Definitive Audiophile pressings

Colonel4Bin said:
Thanks for the heads up. I had a few of these recently repressed titles on backorder from MD that were placed last year and none got fulfilled. Decided I’m just going to order from MoFi when they get restocked. Already got the Withers and Wild Planet that got re-stocked last week. Wind up paying a bit more for shipping but it’s worth it IMO.
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Yea--thats why I placed an order on MoFi for BoB. I was a bit worried that they wouldn't restock the MD ones. If I end up getting a copy from both places, I can just sell one for what I paid.

The only annoying thing about the restock is that the price I would have paid through MD was $15 less since I ordered it so long ago before they raised the prices. MoFI/MD needs to get their shit together though...it used to be that if you backordered from MD you'd definitely get a copy when it came through. But if what they are saying is true and MoFi is selling all the restock copies on their own, then stop taking preorders at MD.
 
Selaws said:
I watched/listened to the whole Michael Fremer/MikeFromTheInGrooveInPhoenixArizona/Chad Kassem earlier.

First of all, I enjoyed the debate itself. Sure, it got petty at times and they talk over each other quite a bit, but at the end of the day, it's 3 people that directly work in the industry giving their honest opinions.

The argument of "Well they sell out so there is clearly a demand for them" isn't one that sits well with me. Pressing any records/acetate's in such low numbers and adding a big hype campaign around its limited nature will always end in sales for FOMO and as investment opportunities alone (in addition to people actually wanting to hear them). When MikeFromTheInGrooveInPhoenixArizona brings this up Fremer says it's unfair to state that as you can't know for certain, but Discogs listings show just that when looking at the crazy re-sale prices of similarly limited releases (ERC for example).

At the same time, completionists will buy anything when it's from certain artists and Coltrane clearly has a dedicated fan base that likely includes these types of collectors.

Personally, my main worry is that the pricing for standard releases will increase when record companies see that these £350 releases are selling out within minutes. I'm not saying I think there will be a massive jump, but in the past few years alone I feel like the typical £18 I used to pay for a new release is now more around the £23 mark. Sure, inflation and Brexit has likely impacted that here in the UK, but I also believe its record companies being able to justify these prices based on previous releases selling just fine.

The HEADLINES from the chat is certainly the news of UHQR Coltrane's (Ballads was mentioned) and the Analogue Productions Prestige series.
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One thing I forgot to mention was that towards the end of the video MikeFromTheInGrooveInPhoenixArizona made an offhand comment to Chad that praised his series so far and that he was looking forward to seeing some of the less obvious choices being picked eventually such as Alice Coltrane. Chad came back quite sharply with a prickly reply that amounted to him stating he would never release anything of that ilk, especially the Alice Coltrane stuff as he only wants to use perfectly recorded music as well as titles which the majority of people want.

His words were "Let someone else release that stuff". So at least that confirms that they will likely only be tackling the more well-known releases.
 
Selaws said:
One thing I forgot to mention was that towards the end of the video MikeFromTheInGrooveInPhoenixArizona made an offhand comment to Chad that praised his series so far and that he was looking forward to seeing some of the less obvious choices being picked eventually such as Alice Coltrane. Chad came back quite sharply with a prickly reply that amounted to him stating he would never release anything of that ilk, especially the Alice Coltrane stuff as he only wants to use perfectly recorded music as well as titles which the majority of people want.

His words were "Let someone else release that stuff". So at least that confirms that they will likely only be tackling the more well-known releases.
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Yea--posted about this last night. Sad about it...it seems more like Chad just doesn't like the spiritual/free jazz kinda stuff too. Mikefromtheingroovephoenixarizona was praising the Tone Poets and said he hopes that Chad does some more squirrely titles and lesser known stuff in general and Chad seemed to say that he doesn't want to do lesser known titles because he knows what sells. But in the same breath, he said people call/ask him about Alice Coltrane all the time, so the demand is there. I believe he said "Mike you can start your own label to reissue it if you want". I thought Chad stopped just short of saying "Alice Coltrane sucks" haha.

I kinda wish Joe Harley was put in charge of a Contemporary or Impulse reissue campaign. He has a much broader taste in music and jazz than Chad does. If someone does a good quality reissue (even if it's from a digital source) of Ptah, they will make some good money.
 
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MikeH said:
The only annoying thing about the restock is that the price I would have paid through MD was $15 less since I ordered it so long ago before they raised the prices. MoFI/MD needs to get their shit together though...it used to be that if you backordered from MD you'd definitely get a copy when it came through. But if what they are saying is true and MoFi is selling all the restock copies on their own, then stop taking preorders at MD.
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I wonder if this isn't a coincidence. i.e. is MD trying to avoid fulfilling all the MoFi preorders placed prior to the price increase?
 
MikeH said:
Yea--posted about this last night. Sad about it...it seems more like Chad just doesn't like the spiritual/free jazz kinda stuff too. Mikefromtheingroovephoenixarizona was praising the Tone Poets and said he hopes that Chad does some more squirrely titles and lesser known stuff in general and Chad seemed to say that he doesn't want to do lesser known titles because he knows what sells. But in the same breath, he said people call/ask him about Alice Coltrane all the time, so the demand is there. I believe he said "Mike you can start your own label to reissue it if you want". I thought Chad stopped just short of saying "Alice Coltrane sucks" haha.

