Monday 24 June 2013

Prisoner Abuse II

At the end of 2012, I picked up a Prisoner Abuse LP on black vinyl. It seemed that everyone else got a clear copy except me, although it was my own fault because, for once, I was apprehensive about ordering a record without hearing it first. Anyway, I didn't get where I am by sitting on my ass, so I sought to resolve this issue as soon as I got chance, which finally happened recently. I am therefore stoked to finally have a clear vinyl copy of this raging LP. "Get in the hole!" (as golfing fans would say).

The only dilemma I can't resolve is whether I should keep my black copy or sell it. If I'd have got a clear copy first time around, I don't think I'd have felt the need to try to also pick up a black copy. But now I actually have a black copy, it's not easy to decide to let it go. Ugh. First world problems.

Sunday 23 June 2013

Greetings From Revelation

I had a bit of a disaster recently with a Revelation order. I was waiting for the red vinyl pressing of the Rival Mob LP and some other represses that came out at the same time, and the parcel never showed up. I had to wait about two months before it was certain it had gone missing so that I could try again. And by that time, there were more records available. So the second time around the order was twice the size.

First up I'm going to feature the only new release in the batch, which is the Down To Nothing 'Greetings From Richmond, Virginia' 7". This features three songs - two that will be on the upcoming LP, and one song which is exclusive to this 7". This one comes on three colours of vinyl - yellow (520), white (526) and black (550). All have silver labels, which in my opinion look great.

The rest of the batch was represses and reissues. I'm sure most people are getting tired of these now. Perhaps some people have decided that it's a step too far and have given up. Then of course there are people like Geoff and I who will just carry on buying until the end of time. I'm just going to feature these in alphabetical order.

First up is the latest Chain Of Strength 12" repress on blue. This is out of 552 copies. I like how they did it on blue to match the sticker on the shrinkwrap. Very clever.

Next is a grey vinyl (out of 330) pressing of the best In My Eyes LP. My copy has two different colour vinyl stickers, one for each dinged corner. Somehow this is the NINTH copy of this album I have acquired. I should probably have dug them all out for a photo, but it would have been way too much effort. Maybe some other time.

Back to the 7" format now with a red vinyl Inside Out 7". 550 made. Is it me, or does red seem like a weird choice for this one?

Next is one of Rev's weirder releases. The Rage Against The Machine 10" on white, out of 435 copies. I was never really sure why Rev put this out, and I am even more puzzled about who (other than idiots trying to maintain a complete Rev collection) cares about this in 2013.

Next is the Rival Mob LP on red vinyl. This is the third press on red, which is not to be confused with the second press on red. Given that I don't have a second press, I can't be entirely sure what the differences are. But I can see that this version comes in a regular LP sleeve, rather than one with a super wide spine that looks like it could hold about 5 LPs.

Next, one of the Record Store Day releases that I didn't buy even though it was in my hands, because Record Store Day is fucking bent. It's the Sense Field self titled 12" on red. There are 767 of these. Interestingly, the number of gold vinyl copies that was originally pressed when this was first released is a mystery. The Rev discography comes up blank on that one.

Next is another Record Store Day release, the Slipknot 7" on orange. With 1049 made, that's a lot to go around. This seems like the coolest and least offensive repress in a long time, which is I guess because this thing was only ever pressed once, back when it came out. It's time for a new generation of kids to discover just how bad this record really is.

And finally, I got sucked into buying a second copy of the Texas Is The Reason discography. This is, I believe, a third press on orange vinyl. It's supposed to be the same as the second press on orange vinyl, but seeing as I don't own one, I don't know if that's the case or not. The first press was on solid orange, the second (and third) are on clear orange, as you can see:

And of course, as always happens, the moment these arrived Rev dropped yet another colour repress - a gold vinyl copy of the Rage Against The Machine 10". Obviously I can't want to pick up another copy of that one!

Saturday 22 June 2013

Clear Clear

As I'm pretty out of touch, I seem to be late to the party with most new bands. I miss the early buzz most of the time, and when I catch on the records are sold out. Such was the case with Clear. I still know nothing about them other than they are a straight edge band fronted by ex Have Heart vocalist Pat Flynn. Anyhow, I found a clear vinyl (most limited version out of 100) copy on eBay uk recently, and won it for probably a lot cheaper than it would have cost to buy one from the States. So here it is - Clear on clear.

