What Was The Last Vinyl You Bought?

Interesting, I’ve not heard the 2015 remix of Aladdin Sane so can’t comment, but the 2015 reissues of Hunky Dory, Ziggy and Lodger I own are pretty good, but that could be the fact my TT is not showing up the disparity between the versions :slight_smile:

Archie Shepp & Mal Waldron - Left Alone Revisited, Enja/Pure Pleasure (2020)

Another excellent reissue from Pure Pleasure.


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Dexter Gordon - Live From Magleaas Højskole 1967 Soy Califa, Gearbox Records (2014)

A nice freebie from MCRU delivered with the above Archie Sheep record.

An A1 line up with Kenny drew on piano and NHOP on bass It’s up to the usual Gearbox All Analogue standard and the second track on side one tThe Shadow of Your Smile is exceptional.


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Gerry Muligan - Night Lights, new land (2021)

new land is a new label under the UMG/Verve umbrella .
Night Lights was originally released on the Phillips label in 1963 this new reissue is remastered by Kevin Gray and pressed at Pallas and is excellently done along the lines of the recent Blue Note Classic Series.


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The 2016 reissue of Ziggy Stardust was apparently a repress of the 2012 40th Anniversary cut, done from the original analogue 1/4 inch master tapes.

Hunky Dory from the same series, was OK, but nothing special. IIRC Young Americans was a stand-out and was excellent.

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Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper - The Live Adventures.

Boy, this is good. Second hand purchase yesterday from new local used record shop.

It’s In mono, but for a live recording sounds great with very few clicks. Four sides of magic.

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Just the first few presses were Richard. Early presses of the 1st box set were those 40th masters. Later copies were changed. The matrix numbers are all detailed on discogs and explain it.

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Gerry Mulligan - Night Lights.

Just landed.

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Ah, OK, thanks Blackstar. I checked my copy and it appeared to be the same.

:+1: Now hunt out a first pressing ‘6e/4e’ !
I bought mine late 1974 and didn’t realise until about 6/7 years ago that it was the most sought after, just hit lucky I guess! (the cover doesn’t mention mainman). Pleased to say after being played to death it has extremely low floor noise and plays beautifully.

I have a pretty nice sounding Mainman that’s still in super condition - the matrices are not so easy to see on side 1 but it’s a 5E on side 2.

I’m reticent to fall down a rabbit hole looking for more. I did that with Hunky Dory some years back, buying many originals, only to find that my black dog Dynaflex I bought while at a school out in the States was still probably my favourite of all. However, I’m still after that elusive EMI Century reissue of Hunky Dory. I ordered one back in the day (Vivante?) but they had just sold out and I’ve been looking for one ever since.

Rabbit Hole is correct Richard :joy:
That EMI HD is a cracker by all accounts. Although it’s probably better I think my early pressing will do, unless one comes up at a ‘decent’ price.
Those dynaflex pressings were good (though not realised at the time) especially Aladdin Sane

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Art Taylor - AT’s Delight, Blue Note 80 (2019)

Another excellent KG, Optimal BN80 Reissue and a fantastic set from a top line up.


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Thanks for the extra detail @Richard.Dane and @Blackstar

Ah, good to know about the recent reissue of Young Americans. The only copy I have is a first pressing bought when a student which was in great shape then, and since cleaning it is one of the best vintage albums in my collection. Would be interesting to compare it with the new version though.

I’ll be checking the dead wax on my old version of Aladdin Sane, but I think mine are very early pressings as apposed to the very first run, but not hundred percent sure from memory.

So am I correct in that it is just pot luck as to which version you’ll get when purchasing a new copy of Aladdin Sane? Fancy trying this and perhaps YA too, but don’t want to dive too deeply - as you say Richard, a rabbit hole it is, esp trying to find something like that first copy of Hunky with the laminate cover.

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We often forget on this forum (although the Hoffman forum is a great deal worse :joy:) that it’s really about the music. Buy the latest versions to start, they’re still great to listen to and you shouldn’t have problems re quality.
It’s not pot luck with AS if bought new, it’ll be the 2015 mastering that unless judging against earlier ones is fine.
The best bang for buck version is the 1981 RCA International ‎– INTS 5067/13890 UK version mastered by bilbo
It does get a bit confusing all the different releases & as said earlier, don’t sweat it, just enjoy the master in song :joy:

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Agree, obsessing about which pressing is best can be a time consuming never ending circle! I’ve just checked my versions of Aladdin Sane and I’ve got the following - a first pressing (minus the fan club flyer which was lost - grr), a non gatefold orange label from 76, the International Bilbo and the Dynaflex. When I find an offer on the 2015 AS I’ll pounce.

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One that’s worth looking out for here is the 1999 EMI Millennium reissue of Aladdin Sane. These usually come in a heavy PVC outer with a blue hype sticker and are supposedly cut from analogue masters.

The DB issues I tend to avoid are the gold label Italian ones which generally all sound pretty poor to me.

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Well that’s a shame!! Sounds like there might be some good music on this record, but my copy is plagued with clicks and crackles. On side one, I counted (yes, I really did) 66 clicks and 82 crackles. This is after three passes on the Okki Nokki. I’ll get a replacement but it’s very disappointing. Oh well, onwards!

This 18-LP box set just arrived from France. Yet to clean and play any of them, but first impressions are good. A VERY nice-looking box.

Musically, it’s a mixed bag, but definitely a step up from the '80s box. White Tie and Hours are dreary and 1.Outside is a mess, but it’s good to have Bhudda, Toy and the BBC gig on vinyl at last. I’ve long harboured a sneaky affection for the much-mocked Earthling and I’ve always enjoyed the Re:Call albums in these boxes - and the one in this particular box is a quadruple! Yay!

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new land is a new label under the UMG/Verve umbrella .

I think they’re an indie @Bobthebuilder. Next releases from them are a couple of Dorothy Ashby albums, I believe.