Vinyl Me Please Classics

McGlam said:
Has anyone noticed a downturn in the quality of Classics pressings? My 'Immortal Otis Redding' came badly scratched and they had no replacements. I just got my Sahara and it is the most warped record I've gotten in a least a year-- well, tied with my VMP Phoebe Bridgers Punisher which arrived the same day.
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Damn, sorry to hear that. I had to clean my Otis record when I got it, and of course moved it into a Mofi sleeve over the paper one it came with... but otherwise it looks and sounds fine. My Sahara is immaculate.

On the plus side I don't think they sold out of Tyner, so you should be able to get a replacement for that one, at least.

Edit: If your Phoebe was just as warped and came in the same box, I wonder if the summer heat had something to do with it. I have no idea what your delivery situation is, but I've come to have all of my records shipped to my work, where they will sit in an air-conditioned office instead of under a shadeless front porch.
 
Joe Mac said:
I don’t really care for jazz and I found myself buying it through so weird forum peer pressure and FOMO, convincing myself I’d grow to love it, didn’t happen. When I came to that realisation you’re down to soul and blues. Because the curation is fucked there is tonnes of jazz, some soul and minimal blues. Realising that broke the classics spell for me.
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This cracked me up because im always wishing they added more jazz :ROFLMAO: Just looking at the past 10 releases it reads as mainly soul/funk (3 in a row) and jazz (4), with blues (2) and latin (1). I might be wrong but I always feel like the overall emphasis of Classics is on the soul/funk releases.

My go-to genre tends to be jazz anyway so I'm always most excited at these picks, but I really do enjoy the majority of Classics and there certainly isn't one that I would say I dislike (the Patrice Rushton was my least favourite but even that is enjoyable). This is completely different when I look at Essentials (I have swapped quite a few of these) and R&HH (I have them all to date but will be dropping it next month).

I also think that the Classics are the most consistently good packages. I really like the listening notes booklet (although a couple have been lacking in some regards) and the emphasis on the quality of mastering and pressing is much more appreciated than fancy colours (to me anyway)
 
Selaws said:
This cracked me up because im always wishing they added more jazz :ROFLMAO: Just looking at the past 10 releases it reads as mainly soul/funk (3 in a row) and jazz (4), with blues (2) and latin (1). I might be wrong but I always feel like the overall emphasis of Classics is on the soul/funk releases.

My go-to genre tends to be jazz anyway so I'm always most excited at these picks, but I really do enjoy the majority of Classics and there certainly isn't one that I would say I dislike (the Patrice Rushton was my least favourite but even that is enjoyable). This is completely different when I look at Essentials (I have swapped quite a few of these) and R&HH (I have them all to date but will be dropping it next month).

I also think that the Classics are the most consistently good packages. I really like the listening notes booklet (although a couple have been lacking in some regards) and the emphasis on the quality of mastering and pressing is much more appreciated than fancy colours (to me anyway)
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Selaws said:
This cracked me up because im always wishing they added more jazz :ROFLMAO: Just looking at the past 10 releases it reads as mainly soul/funk (3 in a row) and jazz (4), with blues (2) and latin (1). I might be wrong but I always feel like the overall emphasis of Classics is on the soul/funk releases.

My go-to genre tends to be jazz anyway so I'm always most excited at these picks, but I really do enjoy the majority of Classics and there certainly isn't one that I would say I dislike (the Patrice Rushton was my least favourite but even that is enjoyable). This is completely different when I look at Essentials (I have swapped quite a few of these) and R&HH (I have them all to date but will be dropping it next month).

I also think that the Classics are the most consistently good packages. I really like the listening notes booklet (although a couple have been lacking in some regards) and the emphasis on the quality of mastering and pressing is much more appreciated than fancy colours (to me anyway)
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Call me was the only outright Soul album in 2019, there were only 2 blues albums and if I recall correctly it was a year that had pretty much 50% jazz of one form or another. I remember because beyond vocal jazz like blossom dearie or Nina Simone, if they do one, I have absolutely zero interest in jazz and let them FOMO me into think I needed them for far too long.
 
I am actually a bit surprised that they have not spun Classics off into a Jazzbo stream and Storfs Stack of Stax (and a blue record to shut you up) stream. There are some who are in one camp or the other but I also think there is a pretty good crossover who would subscribe to both
 
Joe Mac said:
Call me was the only outright Soul album in 2019, there were only 2 blues albums and if I recall correctly it was a year that had pretty much 50% jazz of one form or another. I remember because beyond vocal jazz like blossom dearie or Nina Simone, if they do one, I have absolutely zero interest in jazz and let them FOMO me into think I needed them for far too long.
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So I decided to go through each one after looking at the past 10 months, so in total there's been:

15 - Jazz
12 - Funk/Soul
5 - Blues
3 - Funk/Soul/Blues
1 - Afrobeat
1 - Jazz/Funk/Soul
1 - Latin

Its actually a closer between jazz and funk/soul than I thought, and a big chunk of jazz at the beginning. There are a few anomalies in here which mix between genres (I.e. the Lafayette Afro Rock Band is classed as a Jazz/Funk/Soul on Discogs but I would struggle to justify the jazz title).

