Paranoid Delusions

I was going to pre-order the new Pulling Teeth LP a few weeks ago when the pre-orders were announced. But as usual, the things I don't order right away are the things that sell out the fastest, and after about two days it was gone. Crap. Then once it had actually come out, I saw a post on the internet somewhere that Deathwish had an exclusive vinyl colour in their store. So I headed over there... to find that too had sold out. Double crap. However, a couple of weeks later I randomly checked the A389 Records store and found that, as if by magic, they magically had the special pre-order version (with hologram sleeve) back in stock. And then I checked Deathwish and somehow they had some of their exclusive colour back in stock too. So I hit the "order" button and sat back happy that I had been fortunate once more and wasn't going to have to play the eBay game that I so hate.

Anyway, the Deathwish exclusive colour version just came in. This is referred to as "blue multi splatter" and is limited to 150 copies, with regular gatefold sleeve:

The only thing I don't like about this is that the sleeve seems to be printed the wrong way. If I lay or stand it so that the spine is on the left and the gatefold sleeve opens the usual way, then this is what the cover looks like:

In other words, the cover art is printed sideways! I'm not entirely sure yet, but this might prove to be even more annoying than the Ressurection LP that has the spine on the wrong side...

The Uns (broken & dertow)

Unless you live under a rock (or unless you have stumbled across this blog accidentally & have no idea what hardcore or records even are) then you will know that Unbroken reunited to play a couple of shows recently. Indecision Records made a special triple LP for these shows. The triple LP includes everything that the band ever recorded, which has been released in the past as three LPs (one of which compiles all the 7"s on to a handy single LP). The triple LP packages all three LPs together and adds new artwork and a previously unreleased song. Since I didn't actually attend any of the shows, I count myself extremely lucky that I was able to get one of these things without paying eBay prices. I paid $30, and I have seen the eBay price fluctuate between $80 and $120. Visually, its an interesting record. The band are big fans of Morrissey & The Smiths, and there's a definite British 80s vibe to the visuals here. And, even though I don't generally like vinyl that has been pressed at that plant in Europe, this one just about scrapes in as acceptable. One record is grey, one creamy white, and one half of each. The whole thing seems to have been carefully thought out, which is cool in my book.

When I first unfolded the gatefold sleeve, I couldn't make out what the inside was supposed to be. It just looked like a load of dots. But then I got the camera out and took this photo, and then, as if by magic, I could see it!

Text inside one of the fold out sections from (debatably) their best song:

A cool record which I am very stoked to own. I especially like the super fat spine and how it stands out in my LP rack:

Now, by some strange coincidence, one of my other favourite bands from the early 90s with a name starting with the letters "U" and "N" also reformed for the same shows. And coincidentally, this band's entire recorded output got reissued on vinyl by the same record label, Indecision Records. Man, that's a lot of coincidences. This discography was previously released as a CD a few short years ago, so technically this release represents the label "catching up" and putting it out on vinyl, rather than a special project for the reunion. What's funny about this is that I took one of the LPs out of the sleeve and was disappointed it was black vinyl. I was hoping for some nice colour to coincide with the artwork. Then I took the second record out and found it was blue... and then it occurred to me that black & blue matches the cover perfectly. Cool. The layouts are good on this. Big photos that work in LP size, especially the inside of the gatefold sleeve. I'm also really stoked that the vinyl was pressed at a US plant rather than that crappy Euro one.

The vinyl colour choice is also cool because the limited version of the original pressing the Undertow LP on Excursion Records was blue. Here's the old & new side by side:

Here's to hoping that Indecision decide to catch up and put more of their discography CDs out on the gatefold multi LP format. Outspoken, Insted, Mean Season... they'd all look nice I am sure.

Oh yeah, and finally... Big thanks to Dave for these two. Appreciated, man.

Power Of The Lion

Iceburn. One of the weirdest bands ever to make it onto both Victory Records and Revelation Records. Fact - I would never have listened to them if they had been on any other label. But back then Victory & Revelation were labels you could trust, and I would buy anything & everything they put out. Iceburn were different, but they kinda rocked. The first LP, "Firon" was great. I listened to that a lot. The second LP, "Hephaestus", was also great. The third LP, "Poetry Of Fire" I also managed to get into, although it took more perseverance (by this time they were getting more jazz influenced and just a little too weird). The fourth LP was weirder still, as they changed name to "The Iceburn Collective" and morphed into some experimental band whose material was improvised, and less guitar focused. I wasn't into it. Then they had a final album, "The Power Of The Lion" which was self-released and on CD only, and which I never heard. I wasn't interested. This was 1998. And now, eleven years later, Southern Lord have put this out on vinyl. Being on Southern Lord, I figured that I must have missed a trick all those years ago, and the final album must have been dark and heavy. So I decided to pick it up. It's a double LP, and (as with all Southern Lord releases) the packaging is top notch:

This is the first time I have ever seen printing INSIDE the sleeve. Nice touch.

