Coalesce Motherlode II

Back in 2010 I purchased a lot of Coalesce records. I referred to this as 'Coalesce - the motherlode'. I was pretty stoked on that package back then, and figured it would never be beat. But here I am, five years later with a delivery may just have trumped it...

I was alerted to some dude selling his collection via an email from lordxhumungus. He'd posted a picture on instagram of a Coalesce record and attracted a comment from some dude who was looking to sell his Coalesce collection. So of course, I decided to get in on the action and asked for a list, on which I found a few items I didn't own. So I made some offers, which were accepted, and then eventually the records showed up at my house. The funny thing is that a couple of them I had never heard of before, let alone seen, yet I didn't even bother to ask for photos. Usually I ask for photos, especially of records I have never seen before, or from people I don't know. But this dude's list was so good that I just assumed he must be a serious collector who could only have obtained such items by being honest and reliable. Kind of naive I guess, but basically I just picked some stuff from a list and paid a dude, and it worked out pretty well in the end.

The first and most obvious choice was this test press of the '012 Revolution In Just Listening' LP. This came out on Hydrahead in the early 00s. I remember buying this on CD when it first came out as there was no vinyl for a while, and back then the internet had no music on it.

Interestingly, the 'cover' on this test shows the title of the record as 'Revolution IS just Listening'. The actual title of the record is 'Revolution IN Just Listening'. To me, the 'Is' version of the title makes more sense than the 'In' title, although it seems more likely that the test press got it wrong.

Next up I grabed this '012 Revolution In Just Listening' tour press. I already have one of these, in the same limited cover but on black vinyl. This copy, however, is onorange vinyl, which it turns out is ridiculously limited.

The tour LP is numbered out of 125 copies. This particular copy has 'XXX' instead of a number to indicate that it's something a little different...

The dust sleeve is stamped and numbered.

The answer to what is going on here is written on the poly sleeve. It's written by Hydrahead head honcho Aaron Turner to Sean Ingram, vocalist of Coalesce, and quite succinctly explains what the hell is going on here.

Next up I grabbed two versions of the first LP, 'Give Them Rope' which I didn't have. The first is one that I have wanted for a while. It's a black vinyl copy of the LP in a limited, hand made burlap cover. I got a pretty apt number:

This pressing was some left over press. It turns out that there were 300 copies of the LP with damaged covers, so Sean made these in order that he could sell them. The insert tells the story:

The next version is a bit fo a mystery. I bought it because it sounded intriguing, but I have never heard of it or seen another. This is another black vinyl copy of the Edison Recordings pressing of the LP, but this one comes in a plain black disco sleeve, and has a Coalesce slipmat packaged with it.

Given that the slipmat has a '75' on it, I am assuming there were 75 copies of this. But I have no idea whether this was a special edition made by the label or another way of selling leftover stock with damaged covers. Anyone know anything?

Next up, some 7"s. I'll start with another test press - the split 7" with The Get Up Kids, on Second Nature Records. The sleeve for this one is a photocopied piece of paper.

And finally, a few versions of the split 7" with Boy Sets Fire. I remember buying a couple of these from the label when it came out. But I never had the limited sleeve versions, of which there are a couple. The first is the pre-release version. It comes in a PVC sleeve with a numbered sticker on the front, and includes a piece of paper to explain why it exists.

The second limited sleeve was made for Krazy Fest in 1998. It looks much more like a sleeve than a sticker as per the previous version.

I can only assume that whoever owned this copy originally did actually bother to send off for the proper cover, as this one comes with one.

I'm pretty sure I used to own these next to half a lifetime ago, but sold... and now re-bought once again. This is the second press on purple.

And the third press on solid pinky orange. This brings to mind the Bold 7". Is it pink, orange or some kind of mix?

So that's that. My Coalesce collection is getting pretty good now. OK, so I don't have any of the reissues of their LPs on different labels, and I don't have any of those weird shaped records that No Idea made, but other than that I've got a pretty good pile. The only things I really need or want now are tests of the first LP, the 'Functioning On Impatience' 12" and the early 7"s. Just in case anyone feels like helping me out that is.

Take Effect... Again

Back in March this year I picked up a green vinyl Fuel 7". I already owned a clear one, which I'd had for many years, but an instagram pic made me want to pick up another. I then set off to find a red vinyl copy so that I could own a full set. And here it is:

Obviously, at times like this it is appropriate to get one's other copies out of their storage area to take a photo of all records together. This usually happens right before they are all put away in a box, never to be seen ever again.

Rocky Votolato Tests

I used to be a big big fan of Rocky Votolato. For those of you unaware, Rocky is a dude from Seattle who used to be in a band called Waxwing. He was also an 'actor' (in the loosest possible sense of the word) in the film 'The Edge Of Quarrel' (I've never actually seen this film, by the way). Anyway, after Waxwing disbanded, Rocky started writing and performing songs solo. And back at the turn of the century, I was WAY into this dude. I remember getting a text one day back in 2003 or so from a friend whilst I was studying in the library, telling me that Rocky was playing that night in Sheffield. I packed my shit into my bag and left the library immediately, and headed off to pick up my friend as suddenly driving to Sheffield was the only thing that mattered. And at that point in life I probably would have driven to the North Pole if I'd heard he was playing there too. Such was my love of what this dude was doing at that point in time.

