S&D: vinyl reissues

kinda inspired by people discussing uninspired-sounding reissues of albums vs ones that bring out something they've never heard in the music before. i think folks were talking about neil young's solo debut having a really wonderful reissue, for example. i can't think of any negative examples. i guess this is the place to talk about great reissues vs ones where you might as well just go find a used original copy for $3 somewhere.

this thread probably already exists, but i couldn't find it.

my calculus (in no order) is like:

-- how much is an original?
-- how much is the reissue?
-- how many reissues have there been, by how many labels?
-- is there anything SPECIAL to me about the packaging/art?
-- is it my favorite record of all time?
-- is the reissue label a label i like in particular?

these questions have led me to buy fewer can, 13th floor elevators, fall, and "classic" blue note records than i might have otherwise.

I try to stay away from known bootleg labels but when a Japanese psych rarity is staring you down from the sale rack it's hard to say no. But fuck 25.99 or whatever for a new single lp reissue, hate that shit.

destroy these labels:

Shadoks
Phoenix
Doxy
anyone reissuing LPs w/a list price over $20

i.e Trip Maker otm

I LOVE the sound of those Earmark Black Sabbath and Kinks reissues.

4 Men With Beards also not too shabby.

i feel like 95% of vinyl reissues are over $20 unfortunately. actually, all of those neu/cluster/harmonia reissues and related solo albums and side projects have always been priced pretty reasonably, you can get all of the roedelius lps for $15 around here.

^I want those.

speaking of neu, which reissues sound the best? i have originals of s/t and 75--but they're not in the best shape.

I have the Astralwerks ones of Neu and Neu 2 and think they sound good but I know some ppl have issues with colored vinyl (they're white)

i don't know why i can't bring myself to buy reissues. i used to not care. if i can't find an original, i'd rather just listen to mp3s. i'd even buy a used reissue from the 70s or 80s, but not a new one. nothing's more special about originals. i probably have less than 10 reissues in my whole collection. what's wrong w/me?

old stuff is just cooler, it's a fact.

i'd rather buy a used book than a new book, too.

Yeah, tell it to my wardrobe. (except pants, it's hard to find good used pants)

I like to buy reissues of rarities, though, especially if they are from a respected indie label Drag City, Sub Pop, Matador(I think?) and others all do those on occasion. Like, where am I ever gonna find Bobb Trimble originals?

Missing a period after label there.

also hard to pass up cheapo Mulatu Astatke and Dorothy Ashby lps.

i'm fine with reissues. but, yeah, i would rarely ever pay more than 15 bucks for one. even that's kinda high. i miss out on a lot that way though. i paid more for the german oak reissue. but i just kinda had to have it. the sad thing is i hardly ever see USED reissues anywhere. not like in the old days. and now even if you see used psych reissues people charge the same if not more than the original price for them! people paying a hundred bucks or more on ebay for old shadoks reissues...blah. i really want that numero group boddie box. i might pay retail for that. and now i see if you pre-order it from numero you get an additional live lp! gahhhhh!

i do buy reissues, don't get me wrong. i don't mind, especially if they are nice and the original is something ultra-rare or ultra-pricey. i bought two rare psych reissues this week--the Country Weather double LP from a while back, and the Fingletoad, Strange & Siho double LP on Shadoks. I bought 'em both secondhand, so they were pretty affordable. I'd wanted that Fingletoad forever.

also, it's been a good few years to be a fan of obscure singer/songwriters and psych-folkies. bunches of great & affordable reissues

Sebastian Speaks did the Ted Lucas LP, Vernon Wray LP and the John Villemonte record.
Light In The Attic did the Jim Sullivan LP, and some Michael Hurley records.
Drag City's done Mickey Newbury (that's one I didn't get--the reissues are expensive (ish) and not hard to find originals of. whatever.) and also Gary Higgins.
Several labels have reissued various Michael Yonkers LPs, and they are great.

I'm sure there are more I'm just not thinking of at the moment.

i picked up a moebius/beerbohm reissue yesterday for $10 (unopened, promo slice in the bar code.) at the same time i found some michael rother originals for $15, much happier about those.

Has anyone heard the Blaze Foley anthology that just came out? I'll probably get that.

you can actually buy john villemonte CDs from john villemonte. or you could for years anyway through his website.

not vinyl though.

cds nutzsz

just saying...

you can actually GIVE the money to the man, you know?

someone just bumped the pink floyd thread to discuss the new dark side and wywh reissues, says they sound amazing. do they? or is it all psychological?? i have those lps, they sound pretty deep and epic in those versions. these are the types of questions that need answering.

yeah I would love to be able to compare notes about relative sound between versions as part of this thread. I heard great things about those first 4 Neil Young vinyl reissues as well.

