Podcasts come out more frequently than we’d like sometimes, and in 2018, I blogged about some of the more interesting sources (here). Since then, we’ve discovered some new ones that we like and think are worth sharing. Most of the links are to the Podtails tracker website or Podbean, no hunting for the RSS feed. So, here we go …
Rockenteurs with Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt – Rockenteurs has built a tremendous following, its success comes from the fact they personally know have worked with (or revolve in similar circles) many of the guests. This produces an immediate familiarity and a sense you’re part of a casual group conversation and everyone is relaxed and unhurried. For those less in the know Gary Kemp was part of Spandau Ballet, but since those days has performed as guitarist for higher. Guy Pratt, while not such as house hold name, is a highly respected bassist, session musician and essentially Pink Floyd’s bassist since Roger Water’s departure.
Alan Cross gives two for the money with the Ongoing History of New Music and Uncharted crime and mayhem in the music industry – Alan Cross is a Canadian music journalist, radio presenter and pod and videocaster. His primary output is the Ongoing History of New Music, which focusses on the Indie / Rock scene. But he has a second fortnightly podcast with a wider perspective. What really works here, is the depth of his knowledge, and the love of his subject (desire to see musicians do well and share the stories behind and around the music).
Bureau of Lost Culture – I came to Stephen Coates’ podcast as a result of hearing about Bone Music and reading his book, by that title. Stephen’s podcasts tend to gravitate to all aspects of music, but his focus is ‘count culture’. The subjects can look a little academic, but the way the stories are told is very human centered and explorers the impacts his subjects have had.
BBC provides a vast library of podcasts, some are regular, some are more episodic, but all are worth checking out …
This Cultural Life – Best described as a successor to Mastertapes, as the presenter, John Wilson, has moved on to this show. Although the podcast goes beyond music to a broader cultural portfolio of guests/subjects.
Eras – A more mainstream look at big-name artists such as Sting, Abba, Kylie with 4-6 episodes per artist in an episodic release.
Legend – A bit like Eras, but covers artists like Joni Mitchell and Springsteen.
Artist own podcasts can be a bit hit a miss, but these have some great episodes …
Moby Pod – Moby’s self deprecation, and history has resulted in some fascinating podcasts, both looking at music broadly (and personally) as he is as much an interviewee as interviewer on these podcasts. His name and reputation has meant he has also had some more influential names on the podcast, but these tend to be aligned with his animal rights and vegan passions. But these aren’t presented in a preaching manner, as is Moby’s way he recognizes these are his beliefs and not everyone may agree.
Norah Jones is Playing Along – This has been an interesting podcast as Norah talks with a musician and records material with them. After the 1st season (we saw some of those recordings released as an album). There has been a cvouple of years gap between the the first series and the second once started recently (Octob ’25).
James Lavelle (Living In My Headphones) aka Unkle – A monthly slot on Soho Radio, this is very much a DJ mix session, but the diversity of music used is fascinating.
Broken Record – Part of Malcolm Gladwell’s growing Pushkin empire of podcasts. These can be a bit hit and miss, but when they hit – the insightful, interesting and enjoyable to listen to, and among the best there is.
So when you’re not dialed in with your latest vinyl/CD/download I’d recommend checking these out.
Following on from my previous piece, I thought I’d cover additional music options that aren’t necessarily vinyl.
Not vinyl, but…
Super Deluxe Editions (SDE)
SDE produces Blu-ray versions of albums. These typically consist of high-quality audio mixes of the albums, along with surround sound audio mixes for an immersive sound experience. While not marketed as limited editions specifically, they appear to be produced in limited quantities, with pre-order volumes dictating the number of copies to be produced.
If you have an artist you like, an established rock or indie act that is about to reissue a successful album or release a new title with high expectations, it’s worth checking in with SDE if Blu-ray audio is of interest. To date, releases have been made available for Paul McCartney, Tears for Fears, Kraftwerk, Suede, Bob Dylan, and others.
Subscriptions
Many artists, particularly those who are not multi-million-selling artists, are exploring the use of subscription models through services such as Patreon and Bandcamp. It is possible to buy such subscriptions as gifts.
The subscription’s benefits vary from artist to artist, but they usually involve additional releases not available elsewhere. Examples of this include Thea Gilmore (a new song every month) and Peter Gabriel (previously unreleased recordings, versions of songs during their development, etc.).
Books
Books seem to be a growing area, not just in the form of biographies, but also in narratives about music collections, album artwork, and so on.
Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell – complete Hipgnosis Catalogue (I got my copy from Hypergallery)
Dust & Grooves is the best book I’ve seen on vinyl collecting
Some of these books, while substantial volumes, are getting very expensive. We have a signed copy of Aubrey Powell’s Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue (the group responsible for the art on all of Pink Floyd’s albums) from a couple of years ago for less than £50. The second volume of Dust & Grooves, released this year, costs £100 for a standard copy.
