Pain Runs Deep 7"

(((As usual, I am WAY behind on this blog. I have pile of records next to me that I have received in the past few weeks that I haven't added to the blog due to having other more interesting shit going on. But all of a sudden the pile of records is annoying me to the point where I feel that I need to move them. So here starts several days of catch-up posts...)))

I got this one weeks ago from my friend Adam Malik. You probably know him, seeing as he seems to know pretty much everyone in the entire world. I never met or spoke to Adam until I moved to (near) London about 4 years ago, but we chatted at a show and I can understand why everyone likes him. Dude is chill. Anyway, he's Polish, but lives in London... but before living in London used to have a band called Pain Runs Deep. They broke up at some point in the past, but have recently been playing out again, and have just released a new 7" called 'Whispered Truths'. I was lucky enough to get given a couple of copies...

There were (I think) 100 copies on colour which has sold out on pre-orders, so unfortunately I just got given a regular black copy. But this is really well put together. The packaging is quality and you can tell that there's been a lot of time & effort into this:

The lyrics are printed on that stuff which is see-through and like tracing paper, or grease-proof paper that you might line your cake tins with. I don't know what this stuff is called. But it looks nice & makes for a nice touch:

There's also a free download card, which is a cool little plastic credit card thingy, which I think is way cooler than the little scraps of paper that most labels give away... although probably more expensive and less environmentally friendly. But hey, you can't have everything in life. Oh yeah, and there's an interesting piece of writing by my mate Chaka from Burn (did I mention that I met him in London a few weeks ago?)

All in all, a nice little 7". And as if that wasn't enough to be given, I also got given a test, which is a really nice gesture:

I much prefer it when, like here, the test comes in a sleeve which contains the same artwork as the regular record. The way I see it, the artwork is an integral part of the release, so I am always a bit confused when people make up art for a record, but then put the test in a dumbass cover with art that has nothing to do with the record, like a character from a TV show or some nonsense. I like tests that use the same key piece of art, but just make the sleeve itself slightly different to the regular one. Here's a good example. This test uses the cover art, but it is printed on a single piece of card, and numbered out of 15 copies. Nice.

I'd never really heard this band before. Kinda weird since I am always keen to listed to my friends' bands. But I guess their only release was a MCD in the 90s, and seeing as CDs suck balls it's perhaps not so surprising that I hadn't heard this after all! But anyway, this 7" was not what I expected. I mean, I was expecting it to be metallic hardcore... which yes, it kinda is, but it's much more complex & structured than some basic chugga mosh type crap. This reminds me of bands from the 90s. No-one in particular, but if I had to be specific then I'd say it would be the mosh factor of Conviction & Despair mixed with the guitar sounds of 108 & Snapcase. Does that make sense? Probably not, since I am prone to talking shite and have literally no clue what I am on about. But if you like any of those bands then there's probably something here for you. You could do worse than check this out & support a cool little DIY label in the process.

To buy one, go here:

http://www.theessence.bigcartel.com/

Bane - The Black Albums

I like to think that I have a pretty good Bane collection. But it hit me recently that, although I have lots of their records on colour vinyl, I don't have anything on black. I then realised that this actually qualifies me as some kind of amateur. So I sought about trying to fix this mistake before the cops kicked my door down and took me to the station. A couple of weeks ago I managed to get both LPs at the same time in a weird trade that took about 5 hours where I got two records and Sam got about twenty.

Album numero uno - 'It All Comes Down To This':

Even though I already own three copies of this, I had no memory of the back cover. It didn't look at all familiar.

Thinking about it though, I probably haven't so much as looked at this thing for about ten years.

And next, the second album, 'Give Blood'. I remember buying about three copies of this album when it came out from EVR. I remember being stoked on getting three colours. Little did I realise back then that the black would become harder to find than the clear several years later when I would come to want the black one.

So now all I need is a perfect 50/50 red/clear split of 'Give Blood', and also tests of both. If i was Tre, I would definitely sell me my tests, or swap them for Descendents records or something like that. Definitely.

Ceremony - Ruined

I traded this one with Willem a couple of weeks ago. Even though I always used to follow Malfunction, because everything they put out was gold, somehow I missed picking this one up when it came out. And then I decided to leave it until I could get the red one since that was the rarest version (excluding all the limited sleeve variations). This is part of the first press on red, which is out of 200 copies. I seriously love the artwork on this thing too.

If you want the definitive pressing info on this 7", I suggest you check out Doug's blog.

