Vinyl Me, Please is a subscription service that's a modern take on the old "Record of the Month" clubs. As a long-time audiophile and vinyl collector, I had to sign up as soon as I heard about it!
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription: Vinyl Me, Please The Cost: US – $27 per month / $75 per 3 months / $284 per year
The Cost: US – $27 per month / $75 per 3 months / $284 per year
International – $44 per month / $120 per 3 months / $450 per year
The Products: A specially selected limited edition vinyl LP, a cocktail recipe to be paired with the music, an original piece of art, access to “The Standard” (VMP’s online magazine), access to forums, special deals on other albums
Ships to: everywhere, cost included in membership
Ships via: USPS
Check out all of our Vinyl Me, Please reviews!
This month's album is "I LoveYou, Honeybear" by Father John Misty! No, he is not actually a priest, he is an amazing singer-songwriter named Josh Tillman. I love this (double!) album! I had heard a few tracks from it before receiving this package, and I already really liked him, so I was thrilled to get this one!
This is the reverse side of the album. I am really loving the artwork on this record!
Since this is a double LP, it folds out to this amazing scene! All this religious and Dia de los Muertos imagery is totally working for me!
Inside the album is this cool poster with all the liner notes on it.
On the back of the poster are the lyrics to all the songs! I remember getting these and pouring over them when I was a kid, belting out all the hits. Fortunately, there is Google these days so we don't have to rely on a piece of paper, but I always am really happy when they are included!
The vinyl is actually clear this month! So cool! I really don't know if the childish glee I feel getting non-black records will ever wear off.
This is two months in a row where I have not been happy with the 'original art' included in this service. The little postcard is OK, I could see sending it to someone as a fun joke, but for the main piece of art to be a handwritten note (that includes one of my most disliked swear words) is kind of a bummer. The artwork is by Father John Misty's wife, Emily Tillman, and it's a love note of sorts, which goes with the whole theme, so I get what they were trying to do. I just wish it had been beautiful.
The inside back cover of the packaging always seems to have the artwork credit along with some poem or narrative written by Vinyl Me, Please's co-founder Tyler Barstow. This time it's a love letter (sort of), and I actually like it better than the one that was included as the 'art' for this month.
This is where I went from being kind of disappointed about the artwork to being seriously annoyed. One of the major draws for me with Vinyl Me, Please is the pairing (tripling? quadrupling?) of the music and art and poem and cocktail, all together. I think this was supposed to be clever because it was written by Father John Misty, and I get that, but it's not a cocktail recipe.
As a related follow-up, last month I had a girls' night with two of my best friends and we made Palomas and listened to Youth Lagoon and had a blast! I found that the Paloma actually did make a great winter cocktail, and it paired beautifully with the album! Unfortunately, that makes it even more disappointing that I didn't get a cocktail recipe this month.
Verdict: I really hope that this month's Vinyl Me, Please was an anomaly, and I think it was probably due to the artist's willingness to take such a serious role in the curation of this service for this month. Father John Misty is a brilliant musician and a clever lyricist, so I can see how it would be really exciting to let him take the reigns on curating this shipment. Unfortunately, it resulted in no cocktail and no real artwork, which are two of the fundamental things that Vinyl Me, Please is supposed to deliver. I am obviously very happy with the album and all the extras that Vinyl Me, Please regularly delivers. I just can't help feeling a little short changed this month.
What do you think of Vinyl Me, Please?
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