60. Slabbed

Tim and Paul tackle record store day 2024, Gareth from Clash magazine handles the new release round up. Slabbed music makes an appearance, letters, Tim's anecdote corner is back plus more crate digging larks.

Hosts

Paul Field and Tim Scullion

Written & Produced

Paul Field

Editor

Tim Scullion

Twitter: @WeBuyRecordsPod
Twitter: @wmt_network
Website: wemadethisnetwork.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
We made this Mmm, Hello andwelcome to We Buy Records. I'm Paul

(00:46):
Field and I'm joined as ever bythe lovely mister Tim Scullion. Hello Tim,
how are you? Hi? Paul? I'm all right? How are
you? It's raining in Belgrade today. Oh it's a blue sky, is
lovely sunny down here in Sussex.Be hot here all the time. Well,
what temperature is it there? Doyou know today? Eighteen degrees?

(01:07):
What eighteen? You're joking? No? Why what? Well, it's about
like seven degrees here or something,it's not eighteen spring is here, sunny,
it's still. It'll start getting warmsoon, it'll start getting warm.
Wait till against a forty Well,yeah, and that's not so fun in
England. Eighteen degrees is warm.You've bastard, right, listens, haven't

(01:30):
tuned in for the weather? Tim? No, it's true. Right,
Let's do a little bit of housekeeping. Big shout out to the lovely paul
A Taylor for his coffee contribution.Now we are back regularly. If you
do want to buy a coffee,you can go to ko dash Fi dot
com, forward slash b We BuyRecords chuck as if you quid which we

(01:52):
will definitely not spend on coffee,but you don't have to. But it's
appreciated, but you don't have to. No, of of course not.
Yes, And just a quick housekeepingfrom me. I have made good on
my threat and there is now aFacebook We Buy Records page group whatever it
is. If you're a Facebook user, then just go on to it and
search we Buy Records podcast and you'llfind it. And I'm there and all

(02:15):
your pals are there and it's veryfun. Right. Should we do the
news? Yes? So, Tim, this was all over the BBC,
It was on the television news aswell. Catherine saw it. About twelve
people yesterday in the shop broke thisnews to me as well. The number

(02:39):
of independent record shops in the UKhits a ten year high. This is
great news. So there are nowdo you know how many shops there are
now? Yeah? Is it aboutthree hundred or something? It was four
hundred and sixty one, right,one hundred and twenty two up on ten
years ago. And I think you'vebeen haven't you been trading for ten years?

(03:04):
Yes? So it's you're saying it'sbecause of us with a trailblazer.
With a trailblazer Interestingly, though,the places that the number of outlets that
have dropped selling physical media, supermarketseight thousand less now stock physical media.
Oh, which is unusual because normallythey will follow the curve the other way.

(03:28):
Yeah, so it's a net loss, a huge net loss. Yeah.
The number of shops physically selling music, such as supermarkets and specialists change
fell fell by eight thousand compared totwenty fourteen. So when you go in
you want to get your tin ofbeans, loaf of bread, Adele's thirty
Now you can't know. You haveto come and see c HMV or an

(03:50):
indie. I mean it's good forthe indies, but it is a bit
weird, yes, and I supposea ten year high is still a thirty,
twenty, thirty, forty year low, isn't it. You have to
drill down into these stats. They'vemade it sound much more sexy than it

(04:11):
than the reality is. I mean, physical sales now wake up eight percent
of the music market, okay,whereas ninety two percent is on streaming.
That's a lot, isn't it.That's a lot of That's a lot of
percent on streaming. Well, I'massuming because if eight percent is in physical
form where's the other ninety two?It must be streaming. Yeah, no,
no, no, you're right,you're right. It's a transformed marketplace,

(04:33):
isn't it. But here's here's thekicker with this, and this is
what if you read through this,Oh, records are doing great, shops
are doing great. Everything's rosey,everything's fantastic. They spoke to a very
nice chap who has a record shopin Frome in Somerset, and he's saying,
oh, yeah, you know,violence are pretty consistent. They've gone

(04:54):
up for us a bit over thelast few years. But in the week
for us, ceds are our predominantselling product. Oh shit. The funny
thing is, though, Paul,So I mean that is that is funny.
I know of at least one newrecord shop within the vicinity of US

(05:18):
that doesn't even stock CDs. Theyonly stock records. We stock a few,
literally one long row, but wedon't sell very many. We actually
sell quite a lot, but they'reso cheap that compared to records, they
don't. You know, it's niceto have them. Some people buy them.
But evidently some new music shops domake serious money out of CDs,

(05:41):
and that's obviously that's great. There'sno judgment, but it is funny that
there can be one new music retailerthat doesn't even stock CDs, and then
a few hours away there can beanother one who makes most of their money
on CDs that in itself is actuallyvery weird. Well, I mean,
I see the whole sale list,as see, CDs ain't that cheap either.
They're not that cheap. They arecheaper, but they're not that cheap

(06:04):
anyway. Well done record shops.Yes, congratulations record shops. If you're
a record shop that's opened in thelast ten years, well done. Please
keep trading. We love you now, Tim, you know what's coming up
next month, don't you know?Paul? What your favorite time of year

(06:25):
is it? Christmas? It's recordstore Day now. As always, this
is going to be massively divisive amongstour listeners. Some love it, some
are ambivalent, but many many reallydon't like it. Yes, yes,
our mail bag has been I thinkI think each year when we do this,

(06:46):
I think that the mail bag getsmore negative. It is slewing that
way. And having looked through thelist with some reason, I suspect should
we give our little thought on theon the list and what's available this year.
Yes, okay, should we startwith let's start with I've picked out

(07:08):
three things which seem a little bitridiculous to me. Okay, States of
Independence on a summer Now, thismust come into the store quite a lot.
So the what the the twelve inch? It's I think it's a slight
variation of the twelve inches and mixesand stuff, but effectively, yes,
but it's blue. I think it'sgot the same artwork and stuff we still

(07:30):
have for two. I think maybeit's too too quid. I think,
yes, well I've got it downlistedhere. It's two pounds. Yeah,
or you can buy this a lovelyreissue for twenty six pounds. Oh I
see, Oh I know I sawthis. They're calling it an album,
yes, but really it's just likea you know, a remixed twelve inch,
isn't it. I think it's gotmaybe five or six mixes on it.

