Monthly Archives: April 2010

The Most Expensive Record Ever Sold? 1966 Velvet Underground and Nico Acetate

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velvet underground andy warhol 1966 acetateby Joe Wallace

Since I ran a feature on what could possibly be the world’s most ridiculously expensive record needles, it was only fitting that the world’s most expensive vinyl also get a look–after all, what do you play with a record needle that cost 20 thousand dollars? How about this acetate of The Velvet Underground And Nico, which sold on eBay for more than $25,000?

An acetate, for those who don’t know about the record production process, is pressed before the master is created so vinyl records can be mass produced. It’s used as a reference so an engineer can tell how all the duplicated vinyl records will sound once they roll out of the pressing plant.

According to the fascinating Popspike.com, this acetate of The Velvet Underground And Nico was successfully auctioned on ebay for $25,200 back in 2006, making this one of THE most expensive record sales ever, right next to a rare copy of Pink Floyd’s Meddle album pressed on blue vinyl for $12K and a “SEX PISTOLS – God Save the Queen – GENUINE A&M AMS7284!” for over 12,000 British pounds.

This Velvet Underground acetate looks to be the most likely candidate to be played with the most expensive record needle in the world.

Madness! The Most Expensive Replacement Record Cartridge Ever?

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Koetsu Coralstone Platinum record cartridge

by Joe Wallace

How much would you pay for a replacement record needle? How about a replacement record cartridge made from coralstone? No, you probably won’t be doing any scratchin’ with the Koetsu Coralstone Platinum cartridge, which retails for a brain-shreddingly high price tag of…wait for it…$15,000. That’s right, fifteen THOUSAND DOLLARS. Did I mention this is mono only?

Imagine if you will, having a checkbook fat enough to plunk down 15K for one of these, taking it home and dropping the needle down on..anything. You’d never get any records played because you could never get past the “Which album is worthy of the first needle drop from my new fifteen thousand dollar replacement cartridge?” question.

Well, maybe Kind of Blue by Miles or maybe a Morricone classic. But really—how could you even get started?

Now imagine for a moment that the Koetsu Coralstone Platinum actually ISN’T the most expensive replacement record cartridge on the planet?

Submitted for your approval is an even MORE EXPENSIVE Koetsu replacement cartridge for all your high-falutin’ designer vinyl needs. This one is so exclusive that only TWO of them are made PER YEAR according to the retail hype. Crack open a $500 a-bottle Laphroaig 25 year old Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Whisky and listen to your Sesame Street Live! soundtrack album on THIS little bastard:

Koetsu Blue Lace Platinum Magnet Replacement Record Player CartridgeThe Koetsu Blue Lace Platinum Magnet cartridge is a low-output cartridge retailing for $20 thousand, and is made with “an agate Onyx of blue, grey and white layers of fused quartz.” Me personally, I’m hoping to score one of these to play some old Eminem 12-inch singles on and maybe the soundtrack to Ordinary People. Then I’m going to tear it up at the club with some scratching action–using a Rick Springfield record that the lightshow guy snorted some coke off of five minutes ago.

What Do Anthony Bourdain and Vinyl Records Have in Common?

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anthony bourdain no reservationsby Joe Wallace

As of late I’ve become addicted to Anthony Bourdain’s writing. Bourdain is a kindred spirit–he’s got the kind of take no prisoners attitude and and a love for grit and realism that I find refreshing in the world of overly nice and excessively coiffed media ding-a-lings. In another life, I spent far too much time working in television to see things any other way, especially ON television.

I’ve been digging old episodes of No Reservations, the weekly Bourdain globe-hopping food frenzy, and what did I find in an old collection from 2007? Anthony Bourdain tackling Jamaica in all its ramshackle glory. The food makes me want to brave the trip, but the most exciting part of that particular episode for me was the look behind the Jamaican music industry, complete with in-house vinyl record pressing operations at some of Jamaica’s busiest and most ambitious local recording companies.

There was some amazing footage not only of vinyl records being pressed, but also the sink-or-swim no-nostalgia ruthlessness of these record labels when it comes to product that just isn’t selling well. Jamaica being poor as it is, can anyone blame these record labels for hacking up the unsold stock, melting it down and pressing another potential dancehall hit?

The vinyl-centric part of the clip below comes about three minutes in, but the entire show is really worth a watch as it’s an eye-opener for anybody who isn’t hip to Jamaica food, culture or the truth behind the Marley tee shirts. As Don Letts points out, a lot of people who don’t actually live in these conditions tend to romanticize poverty, Rastafari, and the place in general. To paraphrase Letts, the ghetto isn’t something people want to do anything but escape from. I found Bourdain’s no-nonsense approach to the good and bad of Jamaica to be very refreshing…and the look at the record biz there? Priceless for a vinyl junkie and dub lover like me.



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Ennio Morricone Short Night of Glass Dolls OST CD

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Short Night of Glass DollsEnnio Morricone strikes again: La Corta Notte Delle Bambole Di Vetro, also known as Malastrana, and released in America as Short Night of the Glass Dolls, is one excellent soundtrack for a fascinating little film. This soundtrack has everything–Morricone’s classic dissonance and suspense-building sonic experiments, plus the vocal talents of Edda Dell ‘Orso rounding out the package.

The maestro’s genius is clearly on display on this CD. It’s true that any film his work shows up in is automatically more interesting as a result; in the case of La Corta Notte Delle Bambole Di Vetro it’s a case of a quirky Italian effort taken to a whole other level thanks to the soundtrack. The story? A man is found dead in the bushes, a victim of foul play? Maybe, maybe not, but the detective work is going on inside the dead man’s own head–he’s not really dead!

That’s not a spoiler at all, as it’s the first thing you learn as the opening of the film unfolds…the rest? You’ll have to see it to find out, but it’s a great Italian suspense film all round. You really shouldn’t miss this one. Both the film and the soundtrack are both big favorites on the Turntabling player.

La Corta Notte Delle Bambole Di Vetro is a new, sealed Italian import CD. Buy it now from Turntabling for $23 plus shipping.