Gypsy Hardcore

There are some records that you have no intention of collecting, but you kind of end up doing so. I can feel that this LP is now falling into that category. I just picked up this copy of the Gypsy 'Giant's Despair' LP on white vinyl. There were 680 copies on white, which is the most common colour that was made. However, only 35 came with a 'This Is Hardcore' stamp on the dust sleeve. So that makes this record both the most common and rarest version of this LP at the same time.

I started out with a pink vinyl pre-order copy and then picked up a test press, and now with this I have 3 copies. It's kinda pushing me towards trying to grab the other two colours too, although I'm not sure if I want to. I guess time will tell...

Our Times

A friend was selling some records a while ago, so I picked up a few bits for a pretty reasonable price. Among the hoard was a couple of copies of this 7" by a band called Generations. I already had one copy of this which I bought for cheap a few years ago, and I was really into it. It came out in 2006, but to me looks (and sounds) like it could have come out in 1995. Very Mouthpiece-esque. I have no idea what the pressing info is for this, but I picked up a white vinyl copy and a test press.

Adding the green copy I already had, I've managed to make this nice square picture:

I never thought to check until about two seconds ago, but it appears there is another version that comes with a zine. Bum.

More Represses

No matter how many times I say I'mgoing to quit picking up Rev represses, there are some that I just can't say no to. More colours of the classiscs. Truth be told, I bought these some months ago but have only just received them.

Burn 'Last Great Sea' on solid orange. This one was probably due a repress to be fair as there were only 1,000 pressed in total back in the 2002. Solid orange seems like an odd choice of colour to me, although on the plus side, at least it's something different to the clear blue / clear green / clear yellow that Rev have repressed half their catalogue on over the last couple of years.

Not so sure that the Youth of Today 7" needed to be repressed again on a different colour, but here we go. And what was that I just said about everything being pressed on clear blue, yellow or green?

And finally, Judge 'Bringin' It Down' LP on red vinyl. This one was a pressing plant mistake. Last year they pressed 252 copies on gold vinyl, then changed colour and pressed 296 on red. Given the low numbers pressed on both of these, I quickly snapped both up.

Since this mistake happened, Rev stated that they would press more on both colors. So after the red, they went back and pressed another 420 copies on gold. I guess in theory once those sell out, they will do more on red to 'even things up'. The thing i have noticed though is that the red has pretty much no value in the market. The copies that have sold on discogs have sold for new release prices, and there's a copy sitting there right now for sale. Given how much coloured copies of this album have sold for in the past, this just tells me that the multiple repress colours thing has kinda killed it. People have pretty much stopped caring. Whether that's true or not, time will tell I guess...

Encapsulated

I used to LOVE the Metroschifter back in the mid 90s. Such a great band that were years ahead of their time. One thing that always appealed to me was how the band had some really interesting and original ideas to keep things fresh and original. Case in point - their third album, 'Encapsulated'. Here's a test press of it that I have just recieved:

As you can see, this was a double LP. However, what makes this one interesting is that that the band themselves didn't even play on this record at all. Instead, they wrote the songs and then sent out demo versions to other bands, and asked them to record their own versions. The songs that came back then became the album. So it's a Metroschifter LP which the band themselves don't play on at all. I guess that kind of makes it a compilation... although it was released as a Metroschifter LP, not a compilation of Metroschifter covers.

Here's a pic of the test next to the regular (gatefold) sleeve.

When I took the sleeve out, I found the following sticker inside that I had cut off of the shrink wrap when I bought this back at the turn of the century.

Sadly, I think that the Metroschifter have been forgotten in the sands of time. But you can see from the line up of this record that they were a pretty big deal back in their day, being able to convince some of the bigger bands of the era to participate in their project.

I think this is the third Metroschifter test that I own. It would be four if it weren't for some dick on eBay a few years ago.

A Story Of Life

We all love the feeling of picking up some big time records now and again. But it's also equally as satisfying to pick up records for super cheap. So when I saw someone selling a couple of copies of the Far Cry 'Story Of Life' 7" for super cheap, I jumped on it. It's not the best record ever made, but it's definitely an underrated little straight edge hardcore record with a rad cover.

The first copy I picked up was this pink vinyl copy in blue sleeve. The blue sleeve was the first press.

The second copy is this second pressing copy on yellow vinyl.