(07:55):
It's the same record in a funnyhat. Yeah. Yeah, obviously
not worth How much was it quid? Yeah, it's not worth it.
It's good. I mean it's abanger. It's it's a gay anthem,
you know, it's it's a it'sa big tune. But if yeah,
two quid would have been preferable.Yeah, oh, do you know what
I've got to look at look uphow much this is. But it's irrelevant

(08:15):
because by my next annoyance is DrAlbans It's my life. Oh classic bizarrely
on ten inch? Oh it's atune. But you can you can pick
up the seven inch for a pound, Paul. As I've said, how
many times have I said to youon this pod, everyone loves a ten
inch, oh dear, So you'renot going to be buying the Doctor a

(08:37):
no, because you can just goand guard the seven inch for a quid.
I know, I know, Paul. It's all right. Have you
got one more bad for us?Yeah? Michael Gray The Weekend? Now
this was a big club anthem,and I can see why something because it's
not crazy cheap. It's going tocost you fifteen to sixteen quid for a
nice twelve inch copy. However,so what's your problem? This is a

(09:01):
seven inch? Oh? Oh god? Is it? Really? Who's that
aimed at? The one person whowants The Weekend by Michael Gray in their
jukebox? Because I can't see anyoneelse wanting to buy it. Oh,
that's really weird. And it's seventeenquid. What a complete waste of time,
money, energy, resources and everythingelse. It's so ridiculous. Now

(09:22):
would that have even come out asa seven inch? That's why I'm saying,
unless you have a jukebox, whywould it's it's a club record,
it needs to be on a twelveinch single. There's a reason there's no
seven inch. Yeah, that's veryweird. How desperate were they? What
can we release? What can werelease? Well, Paul, I'm so
glad you've asked that, because ifthere's anything annoyed you, Tim, Yes,

(09:46):
so mine. It's it's sort ofone, but it's a big one.
But it's going to take a littlebit of unpicking. So Paul,
are you are you? Are youready? Can you? Can you pay
me some strict attention please? Andlet's see if I can. Let's see
if I can explain to you whyI'm annoyed and what I think is going

(10:07):
on. Okay, So twenty nineninety nine, David Bowie waiting in the
sky. Open brackets before the starman, Close brackets. Now, Paul,
did you did you see this?I did not. I just saw it
on the this I just I didn'tstop and see what it entails. God,
what actually is it? So onthe face of it, it looks

(10:28):
like it's a sort of intriguing alternativeearly version of the album Ziggi, Star
Dust and the Spiders from Mars,Right, That's that's what the blood suggests
it is. But what it reallyis, ah Well, in my opinion,
and please don't sue me, Parlophoneor whatever is it seems like a

(10:50):
really clever con so that they've gota bowie thing to release for record Store
Day. And I'm very happy tobe wrong. This is just how it
appears to me, So, Paul, this is what they've done. Imagine
a band goes into the studio torecord an album. They will often have

(11:11):
two, three, four recording sessionsfor that album. Right. It's not
that common unless you're a little indiepunk band to go in record the whole
album in one session in one dayand go bosh, job done, whole
album. You'll probably go back.There's nothing unusual about it being over a
few sessions, right. All that'sbeen done here, as far as I

(11:33):
can see, is that arbitrarily theyhave released the first session in its entirety,
So that session was most of thealbum, and four tracks that ended
up being released later as B sidesbecause they weren't good enough for the album.
I don't think there is a singlesecond of previously unreleased music on here.

(11:58):
You could do this with any albumthat had more than one recording session.
Oh, here's a special version that'sjust the first session, including a
couple of tracks that ended up asB sides. Because you record more than
you put on the album, becausethat's what happens. It sounds like the
sweepings off the floor. It's noteven that, because it is this.

(12:18):
It is the album that got released. It is Ziggy Stardust minus three songs
that were in a second recording session, plus four songs that ended up originally
as B sides. Are you goingto buy it? No? Fuck no.
The thing is it's so I don'teven think I'm getting across to you

(12:39):
what's happening. But I'm scared becauseI think this is opening the door to
a fucking con ah. So itcould be right. Depeche Mode they recorded
Violator in two sessions. Most ofit was in the first session. A
few tracks were on in the secondsession. We're going to do a special
issue with a different cover. That'sjust the first session of these tracks as

(13:03):
they ended up on the album,because that was the same recording. That's
the recording that was the album recording, but it's missing the songs from the
second session and including a song thatended up as a B side which they
happen to record in the first session. That is just stupid. Okay,
now I'm fully up to speed.That is ridiculous. It's nothing, It's
not a thing. It shouldn't bea thing. Well, Tim, It's

(13:26):
not the only con that's going tobe coming up in this episode, that's
for sure. So listeners, nota do you understand what I'm trying to
say, because I think it's it'ssimple, but it's also kind of really
tricksy. And am I right orwrong for thinking that this is a complete
con our Listeners will have plenty tosay about David Bowie. Yeah, please,
listeners, do you want to buythis? Did you want to buy

(13:50):
this? And now you don't?Do you want to buy it? Anyway?
And am I being unreasonable for thinkingthat it is a con? Paul,
if you've got any positives, ifyou've got any after that rant,
well, a very very welcome reissueof Orbital Orbital, because if you want

(14:11):
a nice copy of that at themoment, it's going to cost you a
couple hundred quid. Fantastic, that'swhat it should be for. That is
a perfect example of reissuing something forrecord store Day that's horribly expensive that quite
a lot of people would like toown, exactly Sophie Ellis Specster, the
Lovely Sophie Llispecster. She's put outsome of the remixes from some of their

(14:33):
dancer hits which were on promos andstuff like that. Again, great great
way for fans to be able toget hold of some of that slightly more
elusive material. And then this oneI was excited about, but now I
hate it because I saw the price. I've got one of them in a
minute, so strict strictly rhythm JoshWinks, High State of Consciousness, absolute

(14:54):
banger. Unfortunately they want thirty quidfor a twelve inch fuck off. Actually,
if any listener is you know,rich and going to be first in
the queue, drop me a messageif you can pick me up Orbital as
Sophiet aspects. So I've got thesame as you. I've got one in
a minute, which was a positiveand then I saw the price. But

(15:18):
my clear winner for Record Store Daywould be twenty nine ninety nine on These
are all the rough trade prices,by the way, listeners. Oh ye,
Pulp intro the Gift Recordings. Nowthis has never been reissued. It's
a nineteen ninety three compilation of Ithink three twelve inches that they recorded for
Gift, which is a subsidiary ofIreland, and it was the It was

(15:41):
basically just as they or just beforethey were starting to get proper success,
and it is It works as afantastic album. It really really is great.
The original is worth seventy quid andup in nice condition. So for
it to be reissus you thirty quidfor a really good pulp record that has

(16:03):
been otherwise unavailable. Fantastic twenty sevenninety nine one hundred and one strings Astro
Sounds from Beyond the Year two thousand. This is a legendary nineteen sixty eight
exotica album that you know, theprevious pressings of it are quite expensive and
it's just a really good cult kindof weird, ambient, groovy, great

(16:26):
thing. One the caveat with thatis this has already had a record Store
Day reissue in twenty seventeen. Shouldshould that be allowed? I think they've
done this before. I think Isaw some I saw another item on this
list that has already been done before. I can't remember which one it was.
Yeah, that's not It's not right, is it? Hmmm? Oh?

(16:48):
I saw a new album as wellthat had just come out, also
on the on the list, buton black vinyl, because I think all
the others were on fancy colors.No, that's amazing. The Records Store
Day one is black vinyl. YEP, that's more like it. More of
that? Please? Oh oh talkingto black Vinyl. Make sure you listen
out later in the show for Gareth'ssegment where they've started to rename black vinyl.

(17:14):
Oh shit, okay, I'm lookingforward to that. And then Paul
like your Josh Wink high set ofconsciousness. I've got it was a good
and now it's a bad. TheRoaches self titled debut album. I think
I think it's a debut album onred vinyl. The album is an all
time classic, brilliant bit of kindof ARTI feminist, quirky folk rock with

(17:40):
some nice Robert Fripp guitar on it. I mean, it's not your cup
of tea, Paul, probably,but it's just it's fantastic. Now we
get original pressings of this, likeEuropean pressings in the shop quite often,
and we sell them for between eightand fifteen pounds. The record store day
reissue is of a single disc recordforty six ninety nine. Get to fuck.

