VYNL is a new-ish and pretty interesting subscription service for record collectors. When you sign up for this service, you fill out a lengthy profile that includes not only your likes and dislikes, but also links to all of your profiles on digital audio services such as Spotify and Sound Cloud. They then ask you to choose a "#VIBE," which is an activity that you would like them to select the music for, such as studying or pool party. They then select 3 new albums and send to you based on all these criteria.
My Subscription Addiction one pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription Box: VYNL
The Cost: $36 per month
The Products: Three BRAND NEW records chosen by a curator specifically for you, based on your profile, other digital audio services profiles, and selected "#VIBE" for that month
Ships to: US (free), and UK, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Australia, France, Canada at an additional cost
Check out all our VNYL reviews!
I chose #DANGERMOUSE as my "#VIBE" for this month. VNYL has started recently offerring #VIBES that include a specific album plus two curated albums. In this case, choosing the #DANGERMOUSE #VIBE will get you the new album produced by Danger Mouse, 30th Century Records Volume 1, plus two records curated to your tastes. My curator for this month was Teal. I missed Teal! She writes:
"Hi! Excited to give you some great records! This first record is Danger Mouse's first release on his newly launched label 30th Century Records. It is a compilation that features Dan Auerback's band the Arcs, Autolux and many others. Next is Aurbach's first project the Black Keys. Attack & Release is classic gritty blues / rock. Last is awesome up and comers the Dough Rollers with their unique blues style. Enjoy, Teal"
It's not like Teal to be so verbose! She practically wrote the whole review for me!
30th Century Records Compilation, Volume 1 by Various Artists ($22.99 on Amazon)
First of all, I love Danger Mouse! I was so happy to get this record in my hands! I think the cover image is really lovely, too. I wanted this record so badly, and once I got it, I was not disappointed. I was a little suprised that it's basically all indie rock, but it's all really good stuff, and several artists that I'm not familiar with.
The inside cover is pretty cool. It's like every artist featured gets their own miniature album cover.
The record itself if just your standard black vinyl, but I think the sleeve is really pretty.
Attack & Release by the Black Keys ($17.99 on Amazon)
I had no idea Danger Mouse produced this album! So cool! The Black Keys are one of those bands I've always liked but have never sat down and listened to long enough to decide how much. Now that I have this record, I think the answer is a lot more than I thought I did! I am really happy to have this record. I feel like it's one everyone should have.
This is a first for me! I've never had a record that included the full album on CD! Very cool! I just hope no one ever includes the full album on cassette.
Gone Baby Gone by Dough Rollers ($13.93 on Amazon)
It seems like every month VNYL includes at least one record that's a complete wild card! This is the wild card for the month, but I like it! Teal referred to their blues style as unique, but they very distinctly remind me of ZZ Top. I hated ZZ Top when they were popular, but recently I have been enjoying them a lot! So much sleaze and pageantry!
This month I took advantage of the discounts in the Member Store to order two of my all-time favorite albums on vinyl. Merry Christmas to me! The album on top is a deluxe reissue of Spoon's 2005 masterpiece, "Gimme Fiction." Below that is the Neutral Milk Hotel's "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" from around the same era. It's just gorgeous!
Verdict: One of my favorite mail days every day is the day I get VYNL! I think they do an excellent job overall with curation, and I've been discovering lots of new artists along the way. My vinyl collection has never been so big or so diverse! I loved getting the option to choose my album this month, too. That added a really fun element to the process! The overall value this month was about $55, which is fantastic for my $32 subscription cost!
What do you think of VYNL?
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