The pressing info for this one is confusing to say the least. The second press was apparently 251 copies on yellow vinyl, and 40 copies on 'swirled' vinyl. Previously I only owned one copy of this, which I have now placed next to the yellow vinyl in this photo:

As you can see, these two look different. But there's no way to tell whether the one on the right is one of the yellow or swirled copies. One thing is for sure though - this is a crazy record to try to collect. The first press was officially pink vinyl and yellow vinyl... but the 'pinks'range from pink to orange, and the yellows range from yellow to white. Then, the second press was officially yellow and swirled, but copies range from light yellow to dark yellow, and the swirls are (I think) various shades of grey. Not sure I want to pick up more, but I may do if I see them for cheap.

Label Blowout

As we all know by now, Record Store Day is an over hyped pile of crap. Stores filled with pointless, overpriced reissues. But now and again some labels do some cool stuff, and last year Six Feet Under Records put up a limited War Hungry LP in their webstore. This thing sounded cool as hell, so I ordered one immediately. And finally, nine months later, I have it. And damn, was it worth the wait.

Of the first press of this LP, 99 copies were on red vinyl and sent out as pre-orders. But there were an additional 52 red vinyl copies which were pressed with the labels exploded inside the vinyl, and which were held back. Despite the photo above looking like this comes on red vinyl with black splatter, the bits in the vinyl are actually the paper labels which have been 'exploded' inside the vinyl. Here's a close up which shows it much better:

And the fancy shit doesn't stop there. Of these 52 'label blowout' copies, 36 were clear red, whereas 13 also had white streaks. I was lucky enough to get one of the thirteen. As the photos above show, it looks clear red on one side, but like a completely different record when you flip it over:

And as if that wasn't enough, the cover is also special, having the band name laser etched across the front. Here's a pic showing it next to the regular version:

This is a great example of what people can achieve when they want to push the boat out. This really is something truly special. It's just a shame that more people can't own one because it looks even cooler in real life than it does in these pictures, if you can believe that is possible.

GB x Conne Island x RevHQ

I'm sure everyone knows the story on this one already. 350 gold GB 7"s pressed, 100 sold via Core Tex Records in Germany without too much of a big announcement, lots of people missed out, and then a few weeks later Rev put 150 copies up for sale, all of which sold in about 16 minutes. Being a Rev nerd, I wanted one of each and I managed it. I've already posted my Core Tex copy, so here's my Rev copy.

The only difference is that the Rev copies have a plain paper dust sleeve, and the numbers inside the sleeve are in the range 201-350.

Here are the two together:

I'm not overly convinced that I need one of each. If the Core Tex copies didn't have the stamped dust sleeve I'm sure one would have been enough. And whilst it feels kinda greedy to have two, I'm sure I'm not the only one who had to pick up both versions. Record collectors eh?

Hole

A few short years ago I decided to start collecting colour vinyl Black Flag 7"s. This was pretty much when I had completed (as far as possible) a collection of colour vinyl Black Flag LPs. I figured this 7" journey would take a while, which isn't a problem as I learnt to have patience years ago. So I sat back and started slowly scooping them up, one by one. Anyway, I thought I was getting pretty close to a complete colour 7" collection when I realised that there were two different red vinyl copies of 'Nervous Breakdown'. And finally I've managed to track down the one I was missing.

So what's the difference between this new one and the one I already had? Well, rather than explain, I thought we could play a game of 'spot the difference'. First up, the front (new record at the top):

And secondly, the back (again, new record at the top):

I had the exact same issue with two red vinyl copies of the 'Louie Louie' 7" - one with large hole, and one with small hole. You'll have to trust me on this, but it's an odd moment when you realise that you've crossed a line between collecting records and collecting different sized holes.

Slip It In California

So here's a record by a band that I know precisely nothing about. A tour version of a I12" by a band called Forced Forward:

I actually already own this 12" on pink vinyl in a regular sleeve. I got it from the label pretty much when it came out. It's a really good record, hence me picking up this limited tour version too. But I know zero about this band. Using my Columbo-like powers, I think I've managed to work out that they were from DC. This is because:

1. I found a pic of the record release version of this record, which shows that they played with LOJ, Cold World, War Hungry, Police & Thieves and Turn Into Ghosts. I know that LOJ and Police & Thieves were both from DC, and I kinda figure that Police & Thieves didn't get out of town much. So I would guess this show took place in DC.

2. The top right hand corner of this record says 'FFDC'.

This is the California 2007 tour version, numbered out of only 25 copies.

Notice that the dust sleeve refers to a blog that they did on tour. It's still up here ---> http://forcedforwardtour.blogspot.com

Interesting to think that on an average year I aim for 120 blog posts, but these dudes managed that in one month.

Anyway, if you have never heard this band I would seriously advise that you check it out. It's good, and you can buy a pink vinyl copy for super cheap on discogs.