Free To Be... An Idiot

I got the chance to pick up two more numbered copies of the green vinyl pressing of Bane's second 7", 'Free To Think, Free To Be'. This time around, it's numbers 13 and 76.

I stupidly started picking these up whenever I saw them a few years ago. Despite trading one away a year or so back, these two copies mean that I now have nine copies of this record on green vinyl.

Pictured are seven numbered copies - numbers 3, 8, 13, 27, 38, 54 & 76. The one in the centre of the square (number 38) has lots of black specks in it, which is why it looks darker. The one in the bottom right corner is a stamped but un-numbered copy (apparently 100 exist), and one that in the middle of the bottom row is a pretty unique solid green colour (also stamped but not numbered).

I don't really know why I started collecting this particular pressing. I also don't know if I'll ever pick up any more. Time will tell I guess.

Number-rology Tour Press Version 2.0

Back in early 2010, Youngblood Records released the Lion Of Judah 'Number-rology' 7". A year later I managed to track down one of the hard to find tour pressings in a plain white dust sleeve. I was happy. but then only a few weeks later, Sean from the label told me that the band had actually made sleeves for some copies. Aaaarrrggghhh! It had proved tough enough to find a tour copy, now I had to find a second variant. How annoying!

Well anyway, three years later and one fell in front of me. It was pretty cheap so I couldn't resist.

I'm not exactly sure what happened to this band. I think they just went quiet. Pretty sure that one of them is now in Give, but not sure what happened to the others or if they did actually formerly break up. I'm guessing they did as I have heard nothing of them since this 7" came out. Shame.

Blacklisted

Some bands you don't listen to very often, but when you do, you wonder why you ever need to listen to anything else. I'd say that Breakdown are one of those bands for me. I don't seem to listen to them very often, but recently their 7" came on my ipod when on shuffle mode, and the first thing I thought was 'why the hell don't I listen to this band more often?'. This was then followed by me wondering why I don't have more of their records, as all I own is one yellow vinyl copy of their 7". So to rectify this I picked up this little number:

The 'Blacklisted' 12" is a bit of a weird record. Studio songs on one side, and a live set containing mainly songs from the '87 Demo on the flipside. It feels a bit unnecesary to add the live songs, in my opinion. I'd be just as happy if this were a single sided 12".

This 12" seems to exist on this green colour and also clear. No idea which is rarer, although the clear seems to pop up more often, so I'm assuming it's the green.

Next I think I need to pick up more copies of the 7". Having just one feels like amateur hour.

Shoot Guns, Eat Pussy IV

I said it last week and I'll say it again - sometimes you feel compelled to buy something that isn't on your want list just because it's cheap. Today's example is a Half Off 'Shoot Guns, Eat Pussy' 7" on clear vinyl. I paid about the same price as a cup of coffee for this one.

I don't even think this is a particularly good 7" to be honest. It's just that I had three other colours, so figured a cheap fourth copy would do no harm. Plus I figured it would make for a cool photo. So here it is:

As you can see, the red, grey (which looks white in this photo, but is definitely grey) and clear vinyl copies come in a sleeve with red lettering. The gold vinyl comes in a sleeve with yellow lettering. I have no idea what the pressing info is for this one, nor do I have any idea which is rarest. Not sure anyone does to be honest. But I think I prefer the gold vinyl copy most of all just because it's different to the others. That's as good a reason as any I guess.

Coming Soon... RZL DZL

Waaaaay back in 2008, I got myself into quite a flap over the RZL DZL 'Strictly Saucers' LP. It was one of my favourite records of the year, and definitely would have made my 'best of the year' list... if I'd have done one in 2008. Well anyway, not long after I got into that LP, I learned of the band that came before RZL DZL, which was a band called Jailbreak. I also picked up two copies of their first 7" back then. Looking back at the comments on that post, I wrote:

'Spoke to a friend & he has a copy of the 2nd 7" for me. I'm excited about that.

Well, it never happened. I can't remember why exactly. But here I am, six years later, finally picking up that second Jailbreak 7" with the special last show cover. It's pretty special:

The front cover has glitter glued on to it. Yup, that's right - glitter. Mainly gold glitter, but also some red, blue and green. I imagine that someone had fun making this one.

Like so many other limited sleeves, this one sits on top of the regular sleeve.

It's funny, but I have seen this for sale a few times in the past, and every time it seems to be being sold by some fool who priced it at $50 or something stupid. It may have taken me six years to find one, but I paid a lot less, which was satisfying. Next up, I'd like to actually listen to it. Hopefully I'll find time to do that at some point before the next six years is up.

Can't Get Ahead

Pretty sure I'm the last person in the world to receive (and post) their last Painkiller order. But I'll make up for it some other time. This pre-order went up and I jumped on it quicksmart. The main point of interest was the new Violent Reaction 'Dead End' 7". Just like Mike, I placed my order immediately, and got one of the colour vinyl pressings that is not very colourful at all. Most copies I have seen on instagram are a camo green kinda colour, but mine is a greyish marble mess that is difficult to photograph.