Well, these days I'm less excited by this style of music. But when I got chance to buy a bunch of Rocky test pressings from Second Nature Records, I took it. I managed to get a test of almost all of the albums. Each comes in the same style 'sleeve', which is basically a folded piece of card. So here goes...

01. The first, self-titled LP. This was released in 1999, although back then it was CD only. The vinyl followed a few years later. I'm not sure when exactly, but I would guess at least 2005.

02. The second LP, 'Burning My Travels Clean'. This one came out in 2001.

03. The third LP, 'Suicide Medicine'. This one was originally released by a German label called Hometown Caravan in 2005, and was then re-pressed by Second Nature a few years later. This is a test of the Second Nature version.

04. The fifth LP, 'The Brag And Cuss', released by Second Nature in 2007 (as you may have realised, I didn't manage to get a test of the fourth LP).

05. The sixth LP, 'True Devotion'. This came out on Second Nature in 2010. I don't own a regular version of this LP.

06. The seventh LP, 'Television Of Saints'. I also don't own a regular version of this one either.

07. And finally, a test of a 7" called 'Ends Like This', which came out in 2007. I don't own a regular version of this one either.

The sad thing about all of these tests is the condition. They were sent to me in PVC sleeves, without the records being stored in paper dust sleeves. The records themselves had become stuck to the PVC sleeves, which meant that when I took the records out, they look completely fucked. The artwork on the card strip things had also stuck to the PVC, and some got torn or ripped as a result. It just goes to show how bad a choice PVC is for storing your records. Here's a picture of one of the records that shows what I mean. The weird patchy surface is just how it looks, it is not a trick of the light.

Awful isn't it? And each one of them is like this. Ugh.

Grapefruit

I've said it before, but I've always been a fan of Saves The Day, since their first LP came out back in the late 90s. Sure, they have changed their sound a bit over the years, but no matter whether the dude sings through his mouth or his nose, the songs have always been super catchy. So when I was in the Equal Vision store buying copies of the Bane LP, I noticed that there was a new(ish) Saves The Day LP for sale and figured I'd grab it. This is the band's 8th LP, and is self-titled... although also seems to get referred to as 'the grapefruit album'. Not sure why.

When I grabbed the LP there was some kind of deal to add a 7" as well. I don't remember what the deal was, but it seemed to make sense at the time. And I thought that the 7" and LP kinda looked cool together.

Having said that I have always been a fan of Saves The Day, I have really struggled with this new sound. The last records were a little more downbeat, but with this one they have developed a sickly sweet sound with the most ridiculously nasally vocals I have ever heard. I'm going to need convincing to buy another one after this, that's for sure.

Nothing But A Nightmare

Another day and another new Rev release... although technically this one isn't a new release. This Soul Search 'Nothing But A Nightmare' 7" was originally released by Back To Back Records in 2013. And for some reason, Rev decided to reissue it at the end of last year.

There were two colours of this one pressed, and both are differing shades of grey. How dull. We have a light grey, our of 550 copies:

And a dark grey, out of 1100 copies.

And here's the two together.

I'm actually really into this. I had never been interested in Soul Search previously, but obviously decided to check them out as a result of the Rev connection. And what do you know, it's good stuff. Of their three 7" releases, it seems to me that each one is better than the last. And given that this is the third, it's the best of the three.

Now, anyone out there got any Soul Search 7"s they wanna sell? These are the only two I have, but I'd be into trying to amass the rest if anyone is interested in letting theirs go. Email me.

UKHC Represses

When I picked up the Rival Mob 12" from Quality Control HQ, I looked around the store to find a few 7"s that I thought were worthy of my time and money.

First up was the Arms Race 7". I picked up a black vinyl UK pressing of this one back in January as the blue vinyl was sold out. But this was the repressed by the mighty Painkiller Records for fools in the States, and it comes in two different formats. The first 150 copies come on red vinyl, and in a matching red sleeve.

And the regular version is black vinyl, but in a green sleeve:

There were also a couple of Violent Reaction represses available, both on red vinyl. The first 7", out of 250 copies:

And also the 'Dead End EP', out of a significantly higher 400 copies:

I don't even feel like I have many Violent Reaction records, yet I saw someone's collection photo on instagram and I had most of 'em.

Off To Bed

Only a couple of months ago I posted up three more copies of Bane's 'Don't Wait Up' LP, and mentioned at the end that I had just seen a green one on instagram. So of course I had to buy it. When you're this deep into something, you just have to see it through to the end.

This marks 13 copies of this LP that I have invested in. Thirfuckingteen! Now I know what it must feel like to collect Converge or Have Heart LPs.