Fuck The Nineties!

Man, I am behind with the blog right now. In fact, I'm behind on everything - or so it seems. I need to sort stuff out.

Today's entry is the result of a trade I did over a week ago. Unlike most trades, this one didn't happen in the mail, but rather, in person... and in my flat. Not often that happens!

First up, the Burning Fight edition of the Blacklisted 'Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God' LP:

I'm not sure how many were made, but Dave Walling sold one on eBay recently and the listing stated that only 30 copies were sold at Burning Fight. I guess it's plausible only 30 were sold, but 500 were made and the remaining four hundred and seventy are currently sat in a box under his bed... haha! Anyway, this is actually the only version of this LP that I own. The cover is a cleverly chosen parody of an LP by a German punk band called Oxymoron. I guess they chose this because Burning Fight was a celebration of 90s hardcore. This is what the original cover looks like:

Next up, the pre-order version of the last Integrity 7". This one is on red vinyl and comes with the Dwid Hellion Voodoo Doll:

I now have 7 different versions of this record. Which makes me an idiot of the highest order.

Pelican 'Ephemeral' 12"

Not much to say about this one. The new Pelican 12" entitled 'Ephemeral'. This marks their departure from Hydrahead, and is their first release on Southern Lord.

Being on Southern Lord, I was wondering if they were going to take a darker turn with their sound. But no, not really. Nothing different here.

One thing I do find interesting though... the record itself looks & feels like non-US vinyl. However, the matrix on the record is hand etched just like US vinyl. So I'm intrigued as to where this was pressed. In the US, or outside the US? For the first time ever, I'm not sure!

A389 Gatefold LPs

Finally got my last order from A389 Records a few days ago. The whole point of ordering was to pick up the new Rot In Hell LP 'Hallways Of The Always'. It's not exactly an LP, but rather a compilation of the 7"s and some new cover songs tagged on the end that are exclusive to this record. There were two colours of vinyl, so I grabbed one of each. I don't even know what the rarest version is though. The A389 store says that splatter is the regular version, but they both look like splatter to me. Oh well.

As much as I like this band, I have to say that this record features one of the most pointless gatefold sleeves of all time. Inside is just a giant picture of the band. No lyrics or anything. The only cool thing about the gatefold is that each face has a process cross printed on top (although this is not exactly obvious):

I'm not going to talk about how good this band is anymore. If you haven't figured that out yet then I probably don't want to talk to you anyway.

When I placed the order, as usual I looked around the store to see if there was anything else that I could buy in order to make paying the postage more worthwhile. I managed to find two items. The first is a new LP by an old band called Day Of Mourning:

This band was some kind of pre Pulling Teeth band from about 1999, and features guest vocals from Dwid. And yep, this LP also comes in a gatefold sleeve:

I also picked up the Pulling Teeth 'Paranoid Delusions / Paradise Illusions' 12". This is the first press, pre-order version with the hologram cover:

I seriously think that this may be the best record cover that I have EVER seen. Not only is the hologram itself an original idea, and really well made, but the art itself is really nice, and quite clever. This must have cost a bit to make, and this was reflected in the price... although I don't mind paying extra when you get something as quality as this. I even decided to make a my first ever youtube video to show the hologram, since I don't think that photos do it justice:

I think the fact that this cover is so damn cool means I will overlook the fact that it comes in (you guessed it) a gatefold sleeve.

Break It Up Test 2

I'm gonna start this entry by asking a question:

Do you believe in destiny?

I was checking eBay UK one evening last week. I typed in some generic search term like "sxe" and the first item that came back was a Break It Up 7" test press. The time remaining on the auction was showing as less than one minute. So I clicked on the item, and the timer told me there were only 19 seconds left. I usually think for a couple of days about how much I want to bid on a record, but this time I had literally seconds to decide if I was going to bid and how much to throw down. About three seconds later I placed a bid, and a couple of seconds after that I ended up winning... for just over £10.

Lins87 tells me that this is the only test press that comes in the Crippled Youth sleeve. Which makes it one of a kind and therefore makes it cool. But what I found more interesting is what's written on the dust sleeve:

It says "Join The Fight - Notts 19/12/04". I recognised the date instantly. It was the day of a Dead & Gone Records show. Pretty much every band on the label at that time got together and played an end of year show in Nottingham (which just so happens to be the city in which I was born, not that this has anything to do with the story). As it happens, I was at that show. One thing I remember was that Break It Up were selling tickets for a raffle in order to raise money for someone who was sick. The prize was a Break It Up 7" test press. So because the date of the show was written on the dust sleeve, I figured that maybe this was the copy that was raffled off at that show. I asked the seller & he confirmed that it was & he was the winner.