(18:03):
Why are they gatekeeping it at thatprice? What who does it benefit
to make it be the best partof fifty quid? All of our listener's
been in touch. I think theyhave with their picks or their well or
their their picks or their anger.Did they have? Indeed, Jessebear says
for me, the big ones areKristin Hirsch, Hips and Makers, Repress,

(18:26):
Billy Martin and prefeb sprouts EPs.But what you can't understand is had
you pronounce this is zoetrope or zotrope. I think it's zootrope, zootrope.
George Harrison's got one, Blur's gotone. Oh, and you've put a
thing here, Tim, you've evenread read the show notes because Lily Allen
steps and Doctor Who and t Rexeveryone's getting in. I kept seeing this

(18:48):
word. I don't even know whatit is? Is it something like a
little pattern that spins or something?Is that what it is? Yees?
So it is a series of images. It's basically like a film strip,
and it's a film strips. Butif you've ever been to a sort of
museum or kids thing where you lookthrough little slits and a thing spins and
you see an animated man on ahorse or a clown, Ah, yeah,

(19:11):
I know what you mean now,So it's like that. Yeah,
yeah, I think that. Thestupid thing about this is and basically,
Paul, this is for the Internet. This is for TikTok and YouTube to
make videos of because a zootrope doesn'treally work if you look at it with
your eyes, but if you filmit at the right frame rate, it

(19:33):
looks like it's animating. So thisis kind of This is of no value
to a human. It's only avalue to the Internet. I've got one
of these. It was on anover mute put one out a few years
back, and yeah, you're right. It came to the little slip and
it told me to put my phoneand record it. Yeah, there we
go. So it's yeah, vinylgimmick for the TikTok generation. I'm afraid

(19:56):
is what that is? What else? If the listeners had to say,
Tim, well, this is agood point realization. Music says that their
issue is queuing or waiting for thatexclusive record store Day release to then see
restocks available for weeks and weeks after, and they wonder if this is a
new thing. Yeah, I thinkit is. I mean it certainly wasn't

(20:17):
the case in the early days ofrecord store Day, was it. You
know, you wouldn't get a messagefrom your local shop, Oh hey guys,
right, we've got some more stockin now. Yeah. And it's
because that the stuff isn't shifting nowfrom the distributors. They're not selling out
of this rubbish who recent you knowwhatever? It is twelve inch And so
for the weeks and months later they'repushing on record shops. This is a

(20:40):
little bit of secret. Don't tellthe distributors that I'm given this behind the
scenes information, Paul, this issecret. But yeah, So then they
keep pushing the stock to say,hey, now we've got more available.
Get it while it lasts. Andwhat it means is it didn't sell out
because it wasn't sought after enough.In my opinion, in my opinion and
hate me distributors. I'm just speakingtruth to power. I'm not sure if

(21:03):
this next response is a positive ora negative, and so Macandra, I'm
not doing that. Surname is toomany vowels. Not having a record store
anywhere near me is good? Isthat good or bad? I think it's
a positive positive too fair enough.Chris s has got great taste, he

(21:26):
says. Excited for pulp intro,he says, I'll finally get Sheffield Sex
City on vinyl, and also excitedfor the one hundred and one strings sounds
from Beyond the year two thousand.So well done, Chris, excellent taste.
What boils Chris's piss is thirty thirtythree pounds for that Global Communications twelve

(21:47):
inch sheer greed? I mean,is Paul? Is it just greed when
there's a twelve inch or a seveninch for twenty thirty forty quid? Yes?
Is there nothing else going on?It can't just be greed. I
get like local DJs who have smallnumbers, say you know of their releases

(22:11):
pressed, and they come into thestore and I buy them wholesale for about
seven or eight euros. Yeah,I know, And this is a small
local artist who can do this.So if you're a major label, how
how have you got and very much? So they're probably getting picking up getting
them for what four euros? Imean obviously to where have they got thirty

(22:34):
five euros retail from rights? Isuppose. So you've got to wonder how
much the artist has demanded. Maybe. So that's all I can think of,
is that the artist said yes,yes, yes, yes you can.
You can. You can press uptwo thousand copies, but you have
to pay me fifty grand. That'sall I can think of. But then

(22:55):
you'd think that the record label wouldgo, no, you're all right?
Then yeah. Rob Patterson writes,I don't know about loosening underwear, but
the prices are making me nauseous.This isn't what records Store Day was conceived
as it's now corporate exploitation. Veryvery to the point there we should point
out that loosening underwear. He's nota pervert. This This is responding to

(23:21):
how you phrased the question on Twitter. Otherwise I feel like we're dropping him
in it that suddenly he's mentioned inloosening underwear. Don't blame him, blame
Paul, I asked if any ofthe releases we're getting people excited enough to
loosen their underwear elastic, Yes youdid. Stuart Proud says the Sunny Rollins
album for Records All Day is onehundred and two pounds ninety nine pence.

(23:45):
Well he can get in the bin, and Tim, there's something on here.
Thank you, by the way,everyone who we couldn't read them all
out there were too many. Thanks. If you email messages, whatever,
we always appreciate when you get intouch and we do read them all.
Tim, there's a he's a veryimportant information that you've missed related to Records

(24:06):
Store Day. It's in the shownotes. You added it. I can
see that it was done by you, and I was waiting for the listeners
desperately need to know this. It'sjust crazy important. Hang on, I'm
just looking at our notes. Hangon. Oh poor, you're right.
We missed the most important bit ofRecord Store Day news. I'm so sorry.

(24:29):
Thank you for pointing it out tome. Records Store Day twenty twenty
four has an official wine partner.Hooray, and I think no more needs
to be said about that. OhGod, there you go, Record Store
Date have fun, everybody, shallwe hear from Lovely garethon Clash magazine.

(24:56):
Now, oh yes, let's please, there's some great stuff been released recently.
Catherine Priddy is an up and comingBritish folk artist and truly she is
the real deal. She did awonderful job with the twenty twenty one debut,
which kind of gradually built some momentum. She's excellent at kind of putting
clips of her process up on socialmedia and has sort of slowly built a
loyal following. But she signed acooking vinyl for her new album, The

(25:18):
Pendulum Swing, and it's a reallygreat record. I always love it when
you hear folk artists advance through theircareer and you can see them making those
steps really quickly. This new recordhas some really gorgeous songs that are all
about the idea of kind of leavinghome, trying to figure out where your
place in the world is, somehowreturning back to home and wondering if you
failed, and then trying to makesense of it all. There's a beautiful
song called First House on the Leftthat does that really kind of lovely textures

(25:42):
that you'd want from a kind ofcomplex folk piece and open track. You've
got a Boat on the river aswell. Early doors on the album as
well, meticulous sort of layers tothat, and it's the sort of song
that, over a couple of listensbecomes a real earworm. The vinyl cut
is excellent. They've done a grandjob of it. When you've got those
lovely little folk textures going on,if you've got to compressed a mid range,

(26:02):
actually you lose a lot of thebeauty of the performance, so you
need that space. They've done agrand job of that. It's a gorgeous
gatefold package as well. They pressedit it tacked, so you may find
the odd ones a little noise.You have to say. The green vinyl
Eye sampled sounded really lovely and thatalbum is well worth giving a listen.
So it's the Pendulum Swing by CatherinePriddy. There's been plenty of hype around
the Last Dinner Party in the buildup to their debut album, Preleague to

