Sunday 30 July 2017

Keep The Quarter

Last year Mike went through a phase of picking up records by forgotten 90s bands, one of which was Sparkmarker. As often happens, when I read posts by fellow bloggers it influences me to listen to the same stuff. So I spent a little time reacquainting myself with Sparkmarker, and of course ended up realising that there was a record of theirs that I was missing. The split 7" with The Mystery Machine on blue vinyl, to be exact. So when one eventually popped up for sale this year, I grabbed it.

This 7" comes on two colours of vinyl - clear and blue. The clear was the one that I picked up back when this came out. The blue I knew existed, but had never actually seen until I bought this.

I always had it in my head that there were 500 of each colour made. Not sure if I'm imagining this. But it felt that the blue was rarer based on the fact that when I decided that I wanted one recently, there were none for sale, versus several clear copies. But of course, now that I have one, there are two for sale on discogs. Typical.

Monday 24 July 2017

The Miracle Drug Demo

Being older, it's always nice to hear about other older dudes starting new bands. For one, it's cool to hear that could be cool new music from people whose music I have enjoyed in the past. But also, it's good to know that I'm not the only old dude still enjoying this shit at the age I'm at. So when I heard a song by The Miracle Drug a coupe of years ago, which was rad, and then heard that it was older dudes, I was interested.

Last year Trip Machine Laboratories released The Miracle Drug demo as a 7", and I jumped on the pre-order to ensure I got the most limited version, which was this clear orange vinyl copy, hand numbered out of 102 copies:

Of course, the label pressed other colours too, and offered all three as a bundle. I couldn't help myself. The white vinyl copy probably matches the artwork the best, and is out of 147 copies. Mine also has a bit of black streaking going on which makes it even more interesting.

And finally the 'clay' vinyl out of 252 copies.

So what is this like? Well, it's good. Can I describe what it sounds like? No, not really. But follow the link above to their bandcamp page and check it. The band features Matt Weider on guitar (who was in Mouthpiece, and also Automatic) and Thommy Browne (Enkindel, By The Grace oF God, and every other Louisvile band you can think of) and a couple of other guys whose names i am less familiar with. But with their debut LP about to drop courtesy of War Records, you still have time to catch up before you get left behind.

Monday 17 July 2017

Swapping Spit

One of the great thing about collecting Dead By 23 records is that there isn't much competition these days, especially for some of the releases. Case in point, this No Rights 7" that I scooped up on eBay for a few dollars.

This red sleeve version was made a few years ago for some festival. I think it was This Is Hardcore, probably in about 2011 or so. There were als six Down To Nothing 7"s made with a red sleeve too which were sold at the same event. I'm not 100% on this, but I'm guessing that these were some leftover copies that Robby made sleeves for and sold at the show. It's numbered on the back of the sleeve. This one is 13/18.

I think this is the 5th or 6th copy of this one that I have now. With hindsight I should probably have taken the collection out for a photo to make this post more interesting. Ah well.

Sunday 16 July 2017

Yellows

I'm still playing catch up on last year. One release that I just flat out missed was the Red Hare 'Lexicon Mist' 7" that Dischord put out. I don't really remember why I didn't order it at the time it came out. But soon enough the first press on clear vinyl sold out and that was that. But when the second press on gold came out at the start of the year, I was quick off the mark.

I always liked when the inside of a sleeve is printed with a picture. Reminds me of a Mudhoney 7".

Given I've only actually gotten this recently, I've also only just gotten around to listening to it. Unsurprisingly, it's great.

At the same time as ordering the Red Hare 7", Dischord also put out a third pressing of the S.O.A. demo 7" on yellow vinyl, so I was forced to grab that too.

Three pressings in and I'm already hoping that there will be a fourth. Time will tell I guess...

Saturday 15 July 2017

Counting Vices

I had pretty bad luck with the debut LP by World Be Free last year, with three copies getting lost in the post. But after some help from a friend, and the internet, I re-collected them. And now, finally, I have the second press copies that I was lacking. There were two versions from the second press - black (out of 200, but only 100 in the regular sleeve):

Aand 558 on clear vinyl:

That's now 6 copies of this record now. But I simply cannot muster the energy to get all of them out for a group photo. The light here sucks and I seem to have to take every photo at least 3 times over, so if I took 6 records out for a photo and then had to do it all over again, I'd probably end up throwing them out the window. So best save the hassle.

Tuesday 11 July 2017

Build & Destroy

So I'm not exactly down with Lockin' Out. I don't have the full catalogue of releases. But there are a lot of people who are really into whatever they put out and, as such, the limited colour vinyl pressings usually sell out damn quick. At some point last year everyone was suddenly talking about some band called Build & Destroy and I had no idea what the fuck was going on. It then turned out that this was a new band that featured dude from RZL DZL. When I found out I had to listen to it, and goddamn, I loved it immediately. I then had to track down colour copies of both 7"s, which I did, and then they got lost in the post. So a year later, I found them both again.

The first 7" is their 'Demo 2010'. These were pressed on clear purple vinyl, although mine is mainly clear with a little whisp of purple thrown in.

I'm sorely tempted to also try to pick up a purple one too. I bet there are quite a range of colour variants of this one out there, and it would be cool to have a couple of them.

The second 7", and first 'proper' release, is the 'Map Of The Heavens' 7". This one also comes on purple vinyl, but a dark, solid purple that looks almost black.

The biggest disappoinment of the last ten years for me was that RZL DZL fizzled out, so I really hope these guys keep at it long enough to crank out a full length. These songs are all great and I need more.

Sunday 9 July 2017

Abuse Of Power

As ever I am behind, in terms of both this blog and also the latest bands and releases. Just after Abuse Of Power released their second 7", I've finally got around to picking up and listening to their first. Even though this is the band's first vinyl release, technically it isn't their first record, but their demo, pressed on to vinyl by New Age Records.

There were two colours of vinyl, and like a fool I picked up both. 200 on 'pink lemonade' and 300 on clear orange. Both feature the iconic New Age logo that was first featured on the Walk Proud 7" labels waaaay back at the beginning of time which are usually reserved for the special pressings of their releases.

This is actually a pretty good record. It's proving a gym favourite at the moment, although my one complaint would be that it is a tad short. Just as I'm getting into it, it ends. You'd think then that I would have jumped at the chance to grab their second 7" that came out recently on Triple B, right? Not the speed I move, son. Gimme a few months at least.

Saturday 1 July 2017

Killed For Test

Five years ago there was a thread on the Revelation Collectors Board where fools were asked to post their top 10 Rev wants. Back then I listed the 'New York City Hardcore The Way It Is' green vinyl test press as my number one want. A year later I obtained it. Number two on my list was a Sense Field 'Killed For Less' test press. I placed it so high on the list because, back when it was released it totally took over my life. I played it every day for months and couldn't tire of it. Anyway, five years after putting it as my second most wanted Revelation item, I've managed to obtain one.

This came about completely out of the blue. Someone put a comment on instagram to say that they had one, I messaged them, they told me they would part with it, we worked out a deal, and within two weeks I had it. Pretty much a perfect sequence of events.

I probably say this all the time, but I never thought I would ever own this as only 4 copies exist. I know someone else that has one, and then I imagine that Kevin Finn probably has one too. So if anyone else wants one then there's only realistically one copy out there that may be obtainable. Good luck!

As for the rest of my Rev want list, the other 8 items are still there. They are all test presses, and I would be surprised if I ever get any of them. Given that I am averaging one every two and a half years, then maybe try checking back in 2020 to see the next...