I've never done an a/b comparison with any original/reissued vinyl before, I don't think.
Those Swell Maps 2lp remasters sound fucking INCREDIBLE, though, a lot better than the (kinda beat up) copies my college radio station had.

ooh yeah I have one of those... the Spanish ones on Munster yeah? love it.

yep.

i've said it before and i'll say it again, dudes with beards vinyl of big star third is the best i've ever heard it.

what do you guys think about loosely curated comps a la mississippi records or honest jon's?

always tempted to pick em up and they aren't too pricey. some jerk in the back of my mind always whispers "cheater", otoh when exactly am i really going to start collecting 78s from iran.

i love just about everything mississippi's done, and almost nothing that honest jon's has done. every time i buy an HJ's record, i think "this time will be different," but it hasnt really happened yet...

Honest Jon's Moondog comp "Viking Of 6th Avenue" is a great overview/starter thing, but yeah I have been underwhelmed by the other ones I've heard.

someone brought in honest jons istanbul and east africa comps on cd and i've been playing them a bunch.

for some reason the titles of the new comps often bug me. i have no idea why. the honest jon ones are called *something is wrong* and *to scratch your heart*. i mean, it's a marketing thing. i get that. they want sexy covers to sell stuff that is often thought of as academic or whatever. there should be a song by The Fall called *Poetic World Music Compilation Title Champion*.

someone also brought in 4-disc wergo berlin phonogramm-archiv set and i'm definitely keeping that. another good fall song title.

yeah half the time compilations are titled in such a way that i think "ah! a dissertation!" and then open it to just find a CD and some liner notes about remastering.

the mississippi comps are great, never bought any honest jon's. maybe i don't like the covers or something.

re honest jon's: not a comp, or a reissue, but the Moritz Von Oswald Trio lp 'Vertical Ascent' is great. jus sayin.

> I like to buy reissues of rarities, though, especially if they are from a respected indie label Drag City, Sub Pop, Matador(I think?) and others all do those on occasion. Like, where am I ever gonna find Bobb Trimble originals?

I had one many years ago! (Iron Curtain Innocence). This was in the first year or two of eBay and I decided to sell off some old LPs that I somehow wound up with over the years. Had no idea who he was, and it wasn't listed in price guides at the time. I was astonished when it was bid up to $175. Now I wish I would have held onto it a while longer..... or actually listen to it.

The Light in the Attic reissues are really great... just so thoroughly presented and packaged.

"Beautiful Rivers And Mountains: The Psychedelic Rock Sound Of South Korea’s Shin Joong Hyun 1958-74"
and
Charles "Packy" Axton – "Late Late Party 1965-67"

are probably my two most-listened to LPs of the year.

I second light in the attic being very good, I like sundazed as well.

anyone bought anything from this label before?

http://www.getondown.com/

24/24 music gon be my first!

posted this on the King Crimson thread but more people will care here, are they gonna do this with more of their albums?

I want this vinyl reissue of In The Wake Of Poseidon!!!

- 200g Super-Heavyweight Vinyl
- Newly cut from Robert Fripp approved masters
- Reprint of Original Stunning Gatefold Sleeve
- Limited Time MP3 Code for access to download transfer of an original 1970 pressing

― sleeve, Tuesday, November 8, 2011 5:56 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I also find that MP3 thing intriguing in a "ruminate about marketing" way.

maaaaan i dont know, might as well just stack 2-3 OG copies on top of each other

you could glue em together

lol. yeah, those 180g pressings are just so...flimsy. and yes funny that the download is of a 1970s pressing. stop the madness.

I have a Hermann Nitsch LP that is 220g, it is formidable.

the Embarrassment's 'Sex Drive' 7" has been reissued. evidently the label found it best to reissue it PRESSED OFF-CENTER JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL.

hahaha

:\

anyhoo, talk above re: re-issues shouldn't be $20... i don't get why NEW records are $20... i went into a store this afternoon, all the new lps were $18–20. i have a harder time w/ that, tbh, than w/ lovingly restored reissues. like, the Real Estate lp is $20?

yeah when Mississippi and 4 Men With Beards/Water can do excellent pressings and list for $15, it's clear that there's little to no excuse for this (imports and crazy packaging excluded, obv).

well when everyone is doing 400g virgin vinyl and the packaging/cover itself ways, like 10 pounds, that can add up and be costly to make. if they just had regular versions of everything the prices could be lower. often stores will only carry the fancy version if there are two versions.

i've seen modern indie rock records that could definitely be used as deadly objects. they weigh a ton and the corners are sharp as hell. its like a coffee-table/art book mentality. i mean, they DO look very nice, but the days when i could spring for 4 or 5 new records at a record store are long gone. gonna set me back like 60 or 70 bucks. and i could get a ton of used records for that same money. so that's what i do.

ways = weighs

and i'm not even drunk yet...

yeah otm. it's irritating when a brand new, non-import record is 20 bucks.