So here's the thing... I was at that show and I bought a ticket, but I didn't win. Yet here we are, four and a half years later, and I've ended up with the record.

So what do you think?

Destiny?

L7 7" Green

I used to collect Sub Pop records years back, in the very early 90s. Sub Pop 7"s are what really got me started on the collecting trip. I sold them all but have bought most of the ones back that I ever really cared about. This is one I never owned before. The L7 'Shove / Packin' A Rod' 7" on green:

This used to sell for about £30 back in about 1992 when the band were at the peak of their popularity. I think I may have seen them live once when they supported Faith No More at Brixton Academy in '92. I have no memory of the show at all, but for some reason I think I have seen L7 play live and this seems to be the most likely place and time. (Edit - I just checked the internet & it seems I am correct - 25 November 1992 was the date). I was never really into this band, but this record is great.

American Nightmare 'X' LP

When I picked up the 2nd American Nightmare 7" on orange a couple of months back, it occurred to me that the AN record I wanted most wasn't even on my want list. In fact, I'd almost forgotten it existed. Or rather, I'd given up trying to get it because I knew that it would command much more than I considered it to be worth. But when I thought about it recently, I decided that I wanted it, and set about trying to find one. And here we are:

I remember when this record came out. I already owned the 7"s and was excited for the LP. I managed to get two different colour copies from Equal Vision at the time. And then, a few weeks later, I learnt of the existence of this special LP. I'm not entirely sure, but I think that this is the "friends press" of 100 copies, so-called because these things were made exclusively for the band and their friends (I think this was the first time that Equal Vision had pressed an exclusive colour for the band, but it certainly wasn't the last time).

When it came out I thought the purple 'X' was supposed to signify straight edge. No idea if that was the case or not. But if that WAS supposed to be the case, it would have been good if it actually looked like an X rather than some kind of roadkill.

Rot In Hell / The Process Split 7"

As far as I am concerned, the best band in the UK right now is ROT IN HELL. I've been listening to Integrity for many years now, and they are one of the few bands that I can never tire of. Rot In Hell do the same kinda sound, but reside over here. They've got some dudes in from bands you may or may not have heard of, and have managed to attract the attention of some US labels (A389 Records and Deathwish Inc), which is pretty good going. I'm stoked for them.

The latest record is a split 7" with THE PROCESS. It's called 'The Works Of Fate' and is a celebration of the Marquis De Sade. Does this mean they're all sadists? I'm not sure. But as expected, the packaging and artwork are nice, and really add to the Holy Terror experience.

The first 100 copies come with a mini zine dedicated to the Marquis De Sade, which contains lots of pictures that you probably wouldn't want your mum to see.

There's one RIH song on here, entitled "Dyonisian". It actually sounds more like Integrity than Integrity do these days. Although the fact that Dwid contributes vocals might help that a bit. This is good stuff though, and definitely one of their better songs. As time marches on, RIH keep getting better and better. I can't wait for the LP to drop.

The Process is another UK band, but one that I am not so familiar with. I saw them play once and was into it, but I just never got around to picking up any of their records. On the basis of the song on here, quite why I do not know. This band is awesome. A little bit slower than Rot In Hell, but every bit as evil. Vocals are sick. I'm sure that this sounds like some big American band that everyone would know, but I can't think of who. But anyone into heavy hardcore would be into this for sure.

Anyone who wants to order this 7" can get in touch with the label here:

http://www.myspace.com/feastoftentacles

Interestingly, the day I received this 7" in the mail, there must have been evil in the air. Even my eBay feedback was affected (it has since moved on, but I took this screen shot as a souvenir):

Right Idea 7"

I suspect that most people who read this also read other similar blogs, so I figure most of you may have read what Mike wrote a couple of days ago. Which means you've already seen the pics of this record and don't really want to have to read some other moron's pointless thoughts. So I guess I'm going to have to try and keep you interested by posting some slightly different photos and by having a completely different opinion. So here goes...