I know Storf loves Stax which is why we have seen an influx of them, and im glad in a way as I would never have been turned onto them otherwise.

Now I have looked back I am actually impressed with their jazz selection. They have a good mix of genuinely 'classic' albums (Attica Blues, Jazz Samba, Journey In Satchidananda), some lesser-known but equally significant albums (Blossom Dearie, Oriental Jazz), and some lesser known albums by renown musicians (Sahara, Mr. Hands, Jazz Impressions Of Japan).
 
So
Selaws said:
So I decided to go through each one after looking at the past 10 months, so in total there's been:

15 - Jazz
12 - Funk/Soul
5 - Blues
3 - Funk/Soul/Blues
1 - Afrobeat
1 - Jazz/Funk/Soul
1 - Latin

Its actually a closer between jazz and funk/soul than I thought, and a big chunk of jazz at the beginning. There are a few anomalies in here which mix between genres (I.e. the Lafayette Afro Rock Band is classed as a Jazz/Funk/Soul on Discogs but I would struggle to justify the jazz title).

I know Storf loves Stax which is why we have seen an influx of them, and im glad in a way as I would never have been turned onto them otherwise.

Now I have looked back I am actually impressed with their jazz selection. They have a good mix of genuinely 'classic' albums (Attica Blues, Jazz Samba, Journey In Satchidananda), some lesser-known but equally significant albums (Blossom Dearie, Oriental Jazz), and some lesser known albums by renown musicians (Sahara, Mr. Hands, Jazz Impressions Of Japan).
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Soul and funk are not the same and funk wasn’t one of the original 3. If they’re going to open it up to new genres it’s should affect all 3 equally. Blues is an afterthought and jazz has increase to more than 4 a year.
 
Joe Mac said:
So


Soul and funk are not the same and funk wasn’t one of the original 3. If they’re going to open it up to new genres it’s should affect all 3 equally. Blues is an afterthought and jazz has increase to more than 4 a year.
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Just for clarity, I have copied the genres here from their listings on Discogs (apart from a few jazz ones which have a list of sub-genres). This is why I pointed out that some are a few which mix over or very subtly contain the genre they are listed as (which matches their original listings to be fair).

But I think this brings up a key point. To me looking at the list I didn't question the Funk/Soul genre listing as I'm not overly familiar with them. Equally, I DO question some of the jazz listings as its a genre I am more familiar with. For example, Lloyd Miller is classed and was marketed as jazz but I personally see it as more of world music (the press keys quartets input is the jazz element to me). Whereas I would personally say that the Percussion Bitter Sweet, Final Tour, etc is more clear-cut jazz.
 
Crabbers said:
This is/was me. I’m finally getting rid of most it from my collection, while only keeping a select few from artists (ill considered, Shabaka, black flower,bbng mainly )
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Yeah I’ve kept a few Davis/Coltrane because some thing are just good and transcend the genre. I wouldn’t say no to some more Nina Simone, Billy Holliday or Ella Fitzgerald though if it was going!
 
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Selaws said:
Just for clarity, I have copied the genres here from their listings on Discogs (apart from a few jazz ones which have a list of sub-genres). This is why I pointed out that some are a few which mix over or very subtly contain the genre they are listed as (which matches their original listings to be fair).

But I think this brings up a key point. To me looking at the list I didn't question the Funk/Soul genre listing as I'm not overly familiar with them. Equally, I DO question some of the jazz listings as its a genre I am more familiar with. For example, Lloyd Miller is classed and was marketed as jazz but I personally see it as more of world music (the press keys quartets input is the jazz element to me). Whereas I would personally say that the Percussion Bitter Sweet, Final Tour, etc is more clear-cut jazz.
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World music lol! Anything that isn’t british or American in one homogeneous globule.

As someone who just would want a few soul and blues albums and skip the jazz months I found my last year, 2019 to be dire and 2020 has looked just as bad from afar
 
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Joe Mac said:
World music lol! Anything that isn’t british or American in one homogeneous globule.

As someone who just would want a few soul and blues albums and skip the jazz months I found my last year, 2019 to be dire and 2020 has loom just as bad from afar
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Well yeah, out of the 'Jazz, Folk, World, & Country' listing I personally would go with the 'World' option. Obviously in this respect that means Persian (Iranian) music and Afghan music, but regardless of the term which was used for the listing, the point I'm making still stands.

