Various – Lost In Translation (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)

2024 RSD "deluxe" edition, pressed in more limited quantities than this one, with an extra LP of previously unreleased tracks from the movie and very nice packaging, available over here for $40-$50 (as of 4/30/24):

https://www.discogs.sitioby.com/release/30466328-Various-Lost-In-Translation-Music-From-The-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack

To this day I still theorize like a sore loser (and as other s also questioned at the time) that there couldn't have possibly been 8000 copies made of this. Unless like 70% of them disappeared before getting to the RSD participating stores, then how were there only 1 to 2 copies in every location across the US? And yet releases during that same drop with less than half that amount of copies (3500 copies for the Breaking Bad soundtrack) had 10 or more copies at each location and is still cheap to find since scalpers didn't hold the monopoly?

The price for this variant has been around over 200 dollars since the day it came out. The RSD official pressing figures just don't make sense, it still baffles me lmao.

Soon to be reissue on Color LP. From a label insider.

It is my opinion that the sole reason this release is so hard to find, and at such a high price if you do, is because of the cover. Such is the price to have Scarlett Johansson's pantied posterior in a 12" X 12" photo. Grainy at that! I don't think the quality of the pressing has any relevance in the price. Maybe the violet colored pressing might weigh in a bit. My opinion. And I do own one purchased here on Discogs one week after RSD release. Let's face it, if this release had the CD cover of Bill Murray sitting on a bed with his robe on, there would be 150 copies for sale at $25.

I just don't understand it. Sourced from digital files, dodgy pressing.... the Emperor Norton/V2 Japanese CD from 2003 sounds MUCH much better. The point of owning it on vinyl is an improvement on the sound (and a jacket to roll ts on, of course...), but releases like this seem to defy that purpose. If it sounds inferior, like this one does, then really what's the point other than just to say "I own one".
Hoping that maybe MOV get their hands on the rights for this so that a true quality pressing will be made available.

Soon to be reissued on Color Vinyl. Hopefully Mid year

the price of this release shows that some people don't buy lps for the quality of the pressing. This release is crap, it is a digital source pressed on lp. At the same time, limited AAA records don't find their public even if they sound terrific, like portait of yann tiersen. he recorded the album only with analogue material ( that's why it is aaa ), so this is the kind of lp that cannot sound better, but the price for the yann tiersen album remains quite low, and at the same time, crappy releases like this one are sold more than 100 euros.... Seriously, don't spend 100 euros for this crap, the cd can ben found at 5 euros and sounds better.

paying more than 100 euros for this king of album is ridiculous. It will sureley be repressed and as a standard colored lp will be sold around 20 euros. During the rsd, i didn't buy it beacause it was sold around 30 euros, and 30 euros, it is too expensivefor this kind of low cost pressing.

As we near the one year mark since the Record Store Day reissue of this LP, I am very glad I purchased this record here on Discogs one week after it's official release date. I thought long and hard about spending €69 on it back then. I thought maybe it would eventually drop in price throughout the year. Boy am I glad I decided to just get it then. It rose to €100 by the third week and has stayed there to this day.

There are a few reasons why this sound track is valuable and/or beloved by many
- This soundtrack contains solo works by Kevin Shields, who is not extremely active, yes MBV had a run in 2007, 2013, and a tour last year, but MBV LP come out 2013 and while we have gotten a Loveless and Isn’t Anything reissue on vinyl, those had been in the works for years. With no real promise ever of getting anything from Shields (any Shields/MBV fan know to never expect anything in any timely manor), anything he does will get a lot of attention. Some would argue City Girl, while not touching anything on Loveless, is still more then just a one off, and another reason why even for 10 years plus only doing side gigs and remixes/recording, at any moment Kevin can write a great song that sounds like only he could write.
- I do believe (and someone please tell me if I’m wrong) this soundtrack is the first time legendary Japanese folk band Happy End had any music licensed in the US. Haruomi Hosono was in Happy End, who of course was in Yellow Magic Orchestra. YMO was extremely influential, as is Hosono's solo works, which are now seeing reissues outside of Japan. Due to Hosono’s connection to birthing City Pop (some would argue Happy End did as well as a few other artists), their inclusion in this soundtrack makes it more appealing, especially now.
- In general, this sound track is “acclaimed” critically, and to have some what of a major motion picture pull songs from Squarepusher, Jesus and Mary Chain, and of course, My Bloody Valentine, for at its time, and even today to an extent is something you rarely see
- But beyond everything else: people LOVE this movie. Some hate it, and I get that, some thing it’s overrated, and I get that too, but for many this is a movie people fall in love with. Be it the story, images, or even the music. A quick google search will show you how beloved this movie is. So those that do, tend to grab on to anything they can related to the movie, be it books, posters, or of course this soundtrack.
I love this film, so I have the OG soundtrack, along with this version as well (I had the bootleg picture disc but got rid of it long ago). While this pressing is far from perfect (that’s putting it lightly), there is good reason for better or worse why this pressing and any pressing of this soundtrack, including the even worse OG pressing, or color variant bootlegs, go for so much…many people have a personal connection to this movie and music. Those that do own any version won’t let it go. I only got rid of the picture disc because it was a bootleg, but I even still regret that. Of course, I’m with everyone – this should have been more widely available and just as much a better pressing where actual care went into it. I get the anger, trust me. I waited in line for it and was able to get a copy of the RSD release but it would have been heartbreaking if I wasn’t so lucky.Some flippers who know these reasons above gouged the price, thus flippers who just follow others did the same. It sucks, and I hope we see a wider release soon. But there are good reasons why this soundtrack is so wanted, does it justify the price? That’s for you to decide.