Here are my Right Idea 7"s. I bought three copies, of which black is the rarest version. It's hand-numbered out of 100, and comes with a little sticker:

I know that the band came up with the idea for the packaging for this, and the idea (which I think isn't exactly obvious) is that this is meant to look like a bootleg of the 12" that came out a few months ago on React! Records. So the cover is supposed to look like a dodgy photocopy of the original:

And the labels are supposed to look exactly like the original, but with the references to React! Records subtly removed:

Seems a couple of people aren't into the artwork on this. But I really like it. I mean, I don't think the idea of making it look like a bootleg really works, because it doesn't look like a bootleg. Most bootlegs either seem to copy the artwork EXACTLY (i.e. leave original record label references on there), or don't have any label details at all. So I don't think that I'd have realised this was meant to look like a boot if I hadn't been told. That said, however, I do like this for a different reason. To me, this is cool because it looks exactly like what it is... which is a 12" scaled down to a 7". So everything is the same except smaller. And obviously to fit the same number of songs on to a 7", the speed has changed from 45rpm to 33rpm. And I like how the changes on the labels are emphasised and made obvious. It would have been easier to make the same changes to the labels "professionally" (i.e. replace 45rpm with 33rpm in the same font and in the same place on the label). But just doing it by hand in a sloppy way kinda makes it more fun and intentionally emphasises the change. So yeah... having a different record label repress a 12" record as a 7" record a few months after it came out is a bit of a strange thing to do, but I like the way that the label have acknowledged this and have dealt with it in a fun way. The only thing I think they should have done differently was issue it on the exact same colours of vinyl as the 12" version. But that's only because I think it would have been cool to be able to photograph the three 12"s and three 7"s together. And then maybe some other label could have come along in a few months and taken it to the next level by repressing it as a 5" :o)

If you want to buy one of these mini 12"s, here's the link you need:

www.myspace.com/bottleduprecords

Right Brigade 7" Pink

Back in October last year I picked up a pink vinyl Right Brigade 7". I was, however, convinced that it was red rather than pink, so then decided to try to pick up a pink one to compare the two. (You can read that entry HERE).

So anyway, in January I did pick up a pink copy on eBay. And today, nearly 7 months later, it finally showed up:

I won't even go into the detail of the delays. But now that I finally have this record, I can place it next to the one I picked up back in October to do the comparison:

Judge for yourself. Is one pink and one red, or are they both different shades of pink?

Dude also threw in an Underdog 'Live From Asbury Lanes' 7". This is a funny one. Has all the look and feel of a bootleg - plain labels, no record label name anywhere, in fact, no information other than song titles. This contains 4 songs. Kind of cool to have... although I'm glad I didn't actually pay for it!

My War Red

I distinctly remember several years ago some dude posting somewhere that his most wanted record was "My War" on colour vinyl. I remember this, because I also recall thinking to myself "You're a fool - it doesn't exist". I think this was either a wants list on the old Revelation trade board, or some old thread probably on the Revelation message board. Wherever, it was a long time ago. Anyway, now it's me that looks like the fool, because it very much does exist.

This was the first Black Flag record I ever bought, inspired by Jordan Richter's part in the classic Blind Skateboards "Video Days". Stoked to now own this on colour.

I know this record also exists on blue vinyl. Apparently "In My Head" comes on pink too. And "Damaged" on clear purple. I think that's all I need now.

Fat Wreck Colour Represses

Even though it's 2009, there's a definite 1994 feeling in the air. A few records from that era seem to be getting the colour vinyl re-press treatment recently. My policy on such things is that I'm on interested if the original version didn't come on colour. Here are two fine examples. Firstly, the Good Riddance "For God And Country" LP, which has been pressed on a similar blue colour to the Wishingwell pressing of "Break Down The Walls":

The second is the Rancid "Radio Radio Radio" 7", pressed on white:

In 1995, me and my friend Rich took Lars Frederiksen shopping in Leeds. He wanted a Birmingham City football shirt, so we had to take him into sketchy sports shops. Pretty funny to see the reaction of the dudes on the counter. I mean, it's not every day that a 6'2" American with full on mohawk, tattoos and studded leather jacket finds his way into JJB Sports. He also dragged us into some whack CD & video retailer and bought a stack of VHS tapes (this was 1995 remember) to watch on the tour bus. The funny thing was that he paid with a gold card. Probably not many East Bay punks carrying one of those about...

Street Trash 12"

My newest record is the self-titled 12" by Street Trash:

This thing came out a few years ago. I don't even know when to be honest. 2005? Earlier? Later? I have no idea. I only picked up on this band because they had a 7" out on My War Records, which was one of those labels that I just trusted. The Street Trash 7" they put out was interesting in a "it's so shit it's good" kinda way. Like, these dudes don't really have any musical talent or ability, and the vocals are pretty terrible too... but they still crank out some fast, obnoxious tunes which almost sound like they could have been recorded in about 1982 or something. The record is a one-sided affair with some stupid crap screened on the b-side:

The only thing I don't like about this is that the screen-printed side seems to have given them an excuse not to make a cover, so it just comes in a crappy clear picture disc sleeve. Maybe they just ran out of money? Who knows?