Disorganised & Bored

I haven't posted on here for over a week. Why? Because I haven't had anything to post. Why? Because I haven't had any new records. Why? Because I haven't bought or traded anything lately. Why? Because the goddamn exchange rate makes things expensive. Why? Because I live in a country with an economy that is falling to pieces, thanks to the banking industry.

Anyway, it struck me the other day how disorganised I have become. I used to keep all my 7" records in alphabetical order in boxes. But I haven't really put any new records in boxes for over a year now. Instead, I seem to have formed several piles on the floor around my room. It occurred to me that I don't even know why I have several piles rather than one or two. But it made me laugh, because I used to hate randomness like this. If I went to someone else's house & found records all over the floor, I would probably lecture them about tidying up and keeping things in order. But for some reason I have become slack, so I thought I would document it & post it up here for your amusement... and because I don't have anything else to post... and because I am bored.

So here's the view from the doorway of my living room:

It actually looks quite tidy from here. Just a couch and some LPs. Looks kinda minimal & pretty organised huh? Notice the heater under the window. Here's what's on the other side of the heater:

More LPs, although this side looks less tidy. I guess its mainly due to the crap on top of the LPs, especially the copy paper boxes. And next to the copy paper boxes is 7" Pile #1:

This pile contains 17 records that have picture disc style clear plastic sleeves. I dug these out because I planned to replace the plastic sleeves with poly sleeves, and put the records into paper dust sleeves. But I haven't got around to it yet & it's been a few months. Oh well.

Next, 7" Pile #2, which is located on the floor next to the LPs:

This pile consists of 8 records and a 7" box set. The box set is there because it wouldn't fit into a box, so I just left it on the floor. The other records are a random mix of things I picked up in Summer. A couple need new poly sleeves, a couple need new paper dust sleeves, a couple are just there for no reason. I don't really know why they are where they are. But I can't be bothered to move them.

7" Pile #3 is found down the side of my couch:

This pile consists of 45 7"s. Some are leaning against the couch, some against the wall, and some are laying flat on the floor. These are the most recent records I have acquired. The piles are in no order at all, and the number or records in each mini-pile is not consistent. When I look down here, I get an urge to put the records into some kind of order. But I can't actually be bothered to do it. This worries me slightly, although not enough to actually do anything about the situation.

7" Pile #4 is located on the other side of the couch:

This is the smallest pile, and consists of only two 7"s. These records were given to me. I have left them here to remind me to listen to them to decide if I want to keep them. They've been there for a couple of months now at least.

Next, here's the view from my couch:

The boxes contain 7"s, which are actually in alphabetical order. But notice there are piles of 7"s around the floor too.

7" Pile #5 is found propped up against the front of one of my 7" boxes:

This pile is the stuff I bought from my friend Hop a couple of months ago, plus a Black Flag 7" I bought on eBay. There are 15 records, including one with a zine that is just laid on the floor on its own. I don't know why I put this stuff in a separate pile. There may have been a reason at the time, but I can't remember.

7" Pile #6 is a collection of records which are hidden behind the door.

There are 97 records here. These are mainly records with "at risk" sleeves, i.e. photocopied sleeves that are delicate. I don't like keeping photocopied sleeves in boxes since the pressure of other records seems to lead to damage. So I have kept them out separately, with a view to putting them somewhere cool. There are also a small number of records that I plan to sell or trade, and a bag containing some spare LP sleeves. Some of these records have been here for over a year. Whoops.

Finally, 7" Pile #7 consists of three piles of records that are leaning against the wall next to the door:

There are 60 records here. These are again records with "at risk" sleeves. I don't know why they are in a separate place to the others though, and I don't really have an urge to move them since they are not exactly in the way.

CONCLUSIONS
1. There are 245 records dotted around the floor of my room.
2. I need to get myself organised.
3. In the time it has taken me to write this nonsense, I probably could have got myself organised.
4. I am an idiot

Hopefully normal blogging service can resume soon...