I remember going to Aron's records in L.A. in the late 90s and realizing at some point that I could buy two LPs for just slightly more than one new CD, so most of the indie rock that I have from that era is on vinyl.

my pal nick just put out his first two reissues. kenneth higney and sound ceremony.

http://www.onekindfavor.net/

another higney reissue? popular.

the bachs reissue on time-lag was done so beautifully it brought a tear to the eye. they should repress it.

there's an original of Attic Demonstrations up on ebay right now, $196.50 and climbing

hey scott, did you meet my friend zach (not the zack you met before) this month? he went to school w nick and ted, and was visiting/teaching and staying w ted. he's nice!

i didn't get that time-lag bachs. i should have. oh well.

hmmmm, maybe i met him? its possible. i need to go say hi to ted. haven't seen him in a while. nick moved up to time-lag country. his girlfriend was in time-lag supergroup visitations. i think. i'm really bad with names. i still want to take a trip to portland. haven't been there since i was a kid!

needless to say, ted's MARS live thing on vinyl is one of the best things in forever. though not technically a reissue. an archival release.

that MARS record disappeared quick!
but i dig the higney record a lot, haven't heard the other one--good?

i haven't actually heard the whole sound ceremony album. what i've heard is pretty kooky. diy guitar dude gettin' weird. its from the 80's i think.

nick posted on the homegas discogs page about tryna get a reissue together!! which is rad, because then OG copies will not be so expensive ;-P

keegan & i have talked about trying to do a reissue of the homegas lp.
keeg's workin on his first reissue project now! doing a legit reissue of "Spirit of the Golden Juice" by F.J. McMahon, which is a longtime fave..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVunxQ6ggzQ

wait, ian, i keep forgetting to ask if you had heard the whole cambridge album before you bought it. you must have, right? such a good one.

yeah, i had downloaded it from a blog at one point when you or someone else mentioned it on ilx

that would have been me. i thought maybe i had put the whole album up on ilm but maybe just a song on a mix.

I would buy a repress of Spirit of the Golden Juice, would even pre-order.

I remember going to Aron's records in L.A. in the late 90s and realizing at some point that I could buy two LPs for just slightly more than one new CD, so most of the indie rock that I have from that era is on vinyl.

― She Got the Shakes

aron's was cheap, but all indie vinyl was cheap then i guess. i see all these records i used to be able to get for 8 bucks and the same pressings are 15-17 now. there are plenty of lps i'm glad i jumped on during that era.

I've heard more lately (maybe bc people are more aware) of how lots of cd reissues are nothing more than CD versions copied to wax, basically. like someone said that about the stereolab LPs that just came out in new reissued versions. maybe the recent aphex twin SAW II reissue as well? I was never really aware of that sort of thing. Never really considered it as a possibility.

yeah it is a real bummer and hard to get good info about what's what

I think the only thing you can do abt it is look for "remastered from the original tapes" in the promo hype.

the fact of the matter is that almost any reissue done by a 3rd party label (i.e. light in the attic, sundazed, etc.) is going to be digitally sourced. the major labels who own most of these records a) may not have the original tapes (we are talking about poorly run bureaucracies managing gigantic catalogs of which they only really care about a small percentage) or b) will absolutely not let them out of their sight. this means having to pay their outrageous in-house engineering and lacquer cutting fees in order to keep the process completely analog. this is the difference between a $18.98 LP on light in the attic and a $40.98 LP on whatever high end audiophile reissue labels still exist...

international titles will throw a whole 'nother wrinkle into this shit, there is no way EMI brazil is sending the original tapes up to the US so that LITA can do marcos valle LP reissues that are 100% analog.

also - and i'm sorry if i sound like a dick but as a dude who has spent 10 years in the reissue game i am kinda tired of having this conversation - there are a LOT of things that can make a LP reissue sound like shit and, yes, a poorly done digitally sourcing job can be one of those things, BUT i would put a LOT of money down that every dude out there that has ever complained on the internet about a digitally sourced reissue would not be able to identify a digital sourcing job vs. an all analog job any better than a coin toss.

i don't know what machu picchu is gonna put out next but i will probably buy it. they did such a good job with the dark/mirkwood/anonymous reissues. all essential, if you ask me. and people should scoop up the vinyl online if they can cuz i have a feeling they will just get harder to find over time. it's so nice to have a 100% legit obscurity reissuer in the states. that does a great job.

hearing horror stories about the newest Unwound box (No Energy), anybody have one?

apparently Numero's Bedhead reissue was all messed up as well, and they had to listen to every one individually before mailing them.