VNYL Subscription Box Review – July 2016

VNYL is a pretty interesting subscription service for record collectors. When you sign up for this service, you fill out a lengthy profile that includes not only your likes and dislikes, but also links to all of your profiles on digital audio services such as Spotify and Sound Cloud. They then ask you to choose a "#VIBE," which is an activity that you would like them to select the music for, such as studying or pool party. They then select 3 new albums and send to you based on all these criteria.

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription Box: VNYL

The Cost: $36 per month

The Products: Three BRAND NEW records chosen by a curator specifically for you, based on your profile, other digital audio services profiles, and selected "#VIBE" for that month

Ships to: US (free), and UK, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Australia, France, Canada at an additional cost

Check out all our VNYL reviews and the Subscription Box Directory!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

VNYL often sends a flyer advertising their new releases. One of the perks of membership is access to the member store, where they have a variety of albums for sale at a discount. Records purchased in the member store are shipped free with your next month's regular shipment.

I also got a flyer promoting trntbl, the new wireless turntable. They have been promoting it pretty hard on social media. It looks so cool! But of course I would never consider buying a turntable without hearing it extensively first.

I chose #ENDLESSSUMMER as my "#VIBE" for this month. I'm starting to feel like the #VIBEs don't really mean anything unless you choose one that's tied to a specific release. My curator for this month was Farin (pictured above). I am trying hard to ignore that he looks identical to an ex-boyfriend of mine! He writes:

"Hey Anna, What's up! Welcome back to VNYL! Hope you've been enjoying the records we sent you so far! I see that you're looking for some psych rock, so I'm starting you off with Wampire's "Bazaar" which was produced to Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Jacob Portrait. Also, check out Jacco Gardner, and finally, some female fronted Xray Eyeballs. Enjoy! Spin On! -Farin"

Bazaar by Wampire - $14.98 on Amazon

This is a great album. I loved it! It's not too psych, it actually reminded me a bit of Electric Light Orchestra. Fortunately, I love ELO, so this album was a win!

This is a picture of the liner notes booklet. I just snapped it because it's pretty.

Hypnophobia by Jacco Gardner - $20.90 on Amazon

This was my favorite of the three records VNYL sent me this month. This has loads of fuzz and good, psych-y sounds. I actually can't believe I've never heard of Jacco Gardner! I also really like the album cover aesthetic.

Splendor Squalor by Xray Eyeballs - $16.98 on Amazon

This album was not for me. I am really picky when it comes to female vocalists, and I'm also not really into punk at the moment. I seem to get a lot of punk from VNYL, so I think I need to make a bigger point of asking them to not send any. I sometimes wonder if this is an LA thing, like maybe they don't know that there is music that's totally devoid of punk in the world, and people who prefer that.

Verdict: The day I get my VNYL in the mail is one of my favorite mail days all month! This month I got two albums I love and one I will probably trade or sell. That is about what I've come to expect from VNYL. Of course, my main source of disappointment this month was that I didn't get any colored vinyl! The value this month comes to about $53, which is great for a $36 box. I'm a huge VNYL fan, and I've discovered tons of great new music because of them.

What do you think of VNYL? What did you get this month?