I Wish I Could Learn To Never Go Back

A couple more of the recent Dischord colour vinyl repressings turned up today, and it seems that the label continue to use an array of different pressing plants with varying results. First up is the Dag Nasty 'Can I Say?' LP on blue vinyl:

Possibly my favourite ever Dischord release, this record managed to let me down by being pressed on crappy-ass euro vinyl, which means that it comes in a paper-thin sleeve which almost bends itself in half once you take the record out. Consequently, this somehow feels like a cheap copy of a Dischord release. Very disappointing.

Next, by contrast, is the Faith / Void split LP on high quality, remastered purple vinyl:

This one has been pressed in the US. You can tell because the matrix is in handwriting, rather than courier font, and the paper dust sleeve has rounded corners. Oh yeah, and the sleeve is higher quality card. Overall this one looks nicer and feels nicer, and makes me feel that it was worth the money. And they've had it remastered, so it sounds louder. And it comes with a free download card, although I don't need this since I already downloaded the songs from the Dischord site (if you order direct they give you instant download access from their website, which is nice).

So yeah. Once again it's USA vinyl 1, Euro vinyl 0. I just wish Dischord would realise that the the US product is of superior quality and get all records pressed on home turf in future.

(Oh yeah... I picked up a spare of the Faith / Void record, so if anyone needs one, get in touch)

Walpurgisnacht II

Less than a month ago I picked up three different versions of the latest Integrity 7", and I wrote "I have a feeling I'm going to be buying more copies of this one at some point". But little did I realise I would be acquiring another version so quickly. Here's one on purple:

And here's the purple one next to the grey one:

I don't think this is a different version. I think (although not entirely sure) that this is just part of the grey pressing. I have seen two other records in the past (Deadguy LP and War Zone live 7") where the vinyl colour ranges between grey and purple. Some people refer to theirs as purple, some as grey. But the truth is that there are not two colours, just variations of one pressing. One guy who used to work at Victory referred to this as "putty", whereas the recent Cheap Tragedies 7" on Livewire refers to it as "scrap". Anyway, regardless of whether there were intended to be different colours or not, the fact remains that idiots like me can pick up yet another copy of a record they already have because it is a shade different.

Rollins Band

This is pretty funny, and pretty sad. But I recently bought a record simply because I liked the vinyl colour. Well, kind of. In fact, it was partly because I liked the colour, and partly because I had never seen the record on coloured wax before. And this swung me to buy it, even though I wouldn't have wanted it otherwise. It's an album by the Rollins Band:

This is on an interesting pink vinyl, although not sure I have captured it too well here:

I've never been a big fan of this band. Truth be told, the Rollins Band was just a huge disappointment after Black Flag. I bought "The End Of Silence" when it came out circa 1992, but I never really had an urge to check anything else out. But at the moment I'd rather spend my money buying old records rather than new, since most new stuff seems pretty samey and uninspiring. Or maybe I'm just getting old. But anyway, I have seen a few Rollins Band records over the years, and all seem to have really bad covers, and look like nobody could be arsed to spend more than two minutes doing artwork. They just look like cheap, rushed jobs to be honest. But all of a sudden this kinda appeals and makes them cool. Check out this back cover:

I like how the biggest thing on the back is the announcement that it was produced by Ian Mackaye. I can almost imagine them sitting around thinking "how on earth are we gonna persuade anyone to buy this crap? Ah, I know... let's increase the font size and trick people into thinking it's a Minor Threat record". Haha!

Anyway, I also noticed on the credits that it says it was recorded in Leeds, UK. Now, since this is where I lived for 13 years (until 2 years ago or so), I was intrigued. I had heard rumours over the years about Henry Rollins living in Leeds at some point. I was never really sure if it was true or not though. I read a couple of his books and it was never mentioned. But after seeing this LP sleeve I thought I check the internerd, and I found something written by Henry that confirms this is true. It seems like he stayed in Leeds for a while (on more than one occasion) to record. And he lived only a few minutes from where I used to live. Not that I lived there in 1987 though, and not like I was into hardcore back then anyway (I was 12). But there could have been Black Flag fans living in Leeds at the time. Did anyone have any idea that Henry was living in town? Did anyone ever bump into him in the streets? I'm curious. Even better, Ian Mackaye also came over to record them at some point. This seems pretty funny to me now. I like the idea that, back in 1987, you could have gone to the Co-op on Burley Road to buy some bread and bumped into Henry Rollins and Ian Mackaye. Crazy.

