/VinylMePlease/comments/pt8qst/its_here_on_2lp_pink_orange_vinyl_halfspeed/
They clearly dip between classic albums that are probably more to license and newer ones that enough people will like or accept. I get that they can’t have home runs every track, every month, but out of 4 tracks they should have at least one or two that many people want. They seem to have a system of putting up a month with 2-4 great albums, get people to subscribe or subscribe again and then quickly have a bunch of mediocre albums or albums that aren’t very in demand. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion about them. I like a lot of what they do, but they most definitely could take some constructive criticism.
Hey all don’t fret. Even if the music sucks you get a super cool free cocktail recipe with every album!!
Yeah, that reddit post is where my "intel" came from, which is why I made note of it not having been officially announced haha. Some of the people on there seem to be pretty good at sleuthing, but at the same time, it's a speculation machine. Hoping it's true, though.
Oh jeez. Drafting an email to express my frustration now! Just kidding of course As I’ve had my fair share of ripping VMP in this thread lately I will throw out some positivity - I recently acquired their release of Alan Shorter’s Orgasm and they did a great job. Really enjoying this record. I’m shocked this is still available
At my rate, I use those credits reaaaaallllly quick when things like these past few months drop. I believe I've received maybe 10 or so ROTMs and/or swaps in the past 3 months alone. So even if the next few months are straight credit, at least for me I know I will use it easily down the line.
I signed up for 3 months after a long break cause i thought the next 3 months looked great. Grizzly Bear, Gram Parsons, the Meters and potentially some great option for swaps and extra tracks.
So I figured just as an academic exercise I would take a look at what I've actually been able to procure from VMP on my ROTM/add on schedule, and basically "measure" whether they did a decent job or not: February Strokes - Room on Fire (banger) (was able to swap in 2 Fiona Apples, When the Pawn and Tidal, both bangers) March Kid Cudi (major banger) April MIA (definition of a banger) May King Curtis Live (awesome) June Dorothy Ashby (crate digger banger) July Mars Volta (absolute banger) swapped in Darkside - Psychic and the Doors (classic banger) Added a Donny Hathaway swap (seriously this one is awesome) August Bill Withers (beautiful) Beverly Glenn Copeland (this one is OK, I'll give another listen) Outkast ATliens (still banging to this) September (which is still on its way ) Lee Morgan (just stop, Lee always bangs) Wu-Tang (are you serious?) Public Enemy (come on now, please tell me your heart is beating right now) swapped in Saba (absolute CHI banger) AND just saw the coleman hawkins flies high release and added that to the mix. No one else can tell me they've had a better 2021 then what VMP has offered, if so, let me know
