they took an unusually long time to ship this month! here's hoping mine arrives defect-free so i can enjoy it as soon as it arrives.
Same - mine scheduled for Tuesday...thankfully on a day where I have scheduled day off from work! This one took a particular longer time to ship out, hope everything is ok! I am sure they were backlogged with all the Mariah Carey daydreamer orders
thanks for the laugh! i'm wondering of maybe the "Essentials" wasn't quite as welcomed and they were inundated with swaps or whatever. i'm all for a release of a rarity, but man were the other two "tracks" (especially classics) waayyy more appealing.
agreed. mine is on the way now, and i've got a tracking number, which the last order i did (Willie Bobo) never listed as 'shipped', it just showed up. Fingers crossed the mailer on this BN record will be in good shape when it arrives.
"Freedom Rider" arrived on my doorstep and I had a chance to listen to it today, it's fantastic! The vinyl and packaging are on par with Blue Note's "Tone Poet" series. Genuinely shocked by the high quality. I hope everyone's copies arrive in good condition.
Fingers crossed here. Thanks for the report. We will see how it compares to the Mosaic. I am a long time watcher and finally joined because of this release. I also ordered the Coltrane for later this month. Some good stuff in the store.
my wife and I have considered VMP's monthly subscription for a minute - to be fair, she's actually the one who first alerted me to it - but comments like these have me a bit worried. I saw Fremer shill hard for them by way of the Al Green record and the opinions expressed here seem to back him up, but the idea of "curated" anything pretty much makes my skin crawl and coupled with that, a site that tries to convey a boutique atmosphere (replete with cocktails) but uses photos of their albums being played on Crosley's gives me pause. feels a bit like talking out of both sides of ones mouth...I dunno.
A lot of what you describe is "noise" -- if you can filter it out and just focus on the vinyl itself (pressing quality, mastering quality, etc.), you might find it more appealing. I've been having a fun time with my VMP subscription since 3 months was gifted to me for my birthday back in March. I've never tried to make one of their cocktail recipes (though I won't rule it out; I like cocktails!), I've not yet read one of the little chapbook essays they sometimes insert, I've not paid much attention to the custom artwork or graffiti templates sometimes inserted, etc. I open the plastic, appreciate the (usually) tip-on sleeves, glossy covers, colored vinyl (I'm not a black-only vinyl purist by any means), and play the records. If they sound somewhere between very good to great, I'm thrilled. So far, I've been consistently thrilled. Craig.
I own some VMP pressings and enjoy them but have never become a member because I don't want a bunch of LPs I am not sure I will like. Am I misunderstanding the rules?
If you don't like the offering for a particular month, you can swap it out for something else that's available. For example, while I'm intrigued by September's Jim Sullivan U.F.O. on the Essentials Track, I chose to swap it out for the April 2019 Classics Track title of Nat Turner Rebellion Laugh To Keep From Crying because it was among the 40-50 or so titles available to swap (if a prior track title is truly sold-out/out-of-stock, then it won't be available for a swap). Depending on how adventurous vs. particular you are, this can either be an exciting or an anxiety-ridden situation. Craig.
yeah but the rest of what i've said about them and their "classics" releases is also true. at least when they say "hey guys this is AAA and cut/mastered by kevin gray and pressed at QRP" someone appears to have given them the right words to appeal to us all.
I agree completely. Some people are rabidly anti-VMP but I have found it to be a great service. In fact, I just resubscribed. That being said, I know that there have been QC issues including shipping issues, warped records and the Anthology nonsense. I have been lucky in that I haven't had any issues with the first two. As to Anthology, they made most of it right but the mistakes that they made were mind boggling. However, the records themselves are outstanding and that's what I care about.
My copy came with some strange streaks on the front cover (like glue or something) and a feelable/audible scratch on side 1. Emailed customer service and they're sending out a replacement. From the little bit I listened to it sounded good, although maybe not as good as the Kevin Gray BN cuts. Need to do a more attentive listening to make a better comparison.
Got damn this freedom rider is smoking. I am digging what RKS sterling and crew are doing with the BN tapes, and pressed at QRP is a great decision. I’m getting really wide open soundstage and great depth and layering, the drums are rendered perfectly.
Me, three! Also got mine today. Listened to it, got a bite to eat and put it on again. They hit it out of the park again. This album is fantastic. I love when I play the qrp pressed albums and people ask why there are no clicks and pops.
