One of the co-owners of the Other Music record store once speculated that digital/vinyl combination releases will represent a big part of music sales in the future, because they combine the convenience of DRM-free downloads with the sweet, collectible sound of vinyl.
Mexican Summer adds a music subscription to that combination with its upcoming digital/vinyl subscription service, set for an August launch.
Subscribers (pricing below) will get two or three albums per month from participating bands "in various formats – 12-inch, 7-inch, Picture Disc, etc. All records will be beautifully packaged, hand numbered, pressed on high quality virgin vinyl and include a download card," according to the label.
The card contains a code that lets users download MP3 or FLAC versions of the music, a nice approach we’ve seen Matador and other labels in the past. A spokeswoman for the label said those digital versions of the releases, in the 256 Kbps MP3 and FLAC formats, will also be available to non-subscribers (89 cents per MP3, 99 cents per FLAC file), as will vinyl (inventory permitting).
The vinyl/digital subscription doesn’t come cheap — $80 for five albums in fourmonths, $135 for nine albums in eight months or $182 for 13 albums in ayear (plus shipping and handling) — although each plan includes additional exclusives like slipmats, a possible holiday release and more.
"This is an idea that has been kicking around for a long time," saidco-founder Keith Abrahamsson in a statement, "but the stars seemed toalign when we were presented with the opportunity to release a fewreally great artists. From there, things just picked up steam. The ideabehind the label was simple — to have an outlet to release specialprojects on vinyl and digital formats."
You can stream full-length songs from each of Mexican Summer’s first three releases below, for free.
Dungen – "Satt Att Se (Advance Master)"
Thisone rules. Down-tempo bass, jazz-style cymbals, gleaming guitar, hookybassline, Norwegian vocals, string swooshes and all. I agree with the label spokeswoman that this one sounds "magical."
Headdress – "Spirit Canyon Medicine Song" My least favorite ofthe three, this tune is still nice in its own mellow, droney, reedy sortof way. Someday, I’m going to make a mix of songs that sound the waydust floating around in the sun looks, and this one might go on it.
Nachtmystium – "Worldfall" Beware, here comes the brutal. Check out the metal voice, crunching guitars, distortion pedal filter sweeps, ploddingbass, occasionally (slightly) sunny vocal harmonies and pounding double bass drumrocking action. And then it starts shredding. This is hatch-battening music.
Mexican Summer also sent over its release schedule for the subscription, which includes the awesomely named (and awesome-sounding) Black Moth Super Rainbow:
9/2 Dungen – "Sat Att Se" 12" (700 press) 9/2 Nachtmystium – "Worldfall" (500 Red w/ black splatter, 500 gray w/ red splatter) 9/2 Headdress – "Turquoise" (LP – 500 press) 11/1 Marissa Nadler – "Ballads Of Living and Dying" (reissue w/ bonus unreleased 7") (1,000 press) 11/1 The Tallest Man On Earth – "ShallowGrave" (LP w/ bonus 7" EP) (1,000 press) TBD Bobby BeauSoleil & The Orkustra (2XLP – w/ unreleased material) (1,000 press) TBD Black Moth Super Rainbow – (picture disc) (1,000 press) TBD Valet – 12"
