KING CRIMSON Larks' Tongues in Aspic ORIG UK Island LP

	£		81
	$		107

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: KING CRIMSON

Album Title: Larks’ Tongues in Aspic.

Producer(s): King Crimson.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One; Book of Saturday; Exiles.

Side 2: Easy Money; The Talking Drum; Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two.

Label/Format: Island – original pink rim format (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both clean and attractive with a lovely intense colour. Spindle marks are very few and light and show little. This another from the superb collection of hardly played records recently purchased that I have been offering over the last two to three weeks.

Cat Number: ILPS 9230.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 123 grams. About average for it’s era.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Moderately scarce: the big issue here is the pressing quality for one of prog-rock’s most difficult and complex albums. I rarely offer this album simply because so many I have heard are too noisy and the vinyl quality not up to the job, either by over- or careless usage or manufacture issues. As much as I love the Island label, pressing standards were not always as good as they should have been. This album along with almost the entire King Crimson catalogue are a complete lottery for sound. Any ‘vinyl reader’ only has to look at this record to know exactly what to expect – a mass of dark and light rings, some ultra fine and compact and some wide with the loudest passages you can imagine. A maze of intense sound at the highest and lowest volumes and complexity – this record has more complex rings than Saturn. One that looks more like a hi-fi test record rather than a regular rock album. This copy overall plays very well, it has minimal crackle (for a change) and the odd sporadic light click here and there on the utmost quiet sections, that is a near impossible ask to avoid totally, but this plays way, WAY above average and no issues to offer – and few ever do. Let me make this perfectly clear: I sold one of these a few weeks ago on Ebay, this is NOT the same record. Strange how things turn out: I had not had one of these for ages and ages, then I get two really clean sounding example within a short space of time. A rollercoaster ride in sound extremes: ultra quiet areas of almost silence with sparse sound, including the ultra fragile opening grooves, then a wall of powerhouse, full-on intensity – those full-throttle riffs on the first title song are simply stunning and will rock the building’s foundations. So, another rare clean copy more than worthy of offering, it is not absolutely silent, but for most, it plays superbly and will blow most others away – of that, I am certain. Never underestimate how difficult this incredible album is to find anything like clean. This is probably as close as the early-pressed copies get.

Original Year of Release: 1973

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9230 A-2U / ILPS 9230 B-2U

Mothers / Stampers: 1 GT / 2 AG

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘SARK’ [on side one]

Musicians: Robert Fripp – guitars, Mellotron, devices; John Wetton – bass, lead vocals; Bill Bruford – drums; David Cross – violin, viola, Mellotron; Jamie Muir – percussion, allsorts.

Brief Info: Studio album number five for this most cherished of progressive bands of the 1970s. This up there with the very best and including a one-off appearance of percussionist Jamie Muir. The band again has a different sound and this is one of their most difficult albums ever. With reference to my ‘Rarity’ paragraph above, this is a massively difficult album for vinyl with some of the most complex groove patterning you will ever see on a rock album. It looks more like a classical record with countless rings of varying shades of black denoting the extremes on sound levels. Ranging from near silence to jagged wide areas for the most ferocious power-riffs. This copy does it near full justice, but some low-level surface sound is near impossible to avoid at times, this quite possibly the least heard overall. Buying any copy of this album without a play-grade is a huge risk and most-all with disappoint – fact.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High: like the record, this cover is often seen in poor condition. The lack of protection means it grubbies easily and most are seen tired and shabby. This one is a BEAUTY!

Cover Grade and Format: MINT(-): a single unlaminated format with smooth matt surfaces. Printed and made in England. This has those ultra deeply pinched and beautifully defined spine ends that have survived in superb condition (please see these in close-up). Some copies (but by no means all) included a cover sticker and lyric insert, this one does not have them.

Cover Front: What a gorgeous cover this is when seen looking little short of as made. So rarely seen devoid of grubbiness, rubbing and creasing. Note those two deep ‘flats’ seen on the spine ends, rarely seen devoid of bending or serious creasing. An hugely impressively clean and fresh looking front with barely any noteworthy creases. Any rim rubbing is minuscule and this is one to hold, enjoy and treasure.

Cover Back: The predominately white back has minimal traces of grubbiness, ageing or wear and it will prove very difficult to find better.

Top Edge: Barely any wear at all, any rub traces minute and still very straight.

Bottom Edge: As above up to the very ends that have tiny tip rubs.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp to very sharp with hardly any wear and no feathering or trimming. Any burr traces of thickening tiny and light. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: A wonderful spine for the connoisseur collector. Solid, straight with no compression or ageing. The ends are deeply pinched in manufacture and retain that impressive and very fine shape with no rubbing at all. Both these sharp ends are totally straight and unbent or dinked. A mere hint of a tiny semi-crease on the bottom front tip, this being somewhat critical. All text is pristine and totally unworn and the white surface, clean and white. This style of spine adds extra class to a lovely cover but when knocked or worn, ruin it. No problems here.

Corners: All retain superb shape with just the odd tiny tip rub.

Cover Summary: A beautiful all-round example of this fragile 70’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find better. This hugely attractive item should please most-all collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): this came to me in a plain white unlined inner. Some copies included a lyric inner but these are proving more and more difficult to find and only seem to be with a chosen few. This basic inner has aged little and neat and hardly creased. All edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: a very fine visual copy that is very clean with fine shine, intense black and solidly pressed. There is a moderate scuff mark on side one which I am certain is a manufacture mark – but have NO FEARS, it has NO SOUND WHATSOEVER. A copy with very modest plays on all the evidence with any surface marks few, light and faint. Minus the scuff, it would have been graded nearer EX++. Visually still a super record that should please many collectors. Not for the visual perfectionist, but if sound if a priority, well you decide.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: I am a massive fan of this band, they could do no wrong for me up to the final masterpiece ‘Red’ and this is one of my absolute favourites, thus I will not offer any copy that fails to please these quite critical ears. This almost impossibly demanding record plays above it’s high visual grading, and most-all to the maximum with very little to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and immensely detailed sound. Any surface sounds are very gentle and infrequent, but as stated, this is near impossible to find without some light surface sound traces on the ultra quiet passages and the odd sporadic pop or click will happen on most all examples (at least). Remember, the vinyl record is a contact format, the odd inground grit trace within a ultra fine groove will sound but hopefully my VPI has removed any present. Generally, a very clean pressing and I enjoyed it immensely. Few copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled. Practically nothing affected my sound pleasure on this masterful prog classic. I simply cannot reitterate enough how difficult this rollercoaster ride is in sound dynamics and volume variation. The details engineered into these complex and unforgiving grooves is mind-blowing. I would think this will beat most around especially as this has been pro-cleaned on my VPI. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.