Fresh Grabs

I looked up my OP Maggot Brain today, turns out it wasn't in my Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1971 Vinyl release of "Maggot Brain" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com

This review is interesting: "I have listened to several versions of this record. This particular pressing is amazing. The sound stage is wonderful, it's balanced, clean, warm, and sublime. If you see the "T" in the wild and it's in top nick, don't hesitate to grab it."

Pics to follow; interesting differences in sleeves.

OP: (matte unipak)

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France (LP)/Germany (sleeve):

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2022 anniversary:

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Got Numero's Purple Snow: Forecasting The Minneapolis Sound Boxset for a really good price just because the edges of the box were a bit dinged which I happily accepted.
Finally did the inevitable and gave in on the Let It Be Deluxe Box, still a bit bummed they didn't include Naked which remains a gigantic hole in my collection.
Then a few albums checked off the Wantlist along with a random Pink Floyd Tribute I forgot I bought but is actually surprisingly really well done!

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A few pages inside of the Purple Snow book had this gem.. Princes 7th grade yearbook photo!

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Then 2/3's of my Cosmic Peddler order from there sale awhile back.

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Lastly, after manyyy months of waiting I finally got my Sleevecity order in! Is this how he packages orders now though? He used to use the nice heavy duty boxes on bigger orders for as long as I can remember. Kind of ridiculous tbh for an $80+ order. Luckily there doesn't seem to be any major damage but all the packages inside are ripped open and were spilling out when I got it out of my mailbox.. After just a quick inspection it miraculously doesn't seem like the individual sleeves were damaged.... I hope 😬

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avecigrec said:
Please share your thoughts on Maggot Brain once you've had a chance to spin it!
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I know others have commented but thought I'd drop this here as I finally had a chance to spin Maggot Brain:

Despite my copy having a medium sized warp on side one of the main album, and some pretty decent popping after one clean I think the album sounds pretty good. I know a lot has been made of the mastering but to my ears it sounds ok, not great but I've definitely heard worse. Going to give it another clean to work on the popping but overall I'm glad to finally have a copy of this classic album.
 
hype said:
I got a a 24/96 FLAC of the 1971 White Label Promo that i'll upload if you want?

I'd be curious to hear the 2005 as well though! I know for myself, hearing the 71 version just showed me how great this could sound if handled right as it doesn't have to be audiophile level just bring it to life a bit!

edit.. I just went and ahead and uploaded it since it was so quick... superstupidmaggotbrain.rar

also, here's the lineage for anyone interested in that!
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Using this to evaluate whether I like Maggot Brain - many thanks! Might take me a while...
 
Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings (Pacific Jazz/Vogue, First UK 10" Pressing)

I visited a town a few across from me earlier today and popped into the local second-hand shop. I haven't had much luck in there in the past but today they had tons of great jazz stuff on the wall including, Neil Ardley's "A Symphony Of Amaranths", Tubby Hayes' "Late Spot At Scott's", Art Pepper's "The Art Pepper Quartet", and this Chet Baker "Chet Baker Sings". I was fortunate enough to already have copies of the other ones on the wall, and they would have been out of my price range anyway, but this Chet Baker Sings caught my attention. I do have the Tone Poet and usually I don't double up but this one looked fantastic and sounded great on his system. The price was already reasonable but after chatting for at least 30mins or so he also gave me a discount!

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Wendell Harrison - Birth Of A Fossil (Rebirth Records, 2022 Vinyl Me Please Exclusive)
Phil Ranelin - Infinite Expressions (ORG Music, 2022 Vinyl Me Please Exclusive)

While my April box is still on its way to me (Boogaloo Joe Jones) another arrived with these 2 store exclusives. They sent a colour correction email about the Wendell Harrison but AFTER they already shipped. No worries for me though as long as it plays well. The Phil Ranelin cover art really irks me but the music is great. Annoyingly I can tell just from holding the record that its incredibly warped :(

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zdkaiser said:
Interested to hear your thoughts on Maggot Brain.
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@avecigrec too

I know Mike and tvham provided thoughts but I’ll throw in my two cents. Running it compared to a 1975 repress. Purely unscientific thoughts here.

The Positive

Clarity wise and QA wise I was honestly pretty happy. My copy came in with no defects or pops, I think the vocals are clearer in many spots. My needle was moving a lot during Maggot Brain, I couldn’t tell why, but it is flat and looks good otherwise. The bonus disc is better - you get a much closer feel to what I expected this to ultimately be. It was the most fun I had with this and well worth a listen. It's still a bit low volume wise but the dynamics are mostly there, it's a great alternative version, definitely a good spin. Which is why I agree with Mike’s thought that something got effed up on the main release.

The Negative:

Volume is substantially lower. I turned up my speakers several notches to get the base sound level close and even then the punchy parts didn’t get to the same level. The bulk of reviewers and I agree on that. It’s not unlistenably low but I was surprised at the gap between the two. Low compared to early pressings and low compared to other records. If I put another record on at that same volume setting my girlfriend will tell me to turn it down.

The other notable issue, to @MikeH point, the dynamics are just off. It’s missing the gaps and space, the highs and lows, and, as such, the energy that the record thrives off of. There’s no hop in its step. It’s like a late Floyd Mayweather boxing match when you want it to be Mike Tyson. Hitting all the musical cues but not generating that KO.

Overall, I think it’s an ok option for those who don’t have a Maggot Brain and don’t feel up to dropping resale prices for one, but it’s just not the same sad to say. In a weird way, a bit like a middling standard pressing vs. a MoFi - for some people not spending that sheer amount of cash for the better audio fidelity is the right call and for some dropping the coin is. I’m happy to now have one I can spin cleanly on Side A though - I am not sure I would pay 100+ extra dollars for an OG/Early Repress but I'd be lying if I said the sound was comparable.
 
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High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
Deftones - White Pony
Horrendous - Anareta

My favorite High on Fire and Deftones albums. The Horrendous is the record of the month for Gimme Radio’s monthly record club.

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The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
Ibibio Sound Machine - Uyai
Daft Punk - Discovery

VMP version of Frances the Mute. The Ibibio is an album I listened to a lot back in 2017, and then completely forgot about. Was nice stumbling upon it today at a local store. And finally filling a huge hole in the collection with Discovery (bonus foster cat in the reflection)

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Whitney Houston - S/T
Sam Cooke - The Best of Sam Cooke
Jimmy Smith - Prayer Meetin’

Three albums that I’ve been meaning to pick up for a while. I think the Sam Cook is a late 70’s reissue (no idea on the sound quality, but the vinyl was in great shape). I’ve been on a big Jimmy Smith AND Turrentine kick lately, so this Tone Poet will be perfect.

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Simon & Garfunkel - Greatest Hits
The Byrds - Greatest Hits
The Three Degrees - S/T

The two greatest hit comps were in rough shape, but felt fair for the price. And my home brew Philadelphia International VMP Anthology is halfway done with this Three Degrees addition.

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