(26:23):
Ecstasy, and they got the Radioone Sound of twenty twenty four title,
which is something that we obviously observevery religiously in this house. But they
are now out there with a newalbum. They've got a very sort of
calculated image and it's kind of gothiclooks to everything, and some people have
taken against them for it being quiteso well controlled and such a sort of

(26:44):
very well stage managed pr campaign.I don't really have a problem with that.
It's the music industry. What doyou expect. You've got to try
and make things sell in this dayand age. Their songs are great.
I mean, their choruses are superpeople know things like nothing matters, and
the feminine urge and Sinner and justreally really great songs. Arrangements are just
glorious. Their ability to shift directionin the middle of a song fantastic,
And when I wrote about it,I sort of described it as having a

(27:06):
Cureus sweet spot between the divine comedy, the Cure and Florence and the Machine,
which are not three acts I naturallyput next to each other, But
there is something intriguing going on there. As I said, they're very much
distinctive in their brand, and Idoubt this is the first time anyone's really
hearing of them. That said,their new vinyl release is on various different
sort of variants with different names suchas ox Blood, Red, red Wine,

(27:27):
Stain. There's a picture disc andI sampled the smoky marble. Smoky
marble did not fill me full ofconfidence, because as we know, once
you start murking up the vinyl process, it doesn't tend to end well.
And although it was pressed are optimal, I gotta be honest, it wasn't
the quietest and there were a fewbits of sort of rustling crackle and then
a couple of particularly egregious pops whichdid not play well. The mastering's all

(27:51):
right, It could do with sometop end. It's a classic example of
something that's been mastered for loud streamingwhich has then had a sort of adaptation
for the vinyl pressing. It needsmore breath, more space in the high
end, but it sounds all rightand musically, you know, like I
said, some great songs. Granddaddyare back, and people would overjoyed when
they returned previously in twenty seventeen withtheir union record Last Place, which was

(28:12):
their first in many a year.Tragically, though, soon after that release,
their bassist and co founder Kevin Garciadied, and naturally that put paid
to the momentum of that return,and so lots of people were thrilled at
their return. And everyone knows theirkind of drowsy melancholic majesty and the kind
of pillowy melodies and all the sortof beautiful things that they do with their
songs, and it was lovely tohave them back, and then they went

(28:33):
quite again from his reason this timearound, it should be said it is
the name Granddaddy, but it isbut basically just Jason Little doing his thing
on his own. There's some greatmastering from Ruria Flarerty on this. The
album is called Blue Wave or blueWave I mean Wavers in the audio file
spelling wav. But it is anintriguing record. It's got the creaking melancholic
sounds that you'd want. There's lotsof charm. It's quite fullsome actually and

(28:56):
sort of built up rather nicely,all the sorts of things you'd exp in
terms of beautiful songs. Long asI'm not the one is one that I
would suggest sort of tuning into ifyou'd like to get a sense of that
lyrics I'm all alone now and noI don't like it. I'm on my
own now and I won't deny it. I think perhaps is typical of her
Granddaddy lyrics. So you know whatyou're getting, and it's nicely done on

(29:17):
the weird name for vinyl variance themeof earlier. This is available on Wave
Blue, Hot, Miles, Red, Culder, Sack Black, and Nebula
variants, so couldest Sack black Yeah, or as most people know it black.
Taylor Swift's up to this as wellwith one of her latest variants,
which by the time you hear thisyou won't be able to buy anymore,
because only if you are a properfan do you buy it when it's briefly

(29:38):
available. And she's called hers inkblack as well, because you know black
is now a variant. This one'spressed at GZ, so this granddaddy record.
It sounds good. The mastering isnicely done. Tiny bit of surface
noise here and there, but witha good clean it came up fine.
I would imagine some of the morefancy variants might be a little bit more
lively. And finally, let's doffour hats collectively to sub Pop Records for

(29:59):
understan that buying vinyl is a bitof a financial minefield. Right now,
they have released the latest Jay Maskisalbum, he of Dinosaur Junior, entitled
what Do We Do Now? Pressedare Optimal and it's just over twenty pounds
rather than thirty thirty five. It'sgot lovely artwork, it's a lovely pressing,
really quiet, you can crank itup and it sounds tremendous and it's

(30:22):
just over twenty someplace will be abouttwenty quid, but most around twenty one.
I mean, let's be honest.If it can be done, then
why aren't others doing it? Areally great thing and massive by Greg Kirlby
at Sterling sound as per usual,it slightly heavier on the bottom end,
as tends to be the case withJay Maskus' work, often feels a bit
like early Willco. It's a fullyfleshed out band sound, slightly more so
than he normally does. And obviouslyit sounds like Jay mask is singing,

(30:44):
so in that sense it doesn't soundlike Willco because of Jeff Tweedy's voice,
but musically there's definitely that sound ofearly Willc in there. And like I
said, the mix is a littlebit towards the bottom end, but it's
still got plenty of detail in themid range. It's a really quiet,
optimal pressing and quite you know,as I said earlier, quite importantly not
realiculously priced. Well Gareth who thinksthey're getting their money but in fact ended

(31:04):
up red faced and shamed on thenaughty step. This one's a frustrating one
for me because I was one ofthe first times I really waded into the
whole vinyl discussion many years ago interms of actually putting my head above the
parapet and trying to talk about pressings. Was Swede's reunion album, Blood Sports,
back in twenty thirteen, and atthe time, the mastering was mad.
They cranked it so far there wasactual crackling distortion on several of the

(31:27):
quieter songs because of the way they'dsquashed everything and brick walled it to the
extent that fans wrote to the bandand said, can you please remaster this?
It's faulty. They defended it atthe time, the management saying,
no, no, this is intentional, this is the mix. We want
it to sound like that. Andat the time there was an MPO vinyl
pressing which didn't have as much ofthat problem because obviously they had to tame

(31:47):
it slightly for the vinyl cut,as is the nature of these things,
which was quite forward, a bittinny because it's you know, swayed,
but it sounded all right, youknow, you could still enjoy the music,
certainly more so than the digital version. Then it was announced it was
going to be done via Demon's halfspeed series that they've been doing quite a
lot of recently, and actually thosehave been generally well done. Youve got
Barry Grint tends to be the personinvolved in sorting out those cuts, and
I thought, well, this isinteresting. Are they they presumingly they're going

(32:09):
to have to go back and remasterit properly, otherwise it's not going to
work for this process. It wasthen also announced it was going to be
a Dink edition, so one ofthese independent shop special editions as well.
So you've got a red Dink edition, you've got the black Standard edition,
which is half speed. They bothuse the same half speed cut, even
though that's not made immediately clear.I've listened to both just to be really
certain about this. They are thesame cut at dinked is red. You'll

(32:30):
need some gz roulette because one wasquite quiet, one wasn't. So good
luck with all of that. Musically, it's a great record. I think.
You know, if you want thekind of thrills of coming up,
then you've got tracks that hit Mestarts and ends with you barriers, what
are you not telling me? Forthe strangers, they're all great, you
know, listening to them again,a really fabulous record. The mastering's confusing.
I mean, I think what they'vetried to do is turn it down

