Essentials

April: Harry Nilsson's Pussy Cats

In April, VMP Essentials subscribers will receive the 50th-anniversary edition of Harry Nilsson's, Pussy Cats. The album is pressed on 180g "Mucho Munga / Mt. Elga" Split Color vinyl, with lacquers cut from tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by Andrew Winistorfer and an art print by Alan Hynes.

Andrew Winistorfer, Director of Music and Editorial said, "This 50th-anniversary edition of Harry Nilsson’s album with John Lennon restores dignity to this set of songs. Pussy Cats’s origin story is one of music’s more epic creation stories: Harry Nilsson blew out his vocal cords and left literal blood on the mic, which turned this album into some crime scene or Greek tragedy. But it’s not that at all! It’s the sound of friends spending two fun, loose weeks together making songs — audible kinship."

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May: Alice Coltrane's Eternity

In May, the Essentials Record of the Month is Alice Coltrane's Eternity. It’s pressed on 180g Orange-In-Pink vinyl, with lacquers cut from the master tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by Natalie Weiner and an art print by Alan Hynes. 

AW: "In 1973, after bringing new, windswept emotional vistas to spiritual jazz, Alice Coltrane signed to Warner Brothers for a series of records that completely reenvisioned what her music could sound like. Gone were the ambient, vast spaces, instead replaced by large ensembles; Alice playing an organ more than harp, backed by a murderer’s row of session men. Eternity’s creation sits akin to when Miles made Sketches of Spain — it’s a swaying masterpiece too often overlooked in the story of her career, the middle period between her Impulse! Records and Ashram years."  

Sign up here to receive an email notification when Eternity becomes available starting April 18. 

June: Isaac Hayes' Black Moses

In March, the Essentials Record of the Month is Isaac Hayes' Black Moses. It's pressed on 2LP Blue vinyl, with lacquers cut from master tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by Andrew Winistorfer and an oversized foldout poster.

AW: "From chicken shops and BBQ spots to residential basements and bar bathrooms — Isaac Hayes still appears all over Memphis through the divine design of the physical Black Moses album cover that transfigures upon opening into a fold-out cross to reveal the shrouded soul singer with his arms outstretched.

Like a secret code in the city, see it hanging on the wall somewhere and the place is most likely worth staying at for a while. In our edition, VMP’s creative team carefully recreated the original imagery into a poster meant for framing. Although that aspect of Black Moses is indeed iconic, the songs serve as Ike’s greatest mic drop. He reimagines all of pop music in his image and spreads his vision over 2LPs that come straight from the Mount of Excellence. If “Going in Circles,” doesn’t elicit a strong reaction, seek a doctor immediately."

Sign up here to receive an email notification when Black Moses becomes available starting May 16.

Classics

April: Oliver Nelson with Eric Dolphy's Straight Ahead  

In April, the Classics Record of the Month is Oliver Nelson and Eric Dolphy's Straight Ahead. It's pressed on 180g black vinyl, with lacquers cut from master tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by Dean Van Nguyen. 

AW: "One of the more underrated players from the early ‘60s, Oliver Nelson played with many titans of jazz playing at the time. This record follows up his most well-known LP, The Blues and the Abstract Truth, which has been unfairly overshadowed for the last 63 years. A prime example of hard bop, it serves as a coming-out party for Eric Dolphy, the shooting star of ‘60s jazz, who trades sax riffs with Nelson throughout the album."

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May: Don Blackman's Don Blackman 

Don Blackman's self-titled album jazz-funk album is the Classics Record of the Month for May 2024. It's here on 180g black vinyl with lacquers cut from tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by Ben Greenman.

AW: "A release that truly embodies the ethos of Lost Sounds Found. Scarcely available when it was released, the few remaining originals of this solo album released by the pianist sideman who played with P-Funk and Earth, Wind & Fire sell for hundreds of dollars now. If you’re a fan of those two bands’ weirdest material, then you’ll love Don Blackman, a funk-jazz groover that sounds like it arrives in a neon-lit, lifted Camaro the minute it starts."

Sign up here to receive an email notification when Don Blackman becomes available starting April 18. 

