My take aways: 1.) I clearly do not have enough tattoos or indoor plants. 2.) The tip of the knife is going to start poking through that leather sheath before too long.
Lmao! This is literally like an SNL joke ad. Waiting for the funny voiceover to come on. Also what’s up with that one shot of an exacto knife? “Can’t beleive I used to open albums w an exacto knife like some shnook”.
Ah . . yeah. Thanks. Be great to have a strategy. RZA Lee Morgan Wu Tang Miles & Coltrane Southern Playa Aliens Call Me
I'm very confident that RZA and Wu Tang will be in Swaps again next month. I'm mostly confident that Miles&Trane and Call Me will reappear in swaps next month as well. I'd prioritize Lee Morgan, Southern Playa and ATLiens this month.
My copy is waiting for me at home, but I've been really busy and out of the house this week, so haven't had a chance to listen yet. It's really encouraging to see so many positive comments for it on here and elsewhere. Really looking forward to this one.
I've listened to it a few times now and I would go so far as to call it "definitive." The sound quality is a big improvement on the previous vinyl releases I have in my collection, the cover is really well made... I can't imagine we'll ever see a better release of this classic album.
VMP shipping is so frustrating. 3 records this month, all arrived with significant damage. Probably batting <50% arriving without damage. Their mailers are so flimsy. That said, thankfully their customer service has always made things right. Sent me 3 full replacements free of charge <24 hrs from my email to them. But I have to wonder what they are thinking from a business perspective. Would have to think it would be a lot cheaper to just use sturdier mailers.
In this case the multi-disc CD issue is a much better listen and has far more content. I’ve had the VMP version since it’s first pressing.
Yes, they always fix it, but I can't imagine the cost of sending out complete replacement records - what they did in the cases I reported seamsplits - instead just use a proper mailer in the first place. On the other hand, I don't really mind, I flipped the extra copy with damged sleeves or gave 'm away to friends. But still, it's not very environment friendly.
ive had zero problems with their mailers in the past 15 months ive been a member. Its the same mailers i get from several other places and have also had zero problems. Always surprised to see these comments, must have some rough mail handlers in your areas.
I am really happy I singed back up for one month to get Low End Theory. My first copy owned but of course I know the tunes from back in the day. I think the 2x45 sounds really really good.
Sorry for the late response, but I just got Phil Ranelin, The Time Is Now! from my local store. Looks to be pressed at GZ, but my copy was good, save for a mild wave. Played very clean — sounded good to me. The jackets are printed-on-board, not tip-on as the web site claims, and the really obvious half-tone printing on the back-cover photos is a slight let-down (maybe from a scan of an original jacket?), but the music makes up for it. I was only interested in a couple of the titles from the box, so I'm happy to pick them up this way.
I receive mailers of all types from all over the world multiple times a week with almost zero issues, so it isn't anything unique the mail handlers are doing with VMP records.
I've just given mine a first listen and I agree completely. The presentation is outstanding, not just by VMP standards, but for vinyl in general. It sounds fantastic and the pressing is almost flawless. 'Definitive' is the perfect word for it. Got my swap in for this month, sticking to my new 'one VMP channel per month' approach. Justice swapped out for Pharcyde. I'm not a hip-hop fanatic by any means, but ATCQ and Pharcyde in consecutive months are both obvious picks for me. Interested to see what they have lined up for the next quarter.
I'm thinking of doing the same thing with Swaps, that or credit. I love hip-hop and I dig Pharcyde but I need to go back to this album. Will stream on my walk today. VMP is the audiophile hip-hop reissue label, producing mostly definitive versions. There may be a few originals that top the reissues. I was testing this theory this weekend with Goodie Mob Soul Food. I think the OG won out by a bit.
It dawned on me recently that a lot of the 'bloat' in my collection is VMP stuff that I picked up on a whim by adding extra tracks, only to then listen to it once and file it away to gather dust. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of outstanding VMP releases that get a lot of play - ATCQ will join that list - but I think sticking to just one release per month (or taking store credit) will limit the possibility of adding more dust-gatherers to the collection.
