Now Playing: Hoi Polloi reissue
Topic: Entry data revision
I have written at some length about the sophisticated and partly quite superb college project LP Hoi Polloi from Earlham College 1972. After a long, diligent process the album is now out as an vinyl reissue from a joint indie project between Family Vineyard and Folk Evaluation: http://family-vineyard.com/products/hoi-polloi-lp-reissue
Hoi Polloi is one of few albums where I can claim a stake on being part of its "discovery", and it's an utter delight to see the long process from getting an original in a trade about a decade ago (a transaction actually described in the liner notes) now result in this upscale reissue from people who obviously take a real interest in the story and record. I can still recall the buzz I got from the very first play of my old original--the sound and quality of the opening "Who's Gonna Help Me" was totally different from what I had expected from the crude cover and custom label press. At the time, the album was unknown except for a listing in one of the Pokora books, and only 3-4 copies were known to exist. A few more have surfaced since, but it's still a serious rarity.
The reissue landed here just the other day and is very nicely done; thick sleeve, insert, exact repro of Custom Fidelity labels even. The sound seems to be excellent on the first play--despite the engineer/producer's comments about the limitations of 'bouncing tracks', the original recordings are almost of pro-studio quality, clean yet dynamic. One of my favorite reissues of 2013 so far, although I'm obviously biased. I had no direct involvement with the production of the repro, however.
Don't miss the highly rewarding download bonus tracks, which give the substantial talents of Charlie Bleak more individual space than the group-effort Hoi Polloi album. This cat was the Paul McCartney of Ohio! There are also four tracks from the one and only live performance from Hoi Polloi, which includes a couple of tunes not on the original album.
