I know I am probably the only one here,who actively collects select "contemporary" (post-1990) rock artists,and buys vinyl exclusively.Vinyl never went away,but the non-hiphop sectors of the market have gone through many changes,in the past 15-20 years.  I have lost interest in most indie stuff,as it's not as interesting/exciting as it was in the 90s,when labels like Estrus,or Sub Pop were at their prime.These labels are a shadow of their former selves,and some of their dwindling releases are CD only.Estrus,in particular,is a criminally overlooked label,that is yet to come into its own,on the collector's market.

At the same time (early/mid 90s),you had majors,that were still putting out vinyl, in Europe,and South America.Every new release came out on vinyl,,but in very small quantities.I bought a fair number.Most of these Lps are not cheap,and some,like "Nimrod" (Green Day), and "George Harrison Live In Japan",both only issued on vinyl in Germany, regularly sell for upwards of $300.00 each.Makes me wish I bought more than one copy when they came out.The only way you could really buy the stuff at the time,was through "Goldmine".I am still looking for a copy of "Phobia",on vinyl.This is the next to last Kinks album.It came out on Sony/Columbia,in 1993.I have two 45s off of it,released in Holland.These list it as coming out on Lp,on the back of the sleeve.I have also seen it listed on online discographies,as being issued on vinyl in Spain.Neither I,nor anybody I have asked,worldwide has ever seen it.


The market has moved on.Beginning about 2000,more and more major label Lps began coming out of the US.The number of non-rap US promo 12" singles began to increase.Not what it was in the 80s,but more than it was in the 90s.Then the pressings got better.180-200 gram quality being the norm.Despite what people say,the 7" 45 never went away,at least not in the UK.There have been fewer and fewer coming out of the US>i can't recall one I have bought since 2000/2001.

As the article states,there have been an explosion of custom mixed bootleg 12" singles,issued by DJs,on both sides of the Atlantic.These have been on a serious uptick in the past two years.

I collect Blur/Gorillaz.They have had a huge mutigenerational fan/collector base, ever since they came out with their first record,in 1991.I know teenagers,and people in their 60s who collect their stuff.Look at the people Damon Albarn has recorded/performed with.Including Ray Davies,David Bowie,and Dennis Hopper. He has written classical piano works http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcTo1Etx-RQ ,African music, and has just completed a Chinese opera.Everybody who is familiar with Blur/Albarn admires them.

There has only been one title,that I am aware of by Albarn/Blur,that has not been released on vinyl in any form,by EMI.I have a bunch of $100-215 records by them,and a few are as high as $600.00.


There are a bunch of new Gorillaz bootleg DJ 12" singles.I am trying to buy as many as I can.These will be expensive in the future.

Albarn's newest project The Good The Bad and The Queen,is done with Paul Simenon of The Clash,Simon Tong,of The Verve,and Tony Allen,the 69-year old onetime drummer,with Fela Kuti's Africa70.There are a bunch of vinyl issues, including the 200 gram,400 copy "promo" issue,there have been many wars on eBay for.Yes I bought one.Great stuff.

EMI's records,are pressed in the UK,but mastered by Masterdisk,in New York.

I can't wait for EMI to put out his Chinese opera on vinyl later this year.


And yes,there has been a number of Broadway cast Lps in the past few years.I was surprised when I saw "The Producers" on vinyl a couple of years back.


                                      Roger


Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote: RTI is also very active in LP manufacturing:

http://www.recordtech.com/

I own and very much enjoy a bunch of really great-sounding reissues on the Analogue Productions 
label. I think Analogue Productions now owns RTI.

Just for the record, there is no reason an LP should sound better than a CD except for bad CD 
mastering (or bad CD playback equipment on the user end -- many an audio buff I know has a 
multi-$$$$K record playback system and a $100 Wal-Mart special DVD/CD player and thinks he's 
comparing apples to apples). But, for instance in the case of AP, they have put out stunning LPs of 
a lot of the jazz owned by Fantasy that was remastered once for CD back in the early days of CD. 
Their engineers didn't do Really Bad Things like over-compressing or "putting their sonic signature" 
with aggressive EQ or digi-tools (which didn't even exist back when these remasters were done in the 
early and mid 80s). But the quality of the remastering chain was just not as good as one can do 
today so the CD's sound lifeless. In other cases, AP has reissued albums never available or no 
longer in print on CD. I have had no QC problems with RTI's output so far, unlike whomever Classic 
Records uses. For whatever reason, several Classic Records 200g LPs I've bought over the years have 
had to be returned due to manufacturing/QC problems like gouges and scuffs.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jack Raymond" 
To: 
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 8:02 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] They're still making vinyl


> Steve Ramm posted --
>
>>  NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Those dusty records in your parents' basement?
>>  They're not as retro as you might think. Many record collectors, DJs
>>  and music junkies still consider vinyl to be the gold standard of
>>  recorded music
>
> As it happens, earlier this month an original cast LP of THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, currently playing 
> on Broadway, was released in a limited edition.
> -- Jack Raymond
> 



"If you're not on somebody's watchlist,you're not doing your job"

                          Dave Von Kleist
 
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