180 Gram Half-Speed Mastered Vinyl

[Guest Rufer]

This is a spin off of the downloading poll thread--I missed my opportunity to agree there and it wasn't really related to the original topic.

 

It's a little ironic too, seeing how a lot of bands that go with LPs these days also go full on audiophile, splitting an album into two thick vinyl discs. My original Clash 'Combat Rock' LP is wafer thin and it's one of the best sounding records I have. It's also much more enjoyable because there's six songs and 20+ minutes of music before you have to flip. Wilco, enough with the 3 song 12 minute sides, please.

 

+1 This 'half-speed mastering on 180 gram vinyl' is getting a little ridiculous. I don't mind occasionally buying them as a neat collectors piece for folks that I'm super into. But at $30, I'm finding myself more and more buying the amazon or emusic download instead of this format (new Raconteurs comes to mind).

 

180 grams feels more substantial and looks flatter--I like that but when you multiply the weight by 2 records (or 3 in the White Stripes newest), one's record collection is going to get very heavy and not very enticing if your moving.

 

I kind of see this trend as a bit of an over-reaction to the shitty mastering done on most new CDs (the loudness wars). But it is an over-reaction and a bit pretentious--All the late '70s/early 80's pressed but out of the packaging new records I've bought recently sound every bit as good. Elvis Costello didn't need to release 'Get Happy' this way.

 

Shouldn't records cost $12? Certainly not $30.

 

So yeah, I hope this trend wanes and the music consumer is at least given a choice between this format and a nice regular old record.

[tongue-tied]

The Sundazed double LP for YHF makes a good argument for it. But that's about the only one where I felt the quality was worth every cent. It also makes some sense for the kind of dense record it is, the song groupings on each side work well, I think. I was listening to Animal Collective's 'Strawberry Jam' yesterday, which is 43 minutes long. That shouldn't have been split up. The sides are 14 min, 13 min, 7 min!, 8.5 min. That's a big disc, not a long player.

[owl]

I adore my new 180 gram Elliott Smith Figure 8 and XO LPs.

[tongue-tied]

Those aren't double, are they? I have all his Kill Rock Stars records, might have to look into these.

[owl]

Fig8 is a double.

 

They're reissues--just came out a month ago.

[stooka]

180 grams feels more substantial and looks flatter--I like that but when you multiply the weight by 2 records (or 3 in the White Stripes newest), one's record collection is going to get very heavy and not very enticing if your moving.

 

I'm passed the point of no return, anyway!

[Dr. Steve Brule]

+1 This 'half-speed mastering on 180 gram vinyl' is getting a little ridiculous. I don't mind occasionally buying them as a neat collectors piece for folks that I'm super into. But at $30, I'm finding myself more and more buying the amazon or emusic download instead of this format (new Raconteurs comes to mind).

 

I agree 100% and don't quite understand it. How come stuff on Matador and Drag City is pretty close to normal price claiming 180 g etc. etc. , but the major labels charge so much for the same deal?

 

R.E.M. Accelerate REALLY pissed me off. It could easily fit on one LP but instead it's 2 or three tracks a side double LP on 45! I don't think I'm going to listen to it enough in my lifetime for any of that to make a difference.

[LouieB]

Part of it is marketing hype....if these albums are going to be on two disks they should do them at 45 and really ramp up the fidelity.....

 

LouieB

[Analogman]

Making vinyl records the old-fashioned way

 

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--When people think of the Beatles coming to America, they usually conjure up images of The Ed Sullivan Show and screaming teenage girls chasing the Fab Four on the streets of New York.

 

But here in Music City, there's something else to commemorate the earliest stages of the British Invasion: the fact that the first American Beatles 7-inch record was produced by United Record Pressing--then, as now, one of the largest makers of vinyl in the world. . .

 

Click on the link for more - with photos.

 

 

The life and death of the vinyl album

[Guest Cousin Tupelo]

Making vinyl records the old-fashioned way

 

 

 

 

Click on the link for more - with photos.

 

 

The life and death of the vinyl album

 

Thanks very much for the links. Reaffiming -- if not slighly depressing -- reading.

