Bruxelles
I spent a few days in Brussels last month and came home with a pile of second hand vinyl. In addition to the usual FNAC and Media Mart that sell new and reissue records, there are little record shops popping up all over the place. Good selections too, mostly of 1970s rock and Jazz, which is great as I am bolstering my Prog vinyl collection right now. What is noticeable, not just in Brussels, is the price inflation that is going on for vinyl records. It is now rare to come across a new release for less than 20 euro. The most recent St. Vincent album was retailing, on release, in the 30s – with only a miserable mp3 download code! The best vinyl label in this respect is NAIM: I bought Sons of Kenet and Get the Blessing’s albums – and they provide you with a 24 bit flac download.
In terms of second hand vinyl – there are lots of examples of NM records on sale, particularly in Brussels, but you need to be careful of the country of origin of the recordings. Speaking of provenience, there is a mushrooming of “boutique” (euphemism) record labels, re-releasing copyrighted material, which may or may not be of dubious legality and, more importantly, quality. I have previously ranted about Prog albums that have been reissued on Tapestry and Timeless records, undoubtedly bootlegs, but there is a slew of such product on the market. Indeed, three times recently I nearly purchased “High Hopes – Sea Shanties” on Tapestry thinking I was picking up the Sundazed (legal and high quality and less expensive) reissue. I bought the Climax Blues Band – “Plays on” in a shop in Brussels – on Italian Akarma label (AK 143). Now, I really wanted the record – it was released on the excellent Esoteric label last year (on CD) and it has been on my vinyl wish list. No real prospect of obtaining an original version. So here it is in a record shop in Brussels, looking excellent, nice 180g vinyl, 22 euro. Do I have a reissue or a copy of the CD in my hand? It usually helps if the label has a website, but my mobile roaming is costing so much I have to make a quick decision : so I ask the guy in the shop – “is this a bootleg.” Naturally, being Brussels, he speaks better english than I do. His reply – “no it is an official Italian record label from whom we buy lots of albums, they are usually pretty good.” A month later, I still don’t know….Undoubtedly there is a healthy market for 1960s and 1970s prog, psych and acid folk. Esoteric/Cherry Red should really consider releasing some of their great titles on vinyl, I am sure there is a market. For example, I recently obtain two records, by Pink Fairies and Greenslade on Purple Pyramid (Cleopatra records). Of course, they don’t kill themselves detailing the provenience of the recordings, but they’ve been around for 20 years and their products are good.
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