The lost New Age records

Sometime in February this year I ordered some records from New Age Records. Until that point, I hadn't realised that the label was still going really. I just figured that it had fizzled out about ten years ago. But no, it's still going, and still releasing new bands... although I haven't heard of any of them and am not really interested in any of them because, clearly, none of them are going to be anywhere near the quality of the bands that the label released in the mid 90s.

Back in the mid 90s I ordered from New Age a few times, and (unlike most people) always got my stuff in good time. Really good time in fact. Like, about three weeks to a month, from the point I sent off the cash in an envelope. But I guess my luck had to run out sometime... even if it was about fifteen years later.

So like I said, I ordered in early February and the package finally rolled up at the end of May. So even though payment technology has improved to the point where cash is received in seconds, it seems that order processing technology at New Age Records hasn't improved at all over the last decade and a half. Oh well. At least it was only me that was surprised.

Well anyway, the whole point of the order was a repress of the Outspoken 'Survival' 7". This was one of the first straight edge hardcore 7"s that I bought back before most of you were even born. And since it never came on colour vinyl previously, a 2010 repress got me excited. Even better, this one was packaged in an alternate sleeve:

This also has the 'Walk Proud labels' (NOTE - this label was originally used on the b-side of the 2nd pressing of the Walk Proud 7", which was the first release from New Age. This label was subsequently used on the super rare pressing (77 made) of the Unbroken final 7", which you probably haven't seen).

And just like the Unbroken 7", there are only 77 copies of this thing:

Cool record, cool pressing. But you know me, no point in paying for one record since the shipping is high. Might as well add some more stuff to the basket to make it seem worthwhile (even though adding more stuff to the basket just adds more to the shipping costs!). So I also picked up a new version of the Mean Season 7". This one, however, is not a new pressing. This is clearly just a new (cheap & crap) photocopied sleeve whacked on to some leftover 7"s from way back when.

This is numbered out of 47, which seems like a weird number. I'm guessing the reason is that they found 47 records laying around that needed to be shifted.

I now have three versions of the Mean Season 7". I would rank this one as the third coolest. Ha!

Finally, to make the order even more worthwhile, I picked up two new versions of the first Amendment Eighteen LP, 'All My Heroes Are Dead':

I'm not going to pretend that this is my favourite New Age release. It's way down the list. But I picked these up because I am an idiot and that's just what I do.

The first copy is a new pressing. This is on glow in the dark vinyl, has black labels, and comes in a regular sleeve. There were 55 of these.

I'd love to include a picture of this glowing in the dark, but alas that is impossible, since it doesn't generate enough glow for the camera to pick it up in a dark room. You'll just have to take my word for it. It glows in the dark.

The second version is described as the ten year anniversary edition. This is limited to 48 copies. It contains a green vinyl record leftover from the first pressing, put into a 'special' (aka cheap, crap) sleeve:

Mine also came with a limited bent to fuck sleeve, due to completely inadequate packaging. Normally I would raise this as an issue with the seller, but in this case I don't see the point, seeing as just getting the records at all seemed like a major achievement after 4 months of waiting.

The worst thing about this episode is that the label has now put up yet another different version of the Outspoken 7" in their store, which I want. So in theory I have to place another order and endure another long-ass wait spent wondering how bent up the sleeves might be and, in fact, whether the stuff will come at all. Brilliant!

A clear night for a Knife Fight

I remember ordering the first Knife Fight 7" direct from My War records back when it came out. I also remember how disappointed I was that there was no colour vinyl. The label is long since dead and the website & discography are gone, but I am sure that the only limited version was one with a printed inner sleeve. If my memory serves me correctly, I think the first 50 or so had a picture printed on the reverse side of the sleeve. I didn't get one though, despite pre-ordering it right away. Typical.

Anyway, a couple of years ago, I was surfing eBay and came across a clear vinyl copy. I was puzzled. I mean, this was way after after the label had folded, so it didn't seem possible that it could be a newish repress. So I assumed that either it was a 'friends' press type deal from the original first press from 2003, or a very limited repress from maybe a year after the record came out. But I had no idea & am just speculating. I didn't win the one a couple of years ago, but I did finally track one down a couple of weeks ago:

The sleeve of this one also features a nice touch which makes it different to my black vinyl copy. The teeth on the animal (which I now think is a dog, although until about two weeks ago I was under the impression that it was a bear) are coloured in red:

I regard this 7" as pretty much flawless. A great hardcore 7". Ten songs in about seven minutes, and they all rip. I missed the chance to see them play in the UK in about 2004 because my brother was staying with me for the weekend, he doesn't like hardcore, and I thought it unfair to make him go to the 1in12 Club in Bradford and watch bands he would hate for a few hours. Despite saying that though, I now wish I had made him go. Balls.