Brown vinyl is for mailorder only. I don't think I've seen this colour before. Looks nice:

Turns out the album is probably the most experimental thing they've done. I'm not into it. I guess I should have figured that out before spending my money. Oh well. At least it LOOKS nice.

Mind Eraser Conscious Unconscious

So I was saying a couple of days ago that I can't get enough Mind Eraser. Today I got some more. The latest album... "Conscious Unconscious". This came out a couple of months back, but the first pressing sold out in about five minutes and I didn't get one. So I just picked up the second press, of which there are 500 copies on white vinyl. First thing to say is that I love the cover art on this:

I was really unsure about this before I played it. The last Mind Eraser record was a 7" with ten songs on it, whereas this is a full length album but only has two songs. Backwards huh? So before I played it, I couldn't see how a band who rip through songs in about a minute and a half could come out with two songs that are about ten minutes each. However, after playing it a couple of times, I can safely report that it's an interesting listen. The songs are slower and more drawn out than previous efforts. I can tell it's going to take me a few more plays to "get it" properly. But I like that. I like records that aren't instant hits and command a little work and attention.

Also, I laughed when I saw the lyric sheet, because it's in the same font that I complained about in my post about the 7". I mean, come on, can anyone read this?

Let the Backlash begin...

Not the most exciting of posts this one, for either me or you. I picked up two Backlash 7"s on eBay. I bought them to replace mine, which both have dodgy condition covers. I haven't listened to this band in probably half a lifetime, but my memory tells me these records are nothing special. The first is "The Lost New Start Record", so-called because it was supposed to come out on New Start Records, but the label dicked the band about and never got around to putting it out, so the band put it out themselves.

The second 7" is the Backlash "Once Ago" 7". This one was jointly put out by no fewer than 4 record labels - 1124 Records, Chapter Records, Tease Records (who the hell?) and Conquer The World Records. This copy is on blue, although my previous copy is red.

I now have spares of both of these, although I can't imagine anyone will want them. Demand for these records probably isn't that high, seeing as the combined price of these two 7"s on eBay was £1.70 ($2.64). If anyone does want them, however, get in touch.

Fetch Me Some Painkillers

Just picked up a couple of recent re-pressings on Painkiller Records, both on clear vinyl. And even though they are clear, the vinyl is a kind of dirty clear (if you look at the 1st pic you will see what I mean) which is interesting.

First up is the Mind Eraser "Glacial Reign" LP. This is the third pressing of this album, out of 550 copies:

I'm loving Mind Eraser right now. I can't get enough. I hope they tour the UK. Can anyone confirm if this is happening?

The second record is the Iron Age "The Way Is Narrow" 7". I hadn't got this before, or heard it, but it kills. A really good HARDcore record. Clear is the second press of 520 copies:

People have been complaining about the price of the new Iron Age LP. I think it was $35 postpaid. I didn't get around to ordering it yet, but unfortunately it has sold out. So it seems like everyone who bitched about the price bought one anyway. Damn whingers.

Bad Religion Reissue 7"

This is probably old news now, but the first Bad Religion record was reissued recently to coincide with World Record Store Day, which is some kind of national celebration of independent record stores held once a year. Seems like a pretty stupid idea to me. I mean, if independent record stores need help to survive, then surely they need it more than once a year?

Anyway, I live in a part of the country without any independent record stores, so I couldn't buy the Bad Religion 7". So instead, I managed to pick it up using the future of record shopping - the internet. And being an idiot with more money than sense, I figured I would buy more than one, so I grabbed a red one and a white one:

It comes in a fold-out sleeve. Not sure if this is a complete replica of the original 7" because I have never seen one.

This 7" has caused me listen to Bad Religion again for the first time in a long time. I used to listen to this band constantly back in 92-93 era. Shame on me for forgetting how good they are.

Norman Bates & The Showerheads LP

There's a band on the "New York Hardcore: Where The Wild Things Are" compilation LP called NORMAN BATES AND THE SHOWERHEADS. I always liked the name, even though I knew nothing about the band. The band always kinda stood out to me on that LP for being the least known entity. I often wondered how they ended up on that LP, alongside such acts as Outburst, Sheer Terror, Killing Time, Breakdown... they just didn't seem to fit. But I liked them because of that. Because they were a bit different. And because their name was kinda humorous. It was a few years before I even knew that they had an album, but once I found out that they did I wanted to hear it.

I've seen this record a few times on eBay, but never really got serious about buying it. But recently I got serious and I got lucky at the same time. I was the only bidder on a sealed copy of this LP, and I got it for $10, which I consider to be a bargain price, especially seeing as it came out in 1989. Stoked.