(32:52):
a bit because it was mixed toohot in the first place, so it
doesn't crunch at the top. Sowhen you get to those tracks that previously
crackled, they don't really crackle it. But something weird is going on in
the mid range. So there areseveral tracks where you're actually hearing the vocals
and drums competing for space in thesound stage, which is just odd.
You know. It's almost like they'rekind of riding the fader so that as

(33:13):
Brett's voice comes through, then thedrum beat comes and e recesses and then
goes back and forth. It's justa bit flat sounding. It's a shame,
you know. I think they've doneit with the best of intentions,
but whatever goes on with that sourcematerial, I think it's potentially unsalvagible.
So it's all right, you know, if you want it on vinyl.
It's not horrific, But at thesame time, it really hasn't kind of
addressed the issue and with that originalmix. If you go with the Dink

(33:35):
edition, which is almost certainly longsold out, but you might find a
few in the shelves of indie shops, and you get a bonus seven inch
with a couple of B sides fromthe time. Looking at the seven it
doesn't appear to have been half speedcut like the main album. But given
we're asking around thirty quid for thisand the mastering hasn't really been dealt with
compared to the issue before, I'dgive it a miss. Let's head to
the reissue cold Face. What havewe got? Gareth? Something great?

(33:58):
Kevin Airs his solo daby Joy ofa Toy after leaving Soft Machine in nineteen
sixty nine, has been very hardto track down a really nice original copy
of and in the reissue market ithasn't always been that well served. The
people at four Men with Beards,which a name of a label that will
send a shudder through the spine ofmany. They tried it a few times,
and anyone that's ever listened to afour Men with Beards records will know

(34:19):
why you should never buy a fourMen with Beards pressing they had a go.
There've been a few others down theline. The only time it's been
done well in recent memory is musicon Vinyl in twenty fifteen. You know,
they tend to do a good job. They've gone back to the original
source. They've done the gatefold quitenicely. It's a good sounding pressing.
It's quite a forward mastering. Whatwe've now got is a cherry red reissue
for twenty twenty four. They've goneback an original master tape remastered, so

(34:44):
they've gone back to the original source. They've pressed it at Palace and they've
kept it in at twenty five quidin a gatefold. It it's not bad
if you want something that's been donereally, really well. And personally I
think this edge is the music onvinyl. It doesn't blow it away.
These things generally don't. It's abit better. It' softer presentation. I
think if you've got warmer speakers,it will suit your system. If you've

(35:04):
got quite bright loud ones, thenyou might prefer the music on vinyl one
to be honest, but you've gota warmer system and you can crank this
up. I think it sounds reallylovely. It doesn't have quite so much
artificial umph to it. I thinkit just rises out of the mids rather
beautifully. And there's a track Girlon a Swing, which can sound quite
heavy in its original mix. Sothat's a good test of how well cut
a record's been. And I thinkon this one it just edges that that
music on vinyl pressing. So ifyou're in the market for one, this

(35:27):
is an absolute no brainer, andif you've got the other one you might
want to upgrade. But you know, I do think that twenty fifteen was
done well. The audiophile jazz markethas been doing big business of late,
and of course from time to timewe mentioned a few on here, and
Decca Records have sort of slid intothis a little bit with a reissue of
Miles Davis's assn Policia Ford from nineteenfifty eight. Yeah, and they've done

(35:52):
it with a shiny tip on gatefold, and they made a big thing about
the fact they were doing replica packaging. There's a brand new sleeve, know,
all this kind of stuff. Butthen as part of the listing it
actually said during the listing, youknow, original replica sleeve. Oh we
are pressed at GEZ In the CzechRepublic, and a few people got in
touch with me and said, isthis something we put on press releases now?
And it's something we talked about previouslyabout is this something you know companies

(36:12):
are bragging about now? So afew people did ask would you have a
listen and see? So I didask for a copy. And you know,
the sleeve is lovely, So Iwill say if you want a nice
shiny if you're on a nice shinysleeve, it's great. Inside is a
plain paper sleeve, one of thevery rough cheapo ones that have that mean
you've then got little bits on thedisc when you finally managed to extricate it

(36:34):
from its static filled hell hole.The disk then gets cleaned and it's reasonably
quiet. I mean there's still abit of noise in there once it comes
out with those bits. You know, it's basically spent the whole journey having
those bits of paper and glue rubbedagainst it as it's moved around in transit.
So it's imperfect. The sonics areall right, they didn't blow me
away. It's quite hard to figureout exactly what's going on with the sources

(36:54):
and everything. I mean, itsounds okay, but it really isn't an
audiophile pressing in the way that it'smade to look. Look, you know,
clearly the aesthetics are to look likea tone Poet, but sonically it's
nothing special. And frankly, ifyou want some beautiful signing jazz this month,
get Art Pepper Quintet's Smack Up fromContemporary Records pressed at RTI as part
of the big organization there, orget Blue Mitchell's Sublime down with it the

(37:17):
Tone Poet reissue. You know,some great great stuff that's out there.
I would leave the Miles Dave aswell alone. A GZ pressing that I
am very happy with is the latestspiritualized reissue. So they were doing the
Spacemen reissue program for the first partof their career a few years back,
which prompted a lot of mixed responses, shall we say, in the sense
that they kept doing the sleeves slightlytoo small, or they're doing glow in

(37:38):
the Dark vinyl, which was naturallyquite noisy, or there was a repeating
click on lots of copies of ladiesand gentlemen, and they just seem to
have an awful lot of bad luck. And of course you do make your
own luck, and if you chooseto press in certain places, you are
inviting problems. The latest stage,they're kind of going to the latter part
of the career now, and theybegin with Amazing Grace, which came out
in the early noughties and originally wasdone as a three times twelve inch collectible

(38:00):
box, so over three weeks youcould buy the album as a single,
and then it went in a box, and then they did the record properly,
and all this kind of novelty stuffthat happened back then. This it
just sounds better. Fans of Spiritualizedwill know that they do it. You
know, veer towards the shrill attimes in their production. That is Jason
Pierce's thing, but this the nuancein it. Matt Colton has done the

(38:21):
cut and it's a name I've mentionedin the past, Matt Colton's vinyl cuts.
I think he's fantastic. He's donea superb job at this. There's
an updated gatefold sleeve by Mark Farrowas well. But honestly, the shrill
aspect are tamed. The mid rangeis really open. She kissed Me It
felt like a hit has never soundedbetter. Lord, let it rain on
me opens up beautifully. It's prettyreasonably priced as well. We sampled the

(38:42):
standard black edition for the column andit just sounds really, really good.
Honestly, it actually made me thinkdifferently about that album because hearing it with
just a bit more composure really didwork. And finally, when a Mister
Bongo reissue arrives in a tip onthe style sleep if you know you're on
something special because they've not just reissuedit. They wanted to feel like a

(39:04):
luxury item despite that fact. It'sanother one that's only just over twenty quid.
It is the album Simba by O'DonnellLevy and this was released back in
nineteen seventy three. This kind ofjazz guitarist have been working with George Benson
and Jimmy McGriff at the time andwas signed to Groove Merchant Records and Mister
Bongo are going to do a seriesof reissues from that label and this is
the first one. This was onlyrecorded over the course of a couple of

(39:25):
days. It's a collaboration between himand Manny Albarn who album Sorry, who
was arranging the material as well.Essentially, what you get is this kind
of bombastic kind of funky, soulfuljazz, sounds a bit like a kind
of car chase soundtrack and all thosekind of cliches. But it is really
really good. Cellar Bridgewater's on thereall I think I'm probably supposed to say
cecil Anti was on there doing allsorts of great stuff as well. Honestly,

(39:49):
it is bombastic in all the rightways, and it is rhythmic in
all the best ways, and it'sjust over twenty quid. It's a silent,
optimal pressing. It's got a greatcover. If you need any convincing,
just searched up and give a tracka listen like Bad Bad Simba,
and I'm pretty certain you'll be sold. Well, Gareth, I've just returned
from South America, where I've solda kidney to cover my winter fuel bills.

