Vinyl Me Please Essentials
- Thread starter Captainfog
- Start date
Dead C
Well-Known Member
I bought a Pure Guava reissue from Schnitzel Records years ago. They followed it up with a color pressing later.
Dead C
Well-Known Member
Schnitzel already did a couple of Chocolate & Cheese reissues, but this is obviously going to come down to what it always does. I don't have The Mollusk, so I want it. You have a Mollusk you're happy with, so you'd probably prefer something else. @bobomac2 wants Pure Guava. I'd respect any of them.
Honestly, I want Z Rock Hawaii
Ericj32
Well-Known Member
Truth. I feel like when I was looking through their ROTM page at the list of past essential albums yesterday, Sleater Kinney wasn't even in there.
This isn't the first time, though, that they've chosen an "essential" album which misses both of those two points: John Mayer, Caroline Rose, Jim Sullivan, Sleater-Kinney, Beach House, Tennis etc. It feels like the bar for what's considered "essential" is a lot higher for non-white artists: The Roots, Aretha Franklin, Jorge Ben, Experience Unlimited, De La Soul, Flying Lotus, Mavis Staples, Mitski, etc.
When I joined, they were releasing stuff like Clipse and the Silvertones, and it felt a little more balanced but this year so far seems really skewed, having 6 of the first 7 essentials artists be white. I wouldn't care as much if the level of quality was at least consistent across the board.
Viking Dan
Well-Known Member
Dead C
Well-Known Member
It would be and it is. The claim is 2 very different genres. Low End Theory and Selected Ambient Works would do. Perfect From Now on and Funcrusher Plus also works. How many combos can we guess that won't happen?
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gaporter
Well-Known Member
This is the best advice to give someone who is starting a vinyl collection, and one I wish I would have taken to heart when I first started. I wasted so much money on records I didn't really like that much when I first started collecting under the idea that they were "essential" to have in your collection. Or just albums that other people told me were good and I believed them without stopping to think for myself.
I've made a major turnaround this year and last where I decided not to follow others curation or opinions and make my collection truly my own. I've started buying more weird stuff, more trashy pop, more things that others would scoff at me for owning but that I truly love and want to listen to. And that has made a huge difference in my outlook on the hobby. There was a period where I was becoming disillusioned and feeling like I was wasting my time collecting things, but that was because I was still too self-conscious and trying to conform to the tastes others told me I should have rather than what I knew I actually liked.
This more than anything has made me realize how little use I actually have for company-fuelled curation. Do VMP occasionally pick good albums for one of their tracks? Sure. But settling for whatever VMP has in the store will never make more happy than buying something I actually want to have. I ended my subscription to VMP for two reasons, 1) the whole forum drama and me feeling they don't value me as a customer, and 2) I fell on hard times around that same time, and the $80something a month was something I just couldn't afford or justify. And when I had the disposable income again, I realized there were better ways to spend my money than gambling on the hope that a record club will have something I want that month. I don't have a lot of money to spend on records as it is so why would I take the risk throwing money to VMP monthly when, in my time as a customer, they almost never actually had anything I wanted? I get others can comfortably spend that money and be fine, but that's not my situation, and so I feel more fulfilled by using the money I do have to buy records I know I want.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
I agree completely. I’ve been collecting music in various formats for well over 20 years now and I got completely trapped by that place and it’s FOMO, all because I wanted a funky press of the first Arctic Monkeys record
. Like you the whole forum debacle turned me off the (I had the brief disappointing rebound over Christmas for a funky press of a QOTSA record 
). I did a stock take early this year and ended up listing about 13 records for sale, 11 were VMP and 10 of those were classics that I bought because I tricked myself into feeling that I was supposed to like that music for whatever reasons. Lesson learned, letting a shop, with a bro country fan choosing, curate for you is nuts. I respect recommendations from fellow music fans who I like, but curation is hugely overrated!
Rip_City
Well-Known Member
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Except for the club we have established here
Yes but we’re not trying to sell, our only rule is that there is availability and that the price is fair worldwide, we push no FOMO and try before you buy and, so long as you’re not dismissive of the pick/picker it’s perfectly ok to not buy, or even not like, something. It’s more like structured recommendations from people I like and respect than enforced curation...
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Dead C
Well-Known Member
That's a good point. I will say that Jim Sullivan is someone I label under that "lost artist" category, so it does fit the curation and lost artist angle. Sleater Kinney was an obvious legacy act that they were excited for the opportunity to release an album by, so the rules go out the window. They really should have chosen an older album of theirs and done the new album as an exclusive. Caroline Rose is just someone they have s relationship with where they acted like this is one they believed in. Even if I didn't always agree, I kind of got why they did those. Mayer only seems like a luke warm pander, but you're right it's happening too often.
Look at the album Continuum was overshadowed by. Justin Timberlake bringing his sexy back after coming off an album built on the inspiration of trying to sound like early Michael Jackson. So, in that respect, the bar is lower for white artists, in general, too. The 2nd jazz album to ever win a grammy for album of the year was in 2007, when Herbie Hancock released a bunch of Joni Mitchell covers. Before that was Getz/Gilberto. It's cool when it feels like VMP is pushing back against that and releasing more stuff from minorities. Somehow, John Mayer's take is more essential than Curtis Mayfield, or a Sky album, or Headhunters. Whatever.
Right now, releasing a soul and blues influenced pop record by a guy who happily feeds himself by taking from a culture and then proudly says a ton of racist and misogynistic shit in an interview... seems like an especially bad time for it. But, that's obviously another issue altogether.