Well anyway, when I searched for 'Knife Fight' on eBay in search of this 7" that I subsequently won, I also found someone selling a copy of the LP on clear. At least, I think it's an LP, although it may technically be an EP. I don't know. I'm also not sure it really matters. But I never owned this before and I don't know anything about it. I did see one of these on eBay once but it sold for about $40, so I was pretty happy to win this one for only $12.50.

I never heard this before, but so far I am a bit disappointed by it. It sounds like a different band to the first 7", but not in a good way. I can only hope that this one will grow on me in time, because I really want to like it. I also really want the mp3's, as I'd like to listen to it as I ride my bike to work. If someone could help me out there, it would be appreciated.

Oh yeah... and if anyone knows anything about the pressing info on either of these things, please let me know. I'm curious.

Sinking Ships 7"... again

When I ordered the Sick Of It All 7" from Revelation a few weeks back, I looked around to see what else I could get thrown in to the parcel. It just didn't seem right placing an order with Rev for one 7". I decided to pick up the latest piece of Rev colour wax that my collection was missing... the Sinking Ships 'Ten' 7" on yellow. This is the third pressing out of 328 copies:

A day or two before this showed up, another copy of the same record has also landed on my doormat that I had procured via eBay for a very cheap buy it now price:

The black vinyl is actually the rarest colour of this 7", and is limited to a Chung King-esque 110 copies. My copy has no insert, which has seriously annoyed me. Well, maybe not seriously. More like slightly.

Somehow I now own six copies of this thing. SIX! Sometimes I wonder just how many versions of a record Revelation could put out before I would stop. (Note - if anyone from Revelation is reading, please do not decide to test this)

Let Down 7" = Annoying

When Six Feet Under Records put a whole host of stuff up on eBay recently, I ended up watching about thirty things. But in the end, most were going for more than I wanted to pay, so I ended up bidding on (and winning) only one item... a variant of the Let Down 7" on Dead By 23 Records that I didn't previously have. According to the auction, this is "one of 50 gold ink screened covers sent out to preorder customers":

As you can see, the 7" itself comes in a black envelope with the Dead By 23 logo printed on in gold ink. It looks nice. Also, for those of you who haven't seen this 7" before, the cover unfolds into a cool picture, as shown here:

As much as I like collecting records, and cool packaging, this one annoys me. Why? Because the record is sealed in the envelope!

I have no intention of opening this. It's stuck down firmly and the only way to open the envelope would be to tear it, which would clearly ruin it, and which clearly wouldn't be right. But at the same time, not being able to play a record is also clearly not right. How goddamn annoying!

Iron Age LP Test

I was tidying up the other day and realised that I had completely forgotten about something I picked up a few weeks ago. But you know what they say - better late than never.

This is a test press of the Iron Age 'The Sleeping Eye' LP. This is a test press of the UK version, released by Full Tilt World records, numbered out of ten:

As you can see, there's no sleeve for this one - it just comes in the paper dust sleeve. However, I picked this up when I picked up a batch of the clear vinyl ones, and one of those clear ones was wrecked - the package had been dropped (not by me) and one of them had been scuffed on the floor, as you can see here:

It's a shame, but this can't be salvaged. I'm going to have to bin it. But in a way it helped, because it left me with a spare sleeve, which I decided to use to house the test:

Ok, so it may not be technically correct to keep the test in a sleeve that it didn't come in, but I'd rather put it in something.

At the same time, I also picked up two copies of the UK pressing on black vinyl:

This one features slightly different artwork to the US pressings. The back of the sleeve is different, being more zoomed in on the rocks and showing less sky. It also features song titles, which the other versions do not:

Here's the back of the original US pressing as a comparison so you can see what I am talking about:

The first fifty UK black copies also came with the poster, but one that is printed on thin, glossy paper. These posters are numbered out of 50. I think these were for pre-orders.

I have a spare black vinyl copy if anyone wants it. I also still have one spare of the clear vinyl too numbered out of 100 (see HERE). Get in touch if interested.

Test Press Stress

I've had these two records for a few weeks now. I figure I should get round to posting them, even though I don't have too much to say.

First up, a test press of Quarterstick Records number 1:

For those who don't instantly know record label catalog numbers, this is a test of the Pegboy 'Three Chord Monte' 12" EP. Here it is shown with the regular version:

The dude who I got this from has been selling loads of these one after the other. They mainly sold for somewhere in the region of $50-80. However, this one I won for $20. I guess there were only about 8 people in the world who wanted this, and the other 7 all wanted it much more than I did, but once they all managed to get one there was only me left to grab this one. Worked out well.

