Yep, gladly rejoined after a couple months off to get that Jorge Ben. Also added Classics back as a track, but swapped for Mavis Staples.
strongly considering making the classics my default subscription moving forward. aside from packing & shipping woes, the releases have been just that.
I streamed willie bobo three or four times today in totality - the album really grew on me. There are a few tracks that border on cheese... but the other tracks overpowered them by a long shot. Glad to be picking this one up - AAA recorded at a Van Gelder studio with some great photography on the jacket, can’t pass that up!
not a huge fan of the bobo album as the songs feel somewhat pedestrian, but once again the pressing is impeccably done by QRP. this thing is top-notch!
Finally got around to listening to Africa Brazil. I liked it and I actually enjoyed reading about it in the booklet. once again, my pressing was outstanding. It's outside of my normal listening but, once again, that's the whole point of my VMP subscription. My Isley brothers just shipped and I'm looking forward to that.
The VMP page, along with several of the reviews of the service, mention that Kevin Gray "does much of our remastering." I haven't done an exhaustive search on discogs, but the titles I've checked indicate that Kevin cut the lacquer with no mentioning of mastering. I've been listening to Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood" and I just don't hear anything close to the KG magic that I've been accustomed to -- I can't believe he had a hand in mastering that disk. Can anyone help out?
first of all, the vmp folks rarely have any idea what they're talking about. you're getting too detailed when you try to differentiate between remastering, mastering, lacquer cutting.
VMP: The curation is interesting (if a tad "this deliciously obscure item will be a great investment") The quality is reasonable but, again, it feels like I'm buying an object rather than the music? Subscription plans suck (OK, maybe I'm being unreasonable, but I just can't shake that gross internet feeling when I sign up for these types of things? Anyone else?) Having said that. They have great customer service and seem like solid folk.....And I'm an old bastard. Sadly, I tried and canceled.
Perhaps the blame rests with Discogs which commonly uses the "RM" designation to indicate that a title was "remastered" as well as making reference to who did the "mastering" and "lacquer cut by/at". As regards the information provided by VMP, does the hype sticker attached to the shrinkwrap usually make mention of the mastering engineer? [There's no mention on the "Knock on Wood" LP.] If not -- particularly as Kevin Gray has become rather well-known -- should we assume that he did not master that particular LP? Rhino is not new at this game and has certainly not been shy in the past about shouting out the mastering engineer.
i'm not quite sure what you mean with reference to discogs. yes, people regularly mis-use "remastered" there and mix-up "mastered" and "lacquer cut by" but i feel most of that blame actually lies with the record labels and their inability to be clear. i cannot wait for this to arrive next week. going AAA and moving to QRP for these is huge. the al green is one of the best sounding records i own.
I've been tempted to snag this when the deadstock hits the VMP store, but I'm sure my original 1977 copy more than suffices. VMP's AAA reissue of Al Green's Call Me on QRP was mind-blowingly stunning, so much that it blew every other version I've owned (including my crackly 1973 Mastercraft pressing) out of the water.
Big VMP day for me today. Listened to Go For Your Guns. Man, that's a great sounding album. QRP did a fantastic job pressing this album, it sounds great and it's dead quiet. I really like it and I was not really familiar with the Isley Brothers outside of their well known hits. Which leads to the one down side to this release. I really couldn't get into the included booklet, I got about half way through and gave up. Frankly, not a big fan of the writing style. Other than that, great release! Secondly, received my last shipment for Anthology. Packaging wasn't great, but everything looks good, thankfully. I've been very lucky in that I haven't received one damaged shipment from VMP yet. The Dexter Gordon cover is much better than the original, especially side by side. Listened to the Wayne shorter album and it sounds great. All in all, I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with the Anthology. The quality of the recordings was outstanding (which is really all I care about) and it really opened me up to Blue Note records. I've bought a few Tone Poet releases and I plan to pick up a few more.
this record smokes! i enjoyed the sound so much last night that i spun it twice. if they keep this up i might make the "classics" my main subscription. especially since my replacement request percentage of the "essentials" is getting moronic.
The Isley brothers lp is really great!! I think the 1st 45 I bouught was 'Who's That Lady' and listening to the guitar on this Go For Your Guns Man lp is really a treat for me. I know they may be sold out but both the Archie Schepps Attica Blues and Max Roach's Percussion Bitter Sweet are great too
It’s probably old news, but I’m really enjoying Little Milton’s “Waiting For Little Milton.” It’s a great Stax LP from an underrated era for the label. Little Milton is fantastic and the album features the Memphis Horns and two legendary drummers (Al Jackson & Willie Hall). This was a Classics LP of the month in 2017, but it’s still available from VMP (just received my copy this week). Remastered by Kevin Gray.
That’s good to hear. Hopefully it will be available to swap in September. Sounds like next month will be up my alley, but not September.
Pretty psyched about this months selection, Art Blakey's Freedom Rider. Looks like it's AAA and pressed at QRP, which is great. Can't wait to get this one.
So while I have purchased a couple VMP releases, I have never subscribed. Do I have a chance at scoring Freedom Rider without a subscription?
I think so! I remember I signed up in January because I really wanted that Blossom Dearie (which sold out instantly) and I was able to snag it with my first subscription. When you subscribe, it should make it very clear what exactly will be your first title, and if its not freedom rider, you can just decline
My copy of freedom rider just shipped with the estimated delivery date of Tuesday. Normally it shows up a bit early, but Tuesday is OK with me.
