Buying vinyl records in this new vinyl era is both a gamble and a challenge. Take this latest release from U.S. indie band, BUILT TO SPILL. My copy was warped on receipt and Side 1 was 'off centre'. What do you do? Happily, I own a Japanese Vinyl Flattening machine. The vinyl was 'pond flat' after a cycle on the Disc Flattener. The 'off centre' issue proved very simple to fix. An excess piece of vinyl on the spindle hole had to to filed. The disc is now both flat and revolves concentrically on my turntable. No doubt, the tight shrink wrap applied at the pressing plant (Optimal Media) caused the newly pressed record to lose its shape.
Now to the more important part, perhaps? The vinyl plays beautifully without any noise or any pressing defect whatsoever. The sound quality too is very good and musically this release is up there with the best BUILT TO SPILL albums. It is somewhat unfortunate that you have to be a magician of sorts to get the very best from today's vinyl? This record is packed in a very nice gatefold sleeve and comes with a poster. It is a shame that excessively tight shrink wrapping can compromise the buying experience. I am sure that it is no fun for the retailer either. Be forewarned that your copy could be warped, like mine was. My copy was the black vinyl version. It was both wet cleaned and ultrasonically cleaned before I played it. This, of course, works wonders with vinyl both new and old and can really reveal how good the vinyl medium can be. So finally, I give this album a strong recommendation from both a musical and pressing standpoint, but with the caveat that your copy could be warped because of the way this record is shrink wrapped. If you are equipped to fix the warping issue, should it arise, go ahead and buy this. It won't be around for long and will sell out quickly.
