whoops
Ascending Wave - Modulation Del Sol*
― Evan, Sunday, 10 January 2021 18:33 (three years ago) link
that Bob Siebert album is gorgeous, I got a cd of it that has some newer solo piano bonus tracks.. kind of a jazzy debussy-ish thing? very very cool. I asked them via email if they were planning on doing a physical release of the (also hot) Calvin Keys album that “touch” comes from... they said they’re partnering with another label to put it out later this year.Great article!
― brimstead, Sunday, 10 January 2021 18:52 (three years ago) link
oh duh, thanks Evan! i didn't see there was another tab on the website with the tracklist.
bummer though, i already know all of those songs inside-out
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 10 January 2021 18:53 (three years ago) link
Gotta say I'm not a big fan of the move towards gimmicky packaging at the expense of actual liner notes. I understand the appeal of building an alternate reality with all the kayfabe stuff (Numero 95 and etc.), but context is one of the main things physical releases still have over browsing youtube or whatever.
Also if I'm reading the liner notes while listening that means I'm not on my phone.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 15 February 2021 13:43 (three years ago) link
yeah. the imaginary/conceptual releases are a fun idea in the abstract, an interesting take on how a reissue label continues and stays fresh in the 2020s, but I agree that I'm not terribly interested in reissue comps with fake liner notes or none at all.
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Monday, 15 February 2021 17:15 (three years ago) link
It just bums me out so much that one of the few reissue labels that put so much time, care and thoughtfulness into their packaging is moving further and further away from physical releases. I mean, I get that physical media for reissues is a niche within a niche at this point, but if a label with the quality control and respect of Numero can't keep it up, it doesn't give me a lot of faith for other labels.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 15 February 2021 17:19 (three years ago) link
I'm not paying a ton of attention so I'm really asking here- is that what is happening? Or is it that they're expanding their catalog overall but most of the expansion is digital format?
― Evan, Monday, 15 February 2021 17:38 (three years ago) link
I think it's the latter, so far, but they have explicitly said they aren't doing CDs anymore and hinted multiple times that they may be scaling back vinyl as well.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 15 February 2021 17:45 (three years ago) link
this gimmicky stuff is incredibly lame, did they determine that most people don’t read liner notes or something? depressing.
― brimstead, Monday, 15 February 2021 17:50 (three years ago) link
what release are y'all talking about?
― Überschadenfreude (sleeve), Monday, 15 February 2021 17:52 (three years ago) link
xp ive always assumed its a combination of them looking at the decline in physical sales plus the idea of them prepping the 247th comp of local soul singles from Wichita Falls or w/e and thinking they need to find a different way forward
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Monday, 15 February 2021 18:05 (three years ago) link
which i can relate to, but as a fan of lavishly notated historical reissues is still a drag
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Monday, 15 February 2021 18:06 (three years ago) link
I remain totally baffled by this conversation
are the liners for that Reach comp fake or something?
― Überschadenfreude (sleeve), Monday, 15 February 2021 18:23 (three years ago) link
Sorry, I was talking more generally wrt what they've been saying about physical releases in general. I'm not sure which comp has the fake(?) liners.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 15 February 2021 18:39 (three years ago) link
xp lack of geographic/contextual cohesiveness at the expense of packaging that looks like cigrette boxes
https://www.discogs.com/Various-NuLeaf/master/1781797
― brimstead, Monday, 15 February 2021 19:31 (three years ago) link
ah, thank you. that one makes more sense.
― Überschadenfreude (sleeve), Monday, 15 February 2021 19:34 (three years ago) link
I do like the Reach comp, fwiw, and it has extensive liner notes that seem real to me.
this one rules and i quickly got over the fact there were no liner notes.
https://www.discogs.com/Various-Planisphere/release/13692923
― stirmonster, Monday, 15 February 2021 19:58 (three years ago) link
yeah I mean I love comps like those, it’s just I really admired/enjoyed numero’s nerdiness/throughness/idk tbh they’ve been going this way for years idk what I’m complying about lol
― brimstead, Monday, 15 February 2021 20:40 (three years ago) link
speaking as a Light Sounds Dark fan, lol, hypocrisy
― brimstead, Monday, 15 February 2021 20:41 (three years ago) link
Ha ha. Light Sounds Dark take it to ridiculous degrees but then they are bootlegs pretty much so i guess they have to. i do love a dose of LSD too though.
i guess for Numero comps it depends on the comp. For some I'd want to know what time the drummer was born but some, like 'Planisphere' I'm happy to listen as a sort of anonymoys concept album.
