Do Not Request Clear

If you know anything about Relapse Records, you'll know that they press 100 copies of every release on clear vinyl. These are for the bands and label only, and are not available to Joe Public. Their store always makes a point of clarifying this by stating the pressing info for the release which always includes '100 x clear' along with the statement 'Do not request clear'. See HERE for an example.

Anyway, just before Xmas last year, I was searching eBay and came across an auction for the new(ish) Ringworm LP, 'Snake Church', on clear vinyl. I added it to my watch list. I noticed that it was being sold by the label, so knew it would be a good condition, unplayed copy, which kinda made me want it more. To my surprise, I bid and won it for not too much money at all, and a decent amount less than people were trying to sell copies on discogs for sure.

Just like the last Ringworm LP, the cover looks awesome, and the clear vinyl compliments it perfectly. Definitely the best colour to own it on I'd say.

Well obviously I looked at the other items being sold by the label, and there were a lot of clear vinyl records. Maybe they were trying to recoup some cash and figured xmas would be the perfect time. And whilst I'm not the biggest fan of the label, it does have a few bits that I like, so I ended up watching a few auctions. Most of them went for lots of money and I didn't even enter a bid. But there was one recent release that was sitting at a pretty low price, so I had a cheeky bid and, surprisingly, ended up winning it.

This is the debut LP by Sumerlands. It's a metal record featuring DFJ from every hardcore band of the last 10 years. I actually listened to this band a couple of years ago on someone's recommendation and wasn't overly into it. But when I read Mike's blog a few months ago, I was going through a period where I was searching for something new and interesting to listen to, and his post made me want to give the band another go. So I downloaded the album and gave it a few listens, and started to get into it. And then saw the clear vinyl copy for sale. Basically, the planets aligned and everything fell percectly into place.