June: Harry Nilsson's A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night

A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, a standards album by Harry Nilsson, is the Classics Record of the Month for June 2024. It's here on 180g black vinyl, with lacquers cut from tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, and includes a Listening Notes booklet by Darren Dutton.

AW: "Before Pussy Cats, but after his breakout smash album, Nilsson Schmilsson, Harry Nilsson was hell-bent on blowing up his own career from the inside. He condemned Son of Schmilsson, the great, pop-rock sequel of NS, to zero radio play by singing “fuck” in the chorus. After that, he made another left turn with A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, the first-ever standards album by a rock star — beating out Willie Nelson and Stardust by nearly five years. The unorthodox move might be his masterpiece. Too many dried-up singers have turned the standards album into a cottage industry, the results for sale at your local chain coffeehouse. But this album is nothing short of a revelation, as is Nilsson’s lush voice." 

Sign up here to receive an email notification when A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night becomes available starting May 16.

Hip-Hop

April: Wu-Tang Clan's The W 

Wu-Tang Clan's The W is the last album that features all of its members, and it's the April 2024 VMP Hip-Hop Record of the Month. It's pressed on 2LP Gold & Black Galaxy vinyl, with lacquers cut by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by Michael Penn II. 

AW: "The last Wu-Tang Clan album to feature contributions from ODB, The W marked the last time the Wu-Tang Clan truly felt like the most fearsome rap gang of all time. All nine members counted present, along with run-ins from Nas, Redman, Snoop, Busta Rhymes, and (yes, this is true) Isaac Hayes, the Wu Swordsmen trade verses and bars for verses and bars across the album’s towering 13 songs. While Wu-Tang Forever and Enter the 36 Chambers will always stand as the most beloved of their work, The W is worthy of reconsideration. Hearing the Wu be the Wu is one of the finest thrills in all of rap."

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May: Earl Sweatshirt's Doris

Doris is Earl Sweatshirt's debut album, and the Hip-Hop Record of the Month for May 2024. It's pressed on 180g Black, White & Yellow A-Side/B-Side vinyl, with lacquers cut by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by Elijah Watson.

AW: "It seems crazy to remember now, 11 years on, that Earl Sweatshirt’s greatness was not inevitable. Sure, he was one of the most exciting members of the Odd Future collective, but right at the moment of the group’s breakthrough and the precipice of his own notoriety, his mother made the difficult decision to send him to boarding school on the island of Samoa. On the other side, he created his debut, Doris, a clear answer that he was still not only the best MC in Odd Future, but he just might be one of the best on earth. Filled with visions of late-teen fantasies and stoned afternoons mixed with family analysis and self-reflection, Doris set a high bar, but Earl has lived up to, even surpassed, it with every album since." 

Sign up here to receive an email notification when Doris becomes available starting April 18. 

June: Big Pun's Capital Punishment 

Our edition of Big Pun's Capital Punishment, the Hip-Hop Record of the Month for June 2024, features the first time the unedited version has ever been on vinyl. It's pressed on 2LP "Twinz" vinyl, with lacquers cut by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by Will Dukes.

AW: "Big Pun’s debut LP remains an absolute New York rap classic with the Bronx rapper demonstrating a master class of internal rhyme sequences, spitting like multiple machine guns on a frontline. The first solo rap album by a Latinx rapper to go platinum, Capital Punishment broke new ground in the sound of NYC rap in the wake of Biggie’s death. The album was the only one released during Pun’s life — he passed away right before his second. Our version features the explicit version of “Still Not a Player” on vinyl for the first time ever."

Sign up here to receive an email notification when Capital Punishment becomes available starting May 16.

Country

April: Alan Jackson's Who I Am 

The first-ever vinyl release of Alan Jackson's 1994 Who I Am is the VMP Country Record of the Month for April 2024. It's pressed on 180g Gold and Galaxy vinyl, with lacquers cut by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by David Cantwell.

AW: "Appearing on vinyl in VMP Country for the first time ever in honor of its 30th anniversary, Alan Jackson’s fifth LP holds a special place for his fans. It’s easy to see why: This album blends his emotional balladry with his clever turns of phrase (“Gone Country” is iconic), and his ability to boot-scoot with the best of them. This is Jackson’s second time in VMP Country, and following this release, we will have two more Alan Jackson titles in the VMP Store."