 

Born in '61, the sixth of seven kids, vinyl has a nature to me that doesn't fit within the audiophile's concept. Coming from a family scrapping to get bye, the quality of what I listened to was hardly topflight, but the listening was just as reverent; ears memorizing and filling in the tones, with a familiarity as reading the grooves like braille.

 

Today, even a lunkhead music lover like me can hear the vast difference between vinyl and CD, no matter what version of "remastering" the record company is on. Obviously to an extent, the creation of vinyl is a marketing scam.

 

I wandered into Virgin records in Orlando with my kids and happened upon the row of vinyl racks towards the back of the story. It was a long lost pleasure just thumbing through the racks, coming across the recognizable -- whether new releases packaged for vinyl, or import, or new pressings of a long-lost classic. The used vinyl stores here seemed to disappear overnight -- only seeming that way because I "lost faith" for a while, vinyl -- and now digial -- is easier. The Internet and digital age makes it easier to learn more about music and musicians, to share, to delve deeper into catalogues, to broaden our experience.

 

But I miss the innocence I've known ...

[stooka]

Thanks very much for the links. Reaffiming -- if not slighly depressing -- reading.

 

Born in '61, the sixth of seven kids, vinyl has a nature to me that doesn't fit within the audiophile's concept. Coming from a family scrapping to get bye, the quality of what I listened to was hardly topflight, but the listening was just as reverent; ears memorizing and filling in the tones, with a familiarity as reading the grooves like braille.

 

'63 for me. Having brothers that were 9, 11 and 13 yrs old when I was born allowed me to subconsiously absorb all that was played at my house. I can't tell you what it is, but I have a different feeling when I play British Invasion lps compared to a polished CD copy. While a younger audiophile might scoff at my collection of mid-to-late 60s mono releases, I take comfort in knowing that it is something they simply cannot comprehend......... Am I fooling myself?

 

I'm not saying vinyl is better than digital, but in some cases, at least for me it is.

[LouieB]

I walked into the local Salvation Army and found a load of LPs from the 50s and 60s for 75 cents each yesterday. I only walked out with 12 that included Dave Brubeck, Errol Garner, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie (well not 60s), and Ella Fitzgerald. Someone must have dumped a collection or maybe a store I don't know. I had picked out about 20, but figured I would not take it all.

 

When it comes right down to it, some of the stuff from that period used sounds better than the 180 gram (whatever that means) new stuff.

 

LouieB

[Lynch]

I bought Sky Blue Sky on the 180 gram vinyl at the Winnipeg show, and it said is came with a cd of the complete album as well. I thought that was great. I was going to give the disc to a friend at work who is starting to really get into Wilco. But, then I get home and there are only 4 songs on the CD.......Its just a sampler or something. Kind of disappointing.

[LouieB]

I bought Sky Blue Sky on the 180 gram vinyl at the Winnipeg show, and it said is came with a cd of the complete album as well. I thought that was great. I was going to give the disc to a friend at work who is starting to really get into Wilco. But, then I get home and there are only 4 songs on the CD.......Its just a sampler or something. Kind of disappointing.

That's weird...the original release had the full album.

 

LouieB

[Analogman]

I walked into the local Salvation Army and found a load of LPs from the 50s and 60s for 75 cents each yesterday. I only walked out with 12 that included Dave Brubeck, Errol Garner, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie (well not 60s), and Ella Fitzgerald. Someone must have dumped a collection or maybe a store I don't know. I had picked out about 20, but figured I would not take it all.

 

When it comes right down to it, some of the stuff from that period used sounds better than the 180 gram (whatever that means) new stuff.

 

LouieB

 

That is the sort of thing I miss -

[stooka]

Lou, since yer an ol' hound dog like me, could you keep an eye out for a nice 1st ed Stooges (ST) Red label? (or did it come in brown?) I'm afraid Amarillo is a barren wasteland for punk selections.

[LouieB]

Lou, since yer an ol' hound dog like me, could you keep an eye out for a nice 1st ed Stooges (ST) Red label? (or did it come in brown?) I'm afraid Amarillo is a barren wasteland for punk selections.