The positive is that I have to believe they expect some folks not to be too hyped about this one, meaning they will, hopefully, bring some heat to level it out.
Selaws
Well-Known Member
Im in a decent position to comment here. I was definitely someone that would buy records for the sake of it when I first started. I would go to charity shops, markets, and carboot sales and if I saw something I recognised on vinyl I would buy it. Now, around 10 years later, I decided that whilst working from home I would use the opportunity to pull out everything that I haven't listened to in years, or really don't care about, and sell them. I'm still listing bits but in the past 2 weeks I have sold around £1k worth of vinyl. I was in the fortunate position to have bought almost all of the records for cheap so I've 'profited' quite a bit, BUT had I bought them at full price I would be crying at the amount of lost money now (as well as having no emotional benefit for the 1 or 2 spins most of them have had).
Seriously, it sounds super obvious but just focus on buying stuff you actually want. Dont let any company or trend sway you into spending money on stuff that doesn't appeal to you.
Dead C
Well-Known Member
Yup. And that's what a lot of people were tripping about when we were all dropping subscriptions, asking how they would discover new music. There's a whole community here to tap into and, as we learn more about what each other are into, the recommendations actually become pretty tailored to the individuals.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
I’ll also throw in reading reviews. And by reviews I mean the words, ALWAYS disgsrd the score/stars. The amount of albums I’ve bought that I’ve loved based on a beautifully written description of sounds/lyrics in a good, well written review far outweighs the number of brown poop splatter albums by v who is the premier artist you’ve never heard from of this genre that you think you don’t like but you really must because that would make you an inferior music fan...
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Also we’re not perfect. I’d like more gender and cultural diversity in both the pickers and the picks. We’re mostly white men of a certain age and I think I’m right in saying that there are only 2 women left out of the 32 pickers to go. So if you maybe think you have a different background or perspective to what is in there we’d welcome you with wide open arms!
Cheesefry
Member
The music snobbery level is pretty damn high on this forum, one of the many reasons I 
it, and all of you......I seriously think John Mayer might just sell out, and A LOT of people are going to love getting this record. No one complained last month about Jack White ‘stealing’ the blues.....maybe it’s JM’s past statements and sometimes off-putting personality that makes him an easier target.
Yes, it’s soft and poppy blues, but so is Keb Mo. As for myself, I’m gonna crack open a Mich Ultra which I imagine to be the cocktail pairing
and enjoy the shit out of this record!! I took my girls to see Mayer in ATL a couple years ago at the outdoor Amphitheatre, and honestly it was one of the best live shows I have ever seen, he was masterful.
it, and all of you......I seriously think John Mayer might just sell out, and A LOT of people are going to love getting this record. No one complained last month about Jack White ‘stealing’ the blues.....maybe it’s JM’s past statements and sometimes off-putting personality that makes him an easier target. Yes, it’s soft and poppy blues, but so is Keb Mo. As for myself, I’m gonna crack open a Mich Ultra which I imagine to be the cocktail pairing and enjoy the shit out of this record!! I took my girls to see Mayer in ATL a couple years ago at the outdoor Amphitheatre, and honestly it was one of the best live shows I have ever seen, he was masterful.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
The music snobbery level is pretty damn high on this forum, one of the many reasons I ❤ it, and all of you......I seriously think John Mayer might just sell out, and A LOT of people are going to love getting this record. No one complained last month about Jack White ‘stealing’ the blues.....maybe it’s JM’s past statements and sometimes off-putting personality that makes him an easier target.
I think arguments around “stealing the blues” are reductive and if it happened it was 60-70 years before now. My argument would be that early White Stripes were raw, emotional and frenetic and that had a sort of magnetic energy that drew me in. In contrast I find someone like Meyer soft, sappy and sleepy which turns me off and becomes boring. If someone enjoys it they gotta get it and enjoy it, i just struggle to see how it has any curatorial merit.
dhodo
Well-Known Member
You must have missed dukey's jack white commentsThe music snobbery level is pretty damn high on this forum, one of the many reasons I ❤ it, and all of you......I seriously think John Mayer might just sell out, and A LOT of people are going to love getting this record. No one complained last month about Jack White ‘stealing’ the blues.....maybe it’s JM’s past statements and sometimes off-putting personality that makes him an easier target.
Dead C
Well-Known Member
The music snobbery level is pretty damn high on this forum, one of the many reasons I ❤ it, and all of you......I seriously think John Mayer might just sell out, and A LOT of people are going to love getting this record. No one complained last month about Jack White ‘stealing’ the blues.....maybe it’s JM’s past statements and sometimes off-putting personality that makes him an easier target.
Actually, I've been pretty clear that when I see people excited about something, I'm happy for them, but I'm not seeing a lot of excitement in here for it. Also, as someone who is not a white man in South Carolina that took "my girls" to see Mayer, I don't really have a reason to defend a guy who literally used the term "n***ger pass" and said his dick was a white supremacist in an interview, while getting a ton of shine from essentially mining the formula of black artists. This is his blues and soul record that they're selling right now. Not sure if you're aware of what's going on in the world right now, but to frame it like me bringing this up is an unfair attack at him for being "an easy target"... that's one way to spin it.
Not sure who's arguing whether or not VMP is going to sell a LOT of copies of this album. That seems like the entire point of doing it.
For the record, I also don't give a shit about Eric Clapton.