Some indie record stores are expanding to cover music-related books, such as Resident Music.
Kit
Aside from buying music, another option is resources to help care for a vinyl collection. There are some nice kits available, which bundle vinyl brushes, cleaning solutions, and more. But such kits have limited benefit. To provide proper care, consider a suitable vinyl cleaning machine. Good ones start at a couple of hundred pounds and are best purchased through a hi-fi dealer, such as Audio-T or Sevenoaks Sound and Vision. They typically use ironised water to gently wash the vinyl. Don’t suggest tap or typical bottled water as these will contain small impurities that dry into the grooves – the very thing you’re trying to avoid.
Better still, to minimize the problems of dust and dirt, is to store records within antistatic inserts. Have you ever noticed how brand-new vinyl can be challenging to remove from the inner sleeve? That’s static at play, and it also attracts dust and dirt into the grooves. The static will build up as you slide the vinyl in and out of the inner sleeves. So, putting the vinyl into an antistatic sleeve first removes that problem. Some record companies provide the albums in a paper inner sleeve, which is lined with an anti-static layer – Godwana Records do this. However, the inner sleeve is typically plain, without any printing (i.e., printed lyrics, musician details, or artist commentary).
Pro-Ject VC-E2 Vinyl Record Cleaner – from dealers like Audio-T
There are several brands available, but the best ones, which many people swear by, are Nagaoka RS-LP2 Anti-Static Record Sleeves, also referred to as Nagaoka No. 102. These usually come in packs of 50, and you can expect to pay £30 per pack.
If the records are not being stored in a nice soft-lined sturdy record case, then consider outer sleeves. This will help in several ways …
Reduces dust and dirt getting into the sleeve in the first place.
Reduces the potential for sleeve wear (corners and edges can show wear) as the records are slid in and out of shelves.
Reducing sun bleaching of the sleeve is the shelving that gets exposed to direct sunlight.
Replace the PVC packaging that records are shipped in, as it can cause the sleeve and record to tarnish over time due to plastic ‘off-gassing’ (a more detailed explanation can be found here). You want to replace that with Polyethylene (also known as polythene) sleeves.
These are pretty easy to source. Personally, I’ve dealt with Covers33 and found their products to be of good quality and well-priced. Remember, if you’re using sleeves for box sets, you’ll need larger sleeves, which are not always easy to obtain.
Artwork
Most people think of hanging original or limited, signed prints from artists or photographers, where the art was not created for a specific purpose, such as album sleeves. However, the art for album sleeves is no less of an artistic endeavour, and doesn’t have to be plastered with titles and other text. You can collect such art with limited-edition prints approved and signed by the artist and/or the musician. You can find this sort of thing at galleries such as Hypergallery or St Paul’s Gallery. If you go something like this, the picture needs to be framed appropriately and, importantly, has a certificate of authenticity.
Conclusion
These two posts started out as just sharing some brief thoughts, but have morphed into a bit of a monster. I hope you find them useful. As I wrote these two posts, a couple of pieces on HiFi Pig Magazine came to mind, which I thought were worth sharing as they do reflect aspects of the mind of vinyl music collectors:
Buying vinyl as a gift for a loved one can be tricky if you’re not an aficionado. Buying vinyl generally is easy – just hitting a box shifter like Amazon can do it. However, in most cases, you will only get a generic pressing for mainstream artists, and won’t receive something collectible.
This isn’t a hint for me, as I always keep a list of suggestions for those significant dates. As I’m not the only vinyl fan in our extended family, I thought I’d share the thinking I go through – or at least that is how this post started out.
New releases
From a collector’s perspective, like books generally, 1st issues are more collectible than later additional pressings or reissues. Often, reissues will be on standard black vinyl with a standard sleeve. There are some things where reissues are worth considering, and we’ll come back to this.
In the last couple of years, new releases have seen multiple versions being made available. The versions differ in two ways. Firstly,y special editions will come with extra tracks, typically these tracks are:
Alternate mixes result from how the song is put together in the studio.
Demos, early versions that artists have put together before entering the studio to produce the song properly. In some cases, these versions can turn out to be better than the final production (as was the case with Norah Jones’ debut album).
Live performances, artists often record their own shows, even if it’s just to review and improve.
B-sides, when vinyl and CD singles were dominant, you would have multiple additional tracks. It was once common for an artist to record 20 or more songs for an album. Ten or so tracks would make the album, and others would be included as B-sides.
A recent development is the emergence of different audio mixes, such as 5.1 or 7.1 mixes, which often accompany Blu-ray Disc releases.
The most common variations are the different coloured vinyl. Indie record stores often offer a limited run of coloured vinyl. Sometimes, even picture discs, and in recent years, Zoetrope art and etched album sides. These are harder and more expensive to produce, so they are rarer, often limited runs, so more collectible.