I also picked up another item from my want list from the same seller. Another one that lots of people ordered but never seemed to receive - the first Cold World 7".

Two wants firmly crossed off the list. Good day.

Jawbreaker 'Unfun' LP

This record has been on my want list for at least 13 years at this point. Jawbreaker 'Unfun' LP on blue vinyl. I recently found one on eBay that I felt was listed poorly - there was only a photo of the sleeve and not the actual vinyl. I decided that this would be my best chance to pick it up for a good price. I paid a lot for it, but looking at popsike I got it way lower than it would usually go for, so its all good.

I now have a black vinyl first press going spare. I might eBay it to recover some of my money. Unless anyone wants to trade it or offer me some money outside of eBay. Get in touch if interested...

I Hate You

I used to hate Dead By 23 Records. As a record collector, I thought that DB23 was going completely over the top by making so many variations of each release. A few years ago I would buy one copy of each record and leave it there. But then I got the bug to own multiple copies and variations of everything. I think this bug coincided with an increase in my pay. Anyway, I have 8 different 7"s on this label, and I have 46 7"s in total. Insanity. But fun. I mainly picked them up because, a couple of years after the DB23 collecting bug died down, they prices dropped significantly. Still, there was one release I struggled to get hold of... until now. The I HATE YOU discography LP. It looks nice. It has a screen-printed, glow in the dark cover:

It also has this printed inside the sleeve:

I don't know too much about the history of this LP. All I know is that a lot of people who ordered it never received it. This is what the seller from whom I bought it wrote in the auction:

Here's the infamous I Hate You 12" put out on dead by 23, or should i say never really put out. For those who don't know, this was advertised on the revelation message board years ago. Only 138 were supposed to be pressed. DB23 head honcho and all around swell guy Mr Redcheecks took the cash by paypal (about $18 x 138 copies = $2400+!!! thats a spicy meatball!) and never sent a single person a record. Then years later he made this limited screened cover edition to sell at posi numbers in wilkes bare PA and didn't even send the fine chaps who ordered copies any. What a pair that guy has eh? Less than 100 were made for this show. Anyway here's a copy, near mint condition.

GB Toy Second Press

A few months ago I was lucky enough to acquire the Gorilla Biscuits toy made for the Japan & Australia tour 2008 (you can see it HERE if you so wish). I was stoked at being able to get one, although at the same time I was slightly annoyed with myself for spending so much money on it. I mean, even though my friend only charged me cost price, it still worked out being more than I was comfortable with. But since I had asked a fried to buy one for me, I didn't have the option to not pay.

So anyway, a couple of weeks ago the folks over at Super 7 brought out a second pressing of this thing, and once again I was suckered into buying one. In my opinion, this one looks better than the first. The colour scheme matches that of the second pressing of the 7". It's well thought out. And even though its useless, it looks cool and I like it:

I'm wondering if there's enough mileage in this to do a third press. It'd be interesting to see a dirty green gorilla with a red sweater... although not sure my wallet could take it to be honest!

Road Trip! Part III (Doubles)

Part 3 of the road trip entry concludes with the items I picked up that I already own. Things that I picked up for two reasons - either because the sleeves were in better condition than mine, or because I thought I could use them to trade with other people for things that I want. So, if you see anything on here that you want, get in touch & let's see if we can work out a deal. I may also consider cash offers, since I've spent WAY too much on records the last few weeks. Thanks!

Absolution 7" on red:

Apartment 213 7" on grey:

Botch 7" on blue:

Canon 7" on blue:

Some Chokehold records & a Conviction 7" (for someone specific that I owe)

Chorus 7" on purple:

Falling Forward / Metroschifter split on pinky red:

Grip 7" on gold:

Integrity / Kids of Widney High with Bloodbook zine:

First Lifetime 7" on New age:

New Day Rising double 7" (for someone specific):

No Use For A Name 1st 7" on purpley pink:

Outburst 7" on blue:

Release 7" on red:

Ressurection 2nd 7" on blue:

Roosevelt's Inaugural Parade 7" on red on Initial Records:

Rain On The Parade 7" on red:

Strain 7" on yellow:

Undertow / Struggle split 7":

Walk Proud 1st 7" on New Age:

Zero Tolerance 7" on Hi Impact Records:

'In These Black Days Volume 3' 7" (Coalesce / Today Is The Day split 7" of Black Sabbath covers) on beige:

Clutch 'Passive Restraints' 12" on Earache:

Face Value 'Coming Of Age' LP on 'cow hide':

Into Another 1st LP on purple:

Quicksand 'Slip' LP:

Strife first LP:

Undertow LP on blue: