Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man / Out of Season vinyl reissue

One of my favourite albums of the last 20 years and I’m happy finally get to own it on vinyl.
Packaging looks nice… but, for $30 I’d expect better, maybe a tip-on sleeve, definitely a static-free inner so I don’t have to struggle to get the record out.
The remastering is nice a definitely an improvement on the CD. I do wish there were more of a presence to the sound stage, especially to the bass as it is Paul Webb’s primary instrument. Voices are lovely and crisp, and there’s a nice warmth to tracks like “sand river” where you might normally find some annoying sibilants in the vocals on the last track of a side.
All in all a nice release you won’t have to upgrade (unless they half-speed master it).
Tested on Thorens TD160 (Mk1), Ortofon 2M Red Verso, Sansui AU317, Infinty Ref. 3 speakers.

Update! Received my copy from Amazon today. Thought I’d sit down with a brew and headphones on to enjoy. Well to start with it all looks the business. Nice sealed copy, well packaged. Nothing can possibly go wrong. Not so. Yet again, poor quality control by the manufacturer. A load of plastic swarf bits in the inner sleeve meant tracks one and four, side two completely trashed! On it’s way back for a replacement. Not Amazon’s fault I have to say. On the plus side, it sounds superb. If you are hesitant about the sound, for me it’s just way better than the CD version. Much warmer with plenty of bass and clarity. I hope the replacement is spot on as I’m looking forward to some aural entertainment!

It is a fabulous album and I was surprised that there was not a follow up. Well worth anyones money.

YES, I missed it when the MOV pressing came out …

No US release?

I love this album, it’s a good late at night chill listen. To flush out the shite of the day before bed!!This & the latter period David Sylvian releases are perfect night listening.

Excellent album and a must have for any collection.

Great record – bummer though – this re-issue will collapse the value of my 2011 music on vinyl version (who would have thought that MOV releases would ever become valuable?).

As per everyone else’s comments. This is an amazing album that deserves to be heard by the widest possible audience. It’s pretty much a straight folk album for me (last track aside) but so so good.
Good timing – it’s one I always get out every September as perfect for the change in season. That and Grandaddy’s Sophtware Slump for some reason.

This is a definite buy. Have the CD, but the original vinyl is too expensive to purchase. Let’s hope this copy is properly quality checked as it needs to be a quiet copy!

As an aside, there was a new Rustin Man album out this very year.

This record is amazing. Initially, I could not get my head around that it was not a Portishead record, and it really took a year when the record really sunk in. In my book it is timeless, right up there with Nick Drake. Now, in some respects, I like this more than Portishead. It is a shame she never made a followup or release a live album, as they were just amazing live; Essentially Talk Talk fronted by Beth Gibbons with help from Adrian Utley. I never bought it on LP, but I am tempted now.

A quality album. The song ‘Tom the model’ is spectacular. Portishead’s debut album was 25 years old last week!

Not a vinyl buyer myself, but this album is a must have. As much as it’s ambience is quite Talk Talk Spirit of Eden, musically you got to go back to stuff like Sandy Denny / Fairport to get the gut feeling this evokes. Marvellous and undated.

Pleased to hear this is being reissued on vinyl again ;it’s an exceptional album and one of my favourite albums from the last 20 years – consider it to very folk and ambient orientated!
I think it’s one of those albums that hasn’t dated with time
Would urge anyone who hasn’t heard of this before to “take a chance” and buy a copy before it becomes unavailable (again)
The Mov copy issue from 2011 was not around for long

My only regret was not seeing them live back in the day :-(

This also includes work from Phill Brown and Lee Harris.

Same here. Already have the original 2002 Go-Beat release in pristine condition. This album has been reissued in 2011 by Universal MoV (Music on Vinyl) but this new release is the first remastered version I think.

Anyway it’s a great album. I saw Beth Gibbons live in Paris at the Olympia in 2002. It’s the infamous Inrocks Festival where Beth Gibbons was supposed to headline the night and the promoters made fans believe it was Blue Bob (David Lynch) in order to sell more tickets. David Lynch only played 15 minutes (it was arranged like that with the festival) but the audience didn’t know that so as soon as the gig ended after 3 songs, people booed, were angry and thought they were fleeced…It was a a wild night but a great night with Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man, RJD2 opened the show and he was great too.

Pastoral Portishead – a simply wonderful album.
I might double dip n get a new copy along with my original.

Surprised to see originals fetch such high prices as it was pretty much nailed to the shelf of several shops I regularly frequent. More fool people goes not buying it at the time. Was spellbinding to hear played live too