Anyway, I thought I'd just paste in the info I found. It's pretty interesting stuff. Enjoy...

From 1981 to 1986 I was in a band called Black Flag. In late summer of 1986, the band broke up and I had to decide whether to stop or try to keep making music. Years before, Chris Haskett, an old friend of mine, and I promised each other that some day we would record together. We were both in DC at the time so I called him and told him that my schedule was suddenly extremely open. Without missing a beat, Chris went right to work and assembled a band: Bernie Wandell on bass and Mick Green on drums.

At the time Chris was living in Leeds UK and he headed back there because his gear and Mick were there. Bernie and I were to fly out when he got things set. It was a strange time in my life. I had grown used to being in a band, going on tour and being handed a schedule telling me where I was going all the time. I couldn't see ever making another record. Chris would have none of it. There was no doubt in his mind that things were going to go great and he really picked me up. In October I flew to London and took a bus up to Leeds and went to 52 Harold Mount where Chris lived. I had never met Bernie or Mick so it was strange at first but we hung out that night and it was cool. We had practice time booked and both Chris and I had some song ideas. We went in the next day and started work. I think one of the first things we played together was Suicide's "Ghost Rider." From there we worked on covers that I had wanted to do and Chris showed us some of the riffs he had written.
From practice we would go back to 52 Harold Mount and eat. After that, Chris and I would work on song writing. Perhaps it was a grand combination of new association, excitement and a good dose of fear of failure, but whatever it was, we wrote like men possessed and came up with a lot songs in a short time.

Life Time is the first studio record by the Rollins Band. We did our first practice on April 7, 1987 and went out on a long tour of America and Europe. On the road we wrote songs and got them put them into the set. By late October we finished the shows in London and went up to Leeds where Chris had a place to live and booked time at the same place that he and I did the Hot Animal Machine recordings a year before. I had no producer for this record and feared that since everyone in the band had strong opinions on how it all should be done that if we tried to do it ourselves we would do more harm than good. I called Ian MacKaye and asked for help. He got on a plane and came right out. That's Ian.

A Boston Rock Christmas

This one arrived a couple of weeks later than I hoped. A weird record that I only bought for one song... and because it was cheap.

This is exactly what it looks like - a dodgy Christmas compilation of bands whose only connection is the city they came from. Most of these bands are total garbage, but the reason I bought it is that it includes a song from the legendary Boston straight edge band SSD.

I don't really know anything about the history of this record. Does anyone? I first saw this at Lecky's house about three years ago and it intrigued me. I picked it up recently on the cheap thinking it would be a good one to have in time for xmas, although unfortunately it didn't arrive in time, and consequently my xmas was ruined.

This is what FLEX has to say about this record:

Obscure Xmas EP which is sought after mostly because of the SSD track. Tracks from various Boston bands: Del-Fuegos (r'n'r, yawn), Native Tongue (austere wave rock, OK), SSD (legendary power version of the old xmas song, cool), Jeff & Jane (ultra cheap synth sounds), and - of course - Christmas (nice melodic indie rock, noisier and faster than their 7"). SSD and Christmas are best.

Personally, I like the Jeff & Jane song. Actually, I don't, it's bloody awful, but I find it a funny name for a "band". I can just imagine two new wave fartknockers sat around in 1983 with their synthesiser, agonising over what to call their "band", getting nowhere, and deciding that just using their first names would be cool enough. I then decided to see if I could find anything about Jeff & Jane on the internet, and wouldn't you know it, they have their own website! Better still, it seems they reformed in 2002 and cranked out a new record. Read about it yourself if you can contain your excitement enough to control your clicking finger: http://www.officialjeffandjane.com/ You can even buy their CD for only $20! How can you go wrong?

