Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)

Does anyone still have a future Stars replacement on their Orders page? Or has anyone already received one? I canceled VMP in July but would still like a copy of this if they actually fixed it so it doesn’t skip and pop on that last track.
 
displayname said:
Because as the UO crowd ages, upgrades, and finds out that half of their vinyl collection doesn’t scale well, they will progressively fall out of the vinyl hobby.
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This hits a bit hard right now, ngl.

For the longest time, I used an ATLP60 to play my records - something I became pretty embarassed of as I realized it wasn't considered a very good turntable, even though in my mind I had the thought that it had always worked fine for me personally.

Recently I upgraded to ATLP120 (still not a super audiophile set-up but better than what I had) and even that small difference has been eye-opening. Hearing more of the imperfections of records that come straight out of the shrink wrap is definitely disheartening, to say the least. More and more, I feel like buying records is starting to just become a big gamble - you might get one that sounds great, you might get one that sounds like shit. I try to look up reviews before I buy nowadays, but you can always get the odd noisy or warped copy regardless.

The problem is that as long as the hobbyist vinyl collectors don't demand a higher standard of quality, there's really no incentive for companies to bother. And it sucks especially if you're someone like me who isn't especially interested in jazz or other genres where quality control is at least *somewhat* more enforced, because the consumers of that genre expect better. The fact that there is an abundance of pressings with little care or effort put into them does make one question why they spend the extra money when the difference in quality seems to be minute at best.
 
Joe Mac said:
That’s a pity, I really enjoyed it, can feel it growing into a real favourite. That said it is definitely very different to the Alabama Shakes!
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Different to Alabama Shakes in a very good way. I’m so happy it’s more funk/soul inspired production. The music does not sound outdated and instead sounds vibrant and loud! Brittany Howard’s voice melts into the production very nicely! I love it! ♥️
 
Joe Mac said:
Yes and no. I like them both a lot and disagree that Alabama Shakes sound outdated.
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No I didn’t mean it like. As in I don’t think Alabama Shakes sound outdated. It just wasn’t exactly to my music taste. It’s just that a lot of people artists nowadays who do funk/soul have production that sounds outdated. Thankfully that wasn’t the case with Brittany Howard’s “Jaime”.

I like Alabama Shakes a bit, but not that much. They sound so American if you know what I mean. I don’t know how to describe it, but Alabama Shakes music sounds like The American Dream/Americans that respect their flag/a bit blue-collar and a bit white collar. I’m not trying to say their music sounds patriotic, but it just sounds so damn American 😂

I do really like their track “Don’t Wanna Fight” though. That song is so huge and monsterous I love it! 😈
 
NathanRicaud said:
No I didn’t mean it like. As in I don’t think Alabama Shakes sound outdated. It just wasn’t exactly to my music taste. It’s just that a lot of people artists nowadays who do funk/soul have production that sounds outdated. Thankfully that wasn’t the case with Brittany Howard’s “Jaime”.

I like Alabama Shakes a bit, but not that much. They sound so American if you know what I mean. I don’t know how to describe it, but Alabama Shakes music sounds like The American Dream/Americans that respect their flag/a bit blue-collar and a bit white collar. I’m not trying to say their music sounds patriotic, but it just sounds so damn American 😂

I do really like their track “Don’t Wanna Fight” though. That song is so huge and monsterous I love it! 😈
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Yeah I understand that her solo album would appeal to what I understand of your taste.

The rest of what you wrote is, respectfully, nonsense though Nathan haha!
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah I understand that her solo album would appeal to what I understand of your taste.

The rest of what you wrote is, respectfully, nonsense though Nathan haha!
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I know it’s nonsense but I’m just trying to explain why why I don’t care for Alabama Shakes’ music! Haha
 
And Alabama Shakes in my opinion have this masculine sound to them. Like they have this confident masculinity to their performances/sound. And they have this strong work ethic sound to them. Like they are over-achievers. I can just imagine them playing at a football concert because they have that huge, masculine, confident crowd pleaser sound. And that’s so American.

Does that make more sense now @Joe Mac ?
 
NathanRicaud said:
And Alabama Shakes in my opinion have this masculine sound to them. Like they have this confident masculinity to their performances/sound. And they have this strong work ethic sound to them. Like they are over-achievers. I can just imagine them playing at a football concert because they have that huge, masculine, confident crowd pleaser sound. And that’s so American.

Does that make more sense now @Joe Mac ?
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Kind of, but still no.

I think that there is an inevitable tension in their work between the band and Brittany Howard. While she has a very traditional set of pipes and fits very well into the muscle shoals sound, and has a band who are influenced by it, she herself is much more interested in 70s rock and pop, the Bowies, Led Zeppelins, MC5s, The Stooges etc.

This tension makes them interesting to my ears and it brings it beyond the southern rock/soul envelope that I think you are trying to file it in.
 
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NathanRicaud said:
And Alabama Shakes in my opinion have this masculine sound to them. Like they have this confident masculinity to their performances/sound. And they have this strong work ethic sound to them. Like they are over-achievers. I can just imagine them playing at a football concert because they have that huge, masculine, confident crowd pleaser sound. And that’s so American.

Does that make more sense now @Joe Mac ?
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As a Murican who has spent every Philadelphia Eagles football home game tailgating for over 20 years now , I can say the parking lot tailgate is pretty much broken up into 3 groups.
Late 40's and up plays Classic/Hard Rock AC/DC, Zepplin, Metallica, Guns N Roses
Early 30's - Late 40's Mostly 90's rap and Grunge- Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Tool, Wu Tang, Notorious BIG, Mobb Deep
Under 30's - Mostly Lil Pump and Post Malone with a few Meek Mill songs in.