Explanation to zoetrope vinyl
Coloured Vinyl sources
As just mentioned, artists and record labels have supported independent record stores by providing not only the standard black, but also coloured vinyl versions. This has expanded in recent years to having special colors being offered to fans through streaming services such as Spotify and artist websites.
Resident Music details for the new Turin Brakes album, vs the band’s (label-managed) website
Sadly, this approach has been adopted by some very successful artists to entice their loyal fans to buy multiple copies of the same album, with even Amazon getting its own special, colored vinyl. I personally feel Taylor Swift having more than 45 versions of one album is somewhat exploitative of her fan base.
Numbered Editions
We’ve mentioned that often, the colored vinyl runs will be limited. How limited it can vary, so when a release is listed as a limited edition, it is worth checking if a number of copies is identified. These releases will also have numbering printed and written onto them. How many in the run will influence that value? Some runs can be as many as 10,000. For a popular artist, it’s still relatively rare, but not for a smaller name. Others will be as low as 500 copies. So, consider the artist’s popularity when looking at the numbering.
Dinked Editions
In the U.K., a group of indie record stores have been working with smaller indie artists to release ‘Dinked Editions‘ of albums. These versions have been developed with the artists, and often have different album covers, additional tracks on a supplemental single, and will be numbered as part of a limited edition. These are usually numbered and have between 500 and 1000 copies.
Signed artwork
Artists signing the albums will always make the records more collectible. But, signing sleeves can be problematic (doing it once an album is packaged means a lot of weight has to be transferred around). Sign the sleeve before adding the record, as this may impact production. As a result, sadly, the signed piece is a separate art card. So a signed, genuine sleeve will always be more collectible.
Record Store Day / National Album Day
Record Store Days (RSDs) have been going for approaching 20 years. Started as a lifeline to help keep independent record stores stay alive when a lot of stores were closing down. RSD releases are usually limited runs, where just enough copies are produced to sell in stores on a specific date. RSD releases tend to go beyond just coloured vinyl to artists releasing ‘new’ (sometimes older but previously unreleased, remastered, or demo material).
While RSD releases are aimed at physical instore sale events, on the Monday evening after the RSD stores can then sell their RSD overstock online. Occasionally, you may find a store with an odd copy lingering well after the RSD event, but these are relatively rare.
So getting an RSD release involves a bit of luck and timing. Being willing to queue at a store will boost the chances of getting the desired RSD release. It does help in advance of the RSD day, the releases for the event are published, so you know in advance what to get.
RSDs normally take place on a Saturday in April and have become a bit of an event. So, if you’re not that interested in the music you’re buying for someone, you’re better off gambling on a store having it online on the following Monday at 8pm. Most indie stores have online sales channels (often this is how they survive during quiet times), so bookmark several to try.
Unlike RSD, National Album Day isn’t a global setup, although there are similarities National Album Day currently doesn’t carry the same impact.
Vinyl weight and Audiophile pressings
It is worth keeping an eye on the vinyl weight referenced. Good-quality releases are typically 180 g, although 140 g is not uncommon; standard releases can be as low as 100-120 g. The heavier the vinyl, the less susceptible it is to warping, and any surface scuffing is less likely to impact sound reproduction.
There is a correlation between vinyl weight and vinyl quality, with some specialist pressings over 180 g. These come from specialist companies such as Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. These releases will also feature albums playing back at 45 RPM, as this effectively adds 50% more groove length to the recording. These releases can cost multiples of a standard release. Such purchases will pay off when used with an audiophile setup.
Box sets
Album box sets can be an attractive vinyl gift option, but can be rather expensive for the quantity of music that can be included. Not all box sets are published as Limited Editions, but in most cases, they can be considered so because the number of buyers prepared to spend hundreds of pounds on a small set of new actual material. For example, Rush R50 has 7 new previously recorded tracks with a 234.99 price tag.
The recovery of vinyl has also driven the bootleg market. Bootleg (sometimes referred to as Recordings Of Illegitimate Origin – ROIO) really took off with CDs, as the production costs are low, and even more with downloading. While downloading has dented the value of the market. What it doesn’t replace is the sleeves and artwork that can go into such releases.
When it comes to the legality of such recordings, some legal loopholes in the U.K. can give sufficient legitimacy to the releases, which is why they do show up in record stores.
There is an important consideration when buying bootlegs, which is the lineage of the recording. For example, a recording taken from an FM broadcast is transferred to a cheap cassette before being transferred to vinyl. Some labels, and bootleg series have a reputation for quality lineage, such as Transmission Impossible.
Sometimes, a bootleg recording of a specific performance is worth having, regardless of its quality. But to know this requires research and understanding of the performances and bootlegging labels.