(40:10):
I've got thirty quid left in mypocket. What's pick of the pops?
Well, technically it's two things,so you'll have to choose one of
them. But it's two reissues ofRobert Forster, and unless you want to
get rid of the other kidney,it's Rabert Forster, he of the go
Betweens neial mythology. We've mentioned afew times before the reissue label that was
spearheaded by Pete Pefidi's and they dida couple of Robert Foster AUMs previously,

(40:32):
but then their ninety stuff from hiscatalog has been long out of print and
much in demand, and over thelast couple of years they've been chipping away
at getting those sorted. In betweenthat, of course, they also released
some breakfast cereal according to Robert Forster'sunique recipe. But we're now at the
two albums, the first of whichis nineteen ninety four's Beautiful Hearts, which
was actually originally called I Had aNew York Girlfriend, but has renamed for

(40:52):
this purpose. In addition to that, also sorted out some of the presentation
of it in the sleeve, Butit's the music that matter. Is it
was a cover record, and tobe fair to Forester, he admits it
in the sleeve notes that this iswhat you do when you can't think of
any songs to write. We've seenmany artists do this. It's the kind
of the cleansing process for writer's block. So you've got some fabulous version of
things like Mickey Newbreese, Frisco DepotSpirits, Nature's Way, Echo Beach by

(41:15):
Martha and the Muffins. They arefantastically done in that kind of lived in
creaky indie country fashion that makes forceto such a particular talent. It did
a good job as well, becausethe second album that we're going to mention
in a moment was caused by thatunblocking of the creative juices. Both of
these have been remastered by Sean McGeeat Abbey Road, so it's all been
done to the highest standard here.They do sound stunning and as Needle Mythology

(41:38):
fully and sands the importance of it. They press at the Vinyl Factory,
so you get a beautiful pressing gorgeouslyyour mastered artwork so that it looks crisp
and clear. You get a bonusseven inch in each one as well,
so for this first when you gettwo further cover versions. The second album
that's been reissued is Warm Nights,which then followed in nineteen ninety six,
and that was the kind of unblockingof it all. These are all originals

(42:00):
produced by Edwin Collins no less aswell, and it's a kind of grooves
set in the sense that it's gota lot of rhythm to it's still got
that kind of languid vocal, buta great kind of evening. Listen,
this one jug of Wine is atremendous track to give you a bit of
a sense of the atmosphere that hegoes for. There's also a few tweaks
done in the kind of restoring processas well, So the three piece brass
section that's used on a few trackswasn't originally on the track Fortress, which

(42:22):
is now back on it for thisnew edition. One track's been removed to
put back on the song that hewishes he hadn't taken off in the first
place. The sleeve note's great becauseyou get the proper story behind all this.
So if you like Robert Forster,the go Betweens, the majesty of
this is that you get the bestsound you could possibly hope for. You
get a sleeve note from an artisttelling you the artistic process and what it
meant to Then with humor and honestyand humility, you get a great pressing,

(42:45):
fantastic mastering. You know, ifyou want reissues done properly, this
is how to do them. Andonce again Needle Mythology demonstrate their capacity to
show pretty much everyone else how todo it. Thank you so much,
Gareth. Useful stuff, that's whatwe like. Thank you very very much.
Listeners, you can enjoy more fromGareth if you find Clash Magazine on

(43:09):
the internets. Thank you Gareth.We love you. Oh we get to
sing here, we get to sing. Here we go Jim Nicdo corner.
So excited. It's been a littlewhile, isn't it. Paul A bloke

(43:30):
came into the shop last week,of course he did. He had sold
us about two hundred tapes sort ofjazz fusion and sort of world and latiny
bits about three years ago. Andhe rocked up last week and said,

(43:50):
oh, well you remember I soldyou some tapes a little while ago.
He didn't say how long ago,he just said a little while ago.
And there was some that you saidweren't really for you, weren't really sable,
and you would donate them to acharity shop. And we said yeah.
And he said, well, I'vejust got a new secondhand car and
it's got a tape deck in it, so could I have them back please?

(44:16):
And we said, well, unfortunately, about three years ago when we
said we donate them to a charityshop, we donated them to a charity
shop, so I said, oh, which one was it? So that
was quite funny. That's it.That is the end of Tim's Corner.

(44:44):
Tim. I know the last episodeyou got very excited by the five quid
classics, very excited. It's somethingI'm really really into. I love our
five quid classics section shop. Obviouslysome of these things are more like two
quid classics, but the point isfor a fiver or less, you can
still get fantastic records in your localsecondhand record shop. And I do I

(45:05):
do want to make this in anoccasional repeated feature where we can dip in
and throw out a few more andlisteners, you're super welcome. In fact,
you're encouraged to get in touch withus still with any more five quid
classics, and they have him.The listeners are back in touch with more,
and they are back in touch.Paul Williamson says, fine, Young
Cannibal's self titled. He says,if you remove the stupid cover version and

(45:30):
put the one good song off theother album onto this one, it would
be perfect. We have that ina five hundred dinar section, so that's
three pound fifty. Yeah, thereyou go. Perfect and He also says
bos Skag's first eight albums are worthof goost. That's quite a lot.

(45:51):
Now he's Paul, He's adamant aboutthis, so Paul, thank you for
this. He's adamant. Leo Sayersilver Bird, which was I think the
first first Leo Sayer album before therecord company and the producer's got the hooks
in him and made them what theywanted him to be. I'm told it's
a weird, interesting album. Sonext time we get silver Bird by Leo

(46:15):
Sayer, I'm going to give ita listen and listeners, does anybody else
agree, because I'm curious to hearif this is like a lost classic?
Well, because you know what elseis a GOODU is rock On by David
Essex. Maybe this is another rockon situation. And he also adds Rick
Wakeman Six Wives of Henry the Eighth, of Henry the seventh, eighth,

(46:36):
that Henry Bloke eighth right, uh, and he adds a caveat Yes,
I know, but it is reallygood, is it? I had that
in the shot once. The coverterrified me. Yeah, it's it's it's
can't be good, can it?That's not a good album? Listen this
is that? Am I wrong?Is that a good album? And Paul

(47:00):
writes to say, I think greatesthits and best OF's are generally a really
good thing to have in the fivequid bin. It's the spirit of try
before you commit to a larger expense, he says Tim. In the past,
I have purchased compilations by Big CountryYeah and Steely Dan Yeah, maybe

(47:20):
in your good establishment, and it'sa great way of finding out whether you
might like an artist or not.Now I think this is very true and
leads on very smoothly and slickly.Oh doesn't it? Just to a letter
we've had from listener Roger Bickmore,Roger writes, I was reminded the other
day of Alan Partridge, who notfrom listening to our show Hope, Oh