I do like this colour, solely for the fact that it appears to be a rarer variant than the green. But at the same time, and because I am an idiot, I am keen to also find a green copy.

Well anyway, when this went up for pre-order, so a new 7" from Step Forward went up at the same time. Knowing how much the first one still sells for eight years after it came out, I made sure to grab one first and think about it later. And just like the first 7", this one comes on a crystal clear vinyl... although my copy looks like it's been playing football down the park with its mates - it has what looks like a dirty grass stain in the middle.

The funny thing is that I have never owned the first Step Forward 7" before. Doug used to rattle on about it on Vinyl Noize all the time, which helped keep the price up, especially as he used to blog about every copy that appeared on eBay. So I had little chance of grabbing a copy at a bargain price, and every time I thought about bidding on one it always seemed to climb to a price higher than I wanted to pay. But recently I finally found one for a reasonable price and pulled the trigger. This is such an awesome 7", and although I am stoked to have grabbed the second 7", it pales in comparison to this one.

I had also added the second press of the Magic Circle 7" to my cart, although had pretty much forgotten about it until the parcel arrived. The first press of this one came in a plain paper sleeve, so this second press puts things right with some fancy graphics:

I actually prefer the back cover to the front. Those cartoon boobs are almost as good as the real thing.

Rebels Will Tear Us Apart

Tonight in Los Angeles, Unbroken are playing a show with Strife, Mean Season and Trial. It's in celebration of the 20th anniversary of 'Life. Love. Regret.' (and also 'One Truth'). I thought it would be quite fitting to post an Unbroken record that I got recently which I have never owned before. This is a split 7" between Unbroken and Abhinanda. It came out in the late 90s on a Swedish label, Trust No One Recordings. Some were on clear vinyl, but I have no idea how many.

Each band plays a cover song on this record. Unbroken do 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Division, and Abhinanda do 'Rebels Rule' by The Stray Cats. I completely missed this one back when it came out, and it took a few years before I even knew that this existed at all. The Unbroken song was on their 'It's Getting Tougher To Say The Right Things' 12", but I (wrongly) thought that it was an extra song to make that record worth buying. Oops! By the time I realised this 7" existed, it was selling for a higher price than I wanted to pay. So I added it to my wants list and left it there for a few years until I could finally pick one up for a good price.

I Am King

I couldn't help but notice how many people posted pictures of the new Code Orange LP on instagram recently. It was everywhere. I'd never had any interest at all in checking the band out previously, but the sheer volume of photos of this record made me curious. So I went to some website or other that was streaming it and gave it a chance. And wow, fuck me, this was a powerful and interesting record. I listened to it one evening and after it finished, I immediately went to grab a download. I then listened to it a few times over a few days, and then decided that I was going to invest in a vinyl copy. Of course, I wanted the most limited colour, which is white, and I managed to find one for a bit less than the going rate.

One of the early photos I saw on instagram, someone had left the comment 'Ham King', which made me laugh.

It's hard to describe what this sounds like. It's heavy and chaotic with weird song structures. I can't really liken it to anything. But what I can say is that this is really unique and interesting, and fully deserves all the attention it has been getting. I imagine it will be in a lot of peoples' 'best of 2014' lists.

This record was released by Deathwish Inc, and the pressing info is even more insane than the Cold World LP that I posted about last week. There are 340 on white, 736 on black w/ green mix and a mind-blowing 6360 on opaque green... which adds up to a total first pressing of 7436 copies! Will be interesting to see if they get around to doing a second pressing or whether seven thousand is enough.

Drop Dead

Just over a year ago I saw Mind Eraser play live. One of the songs from their set that night was a cover of the song 'Drop Dead' by Siege. I remember talking to Mark about it that night, and saying that I had never heard Siege. Well, a few weeks later I remembered and downloaded some songs, and then about ten months later I decided to buy a record. I grabbed this grey vinyl LP for less than $10.

I think that this 12" reissue (of a CD) may be the only official version of these songs. The songs were pressed on a 7" way back when, but apparently it wasn't an official release... although that doesn't seem to stop people paying big money for it.

I can see why people have always talked this band up. They're in the same vein as Infest, although came before them and are cited as being influential by some pretty big bands. I can see why. It seems crazy to think that these songs were recorded back in 1984 and thirty years later I'm listening to them for the first time. But that's part of the fun of music I guess.

No idea what the pressing info is for this LP. My copy is grey vinyl in a grey sleeve, and I've also seen gold vinyl in a gold sleeve. Not sure which came first or which is rarest, but both look pretty cool. I just went for this one because it was cheap.

Grey Pistachio Ice Cream

One of my many collections that I have been focusing on for the past couple of years is my Cave In collection. I've been a fan of the band since the very early days, and bought one or two colour copies of each release when they came out. But recently I have been going back and picking up any additional colours that I passed on originally.

Back when this 12" originally came out, I picked up a 'green tea frozen yogurt' copy. Somehow five years have passed since then, and I've finally managed to get my hands on one of the 'all natural vanilla pistachio ice cream' copies.

