Land Speed Record

I remember trying to get into Husker Du when I was about 17. They had a song on a skateboard video (the second song in Jason Lee's section of Blind's 'Video Days' to be precise) which I really liked, but I borrowed a CD off someone at school and was REALLY disappointed. In retrospect, I probably borrowed the wrong album. Recently I decided to try again and I've been getting into them. So I added them to my eBay searches and last week I won this grey vinyl copy of their 'Land Speed Record' LP. Gotta love the SST colour vinyl, especially if it still has the 'color vinyl' sticker still attached.

There were two copies on eBay at the same time. The copy that ended first I won for £5. The second copy finished at a little over £11. Timing, as they say, is everything.

17 Year Old Shoes

It was back in June 2011 that I picked up my first copy of this 7". Released by Southern Lord, the OFF! 'Compared To What b/w Rotten Apple' 7" came and went in a flash. Two or three pressings sold out almost before I even knew it existed. Then I saw someone post a picture on facebook of the tour press, and I wanted one. Badly. Seventeen months later and I finally got one.

The tour press is on blue vinyl and comes in an alternate sleeve featuring a Vans shoe. I happen to have a pair of the same shoes. This is the oldest pair of shoes I own. I bought them in 1995, and here we are at the end of 2012 and they're still going strong.

Close Your Eyes And See Death...

So after I picked up the Rorschach LP with Pushead sleeve a few weeks ago, I went on a bit of a Rorschach binge, listening to their music a lot for the first time in a while, and watching some videos on youtube. Then two other things happened. First, someone bought a record from me, leaving me some money in my paypal account. Then two, I spotted the Rorschach 'Live In Italy' LP for sale on eBay UK with not much time left. So I bid and won and used my paypal balance to settle up. Smooth.

I remember kinda wanting this when it came out, but I also remember that something put me off. I think that maybe it seemed pretty expensive at the time. And then at some point I saw pictures of the cover, and that kinda put me off wanting it at all, because it looked a bit shit... as you can see here:

That said, however, I had no idea how great the packaging is for this thing. If you look beyond the horrible front cover, the rest of it is really great. One thing I never realised before is that this record does not come in a regular sleeve. Instead, the sleeve is two pieces of flat card. On one side, they are glossy. On the flipside, each half of the cover is a matte black & white photo of one of the band members. Looks really good.

Then in the bottom left corner of the back cover, it's numbered out of 550 copies.

It's also numbered on the flip side of the front cover with the same stamp.

There are then three different inserts. Two of them are booklets - one full of photos, the other flyers.

The third insert is a piece of paper which is, I think, a reproduction of the '92 Euro tour poster. Actually, I have no idea on that, it's just a guess. But this piece of art was used as the cover for the original cassette version of this release which was put out by some Italian label circa 1993 and titled 'Close Your Eyes And See Death'. At the bottom of this poster someone added some text about their experiences in Europe on tour with the band in '92, and a story about the show that was recorded in Italy and which ultimately got pressed as this LP. It's quite an enjoyable little read. I took a photo so you could read it too, if you're remotely interested.

Overall, this is a really nice package. If you like things at the heavier end of the spectrum and you haven't heard this band before, please sort yourself out.

Supertouch Double Cross

Last year, for the second press of the Supertouch 'Lost My Way' 7", Reaper Records launched a couple of limited versions themed around their favourite blogs - Double Cross and Vinyl Noize. When they went up for sale you could only buy them as a part of a t-shirt bundle pack, where you got one 7" and one shirt. I went to the store to order both copies, but then changed my mind. I don't remember how much it was exactly, but I'm pretty sure that with shipping it was at least $70. I didn't want the shirts, so in the end I decided that I just didn't want to pay the money for two 7"s. So I left it... and then a couple of weeks later I saw Doug's blog and promptly kicked myself for not buying them, because the covers looked great. Anyway, I finally managed to grab one of them, the Double Cross version. I got it for a fairly reasonable price too.

I also managed to pick up another Fire & Ice 7" from the same dude. This is the 'Gods & Devils' 7" on horrible splatter vinyl with the United Blood 2010 sleeve.

I'm very slowly chipping away at the Fire & Ice 7"s. At the rate I'm going I think I'll probably have a complete collection by 2016.

