Never Give In!

Recently it has seemed like there have been a lot of opportunities to pick things up that I have been after for a long time. For the most part, this is cool, although there is a downside - which is that, unfortunately, these things aren't free. Every time I find some cool records, even if they are going at a reasonable price, I still have to pay for them. And whilst I love records, I hate spending money. So when Dave Byrd posted up his whole trade list for sale recently, I saw a great opportunity to pick up some things that have been on my want list for way too long... although I did worry that I was probably going to miss my monthly savings target. Oh well... there's always next month!

Avail are a band that I always liked, but whose records I never bought (well, that's not strictly true, I used to have their 7"s and the live 10", but I traded them away in the years of the Revelation trade board and I never got around to getting them back). Recently, as part of my "get everything I have on vinyl onto my ipod" challenge, I downloaded the first Avail LP and have been listening to it a lot for the first time in a LONG time. And it made me want to get the other records too. So I was took the opportunity to pick up most of their output in one go:

Next, another goddamn copy of that Blacklisted record. I think that clear vinyl is my favourite colour though, all things considered.

This next one is my favourite of the lot. American Nightmare 'The Sun Isn't Getting Any Brighter' 7" on orange:

There were only 100 of these made, back in (I think) 2001, and it has been on my want list ever since. I have missed out on this on eBay several times, mainly due to the price continually going up and me never quite being prepared to pay what it would take. I figured it was time to put that right.

Next, the A-Team 'Clusterfuck' 7" on orange. Not a lot to say about this one.

Crippled Youth 7" on clear. Again, it's been on the wants list for a long time. Too long.Four Walls Falling 7" on mint green. I have it on clear green. I didn't know the mint green existed until I saw it in a friend's collection in 2005. It's been on the want list since. No more.

My Luck 'Is Frozen' 7" on purple. I ordered this record when it came out & got sent orange. Purple is the rarest colour, which I have had on my want list for years.

Time Flies first 7" on clear. This is the first press on InVAsion Records. Again, this has been on my want list forever. Probably for about 9 or 10 years. Another one that I have missed several times on eBay.

I really like this next one. Wheelbite 7" on Malfunction Records. This is a limited version with the 'Wheeljungen' cover:

The back cover says that there are 46 copies. And it's numbered in the top right cover. Interestingly, the number is stamped using a stamp with 6 digits. My guess is that they set the first three digits to 666 and then numbered from 1 to 46 using the last two digits. If this assumption is correct then it looks like I have number 001. Can anyone confirm this?

I've seen this on eBay before, but never knew that the cover is printed on the flip side of a Barfight 7" sleeve:

There's also a cool insert explaining the cover:

Finally, Dave was kind enough to throw in something extra, which was a nice surprise. The Set To Explode 7", on red vinyl with silver labels. There were only 50 with silver labels (the rest of the press had red labels).

There was also a cool personal message on the dust sleeve:

And inside were some lyrics penned on a piece of note paper. I asked what this was, and it turns out to be the sheet that Dave used to sing from when the 7" was recorded, so a nice little piece of history related to this record.

Overall I'm stoked with this stuff, and glad to reduce my wants list for a change. Not often that happens these days.