al-naafiysh

In case you missed the recent post: KARATE SHOWS! HOLY FUCK

Kind of a guilty pleasure... but a must have for me 😁

Some Nu Metal is fun. I'm gonna go see Korn and Staind in August. Yeah it's mostly because I haven't been to a show in 2 years but it should be fun to go get drunk and cosplay being 14 again.

This super controversial one...
https://www.discogs.com/Scaramanga-Silk-Choose-Your-Weapon/release/1674483

Let the bodies hit the floor!!
first time on vinyl for this nu metal classic I believe 
https://www.resident-music.com/productdetails&product_id=80994

In addition to supply and demand being the main culprit, Discogs creates an additional price hike on a lot of records by showing the pricing history as just 3 numbers on each release page.
 
Often one copy of a record will sell for above the 'going rate'—maybe because no other copies are available, or because of a lack of availability in a certain country, or even because of an autograph. This changes the "highest" sale price on the Discogs page, and unfortunately, most sellers see this as a marker of what the record can sell for. Suddenly every copy is listed higher, and a few sales later, the median price goes up too.
 
This is less common with other resale sites, even eBay, because rather than one sale being an obvious outlier (as it would be when scrolling through sold eBay listings), one highest Discogs sale can reframe the whole price bracket for a record. And the relationship between Discogs and the 'hobby' of record collection is pretty unique—it is basically the bible of pressings and resale value, the one place pretty much everyone consults.

VIP List...
______________________________________
 
Thank you for your order of the Facelift Deluxe Box Set.

We appreciate your patience as we’ve worked hard to perfect this box set for you. It has taken longer than we anticipated, and we apologize for this inconvenience. Current update: the box sets have left the production facility and are in transit via sea freight to the US warehouse, and we expect to deliver it to customers in August. We’re happy it’s getting to the finish line, and can’t wait for you to see it.

As a thank you for your unwavering support, you have been added to AIC’s “VIP list” to get first access to special offers and exclusive releases before the rest of the public.

We also wanted to share some behind the scenes production pictures showing elements of the box set. You are the first to see these.

This deluxe edition 12-inch box features the seminal album on double 12” picture disc vinyl with zoetrope animation on all four sides. The gatefold vinyl jacket is printed on reflective metallic stock, and comes with a custom slip mat, 24-inch poster, four photo prints, the album on cassette, a sticker sheet, a recreation of an original tour laminate, and four clear transparencies which combine to reveal an alternate cover image.

The crown jewel of this deluxe edition is an 80-page hardbound book with foil stamped cover, featuring Facelift-era images from photographer Rocky Schenck, background behind the record and early days of the scene as described by each band member, and more.
 
---- quoted from email this morning

So I totally forgot about wanting to compare the Loveless pressings. My digital LP finally came, so I compared the Plain, the 2018 MBV AAA pressing and the 2021 Domino digital. 
 
I did this blind because I thought it would be the most fair. 
 
To no ones surprise, clearly the Shields cuts are superior to the Plain. Plain sounds very good for being CD  sourced, but you can tell the soundstage wasn’t as robust as it is on the 2018 AAA and the 2021 Digital. The lows also sounded better on the Shields cuts. The Shields cuts were also cut a bit quieter than the Plain, which I don’t mind. 
 
surprisingly, I could tell very little difference between the 21 digital and the 18 AAA. I have some pretty good gear (VPI HW19 with Grado Gold, Marantz 2270 and some vintage Polk bookshelfs), so maybe with something better or some great cans I could tell them apart. 
 
I think if you had to settle for the digital pressing, I wouldn’t sweat it unless the knowledge of it not being all analog as well has having a kick ass tip on sleeve is gonna eat at you. If you have a Plain pressing, I think it’s worth the upgrade, even the cheaper digital pressing. 
 
 

This Bull Moose shit has me so sad, and also angry as fuck. I've spent thousands of dollars there, including hundreds of visits to the Salem locations (new and old).  
 