Im pretty unfamiliar with straight blues music (other than a few bits by Robert Pete Williams, Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf) but haven't been blown away by their blues picks. I liked Koko Taylor and Buddy Guy, but the Albert King last month was a bit of a let down for me (maybe I hyped it up too much though). A few more would certainly be welcomed by me.
 
Selaws said:
Well yeah, out of the 'Jazz, Folk, World, & Country' listing I personally would go with the 'World' option. Obviously in this respect that means Persian (Iranian) music and Afghan music, but regardless of the term which was used for the listing, the point I'm making still stands.

Im pretty unfamiliar with straight blues music (other than a few bits by Robert Pete Williams, Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf) but haven't been blown away by their blues picks. I liked Koko Taylor and Buddy Guy, but the Albert King last month was a bit of a let down for me (maybe I hyped it up too much though). A few more would certainly be welcomed by me.
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I was more teasing about the use of “World Music” it’s a horrible term imo. I disagree with you on Lloyd. It’s Persian instruments but it’s western amateur jazz players playing them. I think that’s like calling some of Harrison’s Beatles songs Indian because he immersed himself in Indian culture and religion and he plays the sitar on them, they aren’t.

Yeah Albert King was the right artist, wrong album! I mean a cover of Elvis albums, yuck! Actually same with Otis although I would have
 
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Crabbers said:
This was a sleeper for me...grabbed it but wasn’t to excited for it, but damn is it a quality release...a very fun listen
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Just doesn’t appeal to me as a concept and it certainly was not not enough to come back to VMP given all know how low my opinion is there. Spiritualized probably will be unlsss the band announces a black press before September which I’m 🤞🏻for
 
Joe Mac said:
I was more teasing about the use of “World Music” it’s a horrible term imo. I disagree with you on Lloyd. It’s Persian instruments but it’s western amateur jazz player playing them. I think that’s like calling some of Harrison’s Beatles songs Indian because he immersed himself in Indian culture and religion and he plays the sitar on them, they aren’t.

Yeah Albert King was the right artist, wrong album! I mean a cover of Elvis albums, yuck! Actually same with Otis although I would have
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Totally with you on King, but I'm surprised you weren't happy with the Otis pick. It is widely regarded as a great (if short) album and was in need of a reissue. I don't think I'd say it is his absolute best, but they have competing reissues. I would have been really happy with several others too, but it is no slouch.

I'd say it's my favorite soul release they've done outside of and/or tied with an Aretha.
 
dhodo said:
Totally with you on King, but I'm surprised you weren't happy with the Otis pick. It is widely regarded as a great (if short) album and was in need of a reissue. I don't think I'd say it is his absolute best, but they have competing reissues. I would have been really happy with several others too, but it is no slouch.
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I mean I don’t have it because VMP and my OG got lost in the post. I’ve heard it and it’s decent but not really necessary. They could have put out a better album by him, in comparison to the Aretha Franklin classic which is a top drawer album, actually better than the essentials one to me, or Call Me by Al Green, it’s a weak call.
 
Joe Mac said:
I mean I don’t have it because VMP and my OG got lost in the post. I’ve heard it and it’s decent but not really necessary. They could have put out a better album by him, in comparison to the Aretha Franklin classic which is a top drawer album, actually better than the essentials one to me, or Call Me by Al Green, it’s a weak call.
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I forgot about Al, it's up there too, but I disagree that it isn't top tier Otis. Otis has almost all top tier albums though. Other than the rest of the posthumous albums, I'd say only only King and Queen and Pain In My Heart could be called mid, but I really like Pain, so it's a tough call. I might put Immortal over The Soul Album too.

I don't think most (any?) of storf's other Stax album picks can compete with any of Otis' top 5 albums though, so that may help people understand my opinion.
 
dhodo said:
I forgot about Al, it's up there too, but I disagree that it isn't top tier Otis. Otis has almost all top tier albums though. Other than the rest of the posthumous albums, I'd say only only King and Queen and Pain In My Hard could be called mid, but I really like Pain, so it's a tough call. I might put Immortal over The Soul Album too.

I don't think most (any?) of storf's other Stax album picks can compete with any of Otis' top 5 albums though, so that may help people understand my opinion.
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Yeah I don’t think it’s as good as Dock or any of the studio albums, it’s not bad but they should have been going for one of those that wouldn’t be considered an essentials. This feels like storf pressing his collection holes again.

PS: I’d consider Floyd and Banks nearly on a par with that Otis and no where near dock or the studio stuff.
 
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