Turntabling » album

How To Grade Vinyl Records: Another Point of View

Joe Wallace — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:50:25 +0000

Recently I posted an introductory post about grading vinyl records. A lot of people don’t care about vinyl grades; “Good”, “Very Good”, Near Mint” and other ratings don’t mean anything to some as they prefer just to pull the album out of the sleeve and run an eyeball over it.

Which is great until it’s time to buy a record sight unseen on eBay, Discogs.com or elsewhere, and then suddenly those vinyl grading terms mean a hell of a lot more.

This video is one point of view on grading vinyl records, and the background music is fun, too. There is a great amount of personal preference built in to grading vinyl records, but once you get used to the grading systems and know what to look for this whole topic is much easier to deal with. Again, some of this is really down to personal preference–how much wear is acceptable to you?

–Joe Wallace

WTF Album Covers: Fortran 5 Avocado Suite

Joe Wallace — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:36:54 +0000

Maybe it’s just me having some kind of visual allergy to looking at people squatting on the toilet? Or is this a pretty lousy way to sell an electronica record?

I have to say though, I enjoy tracks on Avocado Suite. It’s blippy, noisy, abrasive, yet listenable and fun. Sort of Aphex Twin-y, but on operating on different substances…

Fortran 5 fans have a contingent of haters for this particular release, but in spite of the crap cover (sorry) I dig tracks like She Knows The Lot, and Radmen. Listen and decide for yo’self:

–Joe Wallace

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass…On Fire

Joe Wallace — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:21:09 +0000

This video is supposed to be funny, but today it just seems a bit depressing for some reason. Maybe if there was an explosion involved or a bit of shrapnel-related head trauma? I have to admit, I DID laugh at the point in this video clip where the guy felt the impulse to explain that they weren’t actually setting fire to America itself, just a record with a SONG called “America”. Thanks, boys–glad we got that cleared up and squared away.

WTF Album Covers: Space Age Bachelor Pad Sexism

Joe Wallace — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:19:14 +0000

I’m sure Elliot Lawrence didn’t think he was a sexist pig when he saw the cover for his own album, Music For Trapping, sitting there in the shrink wrap. But it’s hard to imagine the era where this sort of nyuk-nyuk lunkhead imagery didn’t even raise an eyebrow even a LITTLE.

The trophy heads are SO Norman Bates…this guy definitely seems like a serial killer in the making. He’s one step away from an episode of Dexter, to be sure. If Dexter had a time machine and a martini shaker, that is.

By the way, if you like the Turntabling WTF album cover collection, why not join us on Facebook for regular updates of atrocious album covers, bad album art, and etc? We’d love to have you in this growing little community of bad album cover lovers.

Jack White: Vinyl Junkie

Joe Wallace — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:58:06 +0000

One of the stops on Vinyl Road Rage 4 in Nashville was the most excellent Third Man Records, the boutique record store and home of the record label of the same name.

Jack White started Third Man after his recording contract expired with V2. The White Stripes signed with Warner to record Icky Thump, but Jack White pulled off a shrewd deal to keep the rights to vinyl pressings…and Third Man wasn’t far behind with reissues of the back catalog, plus new releases by bands like The Dead Weather.

If you’re into learning about the entire saga of Third Man, have a look at this excellent interview with one of Third Man’s major players, as published by Collector’s Weekly. It’s a pretty interesting look behind the scenes at Nashville’s prime iconoclast labels/record stores.

WTF Album Covers: AA Allen The Road Of No Return

Joe Wallace — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:34:16 +0000

Remember, kids–when you see the severed head of some goofball evangelist preaching the gospel to you, it’s probably time to LAY OFF THE ACID.

Strange Wax Vinyl Documentary

Joe Wallace — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:29:39 +0000

I admit it, I’m a sucker for a good documentary. Strange Wax is well-shot, a visual candy store for vinyl lovers, to be sure.

Lovely to watch, isn’t it?

My major complaint with most of the vinyl documentaries I’ve seen over the past year and a half is that the filmmakers all seem compelled to spend an inordinate amount of time discussing why vinyl is superior to digital. This is completely unnecessary and really sounds like a sales pitch. But that doesn’t spoil my enjoyment of this production in the long run…

And while I’m feeling feisty, additionally vexing to a nitpicky writer/editor is referring to more than one record album as “vinyls”. People! “Vinyl” is both singular AND plural.

–Joe Wallace