Amazingly I did find a red label 1st Stooges in a resale shop (20 years ago) just like this and believe me if I could find another I would. I think those days are over, just like finding lost 78s is probably no longer possible. The pickings at reale shops are not what they used to be. People have figured out that their old LPs are actually worth something and take them to used record stores or the used record store folks (like Lauries) are on the lookout for stuff like that at resale stores and estate sales. At least with LPs (unlike 78s) many more were made, so it is possible. If ever I find one it is yours, but believe me I doubt I will ever see LPs of THAT importance in the resale shops again.

 

LP picking just ain't what it used to be. (According to a price guide I have the original was on a red label; brown was from the earlier 60s folk era, I think.)

 

LouieB

[Analogman]

That reminds me what the guy who owns Jerry's Records in Pittsburgh said to me once - that Ebay ruined record collecting, - that is, people are more likely to put things on Ebay and try to sell them for a bunch of money, instead of coming to a place like his, and selling him the records.

[LouieB]

That reminds me what the guy who owns Jerry's Records in Pittsburgh said to me once - that Ebay ruined record collecting, - that is, people are more likely to put things on Ebay and try to sell them for a bunch of money, instead of coming to a place like his, and selling him the records.

Yea, like I said I made a quick foray into eBay the other day and that place is not only a drag it is dangerous. You can get caught up in wanting something and pay way more than it is ever worth simply because there are dozens of people just like you caught up in trying to get it. The fact is that price of vinyl records is way higher than it should be based on the "hip" factor of having them. I just don't need MORE LPs enough to spend $20 bucks for something that is worth $5. (Okay I did just spend $20 on a new reissue of Bert Jansch's first LP, not entirely sure what I was thinking there, but it seemed okay at the time...) But I have seen the prices, even at somewhere like Laurie's that tries to be reasonable and sensible, rise in the last two years.

 

Just wait until the oil prices start to kick the new 180 gram market all to hell.

 

LouieB

[stooka]

garage sales and family-run estate sales are where it's at. There is a tremendous amount of legwork involved, but I would say that it pays off in the long run. The key is to be the first to go through the pile - that and some knowledge of label variations. Yes, Ebay has spawned a more inflated value phenomena and I reserve purchases there for the cream of the crop. (and quite rarely, unless you wanna go broke compiling a great vinyl collection)

[Analogman]

That is about the only thing I have ever bought on Ebay - record albums. I think the last one, was several years ago. Since I am trying to get all things Hendrix, I got Loose Ends and the soundtrack to A Film About Jimi Hendrix off someone there. It was sort of a whim - although, come to think of it, that is where I got Journey Through The Past and Time Fades Away, also.

[LouieB]

Yea, I just don't have the time or energy for estate sales much. You can really burn up a ton of time and gas finding little or nothing. I have done it. I prefer resale shops simply because you can pop in (like I did yesterday) and if new stuff has come in recently you can pick up some okay stuff. Sometimes the store may be in an area where no one is interested in the LPs anyway.

 

I really do feel fortunate, Laurie's has a great trade and prices the kind of stuff we are talking about here (I got an original Stax Staples Singers for $6) and so I am content with that. I just know that if you are patient, you will eventually (or not) find what you are looking for. It may take years so it depends on how obsessed you are at the time. Me, I am no longer that obsessed unless it is with hearing the music and then I go with a CD, since some stuff simply isn't on LP anyway.

 

As always here is where I put in a plug for Recycled Records in Springfield, IL. They have a huge selection of LPs and I have found lots of stuff I never thought I would see sometimes fairly inexpensively. (Okay I let Maggot Brain get away from me, that's the LP I am obssesed with finding and now probably never will.)

 

Let's not dis CDs too much. I am constantly amazed at what there is that has been reissued, with nice notes and cool packaging and sounds great.

 

LouieB

[Elixir Sue]

(or 3 in the White Stripes newest)

Icky Thump is only on 2...

[stooka]

maggot brain?? Me too!

 

 

I have always had a fondness for this cover as well....

 

 

 

[LouieB]

maggot brain?? Me too!

Yea, Recycled Records in Springfield even had a couple original copies several years ago but they were like $12 and I just didn't feel like I had the dough to pop for thatin those days . Now with vinyl being hot and prices much higher ($50 on e-bay) I feel like an idiot. So it goes.

 

LouieB