I kinda wish Joe Harley was put in charge of a Contemporary or Impulse reissue campaign. He has a much broader taste in music and jazz than Chad does. If someone does a good quality reissue (even if it's from a digital source) of Ptah, they will make some good money.
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Which is it, Chad? Is this a vanity project to reissue your favorite music, or are you trying to sell records?
 
Colonel4Bin said:
Honestly a very valid point.
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If that’s the case, then they should just get out of the pre order game unless it’s a fact that they will get copies and honor the price. I would be fine ordering directly from MoFi if I knew I would be able to get a restock. I just get a little frustrated when they repress a popular title and it sells out in ten minutes or something stupid and then don’t repress for another year or two.
 
Joe Mac said:
Why not both?

I’d actually take one of these vanity projects by someone who isn’t so into jazz and classic rock and with an appreciation of music made after 1980.
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Sure, these aren't mutually exclusive. It's more that he states the reason he won't do certain titles is that they won't sell, but also states those titles are in demand. If he doesn't want to do them b/c of personal preference, just say so. It's his label.

And yes, I also would like to see more titles beyond the old chestnuts, like Intervention and Rubellan are doing.
 
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Joe Mac said:
Why not both?

I’d actually take one of these vanity projects by someone who isn’t so into jazz and classic rock and with an appreciation of music made after 1980.
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dansomeone said:
Yes, these aren't mutually exclusive. It's more that he states the reason he won't do certain titles is that they won't sell, but also states these titles are in demand. If he doesn't want to do them b/c of personal preference, just say so. It's his label.

And yes, I also would like to see more titles beyond the old chestnuts, like Intervention and Rubicon are doing.
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Even as someone that is into jazz (not as familiar with classic rock) I find the majority of the releases uninspiring as it tends to be the same old titles being released over and over and over again.

Don't get me wrong, they are releasing fantastic pressings of these albums and I have bought a few myself, but they always seem to skim titles from the top of the pile when there's a wealth of less-reissued releases that would be really well received but currently ignored by labels. Just look at the Black Jazz series, that's a whole label's worth of obscure/less known albums that had barely been reissued (never reissued in the majority of cases) which has been selling well as far as I am aware.

I think part of the Tone Poet's success is the mix of big titles alongside the less known.
 
Selaws said:
Even as someone that is into jazz (not as familiar with classic rock) I find the majority of the releases uninspiring as it tends to be the same old titles being released over and over and over again.

Don't get me wrong, they are releasing fantastic pressings of these albums and I have bought a few myself, but they always seem to skim titles from the top of the pile when there's a wealth of less-reissued releases that would be really well received but currently ignored by labels. Just look at the Black Jazz series, that's a whole label's worth of obscure/less known albums that had barely been reissued (never reissued in the majority of cases) which has been selling well as far as I am aware.

I think part of the Tone Poet's success is the mix of big titles alongside the less known.
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Yeah I mean I like a bit of classic rock too but it’s just reruns of the same old, mostly pretty staid artists. Beyond Dylan I struggle to even care honestly. I mean jump into the 1980s and there were some really cool records released that were the beginning of the next phase.
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah I mean I like a bit of classic rock too but it’s just reruns of the same old, mostly pretty staid artists. Beyond Dylan I struggle to even care honestly. I mean jump into the 1980s and there were some really cool records released that were the beginning of the next phase.
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Why would you want to mix things up a bit. It is obvious people will continue to buy the same record multiple time.
 
Joe Mac said:
I mean they’re also going to be dying off sooner rather than later and then your business model is gone. That and variety is the spice of life and all that.
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But there are still people in their 30s and 40s who have fallen for the upgrade shell game. This shit just perpetuates itself sadly.
 
Got this email back from MD on BoB backorders:

Thanks for the email Mike. I see that Mobile Fidelity has restocked this title. Please kindly note that stock allocations from RTI to Mobile Fidelity and Music Direct are separate – even though we are sister companies our stock allocation and stock levels are different. I've discussed this with my music buyer and we expect to receive stock to be allocated to the backorders that we currently have in place. This will be in the coming weeks and i do not currently have an ETA as to exact fulfilment times.
 
MikeH said:
Got this email back from MD on BoB backorders:

Thanks for the email Mike. I see that Mobile Fidelity has restocked this title. Please kindly note that stock allocations from RTI to Mobile Fidelity and Music Direct are separate – even though we are sister companies our stock allocation and stock levels are different. I've discussed this with my music buyer and we expect to receive stock to be allocated to the backorders that we currently have in place. This will be in the coming weeks and i do not currently have an ETA as to exact fulfilment times.
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Promising!
 
Was relieved to see a shipping notice for my back-ordered Bill Withers this morning! Was too lazy to mail or call in about if I would be receiving some of the allocated stock, luckily the universe had my back here. Can't wait to spin it!
 
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I grabbed Dave Matthews Band “Crash” from the Target sale and oh man does it sound incredible. This is up there with some of the better sounding Tone Poets - I’ve heard this album hundreds of times and am hearing things I never heard before. I suggest grabbing it while it’s available!

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