― stirmonster, Monday, 15 February 2021 21:08 (three years ago) link
plus the idea of them prepping the 247th comp of local soul singles from Wichita Falls or w/e
I LOLd
but probably because I'm in the key demo for such things
― Paul Ponzi, Monday, 15 February 2021 23:15 (three years ago) link
The one brimstead posted is what prompted my post - doubly annoying because part of the gimmick there is it's a cigarette case so at the top there's a "seal" you have to rip to get at the actual record, so you're damaging the gimmick - but I was also thinking of stuff like Escape From Synth City and "imaginary soundtrack" You're Not From Around Here. They seem to all be part of the Cabinet Of Curiosities line:
http://www.numerogroup.com/d/the-cabinet-of-curiosities-a-numero-universe
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 11:24 (three years ago) link
I'm generally trying to buy less vinyl these days so I don't have any particular views on the packages here - but I think the point of these Cabinet of Curiosities comps is the rather abstracted, conceptual links they draw between things rather than it documenting a scene/period/genre/location. Tbh this approach will rise or fall on the music, but what I will say is that the extended essay thing about the Reach comp (linked further up the thread) had me adding the album to my basket without listening to a single note. (And I think Numero 95 is a great concept, though obviously the jury's out on whether it'll hold up as a listening experience.)
― bamboohouses, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 18:31 (three years ago) link
i guess the danger w/out the historical scene is it just becomes guys playlisting things. i trust them based on previous experiences with them but don't necessarily trust it as a permanent direction, and think there are lots of scenes and styles of music that could use this kind of curatorial ear that have been ignored
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 18:49 (three years ago) link
Their Spotify playlists are the only Spotify playlists I trust
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 08:18 (three years ago) link
I'm generally trying to buy less vinyl these days so I don't have any particular views on the packages here - but I think the point of these Cabinet of Curiosities comps is the rather abstracted, conceptual links they draw between things rather than it documenting a scene/period/genre/location.
Yes, but these links are interesting in and of themselves and thus worthy of liner notes instead of just telegraphing "you know, super mario" or "well it's like noir" via packaging. This is even more the case because the artists featured on these compilations are as obscure as anything Numero put out, so it's not like a playlist where some David Bowie b-side follows an Ebo Taylor track or whatever.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 11:58 (three years ago) link
Fair point - I'm mainly thinking about the Reach comp here, where the online notes not only set out their stall well but persuaded me to actually buy it. (It's really good.)
― bamboohouses, Wednesday, 17 February 2021 13:01 (three years ago) link
"Santa Claus Ain't A Hippie", from the recently released Christmas Dreamers: Yuletide Country (1960-1972) is like a Marine Todd meme in song; totally baffling premise of hippies protesting against Santa and the song's protagonist righteously defending his honour.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 1 December 2021 15:41 (two years ago) link
It came out three years after "Okie From Muskogee" so was prolly riding the wave
― licorice in the front, pizza in the rear (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 1 December 2021 16:10 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-MBp1V7WRs
― bespoke sausages (seandalai), Thursday, 2 December 2021 11:06 (two years ago) link
Massive Pre-Order Announcement...Bound For Hell: On The Sunset Strip, our latest and most savage boxset to date...Heavy metal? Glam? Hard rock? Make your own call, you poser. We're not gonna do it for you. pic.twitter.com/evm9HIWqzU— numerogroup (@numerogroup) August 10, 2022
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 10 August 2022 16:14 (one year ago) link
technicolor paradise 3LP repressed, your choice of four different colors. still regret selling the original so i went for “moon mist”
― the late great, Sunday, 23 October 2022 20:01 (one year ago) link
90s bands anniversary gig. Anyone go?
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 19 February 2023 15:03 (one year ago) link