Rorschach Pushead LP

I'm pretty stoked with this one. I must have been outbid on this at least five times, and I must have avoided bidding due to the price being too high at least ten times. But all good things come to those who wait, and finally I can add this sexy item to my collection. The record in question is the second Rorschach LP 'Protestant'. The album originally came out in 1993. I remember buying it back then although at the time I had never heard Rorschach. I just had this sixth sense telling me to buy the album. Somehow it sounded exactly like I was expecting. Weird.

Well, some time circa 2002 this LP was repressed by the label that originally released it (Gern Blandsten) on colour vinyl, and in a sleeve designed by Pushead. They are all hand numbered. I believe that there are 550 copies in total. I just picked up number 105. As you can see, this is one beautiful looking record.

The funny thing is that I had never noticed before, but there are two different colour sleeve variations. The one I have is yellow, pink and silver. The other colour that I have seen more in the past is red and orange. I grabbed a picture from popsike so you can see:

I'm happy enough as I think the copy I have looks nicer, although part of me now wants one of the other ones too... even though it's taken me several years to finally track this one down.

Never satisfied.

Converge / Napalm Death + 2 Oldies

I got an email recently from Miles in All Ages Records telling me they'd got a few records from a collection in to sell. He kindly sent me a list of some of the items and I was able to find a couple of bits that I wanted. Nothing too exciting though.

Hard Stance 'Face Reality' 7" on green. I have one of these on blue but decided recently it would be cool to try to get all the colours. Clear and red still required.

Next is one of the early Lookout! Records 7"s. The 'Bedtime For Isocracy' 7" by Isocracy.

This is one of the first pressing copies with the numbered sleeve. I've owned one of these for years but the sleeve on mine went all sticky and generally fucked a few years ago, so it's nice to finally replace it / upgrade to a better copy.

And whilst I was picking up these I figured I would add take the chance to pick up a newish release, the Converge / Napalm Death split 7". This record comes on at least 58 different colours. Mine is gold.

During the late 90s I always used to compare Converge to Coalese. Both bands were at the heavier end of the spectrum, and both bands had names starting with 'Co'. Oh yeah, and they did a split 7" together. So I guess it seems fitting that Converge have now done a split with Napalm Death fifteen years after Coalesce.

None Left Standing

Another day, another test press. Or three. This was yet another case of 'spot one thing I want then check seller's other items and and buy stuff I am less bothered about because ordering one record seems like a waste of postage money'. Often the case.

So first up is the item I wanted most. It's a test pressing of an LP called 'Stingray Candy 101' by a band called None Left Standing. I can tell you from memory that this came out in 1996, because I remember where I was living at the time. This was back at the peak of the 90s emo screamo type era, when HeartattaCk zine seemed to rule the world and dictate what people listened to. I seem to vaguely recall that HeartattaCk liked this band and record a lot... which to people who were around in the era is probably not a good advert for this band, as a lot of what they liked was, er, questionable to say the least. Maybe not at the time. But definitely with the gift of hindsight.

Anyway, this LP was released by Rhetoric Records. When it came out originally I mail ordered it and received a copy in a special handmade sleeve. I can't be arsed to take a photo of it, but it says 'Feed The Tree' across the front. On the back of the sleeve it says something like 'if you are the lucky recipient of the feed the tree cover then you have won a prize - call this number'. At the time I think I called and there was no answer. Sixteen years later I still don't have my prize. Fuckers. But at least I have this test press to console myself.

This test press does not come in a sleeve, but as usual I just pulled out my regular sleeve to make the photo a little more interesting. Just so you know, like.

Next up is a 7" test pressing of the first Metroschifter 7". If you are old enough and remember this band then good on you. If you don't know who they are then I can't be bothered to explain. But it's a band that I loved back when they were about. I already own one of these tests. I own number two, and this one here is number three of ten. It was cheap so I figured I would give it a good home. Fun fact - a year or so ago I used to own another copy. Possibly number 6. But I sent it to someone in the mail for free. Why? Just because I am a nice dude. It made his day and I'm glad I could cheer someone up just by mailing them a plastic disc. I guess karma delivered another one back to me.

And finally a test press of a 7" by a band called Olive. This was released by the same label that released the above Metroschifter 7", a small label out of Madison, Wisconsin called Foresight records. Back in the late 90s I was kind of pen pals with the dude who ran this label. I have tests of most things he put out. I can't even remember what this band sounds like to be honest, and I haven't had time to spin this to reacquaint myself, but I just figured that it was cheap and there were only three tests made, so might as well pick it up.