Red TV Party

It feels like quite some time since I added to my colour vinyl Black Flag collection... especially if I exclude the represses from the last year or so. I've managed to pick up most of the LPs, but the 7"s is where I'm lacking, so to speak. Anyway, here's 'TV Party' on red:

I still need loads of the color vinyl Black Flag 7"s to get anywhere near a complete colour collection. So if by any chance anyone has any & is looking to get rid, then here's what I am looking for:

Black Flag 'Nervous Breakdown' (SST) - Red vinyl w/ large hole in blue sleeve
Black Flag 'Nervous Breakdown' (SST) - Yellow vinyl in red sleeve
Black Flag 'Six Pack' (SST) - Blue vinyl in red sleeve
Black Flag 'Six Pack' (SST) - Yellow vinyl in red sleeve
Black Flag 'Louie Louie' (SST) - Greeny Grey vinyl
Black Flag 'Louie Louie' (SST) - White vinyl
Black Flag 'TV Party' (SST) - Yellow vinyl

The White Thing That Still Holds True

So I've been getting a little tired of seeing Revelation reissue more of their catalogue each week. I haven't ordered any of them since the red and white Youth Of Today LPs. I must admit, I wasn't overly excited by buying more, so just left it longer and longer without placing an order. And then a couple of weeks ago, the weekly RevHQ email popped into my inbox and announced a new pressing of the Chain 12", this time on clear. So I went to the RevHQ store to find what I feared - no more white vinyl copies. I knew this would happen. I felt indifferent about these things until it they started to sell out, at which point I kicked myself for not picking them up when I had the chance. So the hunt was immediately on for a white vinyl Chain 12".

Fortunately, my mate Mark saved the day by finding a UK distro that had some in stock, which meant I didn't have to pay much postage.

After this one sold out I figured I'd pull the trigger and catch up on the rest. Hopefully I won't get hit for customs charges when they show up like the last time.

Youngblood Ketchup II

Part two of my Youngblood Records catch up order. This time I'm focussing on the 7"s. Not sure how to tackle these so I'll just go for alphabetical order...

First up a test press of the Coptic Times 7". This is, in my opinion, a really great and underrated 7".

Next is the recent Face Reality 7" on blue vinyl. I think blue must be the more limited colour as I haven't seen this one anywhere other than on Mike's blog. I wasn't so into this 7" at first, but after a couple of weeks this has become one of my gym hits. Love it.

Oh, and I also got a test press of the same Face Reality 7" too. It comes with a standard insert but no sleeve. Hopefully a sleeve will come in time.

I also got a gold vinyl Far From Breaking 7". Not sure why as I didn't ask for it and already have one. Anyone want this spare, get in touch.

This one's not so interesting to look at. A test press of the Give 'Flowerhead' 7". Again, no sleeve, but in time I am sure it will come.

And finally, a few more copies of the No Tolerance 'No Remorse, No Tolerance' 7". First up is the gold vinyl. I'm guessing that this is the most common colour as I have seen this one more frequently than the other colours.

Then there's the blue vinyl version. This was, I believe, a second pressing made for This Is Hardcore 2012.

This has a slightly different sleeve to the first press. The first press sleeves are black card with white lettering. This one has silver lettering. I tried to make it show up in the photos but am not sure it does.

This sleeve is also a folded sleeve rather than pocket sleeve. Not sure those are even the correct terms to be honest, but I'm sure you will know what I mean. Also, I tried to get a photo comparing the white and silver lettering.

And finally, a test press of the No Tolerance 7". Yup, I feel pretty lucky to have bagged one of these for sure.

I was feeling pretty lucky with this haul, and then I read Mike's blog and realised that somehow I managed to miss the red vinyl copy of the No Tolerance 7". Ugh. How irritating.

Youngblood Ketchup I

So last month I received an order from Youngblood Records that I had been waiting on for about eleven months. No sooner did it arrive than I sent Sean an email and had more stuff sent out. This is part one of that order... the 12"s.

Last order I received the release show edition of the Police & Thieves 'Fracturing' 12". No idea on the pressing info though. I guess I should try to find out. Anyhow, one copy is on green vinyl:

And the other copy is on white vinyl:

And a black vinyl copy with no sleeve. Otherwise known as a test press. I think the sleeves have now been made, but they weren't when this was shipped. Hopefully I can still get one at some point.

I also picked up this screen printed version of the Justice 'Escapades' LP.

I really like this LP and think it's actually their best release. Ok, so they were trying hard to be Supertouch at this point, but they actually pulled it off pretty well.

Part II (the 7"s) to follow...