Billy Woods – Aethiopes

prices for this are outrageous, a repress is rumored in the coming months/years so don’t pay over 100 for this. do your part!

Probably my favorite pressing of a project released this decade.

There was so much care and thought put into the mixing and mastering for this release. It doesn't sound like a cd release just ripped onto a record like so many albums today. The instrumental is dynamic, Billy is front and center like he is in the room with you. The samples/skits that can easily be overlooked on streaming somehow envelope the room now, it's like the music is escaping your turntable.

The way NYNEX finishes the first side with that cutting last blow of the harmonica ,only to leave you with that cold dead silence as you gain your senses...I'd be shocked if this album wasn't sequenced with the vinyl release in mind. One of the few times where the vinyl release feels like the intended way to listen to, quite frankly, a modern masterpiece.

Cover by 17th century Dutch painter Rembrandt word word word

Am I the only one with touch of pink on the LP ? wtf ?

So people are starting to receive their copies of the limited repress, from the sounds of it. [Label found a box of 250 extra jackets. Fired up the plant to press 250 more copies to fill them.] Anyone receive one and check the matrix yet? I feel like this page will either need to be updated to reflect /3,250, or a new page gets added if the runout is different.

Very good condition, a new jewel in my collection. My 2022 AOTY honestly and I am very happy to own it on wax.

Managed to score a sealed copy at a local record fair for $100. Some light paper scuffs out the packaging, but thankfully nothing that affected playback. This is an incredibly mastered LP, with the low-end shining in particular over its digital counterpart. Musically and lyrically, you don’t need me to tell you how amazing it is. This was well worth every penny.

This is easily my favorite hip hop album from 2022. It's just on a different level. And to echo what others have said here, this pressing is damn near god tier.

This was my #1 hip hop album of 2023, and Backwoodz did a fantastic job. The cover is beautiful and the record is heavy and flat. The mix is superb. All around amazing release.

Fluance RT-81 TT
Ortofon 2M blue stylus
Fluance PA-10 preamp
Pioneer VSX-516 Receiver
Marantz SX-9 Speakers
Klipsch R-101 SW

The sonics on this one are incredible. I have an audiophile setup and this thing hits every mark. Cleaned on a professional record vacuum before play.