(47:45):
no good okay. I was remindedthe other day of Alan Partridge, who,
when invited to name his favorite Beatlesalbum, chose their greatest hits.
If I remember rightly, Poorly says, I'd have to say the best of
the Beatles. A customer came tomy stall and asked only for greatest Hits
records, saying he didn't have enoughroom for the rest. I don't think

(48:07):
this is as peculiar as it mightfirst sound. There are lots of acts
where you really don't want to digdeeper than their bangers. Here are some
examples, in my opinion, whereyou require no other vinyl than their greatest
hits, saving yourself space and money. Now, Paul, obviously this is
going to be contentious, and thisis not the values of the Wibi Records

(48:30):
podcast. But this is what Rogersays. Roxy Music, Street Life twenty
Greatest Hits, Double LP, QueenGreatest Hits One, Blondie Best of Blondie,
Abba Greatest Hits, Elvis thirty numberone Hits, Madonna The Immaculate Collection,
Tina Turner All the Best, EltonJohn Greatest Hits, The Who,

(48:51):
Meaty, Big, and Bouncy,and the Eagles Greatest Hits seventy one,
seventy five. If you've got aproblem, then I know it's all Beard
music, Paul, Madonna, Whatdo you reckon? Is Madonna the Immaculate
Collection all you really need? Ifyou want her kind of legacy stuff,
probably is. Yeah. If you'renot interested in the weird kind of dance

(49:15):
period, Do you just want classicpop? Yeah, if you want the
classic pop, You're you're kind ofsorted that, he says, of course,
there are others where it would bea mistake. Restricting yourself to twenty
golden grats from the Beach Boys andmissing out on pet sounds would be a
crime. Likewise, relying on changesone Bowie instead of investing in Hunky Dory
or lad Insane would be a hugemistake. But he says, with a

(49:37):
lot of greatest hits albums under afiver, they are surely a really great
way to build a collection. Ithink you're totally spot on. It's kind
of what the five could Classic sectionwas made for. Like just recently we
have popped into our five could classicsection, the best of Sam and day
If, the best of OMD,the best of the Eagles, the best

(50:00):
of Ultravox. Ultravox is the onewe get quite a lot in the best
of and Yeah, and it's cheap, and it's the same. It's the
same music, in't it. It'sjust that the cover might not be quite
as nice as the actual album covers. But yeah, sorted, I say,
God bless the best of Well,I'm really curious, listeners, do
you have any others that you wouldadd to this list because please let us

(50:22):
know, because I'm really really intrigued. Also, listeners, can you make
a spirited defense of any of thesebeing not not good enough and that you
need everything? I personally think RoxyMusic, Street Life, twenty Greatest HiT's
great great best of I think youneed all of for your pleasure, and

(50:44):
also the Who, Meaty, Big, and Bouncy. I think you also
need all those weird early John EnTwistle bonkers songs if you if you really
want to get the full picture.Roger, thank you so much for your
letter. I enjoyed reading that.Thank you, and listeners, if you've
got any compilation or five quick classicsuggestions, please do get in touch.

(51:07):
You can email us. We're atwe buy Records pod at gmail dot com.
Now, Tim, before we getto the last little bit and the
quiz, I came across something whileI was researching the quiz, which I

(51:30):
think you're going to find slightly madand the listeners will probably have a little
bit of a laugh at. Sothere is a CD for sale. It's
a single copy. It's called theUltimate VIP Edition of I'm Not a Hipster
and it includes the following benefits.This is the one copy of the CD

(51:55):
that I signed and dedicated to mydad. When you buy this copy for
one million dollars huh, I willadd a dedication to you at your request.
This is my first album. AsI record and released my second and
further albums and begin to top theBillboard charts, you will be able to

(52:17):
say that you got the most importantcopy of my first album, the one
I gave to my father. Ineed to interject here and then obviously took
back the man who inspired everything I'vedone. The dedication page is not photographed
on the public listing, but willbe provided to seriously interested inquiries. Purchasing

(52:42):
the CD acts similar to an NFT, IT guarantees you. It guarantees you
future tickets and backstage passes to allthe Aaron Petter shows, not including airfair
or transportation, and signed copies ofall future recordings. Please note the shipping

(53:04):
is listed as local pickup. Thisis because the CD will be hand delivered
by me to you anywhere in theworld, provided dual location is safe and
secure for me to travel and access. At time of delivery, you will
have the option you're ready for thisto go to dinner and or drinks with

(53:27):
me. And have a meet andgreet as my treat. I'm just going
to end with this, it says, own a piece of musical history with
Aaron Petter's I'm Not a Hipster CD. This album showcases the artist's talent and
versatility with a mix of rock andpop genres. Released in twenty ten under
the label of Aaron Petter, thisCD comes in the standard jewel case and

(53:52):
was produced by Stacy Odell. Anyway, the album potaintes a variety of tracks
that will take you on a musicaljourney. Blah blah, bah blah blah
bla blah blah blah blah. Now, Tim, you must be thinking this
guy, he must be quite famous. Well, I'm a huge fan of
what was his name, Aaron Petter? So I've checked on discogs. How

(54:15):
many people do you think own thisalbum on discogs for zero? And how
many people do you think? Ohwow, how many people do you think
what this album on discogs? Oh, Paul, is it zero? Zero?
Cost you to buy an unsigned copy? Seventy nine people? Probably?

(54:43):
Oh Aaron. I can't work outif this is he's a bit out there
or completely deluded, or this issome kind of art project. He's doing.
One of our listeners might buy thisnow. If we've got any really
really rich listeners, I wouldn't putit past them. He signed it for
his father who inspired him. Wecan I have it back? Can we

(55:09):
get him on the show? Paul? Oh? Should we try? Aaron?
If you're if you're listening, canyou get out get your people to
talk to our people? Bloody hell? Oh, Aaron? What's it called?
I am not a hipster? Yep, what a whanchorish name. It
could be incredible. We could bemissing out on one of the albums of

(55:29):
our generation. Paul. It couldbe. We'll go to try and find
it now it well for a coolmillion, it can be yours Jesus Christ.
Now, Paul, it's funny youshould mention CD, which is what
that format was, because I believeas we as we hurtled towards the quiz

(55:52):
yes and the end of the show, I think you've you've had another CD
discovery, haven't you so? ListenerDouglas Baptiste, I can't thank you enough
for flagging this because I think wehave mentioned this on the show in the
past, that they're going to startdoing two CDs types and records what they
do with video games, comics,coin stamps, and I believe Tim,

(56:16):
you're in the comic. It's calledslabbing, correct, it is called slabbing.
Yeah, it's not a sex thing. It's not a sex thing,
Paul. Slabbing is when you seal, you send your item off to a
professional grader, who stop laughing atyour own sex choke, Paul. You
send it off to a professional grader, a self professed professional grader, who

(56:43):
will tell you what condition it's inin their professional opinion, print out a
little thing which states the condition,and seal your item in plastic. And
so for as long as that itemremains in case in this plastic, the
grade and the detail to say,this is a first edition from this year,

(57:04):
and it is this grade. Foras long as it remains sealed in
plastic, that grade is sort ofapproved and official. So I've got the
first, you know, the firstSpider Man, and it's an eight point
seven out of ten condition, andthere it is. You can't touch it
anymore. You can't look at thecomment, you can't open the pages.