Suddenly it occurs to me that I only collect test pressings these days. I mean, that's not entirely true, but it does seem a long time since test pressings seemed rare or hard to get. I must have probably 150 of them by now or something stupid. They're hard to resist though if they're cheap. Hmmmmm.

The Most Record Release

Picked up another addition to the Revelation collection recently. This is the record release show version of the second Down To Nothing LP, 'The Most'. Seems kinda weird to me that this LP came out 5 years ago. I remember buying a copy of it in a store when it came out... and then tracking down other colour variants over the months that followed. But I struggle to believe this was 5 years. Wow.

Anyway, I wrote about one of these recently on Vinyl Noize. I said that the cover looks like a bad tattoo.

As is so often the case with record release versions, the 'sleeve' is just a wraparound piece of card.

It's also numbered out of 50. How bad does this look though? I mean, they created a huge '/50' but then numbered in hand writing which is about 20% the size. And in a different colour. Looks stupid.

I’m guessing that the band made the sleeves themselves, which is how come Rev doesn’t seem to know it exists, as it isn’t even listed on the Revelation discography. And even though it ain't the prettiest record, it's a nice one to have.

Terribly Sorry, Bob

Mega City Four are a band that my friends used to like when I was about 16, but I didn't. I got to know a few of their songs from hearing them at my friends houses, but I was never bothered. But then earlier this year I somehow got one of their songs in my head, and then ended up downloading half of their catalogue and (even more shockingly) enjoying it. I then found that two of the LPs came on colour vinyl. Months later and I have managed to track one of them down.

'Terribly Sorry Bob' isn't actually an LP, but a compilation of a few of their 7"s. There are some great songs on here. And trust me, they sound better on white vinyl.

I'm still looking for 'Tranzophobia' on blue vinyl, on the off chance that someone reading this can help.

fROM OHIO

I've posted about a couple of fIREHOSE records before on here over the years. Clearly not many people care. But today's entry is a great score because of the price. A real bargain in my opinion.

The record is the third LP from fIREHOSE, entitled 'fROMOHIO' (and no, don't think that my caps lock has malfunctioned, the band use reverse case letters for their name). Like the two albums before, this one is also on SST Records. This copy was, until two days ago, still sealed in the shrink wrap and also has the 'color vinyl' sticker still present. When I sliced open the shrink I found a mint red vinyl disc inside.

There's a eBay seller who has had one of these up for sale for ages now. It has a starting price of $49.99 and every few days it ends with no bids and dude relists it. I've often been tempted, but held back because I knew it wasn't really worth that much. Anyway, a couple of weeks back I was on eBay and found this sealed copy, which I watched and then eventually won for $13.03!

This is a great record and brings back memories of skateboarding with my friends circa 1990. This album contains the songs from both the Tom Knox and Natas sections of the Santa Cruz speed wheels video 'Speed Freaks'. Here are those sections now:

Tom Knox:

Natas:

True Blue

I got the idea a few months ago that I wanted an Underdog 7" on blue. Well, no, that's not entirely true. I wanted one for years. But a few months ago it stated to creep up my wants list. Having wanted one for years but never really expecting I would own one, recently I saw one somewhere and thought to myself 'I really badly want that' and I decided I wold invest some money into getting a copy. But as usual, when I decide I want something, it all but disappears from the face of the earth. Nobody was selling. I hadn't seen one on eBay for a long time, and there were none on discogs either. I checked regularly. But to no avail.

Recently, however, a friend of mine put his whole collection up for sale because he needed money. I scanned his collection list and the Underdog 7" on blue jumped out at me. I didn't even know he had one, given he is a fan of first pressings and this here blue vinyl copy is a second press. But hey, he had it, I wanted it, I had money, and a deal went down. It worked out great for everyone.

As dumb as it sounds, owning this now makes me want to pick up the Bridge Nine reissues on red, yellow & green vinyl so I can put all four colours together. Hopefully i can resist this urge though as I really need to be spending my money on a new kitchen.

Give & No Tolerance Tour 12"s

So I went to see Give & No Tolerance last weekend. I managed to miss Violent Reaction, which I was bummed about, but both Give & No Tolerance were great. I was expecting to be way more into Give before the show, but in the end it was No Tolerance that blew me away the most. It's bands like these that remind me exactly why I love this stuff.

I wasn't expecting there to be any records for sale, but each band had a 12" available compiling their previous 7" releases.

