Issue No. 47 · November Selection

A record club for people who still flip the sleeve

Every month our editors and members pick an album worth your full attention — a deep listen, a vinyl quality report, and a community that argues about side B pressings at 2am.

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Active members
312
Albums reviewed
58
Vinyl pressings graded
4.9 / 5
Member satisfaction
Album of the Month

Our pick for November — and why it earned the sleeve

A monthly deep cut chosen by our editorial team and debated by the membership. This is the record we couldn't stop returning to, pressed beautifully and worth your evening.

Album of the Month · November

Plains, Idle and Proud

by Evening Hymns — released October 2024 on Western Vinyl

4.7 / 5 · 38 member reviews

A quiet, unhurried record that opens like a window onto cold prairie light. Mark Hueppelsheuser writes with the patience of someone who has lived with these songs for years — pedal steel, brushed snare, and a voice that sits just close enough to hear the breath. The 180g pressing from Western Vinyl is unusually quiet for a small-run release, and the gatefold sleeve includes hand-typed liner notes worth reading by lamplight.

Format180g 2×LP, gatefold
PressingWestern Vinyl, 500 copies
Runtime52 min · 11 tracks
Member-Curated Deep Listens

Records our members couldn't stop talking about

Every member can nominate an album, write a short reflection, and vote on the deep listen shortlist. Here are the three records the community rallied around this month.

Editor's Deep Listen

Concorde — modern hymnals from a vanishing room

Sasha Lee's third record folds chamber pop, soft electronics, and a disarming directness into eleven songs about small rooms. We argue it's the most emotionally precise record of the year, and our members posted nearly 200 listening notes on side A alone. Sit with headphones, a window cracked, no phone.

Read the deep listen
Curated byImani Whitfield Listening notes187 member posts
Member Pick #2

Saint Etienne — I've Been Trying to Tell You

Nominated by Devon R. · 64 votes

"Sounds like a Sunday in late September you can't quite place. I played it three nights in a row and it kept revealing new rooms."

Devon R. — Brooklyn, NY
Member Pick #3

Adrianne Lenker — songs (instrumentals)

Nominated by Yuki M. · 51 votes

"The instrumental version is the one I reach for. It taught me how to sit with silence between notes. The 4AD pressing is warm and woody."

Yuki M. — Kyoto, JP
What you get

A monthly record club built around listening, not consumption

Six ways the club shows up in your mailbox, your turntable, and your week — every single month, with no algorithm in the middle.

The Album of the Month letter

A 1,200-word editorial review from a working critic, plus three alternate cuts if the headliner isn't for you. Plain text, no banners.

Read a sample issue →

Vinyl quality reports

Every pressing we recommend gets a surface-noise grade, a sleeve-build note, and a copy-to-copy variance score from our listening panel.

Browse the pressings index →

Member listening notes

Real members post timestamped reactions after each spin. No likes, no follower counts — just the sound and the room it landed in.

Meet the community →

Side-B deep cuts

Twice a month we hand-pick a single overlooked track and write 600 words on why it matters. Perfect for the 22-minute commute.

Explore the Side-B archive →

Private member forum

A 4,200-member Discord-style discussion space moderated by our editors. Genre rooms, gear help, and a Tuesday "what did you spin" thread.

See how the forum works →

Members-only record pool

Need to hear the album before you buy? Our library has 1,800+ lossless rips of every AOTM, with a strict no-redistribution policy.

See membership tiers →
How a month works

From the editor's desk to your turntable in five steps

No paywalled algorithm, no SEO-stuffed roundups. A small editorial team, a member-driven shortlist, and a record that earns its 45 minutes.

01

Members nominate

Anyone can submit an album — old, new, obscure, obvious. In November we received 412 nominations from 1,900+ members.

02

Editors shortlist

Our editorial team meets (in person, with a record playing) and trims the longlist to five records, with a public reasoning post.

03

Members vote

One vote per member, weighted equally. The top two vote-getters join the editors' pick to form the month's final deep listen slate.

04

Vinyl quality audit

If the album has a notable pressing, our listening panel grades it across surface noise, channel balance, and sleeve build.

What members say

A record club for people who care about the gap between tracks

We don't run testimonials ads. These are real member reflections pulled (with permission) from the November member survey.

"I joined for the reviews and stayed for the forum. There's a Tuesday thread that has genuinely changed what I listen to. I bought my first turntable in eight years because of this club."
Maya Okafor Member since 2022 · Glasgow
"The vinyl quality reports are the only honest ones I've found. I trust them more than the audiophile forums, and I've stopped buying blind from Discogs because of the pressing grades."
Jonas Reinhardt Member since 2023 · Berlin
"It's the only music newsletter I actually open. I read the album of the month on the train and then spend the rest of the week arguing about it with my partner. Best $9 a month I spend."
Amelia Chen Member since 2021 · Toronto
Join The Album Club

Twelve months. Twelve records. One room of people who still care about side B.

$9/month or $84/year. Cancel anytime. Every cent goes to writers, the listening panel, and keeping the lights on at the forum — never to a recommendation algorithm.

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