Regarding the mask piece of the equation: it sounds like a large number of the Salem store staff are not yet vaccinated. I've heard tell of at least one of them that isn't and (IIRC) has to help care for their very old grandmother who cannot get vaccinated.
 
[aside: Salem, NH is a particularly interesting place with, shall I say, special retail challenges. I know this from having worked at the Apple Store up the road from Bull Moose for a couple of years. it's right on the NH/MA border, and because NH doesn't have sales tax, people will drive to NH to save that sweet 6.25%, especially on big purchases like computers in the case of Apple, but also a lot of I'll be kind and say "frugal" peeps will go buy a ton of records at once on a Bull Moose/Newbury trip. Also a heck of a lot of people in southern NH are MA expats who wanted to move to NH for "muh freedoms" and whatnot, particularly in Salem because it's right on the highway to Boston for those people who still work in Boston but think they're being oppressed in MA (I always think this is hilarious because these people pay MA income tax but also the way higher property tax/other local taxes that make up for the fact that NH doesn't have income tax so they're actually kinda getting screwed on both ends, but again, "muh freedoms!" lol). What I'm saying that approximately 2/3 of the people shopping in Salem, which has a mall and miles of strip mall, are either raving assholes or willing to make a scene and start screaming and utterly humiliate a retail worker at the drop of a dime. it sucks ass working in that town.]
 
So anyway, there's a more-than-acceptable number of people who go to the Salem Bull Moose and in the past year have been shitty about wearing a mask, have complained when asked to put one on, have complained about having to wait outside due to the capacity limit, etc. I've seen it firsthand every time I've gone there in the past year. There are absolutely a lot of people who will go there and say "the CDC says I don't have to wear a mask if I'm fully vaccinated and I'm fully vaccinated so I'm not wearing a mask" and will be lying about being vaccinated. It is absolutely a workplace safety issue for the many as-yet-unvaccinated workers.
 
On top of that, the workers there have repeatedly been subject to sexual harassment, homophobic and racial harassment, and have repeatedly tried to report these things to management and have been met with pretty poor responses or ignoring the problem entirely.
 
The Salem store was planning to stop requiring customers to wear masks as of tomorrow, Monday, May 24 (I believe NH dropped its statewide mandate a month ago, but the store had maintained their own mask policy until now). It sounds like some of the workers were talking about staging a walkout out of concern for their safety.
 
Bull Moose released a pretty weak statement that said closing the store wasn't because of masks, but it sort of was inasmuch as it seems everyone was fired because they may have been organizing because of the mask issue (as well as the abuse issues/etc.). Oh also minimum wage in Maine (where all but 2 of the BM stores are) is $12.15 and in NH it's $7.25 and the Salem store workers absolutely get paid less than the Maine store workers do.
 
Anyway I'm done with them forever unless some major, major, major changes happen in upper management. It sucks because they've always been so great as far as customer service goes but this shit absolutely cannot stand.
 

Got my copies in can report on this Matrix thing in a bit.

You don't have to be—I'm sure lots of people would be hyped to grab this for retail + shipping and fees, or a little more

Just for the record ya'll... these are sold out. And they were going for well over $100 before the restock.
 
Sounds like the pressings are identical—you will have no trouble selling if you decide you don't want your copy!

New Acid Rap press has Juice? I don't buy it... pressing looks exactly the same as the last one and the song still isn't on streaming services. Bet it's a typo

Anyone have a chance to check the matrix info? Curious to see if they re-used the plates from the previous reissues.

bangerz
 
https://boomkat.com/products/shock-power-of-love-ep
 
https://bleep.com/release/228407-burial-blackdown-shock-power-of-love-ep
 
 
 

New 10" that comes out to 27 dollars because you can only get 9 dollar priority shipping. 
 
https://txdxe.com/collections/sza/products/good-days-sza-vinyl

Please do!! would love to hear it

It may be idealistic but I don't think there is anything inherently negative about having an idealistic standard. And to be technical it hasn't "always been like this." Before digital audio was an option, labels re-cut everything from analog tapes. There is a long-standing precedent in the industry for having the capability to handle these projects exclusively in the analog domain. For a long time, that was all there was. I'm aware that since DAW's have overtaken the recording industry, the mixing and mastering facilities have followed suit to be better suited to accommodate digital recordings and proceed to mix and master in the digital domain. However analog-capable facilities still exist and the engineers who know how to run them are also still around.
 