On a slightly more serious note, I did manage to find a site I had not previously seen before - the X-Claim site, which has a few songs that you can download, including the SSD song from this record. So if you want an SSD Christmas song, go here: http://www.xclaim.com/sounds/sounds.html

Also, while you're there, look around the site. There are a few other bits of interest. A statement about the attempted SSD reunion tour that didn't happen last year, in which Al states that Springa will be terminated from all association with SSD. And to prove this, if you then click on the SSD page, it lists the band members, although there is actually no vocalist listed. Haha! Look around the site further and you can also read about Al's back pain, and watch some videos he made for his employer about dust and sand. It's all good stuff.

Ice Grillz

I realised recently that there aren't actually many current bands that I am into. This worries me, because it makes me think that I am getting old. Well, not getting old exactly - I mean, technically, I am old already. But I always figured that people who stop keeping up with current bands are the kinds of people that go around saying things like "It's not the same as it used to be" and "kids today don't know they're born" and other such crap. I don't listen to that many current bands I guess, but then again, I probably listen to a lot more current bands that most people my age who have been into this crap for as long as I have. My conclusion is that there are actually too many bands and labels to keep up with, and it's hard to know where to focus my attention. But maybe that's the point - I'm old and out of touch, else I'd know exactly where to look. Damnit.

Cold World 'Ice Grillz' 7" on ice clear vinyl. I do like this 7" a lot. It was probably my most played record of 2005. When this came out this band were new and cool. Now I'm not so sure. I know they're still going, and I picked up their LP, but I kinda feel that I should be embarrassed to be listening to this band now. Are they still cool or not? Can someone please let me know.

Voicebox 7" Test Press

Another day, another record. Today a test press from the band Voicebox. I'm not sure if this really counts as a "band" as such. I don't know if these guys ever played any shows or wrote any other songs other than the 2 on this 7". But this "band" is composed of two famous hardcore dudes, Dan O'Mahoney & Chuck Treece. I can't be bothered to list the bands they have been in. You should know already. And if you don't then the internet can tell you. Anyway, I always liked this 7". So paying $24 for the test press didn't seem too much of a big deal.

If you're not familiar with this record, then this is what the proper version looks like:

It was released by Workshed Records. Someone once told me that Dan O'Mahoney owned this label, but I'm not sure. They did put out some good records in the early 90s though.

If you want to hear the Voicebox 7", but don't have a record player (or indeed a Voicebox 7"), then worry not - I can help you out. I have kindly ripped it and uploaded it, so all you need do is click with your mouse:

Voicebox 7"

Gorilla Biscuits Tour Toy

Gorilla Biscuits went on tour in December in Japan & Australia. For some reason, to mark this occasion, they made up some 'action figures'. They were selling like hotcakes & pretty much impossible to get. Fortunately, I have a friend in Perth who was kind enough to pick one up for me. When I opened the package, I was surprised, because it was bigger than I was expecting based on the pictures I had seen. I was also surprised at how much these things cost. A lot of money for something that does nothing. But kinda cool. And just like records, they made different colours, so idiots like me can have fun trying to collect the set. Pah!

And now a big thanks to Paul for helping me out with this.

THANKS PAUL!

Miss you, dude.

Samiam - I Am 7"

This was a nice one to get just in time for xmas - the Samiam 'I Am' 7", first press (denoted by purple sleeve, all subsequent pressings have a brown sleeve) on colour vinyl. This record has been on my want list for as long as I can remember. I published my want list in my first zine back in 1996, and I checked it & this record was on there. It was probably on my want list prior to doing the zine too, but I don't have any copies of my want list from then. So a definite 12 year wait for this one, although most likely 13 or 14 years I would say. The only down-side is that I have only previously seen this one on clear vinyl, whereas the one I picked up is on clear green. Which means that, technically, I still don't have the one on my want list. Bummer.

For anyone who doesn't know, Lookout Records first pressings are denoted by the orignal address of Laytonville, prior to the label's move to Berkeley:

I haven't listened to this band in a long time, but this 7" serves as a good reminder as to how good they were.

Walpurgisnacht

It's not often that a record excites me these days. It's even rarer that I literally cannot wait to get it on the turntable. But here's a rare exception - a new Integrity 7" that was released by A389 Records sometime in the not too distant past. It's taken me a while to get around to picking this up, but it does not disappoint. I was worried about what an Integrity record in 2008 would sound like... but the answer is that it's pretty similar to an Integrity record that came out in 1995. Which is obviously a good thing.

