Having looked around for a vinyl subscription service and not had any luck finding one that I thought would suit me, I stumbled across, That Special Record who might well be just what I was looking for. My musical tastes are quite eclectic but I have a penchant for electronic, instrumental and ambient music, which this subscription service seems to cater for quite well.
They are based in Portugal but shipping is included and the 1 LP a month works out at £22.00, roughly what a new vinyl album costs + a bit to cover shipping, say £3.00 of it. What is more intriguing to me though is the surprise that it will be. I like the fact that what I receive I will never have heard of and that there is an opportunity to discover something wonderful. Conversely, I may hate everything I’m sent, but I think it’s worth the risk.
There are a few option available, you can sign up for 1, 3 or 6 months, the monthly cost decreasing the longer your term, although it is all paid up front, so 6 lps over 6 months will be a single payment of around £110, which renews with another single payment after the 6 months is up. There is also the option to subscribe to 1 LP and 1 EP, over the same periods at a higher cost to include the EP. I’ve gone for 1 month, to see how I like it, as I can cancel at any time that way without any up front outlay.
The releases from the last 3 months have been (just the albums not the EP’s):
Icarus Records
Kevin Verwijmeren – Those Glorious Heights LP / Ambient music to travel deep into lost memories and accept the dark side of life.
Black Sweat Records
Ariel Kalma– Interfrequence LP / Beautiful ambient space library record from the 1980’s, now finally reissued by Black Sweat Records
Where To Now?
Ketev – Traces of Weakness LP / Hypnotising ambientish techno LP
They’ve been operating for over a year and a full list of everything they’ve issued is available at the site. I find the above intriguing and am quite prepared to give whatever turns up in the mail a fair listen.
“Most of our picks are records limited to 150-400 copies or under the radar records we believe are essential to any record collection. Sometimes, whenever possible, we send our members records pressed exclusively to That Special Record. Our boxes also regularly include stickers from the record labels we work with and a personal postcard with liner notes.”
I’ll update again when I’ve received a record.
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