All of these songs are playing at the same time as loud as the car speakers can get , or Ion tailgaters can get with random people screaming Go Birds, or doing the Eagles chant every 5 minutes or so.
 
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NathanRicaud said:
And Alabama Shakes in my opinion have this masculine sound to them. Like they have this confident masculinity to their performances/sound. And they have this strong work ethic sound to them. Like they are over-achievers. I can just imagine them playing at a football concert because they have that huge, masculine, confident crowd pleaser sound. And that’s so American.

Does that make more sense now @Joe Mac ?
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Joe Mac said:
Kind of, but still no.

I think that there is an inevitable tension in their work between the band and Brittany Howard. While she has a very traditional set of pipes and fits very well into the muscle shoals sound, and has a band who are influenced by it, she herself is much more interested in 70s rock and pop, the Bowies, Led Zeppelins, MC5s, The Stooges etc.

This tension makes them interesting to my ears and it brings it beyond the southern rock/soul envelope that I think you are trying to file it in.
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What they've got is North Alabama/ Muscle Shoals power.

Source: am from North Alabama/the Shoals. We love our own
 
gaporter said:
This hits a bit hard right now, ngl.

For the longest time, I used an ATLP60 to play my records - something I became pretty embarassed of as I realized it wasn't considered a very good turntable, even though in my mind I had the thought that it had always worked fine for me personally.

Recently I upgraded to ATLP120 (still not a super audiophile set-up but better than what I had) and even that small difference has been eye-opening. Hearing more of the imperfections of records that come straight out of the shrink wrap is definitely disheartening, to say the least. More and more, I feel like buying records is starting to just become a big gamble - you might get one that sounds great, you might get one that sounds like shit. I try to look up reviews before I buy nowadays, but you can always get the odd noisy or warped copy regardless.

The problem is that as long as the hobbyist vinyl collectors don't demand a higher standard of quality, there's really no incentive for companies to bother. And it sucks especially if you're someone like me who isn't especially interested in jazz or other genres where quality control is at least *somewhat* more enforced, because the consumers of that genre expect better. The fact that there is an abundance of pressings with little care or effort put into them does make one question why they spend the extra money when the difference in quality seems to be minute at best.
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Don't get too discouraged. Just keep learning and be a little bit picky. Over time you'll learn to look for the pressing details that matter. I know when I started VMP I would regularly get 2-3 exclusive add-ons each month. Now I get maybe 1 every 3 or 4 months.
Find the labels and pressing plans that are consistent, and you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of the hobby. But it is unfortunate that less and less of those are coming from VMP.
 
gaporter said:
This hits a bit hard right now, ngl.

For the longest time, I used an ATLP60 to play my records - something I became pretty embarassed of as I realized it wasn't considered a very good turntable, even though in my mind I had the thought that it had always worked fine for me personally.

Recently I upgraded to ATLP120 (still not a super audiophile set-up but better than what I had) and even that small difference has been eye-opening. Hearing more of the imperfections of records that come straight out of the shrink wrap is definitely disheartening, to say the least. More and more, I feel like buying records is starting to just become a big gamble - you might get one that sounds great, you might get one that sounds like shit. I try to look up reviews before I buy nowadays, but you can always get the odd noisy or warped copy regardless.

The problem is that as long as the hobbyist vinyl collectors don't demand a higher standard of quality, there's really no incentive for companies to bother. And it sucks especially if you're someone like me who isn't especially interested in jazz or other genres where quality control is at least *somewhat* more enforced, because the consumers of that genre expect better. The fact that there is an abundance of pressings with little care or effort put into them does make one question why they spend the extra money when the difference in quality seems to be minute at best.
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It is definitely a fact that my older pre-1990 albums sound better than newer recordings, even when we are talking about new reissues. Just a couple of things that made a big difference to me though and might help you.

A spin clean. Modern records are dirty as hell. Your needle will pick this up. I’ve found that running them through the spin clean and resleeving in new rice paper antistatic sleeves from sleeve city has made a big difference.

A better cartridge and stylus. Upgrading from the Ort 2m red first via a stylus swap to the 2m blue and then to the Grado gold have also made a big difference.

At the end of the day the music is the most important thing. I believe that my records are the best sounding way for me but then I also accept that we all have the balance that suits us best!
 
All this talk about the journey of learning the ways of vinyl have me all misty-eyed.

I started with an LP60 and computer speakers with a milkcrate VMP vinyl and I thought I was a king. Then I started reading more about what I was doing to my records with the LP60 and realized that there was more than just the "aesthetic" of vinyl.

Once I upgraded to the Uturn and started working on a proper amp and passive speakers (after many many hours of research and recommendations from the old forum) I think I finally understand what I wanted to get out of this hobby all along. To sit down after a long day, put on something I may have never heard before, and enjoy the ride knowing that I'm treating my "investment" with as much respect as I can afford.
 
folsom_lives said:
All this talk about the journey of learning the ways of vinyl have me all misty-eyed.

I started with an LP60 and computer speakers with a milkcrate VMP vinyl and I thought I was a king. Then I started reading more about what I was doing to my records with the LP60 and realized that there was more than just the "aesthetic" of vinyl.

Once I upgraded to the Uturn and started working on a proper amp and passive speakers (after many many hours of research and recommendations from the old forum) I think I finally understand what I wanted to get out of this hobby all along. To sit down after a long day, put on something I may have never heard before, and enjoy the ride knowing that I'm treating my "investment" with as much respect as I can afford.
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Mine started with getting an Ion record player just for shits and giggles with some reward points I had on a credit card. Had so much fun digging through crates at flea markets and used Record shops that I upgraded to an U-turn as well. Still saving up for good speakers. I'm running it through my Atmos soundbar in the meantime, which is fine for my Philly row house. I'm hoping to have a full media room at sometime in my life if I can move somewhere less crowded.
 
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