I missed the pre-orders on this and then just didn't bother trying to order it, figuring that it would be all sold out. Then last week I found myself at the A389 webstore and discovered that they had some still in stock. Better still, there was a "new" colour that they had "found" recently, which the label refer to as Green Trash vinyl. The website says "Among the 1000 grey copies we sorted out approx 100 that were a greenish color"... although to me it looks more yellow than green. I also picked up the red vinyl, of which there were 300 copies (100 of which came with a Voodoo doll, which I need badly), and the grey vinyl which is out of 1000.

Apparently there are also some on white. I needs to get me one of those too. And the label site says a second press is coming soon. So I have a feeling I'm going to be buying more copies of this one at some point...

Integrity Septic Death Karaoke

Integrity are one of the best bands of all time. That's not open to debate. A lot of people already know this, and some of their records are quite sought after. However, I have noticed that the eBay value of the Septic Death Karaoke 7" seems to yo-yo up and down like no other. I got one of these from Dwid years ago in a trade, but a couple of years ago discovered the that the sleeve was damaged, so I turned to eBay to find a replacement. I was surprised to pick one up for about $20. The next week the same seller listed another, but it went for three times what I paid the week before. Then a few weeks ago I was surfing eBay, and spotted another for sale. The reason I wanted a second copy was that it had a blue sleeve, which I had never seen before:

Even better, I got what I like to refer to as the "James Bond Edition":

Better still, it was only $24, which I consider to be a bargain. I have no idea how many copies exist with a blue sleeve. [EDIT - I contacted Dwid & he told me that the first ten have a blue sleeve]. All previous copies I have seen have the standard white sleeve. Here are my two side by side:

And for no other reason than I like taking photos of records, here's my other copy, which also has a "cool" number:

Only 98 copies to go and then I'll have the full set!

Standoff 7" Test Press

Will anyone except Nate appreciate this one?

About this time of year back in 1993 I went to a small show in Southend on Sea. It was two local bands - Understand and Standoff. I'd seen Understand before, but not Standoff. Understand had a 7" out at this point on Armed With Anger Records, and had toured with Quicksand. Standoff had a song on a UK hardcore 7" compilation, but I hadn't seen them play out. Standoff featured a couple of the guys from Understand, as well as a couple of other ruffians, and played youth crew inspired straight edge hardcore. All I remember of the show was that their singer wore a red jacket throughout the set and seemed twice as big as anyone else in the room, and I was concerned that he might take out his apparent rage on random members of the audience. Oh yeah, I also recall some little kid with a shaved head moshed like a maniac and then did some breakdancing. Overall I was blown away by how hard and fast the band sounded, and like any good hardcore kid, I bought their 7". For those of you who haven't seen it before, this is what it looks like:

I've had this record on grünes vinyl (as the German label, Crucial Response Records calls it) for many years now. But as from today I can go one better, since I now own a test press of it too:

I wonder if any members of the band even own one?

Finally, seeing as most of you won't have heard this record, I thought I would upload it for your listening pleasure. I figure nobody will mind. Here you go:

Standoff 7"

Enjoy!

This World... REJECTED!

The first email I ever sent, back in 1995, was to Initial Records. This was back when email was some new thing, and email addresses were sequences of numbers. I remember someone else I used to know had an address which was something stupid like '11875987532474@compuserve.com'. Utter nonsense. The probability of actually getting the address correct and emailing the right person seemed slim. Anyway, I launched myself into this new world of technology to find out about records. Back then, Initial Records was a cool young label with a few releases in its catalog, and I wanted to ask the dude who ran the label, Andy Rich, what cool pressings he had that I could get. As it turned out, Andy was a cool guy who was happy to send me pretty much every pressing of every record he had put out up to that point. I then carried on buying everything he released until a few years ago when the label just fizzled out and died. I saw the band COLISEUM play a couple of years back, and asked Ryan Patterson if he knew what happened to Andy Rich, and he told me that he ended up moving to Las Vegas to work in a casino. As Initial would have said... Krazy!