I slept on this band for way too long. I even went to two shows over here that they played, and missed them both times. The first time I was too busy talking to people outside. The second time I just got there too late. I hope they come back. I won't miss them again.

Saturday Night Live

Saturday night & this is what I am doing right now... tidying up and filing some 7"s whilst watching the USA play Ghana in the World Cup:

Yep, it has to be said - life doesn't get much better than this!

Well, unless of course you're one of those people who actually have a life... but if you were then you wouldn't be reading this, right?

It's 1997, I'm 27, I have a bad credit report

Gordo from Double Cross was selling some records recently. I saw a list on the Livewire Board and sent off an email with a long(ish) list of stuff I was interested in, but got a reply to say that nearly all of them had gone. I was still happy though, because the thing I wanted most was still available. I was all set to pay when I got another email from Gordo saying that he would let me have some of the other items I wanted, because some dude had reserved some stuff but hadn't paid & seemed unreliable. So I paid like a good citizen and a few days later I got the goods...

The thing I had wanted most was this LP:

There were (I think) only 100 of these on red. This has been on my want list for many years. I had a chance to buy one not so long ago for $70 which I didn't take. So getting this for $35 seemed like a good deal.

The second item I was excited by was a red vinyl copy of a record that I already own on blue vinyl - the 'Time Is Now' comp that came with the Tension Building zine, circa 1997 I think.

Red is the rarest colour, being numbered out of 83 copies (although technically there is a rarer version - a solid red, which is out of 25 copies, which I doubt I will ever see):

I got one of these things when it came out. I still have the zine I bought years ago, but I think I only ever read it once. But I remembered that there was a great quote from Chris Zusi in the Floorpunch interview:

Pretty funny how I thought this was cool when I first read it, but now, being a bit older I am exactly the kind of person he is talking about. Ha!

Next is another record that has been on my want list for a long time. I just never got around to picking this one up. I've had numerous opportunities to grab this over the years, but I always figured I would wait and score it for a cheap price. Finally that day came. Breakaway 7" on blue vinyl on Teamwork / Consequence Records. Nice one to have mate:

Next up, more entries in the 'straight edge hardcore compilation 7"s from 1997' category. I could feel myself wanting to collect this comp for a while now. So I took the opportunity to grab three versions at once. The blue vinyl with blue letters on the sleeve:

The white vinyl in the blue lettered sleeve:

If memory serves correctly, the blue letters were the second press. First press was red letters. And this is where I fucked up. I picked up a clear vinyl copy from the first pressing:

But when it arrived I realised that this is the version that I already have. Turns out that I need the red vinyl one. Damn. It's not a good situation when I don't even know what I have anymore. But my loss is your gain. This is spare and available for you to buy or trade from me.

Next up, a Carry On 7". I already have one of these. This is a spare. I just picked it up because the price seemed good. Thought I could trade this with someone. Could be your lucky day, punk.

And also, same deal on this great split 7"... I already have it. This is a spare for trade purposes:

Come on, let's make some trades people!

Floorpunch 2xLPx2

I am really conscious of how many reissues I seem to be buying lately. It seems that, ironically, vinyl is the only format that anyone can sell and make money from these days, so a lot of labels seem keen to reissue stuff that is long out of print. And even though the vinyl is probably intended for the new generation of kids who weren't around when the records were originally released back in the day rather than fools like me who were around, it doesn't stop me keep getting suckered into buying the same records again.

Sometimes it's nice to get the same songs repackaged in a new sleeve with new artwork. Sometimes it's nicer just to get it in the same sleeve but on a different colour of vinyl. I guess it varies depending on the band in question.

Sometimes though, I really wonder why I bother. This is one of those times. I like the front cover of this, but the rest of it does not look very nice. And the vinyl itself.. well, the only problem is deciding which of the two colours that I got sent is the most hideous.

This is one reissue that I can comfortably live without multiple copies of. I bought the tour press when they were on tour (see HERE), so I think I'd rather just let these vomit-inducers go. Not that I can imagine that anybody will actually want to buy these after seeing them though...

COALESCE - the mother lode

Ok, so I get a few records in the mail from time to time. We know that much already. But this package had me more excited than I have been for a long time...