(57:24):
If it's a game, you can'tplay the game. But what you can
say is, and I've had anexpert confirm the condition of this item.
Right, well, that's now happeningwith music, Tim, So, physical
media is now being graded and slabbed. So, Paul, I knew that
it fucking would. Yes, we'vementioned it a couple of times on the

(57:45):
show. This is coming, Thisis coming, This is coming. Now
it is here, So Jim,nice, simple quiz this time higher,
all lower, That's all you needto do. This is going to be
fairly quick. I've not gone backto discard to check everything, only the
first one, just so people canget an idea of the completely mental contrast

(58:07):
between the slabbed and unslabbed. Well, just before we do this, Since
slabbing has become so popular in comics, do you know what they now call
unslabbed comics trash? Well close enough, they call them raw comics. Ooh

(58:28):
love, we're all chicken lovely.So just a mental image for you there,
right here we go. Quick,wait, don't get annoyed. Tim
So Metallica one on cassette from nineteeneighty nine. This has been slabbed.
Yeah, I hate it already.How much do they want for a just
I mean, I'm sure it's avery nice one. But it's still a

(58:49):
cassette encased in plastic. One hundredquid. Let's start the ball running at
one hundred quid, so wheret's getthe ball rolling at three hundred and seventy
five dollars. This is all American. Of course it's American. This is
the only one I bothered to checkbecause otherwise it just gets so time consuming
and ridiculous and depressed. So youcan buy a beautiful copy of that cassette
for five dollars yep. That soundsabout right. That's what it would be,

(59:13):
and it would be a fiver inthe shop. So the markup between
yeah, there's a slight markup markupM and M's eight mile on on CD,
which you could find for ten pmad it's taking or lower. Yeah,
things that aren't worth anything, solower. Actually, that's going to

(59:36):
be lower. It is lower attwo hundred and fifty dollars. Tim fucking
stupid, Right, Okay, I'mgetting my notes. Okay. One next
by Ork Debut on cassette Higher yep, eight hundred and fifty dollars yep.
Depeche Modes Violator on cassette from nineteenninety Lower. No, it's actually it's

(01:00:00):
actually on sale with twenty five percentoff at one thousand, one hundred and
twenty four dollars. Paul, whereare you finding these eBay? Really?
There are slabbed cities and cassettes sittingon eBay. Shit, yeah, okay,
Next, soft cell non stop eroticcabaret on cassette on cassette lower.

(01:00:23):
Is it higher or lower than one? No, it's higher. It's one
thousand, two hundred dollars. Ohfuck off. These are all from official
graders, by the way, ohmy god, or housed in official graded
you know cases Tim Taylor Swift BigMachine on CD low lower lower lower lower,

(01:00:49):
No, no, no, whatthe two thousand, one hundred and
ninety nine dollars? So this hasnot been touched by Taylor. It's not
signed. It's just you sent itto a bloke yeap, who says,
oh it's near mint and put andputs it in plastic because he's literally gone
to Walmart and bought it. Whata fucking joke. Right next, I
am getting cross. You said tonot You said to not get cross,

(01:01:12):
but I'm getting a cross? Couldcould we just could you just nip down
to Tescos and buy some CDs.We could, we could start up.
We we buy records grading. No, because they know, Paul, they've
stopped selling, stop selling physical media. Oh no, hang on no,
fuck, we buy records grading.Yes, this is we'll have a talk
after this. Yeah, let's justquit. Yea, let's get rid of

(01:01:35):
this stupid quiz. Blink blink oneeight two Enema of the State on cassette?
Oh yeah, is that higher orlower than Taylor Swift? At lower?
Unfortunately it's not. It's higher.Old piss two and a half thousand
dollars for blink one eight two oncassette which has been sealed by a bloke.

(01:01:55):
So there is an intriguing documentary onYouTube, like a fan made documentary,
which lays out in exhaustive detail,why the video game slabbing seen it?
Isn't it amazing'ter fucking con Yes?So, listeners, if you have
about any of you, because Iknew, because I knew I was doing

(01:02:16):
this. Nice. This guy's good, listeners, Paul, he's good.
If you have about an hour tospare. I don't know, I don't
know what you search for, butif you search slabbed video of Mario video
game, it's Mario. It's basedaround scam or con it's it's it's pretty

(01:02:38):
depressing and eye opening and undeniable thatit is. It is naughty business.
Yeah, and we don't want itcoming into exactly. We don't want it
come in here. We don't wantwant it no next, So Jim,
we were, we were with,we were with one Blink one eight two.
So Pantera Metal Magic nineteen eighty threecassette is at higher or lower than

(01:03:00):
Blink one eight two higher, itis higher. It's four thousand dollars.
Yep, that's worth every penny.So that was before Pantera were cool,
when they were a kind of cheesyhair metal band. And it has one
of the shittest album art album coversever. And I love that cover.
It's got a very happy, rockinganimal on it. It's amazing. Most

(01:03:23):
of these have been graded by eitherAMG or IGS. These are real companies
doing real work. I want tosay work. Metallica Garage Days on cassette
an original lower though lower than Pantera. It is lower than Panterra at three

(01:03:44):
thousand dollars, and Nirvana Bleach oncassette higher how much higher? Oh shit?
Six grand? How much higher?Not higher than that? How much
higher? Uh, ten thousand dollarsfor that, sir? How much?

(01:04:06):
How much? What did you say? Ten? Yeah? How much higher?
So the clinically insane person selling itof wants fifteen thousand dollars? How
much higher? Come on, oh, twenty five thousand dollars. It's a
first sprint. I still got thepoint. And this has been graded by

(01:04:27):
one of these companies. This isnot what the fuck? Who's paying twenty
five thousand dollars? Well, isn'tinsane? But the short answer surely is
nobody is paying that. Nobody.But this could be a glimpse into the
future of collecting music. Tim andI don't like it. I suspect it

(01:04:48):
is. The funny thing is,when I first saw slabbed comics, I
was naturally angry and disgusted. Imean, comics are more delicate than record.
Comics are more suptible to tear inthe cover, you know, creasing
and stuff than a CDEO or record. Is relatively easy to look after them

(01:05:08):
compared to a sixty year old comic. But do you know what's happened over
the years and years and years nowthat I've seen slab comics as a thing,
Paul, they've worn me down.I'm now kind of accepting that.
Okay, so you've got comics asa thing to enjoy and to read,

(01:05:29):
and then comics as a thing tocollect, like thousand dollars bottles of wine
that you're not going to drink,or coin collections that you put in the
cupboard. Yep. I've slowly grudginglyaccepted that there are two different types of
collectors. So I suppose it's notgoing to be that much of a leap
to accept that there are two differenttypes of collectors for audio as well.

(01:05:50):
And it sucks, but I don'tthink we can do anything about it.
No, No, the train hasleft the station. Unfortunately, what a
downbe ending for the podsum to joinus next time for more adventures in vinyl.
Wait, god, we are gonnal records? No? Should we

(01:06:12):
end on a positive note? Him? Yeah, if anyone's got a million
quid, we definitely need to getthat bloke Dad's CD before he blows up.
Yes, I wonder when his secondalbum was coming out, because twenty
ten was quite a while ago.I just wonidse that was fourteen years.
Oh has he not had a secondalbum? Ye yahes fourteen years No right,

(01:06:33):
Join us next time for more adventuresin Vineylon. Wii Bye Record four