Vinyl topic.

Even Karl Marx would have given into the incredible vinyl deals available on WHSmith right now. Who knew they were still a thing? & when did they start selling records? I don't know the answers. All I know is that I've spent a good few hundred quid on their website in recent months.

Yeah but you can’t wear records on your feet Karl!

Just got the newsletter from one British reissue label I really like.
A record I was looking forward to has just been reissued.
40 quid. Actually, 50-something including shipping.
This collective of cunts can fuck off and die, honestly.

Ouch. I understand that smaller pressings of older stuff will cost a little more to produce but some of these labels are taking the piss with reissue prices.

What's the album?

I saw Takk by Sigur Ros was finally reissued recenrly, £45 FFS

discogs link

it's not even sourced from tape
not even adequately manufactured, apparently.
Thing is, the £50+ this LP ends up costing can buy you a very very nice Brazilian first pressing from the 70s in immaculate conditions. Or a couple great Italian Impulse! releases from the mid-70s...Mingus, Coltrane, Shepp, that stuff.

Is it Mr Bongo selling it?

Some of their Brazilian reissues are bloody expensive.

It is!
But I think they are only acting as intermediaries.
I have a few of their LPs which I purchased at a sale a couple of years ago - I can't really buy the records they release, they are too expensive (they ask up to a tenner for their 45s, which is mental). And shipping costs are ridiculous nowadays.

But I had a little better luck with their CDs, which they usually price £8.99 new and after a while you can get them for really cheap on discogs.
I own quite a number of their CDs and I think all together they costed me as much as a single LP, so I don't feel like I'm missing out not getting the vinyl.

Yeah I'm not sure, but I think a lot of their Brazilian records are actual imports from Brazil which is why the prices are so much higher (I could be wrong though)

I've wanted Jorge Ben's Africa Brasil for years but it's always £35.. I'll play the patient game & find it for £25 someday.

They do both their own releases and imports.
Their own stuff tends to be cheaper, not on a limited run and generally very well done. But they're not releasing as much as they used to, perhaps they're running out of licences or funds.
The stuff they import is also of the exotic, mostly South-American flavour. These classics like Africa Brasil, Clube da Esquina etc are very likely made by Polysom, a Brazilian label that specialises in reissues. Their LPs are very expensive by Brazilian standards, so by the time they get to us in Europe, they cost a fucking fortune.
I have a few of these vinyl and the quality is hit and miss, sometimes spectacular, others very average. Generally speaking Mr. Bongo's are more consistent and reliable.

I was wondering...do you guys set certain rules for yourselves when you buy vinyl?
I think it's fair to assume that if we all bought everything we wanted on vinyl, we'd get very poor very quickly.
With LPs now costing two or three times the price we used to pay for CDs, I guess you have to be more selective (and this includes both new and old records).
So how do you decide what to buy vs what not to buy?


Personally, what works for me (unless I find a bargan I can't say no to) is that I buy on vinyl the stuff that is vinyl only and has never been reissued. Luckily there's a ton of stuff like this I tend to collect, especially Italian and Brazilian. A lot of music from the 80s is cheap, forgotten and LP only (and generally great).
I do break the rule occasionally if the price is right and I don't have to go through the hoops to get the LP but generally I tend to stick to it.
I still buy a lot of CDs when I go to fleamarkets/car boot sales, it's amazaeing what you can get for 2 or 3 quid a piece these days.

I haven't bought any vinyl in a couple of years now. I use to buy a good bit a few years a go but I eventually just kind of got out of it. I do enjoy having them on my shelves next to my books it's very aesthetically pleasing!

My needle broke on my current player and I need to get that fixed - I think subconsciously I don't just go out and buy a new needle because once I start putting those vinyl backs on the players I will be out buying again.

Bought far too much during the past year. Basically had nothing better to do so got carried away.

I plan on only buying my favourite half a dozen records each year as far as new music goes. However, older stuff I'm still after anything I truly love (4.5 stars or above on RYM). Problem is the area I have my records in is pretty much full, so I need to start getting rid of stuff to create space for new records. I've a lot of cheap records I've bought over the years from bootfairs/charity shops which I'll probably move on, but a point will come very soon where there will be nothing I want to get rid of & then I'm not sure what I'll do. The house is too small to own thousands of records so I really need to be very selective at what I own.

Basically, I shouldn't have bothered and just stuck with my incredible mp3 colletion

I just buy everything and in the process alienate my partner and children whilst bankrupting myself.

I tend to buy new stuff I love and old stuff I love and more recently have been trying to tick off my favourite 100 albums (about a third to go).

I usually try and catch limited runs and pay a couple of quid extra if necessary and get as much as possible on heavy vinyl where feasible.

For the older stuff, I went through a spell of trying to pick up decent quality early pressings, but it started getting too pricey, so now research a bit and get better pressing reissues.

I have never forgiven myself for giving away (for nothing, to charity shops) everything I bought up until 2003 at a low moment after a difficult life spell. Was going travelling after a relationship breakup/redundancy/ two deaths in family and wanted rid of everything that reminded me of the past. A STUPID fucking decision.

I wish I had known you when you was at your weakest mate. I’d have put my arms around you and told you everything was going to be ok

And took all your records

surely not the shins ones?