Album: E – Ecco2k
Pressing: YR0096LP – YEAR0001, 180g with heavyweight paper jacket and silkscreened PVC lyric sleeve.
Color: Black
It took years of waiting for Ecco2k to drop his debut album E, so I was not about to miss the vinyl pressing when it dropped on the YEAR0001 website. The shipping cost was quite expensive since it probably shipped from Sweden but it was worth it nonetheless. I grabbed the first press which was limited to 3000 copies and its popularity hopefully indicates we’ll see more Drain Gang releases on vinyl in the future.
The packaging itself is fairly straightforward: a 180g black disc housed in a heavyweight paper jacket. This inner jacket is also placed in a silkscreened PVC lyric sleeve. It’s embossed with the Drain Gang logo and you can also read the lyrics on the front and back. It’s a cool concept but I will say, it’s pretty difficult to read the tiny words without squinting your eyes and the white background doesn’t help much. I’m also wary of PVC sleeves in general because of off-gassing so I put the record itself in another poly sleeve inside the paper jacket. The PVC sleeve looks really nice with the Drain aesthetics but better safe than sorry. Honestly, I’m a little iffy on the packaging in general because the paper jacket in PVC sleeve definitely feels more flimsy than the traditional jackets or gatefolds.
I love that the vinyl pressing of E contains so many bonuses because a lot of records (especially hip-hop ones) feel lazy and uninspired. Together with the record, there’s also an A2-sized poster from artist David Rappeneau featuring two representations of Ecco2k. The tiny details are impressive and Ecco2k fans will notice things like the Drain Baby ring, motorbike, wind turbines, and chained fences to represent the different eras of his career so far. There are also two holographic stickers featuring the E and Security! logos as well as a window sticker featuring the Bliss Fields logo. I wish more artists and record labels would put in more effort with the extras because E is one of the most impressive packages I’ve seen in recent memory.
The sound quality is fantastic and over the course of multiple playbacks, I’ve yet to hear any noticeable skips, surface noise, or distortion. There also isn’t any noticeable difference between headphones and speakers in terms of surface noise. The vinyl pressing of E also features a bonus song titled “Life After Life” which doesn’t appear on the regular tracklist. It was originally leaked by Mechatok on the release date and Ecco2k also hinted at it during a Tokyo show but it didn’t appear until the physical versions of E were announced. Overall, the vinyl pressing for E is great but it does lose a half-point for its outer packaging that makes the whole thing feel a little flimsy. However, the record quality and extras included definitely make it a must-have for any Ecco2k fan.