First, here's the Give 12". This is called 'Singles Going Confetti' and compiles their 7"s released to date onto one handy pizza size disc.

My copy comes with a nice little flyer for the 2012 tour, which is a nice souvenir.

If you want one of these for yourself, you can buy direct from Assault Records.

Next is the No Tolerance 12". This contains both the demo songs and the 'No Remorse, No Tolerance' 7" that Youngblood released but with re-recorded vocals, and there's also an extra song. There are only 100 of these on green, and this comes in what is the most glossy sleeve that I have ever seen. As I sit here now, I'm thinking that I should have bought ten of these things so I could flip them and retire. Unfortunately, I didn't. Ah well.

The green vinyl looks a bit boring, but when you hold it to the light it looks a bit more interesting.

It also comes with an interesting insert. I particularly like the 'forever and always' list.

This was released by Quality Control Records. I'm guessing that the green will have sold out on tour, but I don't know for sure. But I do have a friend who bought one of these & is looking to sell it. If you want it, get in touch with me & I will give you his details. I'm sure he'll give it up for a good offer. (EDIT - Now Sold! Sorry!)

Finally, I'm ending this post with a two minute video I shot of No Tolerance at the show I went to. I found them inspiring. Enjoy...

Soaked In Others Rejection

Picked this weird Citizens Arrest 7" up recently. It's a red vinyl copy of the recent-ish 'Soaked In Others Blood' 7". However, unlike the red vinyl copy that I bought when it came out, this one comes in a sleeve which is made up from two pieces of photocopied paper. Like someone just printed off the 7" cover art work in black & white onto super thin paper using a laser printer & cut it out.

The main attraction to this was what is written on the inside of the sleeve. Here's a picture:

So it seems that this is one of 11 rejected copies. Not sure why it was rejected exactly. My guess would be because, like the old H-Street skateboards, it has a hell concave. Or, if you turn it over, it has a hell convex. In other words, it doesn't lay flat. Not that it matters, of course. I mean, people don't actually play these things, right?

Long Lost Youngblood Order

In November 2011 I ordered some records from Youngblood Records. Last week they finally showed up. I'm sure most people would (or did) get way more frustrated than me about the delays. After nigh on 20 years experience of ordering records, one thing that I have learnt is patience. I generally pay and then just leave it, and then maybe a few weeks later I might remember and email the seller and ask if the thing has been sent. If they say no, I don't mind. I'd rather the thing have not been sent than have gone missing. I think I also have a pretty good radar for sketchy people. If I sense I am dealing with a sketcher, I'll probably email them within two weeks. But someone I know I can trust, I'm happy to leave it for months. And that's what happened here. I've been buying from Sean at Youngblood since the late 90s and I know I can trust him to send my records. Even if it is nearly 11 months after I paid.

Anyway, enough of my claptrap. Here's a quick whizz through the stuff I got in my package. I'm sure every other fucker has already blogged about these already so I won't ramble on about them in detail.

Face Reality 7" on red. No idea how many of these were made, but this seems to be the most common colour of this record. I should have had one of these many moons ago. Brian Murphy bought me one of the 75 numbered copies from This Is Hardcore in 2011, but he put it down somewhere and someone stole it. Bastards.

Next is the Give 'Flowerhead' 7" on gold vinyl. I saw this band just over a week ago. They were awesome live. I'll do another post on that at some point later in the week. But this colour looks great in my opinion. Goes well with the artwork.

And the same 7" with a tour sleeve. This is one of their three 7"s that were released around the same time on different record labels a few months ago. All three had a special sleeve made up showing one of three 'part time' members of the band. This one features Dean someone or other.

Next is the No Tolerance 'No Remorse, No Tolerance' 7". This version has blank red labels and is on black vinyl. This is some kind of 'pre-press' and is the most limited version, out of 100. I'm definitely lucky to have this one.

Now a couple of 12"s. The first is the Police & Thieves 'Fracturing' 12" with the record release sleeve. I have to say, I have been listening to this a lot. It's my current every day choice of the moment, and way better than their previous 7"s too in my opinion. My only issue is that there aren't enough songs on here.

And finally, another pressing of the Sacred Love 'Dividing Lines' 12". This comes in a silk screened sleeve which is numbered out of 100 copies. I think I now have a complete set of this release. Somehow this is my fifth version of this one.

Even though this one took eleven months to arrive, I'm hoping & expecting to have another package from Youngblood show up anytime soon. Exciting times.