It all started on eBay. I found one of my long-time wants - the "final" pressing of the 'Functioning On Impatience' 12" from 2003. I say "final" because it was supposed to be the final pressing at the time, but it actually got repressed a couple of years ago to celebrate its ten year anniversary. But anyway, I always wanted one of the 2003 final pressing copies because the record rules and it comes in a different sleeve. I've seen this on eBay (and been outbid) many, many times. There are 300 copies in total, so it's not really THAT hard to get. It usually goes for somewhere in the region of $35-40 or so. Well anyway, I spotted one on eBay a few weeks ago which got me more interested than any other copies, because the description claimed this one was number one of three hundred... although there was no picture in the listing. But I decided that the time had come to pick this one up. So I bid, expecting the price to go high... yet I won it for $16! To say I was stoked out be an under-statement. Here are some pics:

The back of the sleeve has the pressing info for all colour vinyl pressings prior to (and including) this version. Nice touch.

Also, this copy is signed. I'm not sure if all of them are signed, or just this one. And I'm not sure who has signed it. I would guess at Sean Ingram, singer for Coalesce and (I think) owner of Blue Collar Distro, who released (or half released) this version of this record. Not how he has signed it & also written '001' too, which I assume is a reference to this copy being number one:

And here's the money shot - the number on the back of the sleeve. If only the seller had put up a picture like this in his listing, he probably could have got a bit more than $16 I would guess:

Well anyway, as usual, I checked out some other items the dude was selling and found another Coalesce record that I wanted. This is a test press of the 'Salt And Passage' 7" that was released in 2007, which was the band's first release since their last one, which had been about eight years earlier. I remember three years ago when this was announced, there were about two thousand colour variations for sale, and the rare ones sold out in two seconds. So I just never got around to picking it up. Until now. This marks my only copy of this record. And I don't think I am too fussed about trying to get more to be honest. This will do.

The paper dust sleeve has the Second Nature Records logo embossed on it, which is a nice touch if you ask me:

So that was my eBay winnings. I was more than happy with this. But somehow the story didn't end there. The next day I got a message from the seller asking if I would be interested in any more Coalesce rarities. My answer was simple - "yes, but it depends what you have and how much you want". I was then offered three records. I was told they were $40 each, or I could have all three for $100. I decided to pay the dude $100 before he could change his mind. I think this was a smart move. I am convinced that this was a really good deal. Here's what I got...

First, a clear vinyl pressing of the 'OX' LP. As you may or may not know, Relapse Records press 100 copies of every record they release on clear vinyl, but these records are not for sale - they are given to the band and friends of the band and label only. So anything on Relapse on clear vinyl usually sells for top dollar - especially if it's by Mastodon! Seeing as the only version of this I had previously was the regular, black version, I was happy with this.

Second, a clear vinyl copy of the 'OX EP'. This is a 12" ep that was released a couple of months after the 'OX' LP. I somehow never got around to picking it up, even though I loved the 'OX' LP last year. But yeah, once again, clear vinyl was not available for Joe Public, so I'm stoked to have one of these. Even cooler, this record also has the logo / cover art screened on the b-side of the vinyl. This thing looks very, very nice:

And finally, I am super stoked on this one... a test press of the 'OX' LP. This one comes in a specially made sleeve, made by Ohio Pride from the Vinyl Collective message board. I feel very lucky to have one of these things.

Total cost of this haul was about $150. A lot to spend at one go, but I'm pretty sure I could sell all this stuff tomorrow for double what I paid. Not that it's about the money, of course. But it's always satisfying to get nice items for a good price.

Iron Age Hen's Teeth 7"

Another day, another Iron Age record. Today it's a 'Burden Of Empire' 7". This just strikes me as a weird release. Why? Well, just because it has a very DIY (and cheap) feel to it. I would have thought that there would have been labels pretty much queuing up to release it, yet the band chose to release it themselves. What's wrong with that? Well, nothing at all. In fact, it's cool. But the weird thing is that they seem to have not put a lot of effort into it. The records have blank labels, but there are about 20 different sleeve variations for it. But each 'sleeve' is just a single piece of card. So no wrap-around sleeve or jacket that the record goes into. So it just feels kinda rushed and kinda cheap. Kinda like what you would expect from a bootleg. I guess I only find this weird because I think that if I were in a band then I would want to make my records look nice. But maybe I'm missing the point.

Anyway, despite there being an insane number of cover variations, nearly all of the records are black vinyl. There are, however, a few copies on red vinyl. I have no idea how many. But I do remember that Dave from Six feet Under Records sold one on eBay some months ago. I remember this for one reason - that the description said it was 'rare as hen's teeth', which was a phrase I had never heard before. Cue me trying (unsuccessfully) to find out if hen's teeth do actually exist. If not then it's a stupid saying.

Anyone know the pressing info for this thing? I mean, is it really as rare as something that may or may not exist?