Next, a test press of Quarterstick Records number 7:

This is a test of what is (in my opinion) the best Pegboy record, the 'Strong Reaction' LP. Here it is with the regular version:

Now, some nerdery. Notice how the two tests have completely different labels. One has blank labels, the other has Rainbo Records labels:

Well, this pissed me off. Firstly, the 'Strong Reaction' test was obviously pressed in the States, since it has the Rainbo Records labels. However, my regular version of this LP has a completely different matrix to the test. So my conclusion is that my regular version of the record is some crappy euro pressing. This theory is reaffirmed by the fact that it has a London address and the words 'Made In France' written on the back of the sleeve:

Thus, problem number one is that I want a US pressing of this LP now, so that I have a test press and regular pressing that match. I don't want this stupid french bootleg crap. Can anyone in the States tell me whether the back of the sleeve of their record even has the London address at all?

Next up, the 'Three Chord Monte' test is a perfect match for the regular pressing of the record that I have. The matrix matches and everything. However, my regular record also has a UK address on the back. So this kinda suggests that I have a test of the euro pressing rather than the US pressing (although I admit that I am assuming that there are two different pressings at all). Can anyone in the States tell me if their version of the record has the London address on the back of the sleeve? Anyway, problem number two is that I suspect that I have a test press of a crappy euro bootleg version and also a regular version of the crappy euro bootleg to match, neither of which I want. I want the proper US versions.

Fuck, why is it that buying records seems only to cause stress these days? I buy two records and the only affect is that it pisses me off because it makes me want to buy three more. Urgh. Never satisfied.

Dead & Gone Records R.I.P.

As you may or may not know, Dead & Gone Records is being wound down after about ten years of trading, so Ian took the opportunity to book a final show with some of the bands that D&G have released. Ironclad, Cold Snap, Deal With It, Down & Outs, Death Is Not Glamorous, Justice, and Dirty Money played. This show was also the final appearance of Dirty Money, who seem to have achieved quite a lot (for a UK band) in their relatively short lifetime.

Inevitably there was going to be limited records available at the show, and it seemed quite likely that I was going to pick them up. At first I was a bit disappointed, because I already owned most of the records on sale, and I didn't particularly want to buy them again. However, I got a good deal of £15 for four records (two LPs and two 7"s), so it didn't really matter too much that I was being suckered into buying stuff again that I already had. Plus, if I hadn't have bought records the money would have most likely just gone on a burger or something.

The first disc is the Justice 'Breakout Demo' 7". This is a new release in the D&G catalog (being D&G 40), although (obviously) it's not a new recording. There are only 325 copies of this thing:

There were also three releases from the D&G catalogue being sold with limited "D&G R.I.P." covers. These were limited to 65 copies each. Each one comes with a new overlay sleeve featuring the artwork of Michiel Walrave. First up, the Death Is Not Glamorous 'Soft Clicks' LP. I didn't previously own this, as the band don't really excite me. But given that it was part of the set of three last show covers, I couldn't exactly leave it. You know what it's like - got to have the set.

Next up is the Deal With It 'End Time Prophecies' LP. Good idea to hide the original artwork for this thing, seeing as it's pretty much the worst record cover of all time.

And finally, the Iron Age 'The Way Is Narrow' 7". I only own the Painkiller version of this, and didn't have a D&G version. So this is a nice one to have. I was also pretty lucky with this one and got a cool number:

Justice were also selling a numbered record and, like a fool, I got sucked in. I knew I would end up buying it even though I didn't really want to, and now I have it I wish I hadn't bought it. This is a weird one. This "release" is two records put inside a gatefold sleeve - a 12" black vinyl copy of the self-titled (aka 'Elephant Skin') LP, and a black vinyl copy of the 'Look Alive' 7". I'm slightly annoyed with myself for buying this one as it seems like one of the most blatant piss-takes of all time. I'm guessing that they had a bunch of LPs and 7"s left over and decided to make up a new gatefold sleeve to put them in so that fools like me would buy them. And you know what? Their idiotic plan worked. But goddamnit, I am not happy with myself for doing so. I feel conned. I guess I need to start asking myself what the fuck I am doing buying some of this crap.

Finally, here's a clip of the first two songs from the Dirty Money set. I shot it with my crappy point & click camera. It's not the greatest quality, partly due to me getting shoved about at the start, but hopefully this captures the energy present at the show. I don't think I have ever seen a UK band get a reception like this in all my years. Impressive stuff.