Five years ago I said that I wasn't sure if I liked this record. Today my feelings are still the same. It's funny how some things don't change.

I was a lot more stoked on this grey vinyl, second press copy of the 'Tides Of Tomorrow' 12". Well, it says grey on the shrinkwrap, but it looks a little more like a turquoise to me.

When I received this I started to worry that I'd actually made a mistake and bought a second copy of the green one that I already had. So I got the green one out to compare. Fortunately, the two copies are completely different. It was just my memory that was shot. But once I had the green and grey next to each other, I also pulled out the white one just for the sake of having my three colour copies together.

I kinda feel that I need to make a list of everything I don't have now and make an effort to finish this collection off. Although, having said that, I don't think I have ever finished any collection ever, so why change the habit of a lifetime?

Won't Get The Best Of Me

As I've said many times on here, I used to be ahead of the crowd on a lot of bands a few years ago, but these days I'm generally behind. And here's another example:

Most people were getting pumped by Beware and their Chain Of Strength sound-a-like 7" two years ago when it came out. Me, I finally found the time to listen to them this year. After enjoying the six jams on my ipod for a while, it was time to pick up a physical copy, and I managed to find this second press, green vinyl copy going for a reasonable price. As everyone knows already, this is a pretty awesome 7" and I hope to pick up the purple and red copies at some point.

Remember - you heard it here last, folks.

Just Another Day

The life of a record nerd is never straight forwards. Sometimes you feel compelled to buy something that isn't on your want list just because it's cheap. I actually used to like Holding On, but I don't listen to them much anymore. But seeing their 'Just Another Day' LP on green vinyl for sale for a pathetic $6, I couldn't wait to buy it.

I used to like this band a lot about ten years ago. I loved the album on Bridge Nine. I think I have like three copies of it. Haven't listened to it in a while, probably the same as everyone else. I'm guessing there are probably even fewer people interested in buying Holding On records in 2014 than are listening to them. I'm probably about the only one.

Blue Vinyl Sale?

So here we go again. Another batch of Rev represses on new colours that they haven't made before. Each time I do one of these posts, I wonder how much longer I can keep going at this game. I don't think I actually wanted to buy any of these, or took any joy from receiving them. It has reached a point where I sigh when I order them and I sigh when I receive them. I think the only reason I carry on is because of the illusion of 'completeness'. If I miss out then I won't have a 'complete' Rev color vinyl collection anymore. Plus, I vaguely remember that I almost didn't bother with the 2001 'final' presses when they came out, but with the gift of hindsight I'm glad that I did. That said, this is getting to the point of ridiculousness now. I guess I need to deal with this issue in the near future and decide what matters. There has to be a point where I decide that enough is enough, and I feel I am getting close to it. We shall see.

The main theme this time around seems to be blue vinyl. I can only assume that Rainbo Records (Rev's pressing plant) had large stocks of blue vinyl laying about and decided to offer their customers a discount, e.g. 'Order 2000 blue vinyl records, get 1000 blue vinyl records free' or something similar. How else do you explain someone choosing to press 'Ignaurus' or the Judge discography on blue?

As usual, these are presented in alphabetical order (7"s and then LPs):

The most interesting out of this batch is the Sense Field LP on red. The pressing info says that there were only 145 of these made, which is one of the lowest numbers made for any repress since this whole game began. Unless of course the pressing info has been updated incorrectly and it should be 415 instead of 145.

I think this batch brings me fully up to date with all the represses. I'm never really sure as there seems to be a new one every week, although I don't think there are any that I'm missing. No doubt that will change in the next few days...

Don't Wait Up V

Another strong contender for the record of the year is Bane's fourth (and final) LP 'Don't Wait Up'. I've already posted about this record four times, and had amassed seven copies, including a test press of the German version. Well, I then became aware of three more versions, so started trying to track them down...

First was the US white vinyl pressing on Equal Vision. This was a weird one. EVR sold out of the blue vinyl and yellow vinyl copies at pre-order stage, and there was no mention of any other copies being available from the label. It was listed as being sold out. But then a couple of distributors got copies, and it turned out that these were on white. I grabbed one from Deathwish, along with the Cold World LPs I posted about a couple of days ago.

The next copy is more of a mystery. It all started with a photo that someone posted online. Some kid had a copy with a 'yellow vinyl' sticker on the front, but the record was a blue & white swirl vinyl. The internet gasped and then stood around looking puzzled in a typical 'what the fuck?' moment. Next up I caught a glimpse on instagram of a photo of a sealed copy with a 'blue & white swirl vinyl' sticker on the front, which suggested that this was a legitimate variant rather than a mis-press or transition copy. The race was on to find one. In the end, and as often seems to be the case, I just plain got lucky, and someone offered me one.

So that's nine copies and there are yet more out there. I still need a black vinyl copy of the German pressing, and also an EVR test press. I imagine that one of these will probably be a little easier to find than the other...