One of my favourite Initial releases was the THIS WORLD REJECTED 7". This came on three colours of vinyl. The rarest was baby blue vinyl in a limited sleeve numbered out of 100. Even though I've had this record for about 13 years (holy shit!), I just picked up another one on ebay to replace mine, since the sleeve had deteriorated slightly. Here's the one that arrived today:

I bid on one of these on ebay a few months ago and it sold for way more than I expected. I think it went for like $55 or so. But this one that I won a couple of weeks ago I got for $1.50. Stoked!

If you have never heard this record and want to check it out, I have uploaded it for your amusement:

THIS WORLD REJECTED 7"

Mates Rates

I got this stuff over a week ago, but hadn't found time to take photos & update this thing, let alone listen to any of the records. I'm spending too much time at work and the gym at the moment. I hate winter and I hate December. Cold and dark. My policy is to get out of the house as much as possible to save money on heating!

Anyway, once again I sourced some records from a friend within the UK, thus avoiding the crippling US dollar exchange rate. And once again, I look at the records I have bought and realise that there's only one of these records that I didn't own already. It's pretty funny how I hate spending money on stuff in 'real life', but this does not apply to records. I mean, I have a pair of shoes for work, and I think to myself "I have a pair of shoes, so clearly buying a second pair would be a pointless waste of money". Yet for some reason the same logic does not apply to buying records. I'll buy multiple versions of the same record, and play none of them, and somehow this seems ok. I wonder if anyone other than a fellow collector would understand this? Probably not.

So anyway, on to the haul. I'm dealing with these in alphabetical order. First, a couple of split 7"s... the A-Team / R'N'R split on blue (the only record in the batch I didn't previously own), and the Blacklisted / First Blood split. You will notice that one of these has a really, really shit cover:

Did you spot which has the shit cover? Yes you did, because it's both of them, so you can't have got it wrong. Well done! Next up is a pair of 7"s that make me think of the Livewire board, since people from both bands are regular posters there. Get Down 7" on pink and The First Step 7" on red:

Next up we have the Get Real 7" on blue, which is one of my favourite 7"s of the post-2000 era, and the posi numbers press (on green, numbered out of 100) of the Iron Boots 7":

Internal Affairs demo 7". This version is numbered out of 50, and came with 'Wise Up' fanzine issue 3. I have a spare copy of this zine & 7" package if anyone wants it:

Next, two further versions of the same Internal Affairs demo 7", one on clear vinyl with a white cover, and one on black with a Unit Pride sleeve:

Next, another Internal Affairs 7". This is, I think, the record release show sleeve (numbered out of 100) of the Malfunction 7". Also pictured is the Living Hell 7" on A389 Records, which is also numbered out of 100:

Here are the numbers:

Now, a couple of posi numbers pressings. A Mental 7" made for posi numbers 2003, and a One Up 7" made for posi numbers 2004. The One Up sleeve is without doubt the gayest record cover of all time (I now have a spare copy if anyone is interested):

Once again, I took a photo of the numbers:

A Panic 7" on split blue & yellow vinyl. God knows why it has taken me so long to pick one of these up. I bought this when it came out and got the (much rarer) green vinyl version, but I liked the 7" so much that I decided I wanted the more common version shown here. This must have been like 6 or 7 years ago (can I REALLY be that long? Jesus!) and I've only just got this. I haven't listened to this for ages. I put it on my ipod & have been listening to it a lot this past week. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, I love this 7".

And finally, an LP. The Loud And Clear LP. This is the first press on red, put out by euro label Powered Records. This is one of my recent favourites. I only started listening to it a few weeks ago in the gym, and it's now a gym regular. Sounds like Youth Of Today to me, and is perfect soundtrack to squats.

This now concludes today's broadcast. Thank you for listening.

Nervous Breakdown

Another Black Flag colour vinyl repress for the collection. I was only planning to collect the LPs, but I found this on ebay uk pretty cheap and decided I should pick it up. Nervous Breakdown 7" on SST Records on red vinyl. Probably 1000 made minimum. Interestingly, the original first pressing of this record would probably cost about 100 times what this version cost me, although it would only be on black vinyl and would therefore suck... haha!