I'm not comfortable becoming well-adjusted to the notion that because digital is easier for the label, that it should acceptable to convert analog recordings be they multi-tracks or stereo mixdowns, to digital because its harder work to keep it analog outside of extenuating circumstances where an analog master is in peril of being destroyed or severely damaged by the process. But especially when a fully analog end product has been demonstrably achievable by the fact of a fully analog end product being made for sale.  I just happen to be an analog purist so if a full analog product is an option (which it clearly is), I like to see it preserved and not "contaminated" by a simultaneous and nearly identical release which has been converted to digital somewhere in the process.

I hear you but its getting more and more rare for albums to have been recorded in analog anyway and a vinyl record really is the best logical progression of a final product for music that was recorded in the analog domain. Its just a shame to mix in a ton of non-analog sourced vinyl records with a pressing that is all analog. It shouldn't be even considered as "niche within niche." It should just be the logical course of action to keep an all analog recording in the analog domain by skipping digital conversion for vinyl production regardless of how much easier it makes reproduction. If you make a digital transfer as a safety I get that. In case anything happens to permanently damage the original tapes you have something to work with but that, in my opinion, should be a last resort. I would argue it doesn't make it that much less complicated if you're already going through all the steps to manufacture vinyl in the first place. That's why there are audio engineering  professionals and those who know how to cut a stereo master tape to lacquer.

I heard that PO's for vinyl might go up this friday..
what I am hoping for is a vinyl version of either the demo and / or
Cancel / Sing.  since they have never put either on vinyl.
 
I honestly have everything but I am dying to see what and if a box set
is coming and what it might have.
 
also I may try to posting my karate demo tape on youtube sometime in the next few weeks, if anyone wants to hear it, ill post it in here.
 
K
 

They are new plates we made with the universal masters. They weren’t remastered specifically for vinyl or anything like that (that’s a whole different league with dealing with majors) but the tests sound great!

I mean, look at the cassette release. I'm sure plenty of labels would have dubbed more because the demand is certainly there, but he just doesn't seem interested. Only one post about the vinyl on insta... not much fanfare for something he has to know people want. I want him to press more just for the sake of making more money but it doesn't seem all that likely tbh

so, you need to put it in a safe IMMEDIATELY.  Minimum of 6 inch thick stainless steel 316L gauge, submarine steel if you can find one made in that material. Inside the safe itself, place the signed record inside an airtight, vacuum sealed container. MAKE SURE no physical part of the album is touching ANYTHING else. Construct a room in your house which will be the main holding area - you'll need to construct some ramparts in case anyone comes by sea, and some trenches or a moat in case they come for it by land.  The room should be at least 25x25 in dimensions - and be sure to spring for the most expensive HVAC system you possibly can - you have NO IDEA how much value your record will lose if even a DROP of humidity touches it. Once you've got the room built and kitted out with the latest and greatest in humidity and temperature control - dig a shaft a MINIMUM of 50 feet deep. You'll need to hire a contractor who can install steel reinforced sides on this shaft so you are not at an increased risk from someone trying to tunnel in and steal the record. Lower the safe, with the record inside, down the shaft slowly - resting on the bottom where it has been stabilized against tectonic movement, earthquakes, etc.  Once the safe is safely (haha) at the bottom, you're going to want to fill in the shaft with concrete. Don't worry, the record is perfectly safe if you've followed the rest of this guide -- but this is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP in making sure this record never sees the devilishly destructive UV rays of the sun or the horrific harm of humidity damage.
 
If you want to display it, make sure you take a picture (flash OFF!!!!!!!!!) before completing the above steps - then frame the picture. 

https://twitter.com/AcrobatUnstable/status/1371503827204124672
 
looks like they're going fast! splatter is /200, half & half is /300, and cassette is /100