Rare Vinyl
Like rare books, rare record buying can need an understanding of what is valuable and what is not. Many factors can influence value, factors such as:
Flawed productions or label printing,
Original pressings and pressings of the wrong version of an album (different mixes etc.).
Alternate sleeves, or where early releases had gatefold sleeves, but later changed to have a conventional sleeve.
Artists signing the sleeve.
First pressings of some albums.
In addition to these points, all the previous considerations, such as numbering, limited issues, coloured vinyl, etc., what is important is evidence of authenticity. Some details such as matrix codes etched in the vinyl, which can help identify specific versions (such information can be found on sites like Discogs).
However, there are some easy value propositions, such as pressed broadcasts like King Biscuit Flower Hour and BBC Top of the Pops, which had limited pressings made so that the vinyl copies could be distributed to regional radio stations.
Understanding the value and pricing becomes easier when you understand how second-hand vinyl is graded. The sleeves and vinyl are graded separately. Grading goes from mint (like new), near mint (NM), very-good (VG), excellent (Ex), and so on. Personally, I would focus on VG or better, except in some exceptional cases (a more precise definition can be seen here).
Finding Your Indie Store
As I’ve mentioned Indie record stores several times, the question becomes, where are they, how do I find them? Well, most cities these days will have an indie store, but they aren’t usually on the high street. You’ll need to find them. Of course, a LOT (not all) are also online. The easiest places to locate your nearest indie store are via:
We’ve covered a lot of possibilities here. However, this is far from exhaustive, and we will follow up with another post that explores other ideas, although not all of them involve vinyl.
I track a lot of podcasts because I find they can be a great way to catch up on news and ideas or listen to interesting discussions. This is great when travelling (if you can block out the ambient noise with some good earphones) when sitting and working isn’t so easy (standing on a commuter train for example).
My podcasts come in a couple of categories: tech-related, business / thought leadership – think Freakonomics, Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, Harvard Business Review, BBC Radio 4 documentaries, and so on, and then music. The music podcasts are great fun because you can relate to what is being said in so many ways, the insight into the music you love, discovery of artists you’d not heard or considered, and a reminder of a song or album you’d not listened to for a while and get that jolt of ‘oh, yes I remember how wonderful that song is’ and you you end up roaming through (your) music from a different perspective.
I thought this would be worth sharing. Some of these are well known to any music fan, others less obvious …
Sound of Cinema – one of a couple of BBC programmes about music for film, this is the more ‘high brow’
Soundtracking with Edith Bowman – BBC Radio presenter and more, interview-based and more influenced by the film promo circuit
Classic Album Sundays – Primarily recordings of the introductions to Classic Album Sunday events, where an album is introduced. The ones I’ve heard are well researched and provide some interesting insights. Worth listening to then, playing the album afterwards
Life of a Song – A Financial Times podcast (yes FT does cover the arts). The presentation comes across as an attempt to be rather academic and high-brow (which, for me, can irritate), but the content can be pretty interesting. These are relatively short podcasts.
Mastertapes – An intermittent podcast, but really good. This takes the musician and really gets into the details of an album, the context in which it was recorded, as a conversation. ~You could think of this as Radio version of the Classic Albums programmes.
Radio 4 on Music – A grouping for documentaries that Radio 4 makes available. As a result, the subject matter can be very diverse. But as you would expect from the BBC, production quality is very high and typically well researched.
Sound Opinions – A couple of well known music journals chat about news of the day, maybe recent releases and then a segment of the show focusing on a theme, such as the top 50 albums of the year.
Deezer Trailblazers – Interview with people who have had a strong influence on the dance music scene, from the founder of Mute, Daniel Miller, to Gary Numan. If you know about the artist already, you’re not going to get nuggets of gold in terms of new insights, but the love of music and references to songs will get you spinning off into your collection at interesting tangents. The podcasts made available so far, I think, were first recorded about 2 years ago.
Cover Stories – this podcast is relatively short and kind of takes its idea from a 7″ single (remember the vinyl 45?). Two halves: a chat about a song and its various cover versions. There is a cleverness in the simplicity of this podcast as this feels like you’re sat hanging out with friends chatting about a song.
Twenty Thousand Hertz – Not so much music in the conventional sense, more about sound. The two parts of the THX Deep Note is fascinating (yes, film again, but it is an iconic sound)
In addition to these, some artists, such as Counting Crows, have their own podcasts. Perhaps another story for another day.
I came across this interesting solution – from Bitlet called westream which allows you to point the service at a bit torrent and listen to it as a music stream.
I’ve not yet tried it – but I lovely the idea, such technology has the potential to allow for people to establish Internet radio solutions with low levels of bandwidth (although it doesn’t solve the huge licensing costs). Admittedly unlike traditional web radio, there would be a lag as torrent peers need to get going.
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