This 7" is pretty much the text book hardcore record. Six songs in about five minutes. No frills straight edge hardcore. It doesn't even bother with artwork for god's sake.

The same seller also had the second Stick Together 7" on (dirty) clear too. I missed ordering this 7" when it came out for some dumbass reason, even though I had the first 7" at the time and liked it. I decided to bid and got it for pretty cheap.

This second 7" is kinda different to the first. The band have slowed down a little, and sound less aggressive. The first couple of times I played this I thought it sounded dull. But then I started to get hooked on the title track, and now I'm really digging this. I also love the layouts on this 7". Ok, so it's hardly going to win any prizes for originality, but sometimes a generic straight edge 7" (or two!) is exactly what you need.

Friday 21 June 2013

Greyish Green

I haven't picked up any Black Flag records since December when I 'finished' collecting the colour vinyl LPs. But despite now having almost every colour LP variant out there, I have next to no 7"s. For the six years or so that I was collecting the LPs (and religiously searching eBay every week) I probably saw every colour 7" for sale, and I pretty much ignored the lot of them. For some reason that I can't even explain, I just wasn't interested. But now that there are no more LPs to collect, I've consciously decided to move on to the 7"s. Here's one I have just picked up - a seldom seen greyish green pressing of 'Louie Louie'.

For some reason it's really hard to photograph this colour. It looks greener in real life, but the camera just won't pick it up accurately. This final pic is the closest of the three.

In case anyone has any coloured Black Flag 7"s that they aren't overly attached to, here are the ones I'm 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) - White vinyl
Black Flag 'TV Party' (SST) - Yellow vinyl

Hopefully these 7"s will take less than the six years that it took to collect the LPs.

Thursday 20 June 2013

Screaming For Trades

After having not done a trade for ages, I've done two within a month! This one started months ago, back in January. Someone posted a pic of a Uniform Choice LP on the Rev Collectors Board asking for pressing info. Somehow I then ended up in a discussion to obtain it, which in the end I did, along with a couple of other bits.

When the Uniform Choice 'Screaming For Change' reissue came out in late 2011, on green vinyl, it wasn't long before a couple of pictures surfaced of a weird, different colour variant. Most were on clear green, but a couple of people seemed to end up with a solid, dirty yellowish brown type colour. Nobody really knew whether it was an intended colour, a mispress or transition, but it didn't really matter to me. I needed it either way. And now, finally, I have one.

It was only about three years ago that I didn't own a single copy of this LP other than a second press on black. Now, including the recent reissues, I somehow have six colour copies. Still need a grey copy and a first press black with poster though.

So I also picked up an orange vinyl copy of the Internal Affairs LP. I really rate this LP. I don't think it got the attention it deserved when it came out though. This copy is my fourth copy of this LP, and I think I have a complete collection of this one. I couldn't be bothered to get them out to take a photo though. Sorry kids!

So the above two records were what I traded for, but when I opened the package I found an extra item thrown in. I could tell there was something else from the weight of the package. It turned out to be the 'At Both Ends' zine final issue which comes with a double 7".

What's interesting is that one of the bands on the 7"s is Bane. Now, you may or may not know that I collect Bane records, and until this package turned up I didn't own a single copy of this thing. When it came out I wrote to the label asking if I could buy a test press, and the dude told me he would sell me one if I bought a copy of each vinyl colour... and there were seriously about 25 different colours. Needless to say no. Even I have my limits. So that kinda put me off even buying one copy, and I never got around to it. So I was very grateful to be sent this copy.

Hopefully I'll get involved in some more trades in future. Trading is fun!

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Sectarian Violence

Geography and hardcore can be funny things sometimes. Take this Sectarian Violence 'Upward Hostility' LP, for example. This came out recently on a UK label, Carry The Weight Records, yet it took an American to let me know about it. Mike posted about this one a couple of weeks ago, and his write up peaked my interest. He was rabbiting on about the lack of good hardcore releases this year, and how this record was filled the gap. I zipped on over to some internet place and listened to a song, and that was enough to realise I wanted in. I then went straight to the label's store and ordered a copy. Somehow, even though I wasn't quick to the party, there were still white vinyl copies (the most limited colour, out of 100) available. Thank you very much!