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May: Clint Black's Killin' Time

The first-ever vinyl reissue of Clint Black's debut album, Killin' Time, is the VMP Country Record of the Month for May 2024. The 35th-anniversary edition record comes on 180g Brown Galaxy vinyl, with new lacquers cut by Barry Grint at AIR Mastering. 

AW: "An ’80s country classic finally getting its due with a reissue for the first time since 1988, this 35th anniversary edition of Clint Black’s debut doesn’t have one iota of filler — a lean, mean, tight jeans, boot-kicking machine. Black is touring extensively this year supporting the album’s anniversary, and you can pick up our edition at his dates this summer."

Sign up here to receive an email notification when Killin' Time becomes available starting April 18. 

June: Charlie Worsham's Rubberband 

Featured on vinyl for the first time ever, Charlie Worsham's solo debut album Rubberband is the Country Record of the Month for June 2024. It's pressed on 180g "Down In Flames" vinyl, with lacquers cut by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering. The Listening Notes booklet is written by Marissa Moss.

AW: "Unfairly caught up in the bro-country movement in 2013, Charlie Worsham’s debut LP is a modern rewriting of classic albums like the Alan Jackson and Clint Black albums before it in the VMP Country lineup. Appearing here on vinyl for the first time, this album has heart, and shows Worsham’s ace, open-faced songwriting (he co-wrote every song) and ends with a show-stopping duet with Sheryl Crow."

Sign up here to receive an email notification when Rubberband becomes available starting May 16. 

Rock

April: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's Couldn't Stand The Weather 

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's sophomore album, Couldn't Stand The Weather, is the Rock Record of the Month for April 2024. It's here on 180g Red & Black Split vinyl, with lacquers cut from tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. It includes a Listening Notes booklet by Stephen Thomas Erlewine. 

AW: "Coming in a year after we featured Texas Flood in Essentials, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble make their way into VMP Rock with this 40th-anniversary edition of their sophomore album. Where Texas Flood established them as the best blues band in America, Couldn’t Stand the Weather made them bonafide rock stars as SRV’s face regularly appeared on MTV, and they toured the album all over the world. The title track will still stomp your head in, but if there’s still any doubt left that Vaughan is one of the greatest to touch a guitar, listen to his cover of “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”  and hear the only mortal who could somehow play a Hendrix riff faster than Jimi could."

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May: Little Richard's Here's Little Richard

Known as "the architect of rock 'n' roll," Little Richard's debut album, Here's Little Richard, is the Rock Record of the Month of May 2024. It's here on 180g "Slippin' and Slidin'" vinyl with lacquers cut by Barry Grint at AIR Mastering. It includes Listening Notes by Jericho Brown.

AW: "The Rock subscription goes back to the very roots of the genre with this one. Little Richard, more than probably anyone, set the template that every other album we’ll ever feature in this subscription has been working from. Flamboyant, angry, pushing, funny, and fun, Here’s Little Richard sounds like stepping into a sock hop in 1957 with a soft pack in your sleeve ready to engage in fisticuffs. Little Richard’s collection of groundbreaking singles deserves to be in every Rock aficionado's collection as a way to pay respects to the first and true king."

Sign up here to receive an email notification when Here's Little Richard becomes available starting April 18. 

June: T. Rex's T. Rex

T. Rex's self-titled folk-rock self-titled album is the Rock Record of the Month for June 2024. It's here on 180g "Jewel of Frost" vinyl, with lacquers cut from master tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. The Listening Notes booklet is written by Jason Diamond. 

AW: "The purveyors of Glam dropped the “-yrannosaurus” from their name before this album and, in doing so, also let go of all their folky trappings. It marks the moment when Marc Bolan started getting decadent and glamorous and became the Swan God — the man a nation could pin its hopes to. While the records that came later would make their sound iconic, this pseudo-debut serves as an important document in how glam started and how T. Rex lived before they went extinct."

Sign up here to receive an email notification when T. Rex becomes available starting May 16.