The first records I ever owned were some old LPs which belong to my dad’s old collection. He got a bunch of early Beatles albums, the Supremes greatest hits, which are cool. But also there are some stuff that I couldn’t stand like Bee Gee’s disco era records...haha. But the first record I ever bought with my own money was Slayed? by Slade, maybe around 2000?
You are selling off some of your precious vinyl collection to pay for more vinyl – what will be the hardest album to give up?
Most of records I put up for sale here aren’t really from my “precious collection”, so I’m okay to sell them haha. Well but the main reasons that I’m selling these is because I may have more than one copy of each album here. Like, if I’ve already own one album, and if I spotted the same album again in a store with different (older) pressing, I sometimes just buy it again. I’m also selling these just because I need some cash to invest on some new albums.
How do you choose what to buy on vinyl or do you just buy everything?
I normally don’t buy CD or downloading any mp3 files, not for at least 5 years. Although I only purchase vinyl records these days, I only buy records that I’m pretty certain that I’m gonna like them. And I’ve also been trying to avoid purchasing bad repress or reissue vinyl, and only get old pressing ones. A lot of people that buy vinyl today don’t realize that they’re listening to CD masters on vinyl, and that’s because the reissue record companies have figured out that people want vinyl, and vinyl has become a new “trendy” thing. But sometimes these companies don’t have rights for the original master tape sources, so they’re only making CD masters in digital, and all the new products that come out on vinyl are actually CDs on vinyl.
It depends. For some new release albums, you can easily find them from local import record shops, which there many of them in Bangkok nowadays, but it can be more expensive than buying it online. I usually buy records straight from the labels' websites, or from distributer sites such as Insound, Amazon, Norman Records. And of course, eBay for some rare and long out of print stuff.
What should buyers be concerned about when buying used, secondhand vinyl records?
The value of a used record is determined by rarity, just like any other collector’s item. But some sellers tend to sell overpriced for secondhand or some hard to find records, so be sure to checki the current market price for buying. I don’t mind buying used and secondhand records at all as long as they are still in really good condition.
How do you organize your vinyl collection? Genre, year released, year purchased, alphabetical, mood?
Very simple. I started by genre, and then alphabetically. But I also dedicated a couple of first two cubes on a record shelve for my current favorite records, or new purchases.
Have you ever purchased a vinyl record and thought, “Wow, this album sucks!” and put it in a microwave?
Yes, sometimes. But the good thing about records is you can always sell if you don’t like them enough. There are a lot of albums that I decided to order without hearing them first. It’s kind of a gambling in a way though, because I just want to hear the album fresh from start to finish without spoil the surprise. I used to argue about this subject with some of my friends who love to download entire album and listen to all the songs right after ordering vinyl, only because he doesn’t have patience. And once when the record arrived, he just leave it sits there for ages without playing, because he got bored with that album already.
For local, I’d love to see Crub’s debut album on vinyl. It’s one of the best Thai indie rock albums that was ever released in the 90s, or perhaps of all-time. There are many of my favorite indie bands that never get to release their albums on vinyl. For example, there was a San Francisco band called Beulah. They were an amazing lo-fi pop band that associated with the famous Elephant 6 collective. The band has released a total of four studio albums, and all of which were really good. But sadly only two were made on vinyl format. I also want to see the official reissue of classic albums by bands like Guided by Voices, Yo La Tengo, or Teenage Fanclub. Those albums are long out of print, so the price of their secondhand LPs are ridiculously expensive now.
Is there a rare or mythic record you are always hunting for? Something like the Holy Grail for you as a music fan and collector?
It's "Propeller" album by Ohio indie band Guided By Voices, released in 1992. I've been looking for the first pressing of this album. Initially self-released only hand-numbered edition of 500 copies, each copy of the album are unique, hand painted cover done by band members.
I’m quite a sucker for the rare items. I recently got my hands on the Japanese pressing of Stereolab – “Aluminum Tunes: Switched On, Vol. 3”. It’s a limited 2,500 box sets vinyl included 3 colored LPs, a bonus 7", and a shirt released in 1998 for Japanese market only. This is why I’m selling off the other copy of the same album at the moment.
Is there any chance Basement Tape's first full length album will ever be release on vinyl? It would be pretty cool if it was on vinyl.
Yeah, it’d be nice if we could release the “Blue” album on vinyl. Actually when we were still signed with Spicy Disc label, there was a plan to release that album on vinyl along with other albums by Spicy Disc bands like Sqweez Animal. The label even called me one day to discuss about the artwork designs for the record sleeves. But somehow the plan just mysteriously disappeared.
See slideshow. If you are interested in purchasing any of these albums, contact Tat.