What's interesting about this release is that the band is truly international. Three members are from the UK, one from Sweden and one from the USofA. God only knows how they write songs. Clearly though they do as they already have a 7" and now an LP. I don't think I can add much to what I've already said. This is just fast & brutal hardcore. Sometimes that's exactly what you need.

Monday 17 June 2013

Hydrahead Tests

It seems a long time ago that Hydrahead used to release emo records. Well technically it was. It was about 15 years ago. But seems funny that some of the early releases came out on Hydrahead at all given the kind of records they've been putting out since the clock reset at 00. I however still have a fondness for some of those early releases back when I would order and not have a clue what any of the bands would sound like. I recently scooped up these tests from early in the label's history.

Anyone remember The Boxer Rebellion? No, probably not. Sometimes I think I must have been the only person that bought their album and 7" as it is still possible to pick it up from the label's online store to this day. Name another Hydrahead release that remains available for fifteen days, let alone fifteen years. Unbelievable. Anyhow, I liked the 7" and the LP when I got them. I don't think they've aged very well, but there was a time and place for stuff like this. Ah, the 90s! Even if these ain't the greatest Hydrahead releases, at least the tests were cheap.

The 7" test comes in pretty much the most 90s emo looking sleeve you could possibly imagine.

The sleeve itself is made from an old Vent 'Long Lost Human' 7" sleeve, which was the label's very first release. I guess they had a few spares laying around.

I also picked up the Boxer Rebellion LP 'The Romance Of Aeronautics'. It's not much to look at, coming in a plain dust sleeve.

Here's a photo of the test next to the regular sleeve:

Next up is a test of The Hollomen 7". This band was an early band for the owner of Hydrahead, Aaron Turner. I know people who love most of the Hydrahead catalogue and think this 7" is crap. I always liked it. I mean, it's different. This one comes in a plain white dust sleeve. It also has a small slip of paper to help make clear what record this is. I'm assuming that this came from the label rather than the seller I picked this up from.

Again, I took a couple of photos of the test with the regular cover as it makes for a more interesting photo.

And finally, a test of a split 10" between The Huguenots and Sevenpercentsolution. I don't know much about the latter band, but I do know that The Huguenots was some band that featured someone from Converge and the singer of Piebald. They played kinda spazzy chaotic metal stuff. Again, back in the day when this came out I found it interesting, although again I'm not sure it has really aged too well. It's easy to tell that this is from the late 90s. Anyhow, this test comes in a regular sleeve. I guess that makes up for it being a ten inch.

Test press count for the year so far is now 30.

Saturday 15 June 2013

Red City Streets

The older I get, the less excited I seem to get about new releases. New releases are announced and, if I'm bothered at all, I don't mind paying and waiting. I'm always busy and time does seem to pass quickly, so waiting for a few weeks isn't a problem. It's not like years ago when I was climbing the walls waiting for new records to arrive in anticipation. And even when I am super excited, these days it's not too tough to find the songs to listen to before the record arrives. Basically, what I'm saying is that there's very little that gets me excited anymore. This, however, is an exception. The Violent Reaction 'City Streets' LP.

The 7" proved really difficult to get hold of for me, so I was determined not to experience the same difficulty with the LP. Add in the fact that it was coming out on Painkiller Records, which has a tendency to sell out of stuff lightning fast, and the youth were getting restless. To make matters even worse, just before the pre-order went up, the label announced that there weren't many colour copies left, adding yet another dimension to the game.

Well, when the day came for the orders to go live I actually remembered for once, set my alarm, and managed to check out within minutes of the orders going up. After that tt was just a case of sitting back and waiting, hoping that I'd acted quick enough to get one of the colour copies. Well as you can see, yes, I did. No idea how many were made, but I consider myself lucky to have bagged one of these... although I'm sure that actually being organised for once helped.

What's interesting to me is that back at the start of the year everyone was saying "record of the year" when the Rival Mob LP dropped. And now this has come out I've already read a couple of comments people describing this as the very same. I'm not even making a call yet, but it's an interesting one to think about whilst blasting tunes and punching stuff.