Road Trip! Part II (The LPs)

My last post was about my road trip to the south coast. I picked up a lot of stuff and spent a lot of money. So to continue with that theme, here are the LPs I came away with...

First up, an LP by Abhinanda. I never liked this band on principle. I saw them play with 108 in 1995 and they interrupted 108's set to hold a pillow fight. That would usually be alright in the context of rock n roll, but in this instance I found it annoying because the venue only had about ten people there and it pretty much caused 108 to abandon playing. Disrespectful in my opinion. So I never listened to Abhinanda after this. But a couple of years ago I asked Pete from Bane what he had been listening to, and he surprised me by saying Abhinanda. So I figured I would trust his judgement and maybe give them a chance.

The next one I bought just for the vinyl itself. The Acrid / Left For Dead saw-shaped thing. Like some kind of retard, I never actually heard this before, but I know it's gonna rock hard... but even if it doesn't, I'm gonna want to keep this just because it looks cool:

This may sound funny to the me of 1994, but I was totally stoked to pick up the second Bob Tilton LP. I didn't like this band when they were about, but after they broke up I got into them. Never heard the second LP though, and this copy is in mint condition:

Next, a Cro-mags LP. Not in great condition, but it was cheap.

As I mentioned in the previous post about 7"s, I decided to check out Econochrist for the first time. Here's another record of theirs I grabbed:

This next one is an album that I remember flicking past & not being interested in many times in the early 90s - the second Face Value LP. I passed on it simply because I thought the cover sucked. I figure its now time to give it a chance.

This next one is interesting. A Fire Party LP. I never heard Fire Party, but I would say that on the whole I have been a latecomer to some of the later Dischord releases, so figured I would give this band a chance.

Dude also had a test press of the same Fire Party LP, so I figured I might as well pick that up too:

Next is the first Lifetime LP. This is one of the only New Age releases from the 90s that I never owned, which was mainly due to the fact that it was never pressed on colour vinyl. I just figured I needed to pick it up to fill a whole in my New Age collection.

I used to love The Metroschifter. I own all their records. I own two versions of their first LP. In fact, that's not true - I now own three versions. This is the Conversion Records re-press that came out in the mid-late 90s. Again, one that I passed on when it came out, but I would now like to add it to the collection for the sake of completeness.

Here's an interesting one. The Starkweather 'Into The Wire' LP on pink. I have to say, I like pink records. Not sure what that says about me to be honest. Anyway, pink is second press. First press was purple, which I got from the label back when it came out. I added this album to my ipod recently and enjoyed listening to it again for the first time in a long time.

I also picked up a copy of the Supertouch LP. Previously, the only version I had of this was a test press. So I thought it was only right that I also add a regular version to my collection. I would also like to point out that this was the most difficult record to photograph of any record ever, because of the black and super glossy cover.

Next, a white vinyl copy of the Up Front 'Spirit' LP. I used to own this years ago but traded it away. It's cool to get it back, although I am disappointed that the inner sleeve on this copy has been repaired using sticky tape. Damnit. Oh well, it was cheap I suppose...

At this point I would just like to make a statement - I don't like Warzone. Or War Zone (I have never been sure which is most correct - does it have a space or not? Juding from the records, the band themselves could never make their mind up). I maybe like two songs, the rest I'm just not into. I did, however, always WANT to like Warzone. Something about them tells me I should like them even though I don't. Anyway, considering I don't like them, its funny that I bought three of their albums. The first one:

The second one:

And some sketchy one on Victory where they do covers of Antidote and Youth Of Today:

And finally, a record that I chose to not buy when it came out because I thought it was pointless - the Anti Matter comp:

Clearly I was an idiot to never buy this. It contains the best Supertouch song of all time.

Well there you go. That's Part 2 done with. Next up is (surprisingly) Part 3, which is the items that I picked up that I already own...

Road Trip! Part I (The 7"s)

A couple of weeks ago I won two 7"s from a UK seller on eBay. Nothing too exciting, just a couple of things that were going cheap. But when trying to sort out payment, the seller let slip that he had about 700 other records to sell, and asked if I had a want list I could send over. So I sent the want list. A few minutes later I got a reply to say he had about 10 things. A few emails then flew back and forth. Turns out this guy knows someone I know and used to buy a lot of stuff back in the mid 90s. I figured he must have some interesting bits in his collection, but unfortunately he didn't have a list and wasn't about to make one just for me. So I asked if I could go round to his house to look through the collection. He agreed, and we set it up for weekend. I have to admit, I was pretty excited in the preceding couple of days. I mean, its been a LONG time since I've been round to someone's house to check out (and raid) their collection. But I figured it would make a nice change to flick through a pile of records rather than look down a list of text on the computer. So when Saturday came I drove about 75 miles to a small town on the south coast of England, then spent a couple of hours going through this dude's collection. I came home with quite a lot of records, but without a big pile of money that I unfortunately had to leave behind. I'm going to cover this by making 3 separate entries in the blog, since it would be too much to detail all in one go. Today, the 7"s that I bought for myself...

First up, the two 7"s that I won on eBay. A green Down By Law 7" (since I've been listening to them again recently after a break of several years), and a boot of the Last Rights 7" (since the original is kinda expensive these days, so I figure this is a cool enough substitute for now):

Next, a 7 Seconds 7" on Positive Force records on clear, which is actually my first 7 Seconds record:

Next, the Alone In A Crowd 7" second press. I have the first press. I don't think I've ever seen this second press before. The cover is crap and made of thin paper, the labels are rubbish and the insert is whack. God knows why everything was changed for the second press. What were they thinking?

Next up, a couple of Apartment 213 split 7"s that are probably crap (I can't remember what Apartment 213 sounds like to be honest, I haven't listened to their 7" for probably ten years now):

A couple of common, easy to get pressings here from the 97 era. Nothing exciting. Just versions I don't already have of records that I do already have.

I was excited about these next two, even though they are nothing to look at... the Avail 7"s. I used to own these bu t traded them away years ago:

I was also excited about this one - the Brotherhood 7" with the red cover. I have three other versions of this one. This was the one I was missing that has proved the hardest to come by:

Also, I picked up a weird version of the second Chain Of Strength 7". This one has a photocopied sleeve and small, photocopied insert. No idea what the crack is with this one, but this marks the 8th different version I now own of this record.

A couple of Chamberlain 7"s. After not having listened to this band in ages, I span their second LP last week, inspired by the impending Burning Fight show. It reminded me that I like this band, even in the later country rock years. These 7"s are on some pseudo major label:

Next, a variation of an early Hydrahead 7" that I used to have but sold, the Corrin 7" on clear. Also pictured is the Deathwish Kids demo 7" with screened print on the back of the one sided record:

Next, a pair of Econochrist 7"s. I never listened to this band in my life before. But something made me think I should check them out about 17 years after I first heard of them:

I'm stoked to get this one back... The first Four Walls Falling 7". Again, I used to have this but traded it away ten or eleven years ago for god knows what. I thought they all had a numbered dust sleeve though, which this one lacks. Next to it is a Get Up Kids & Braid split tour 7" which I also never owned despite the fact that I used to like the Get Up Kids when this came out & that I went to see them on this tour:

These next ones I'm not stoked on, but I just thought that I should own. A pair of Gorilla Biscuits boots... although the Flex one isn't technically a boot. I've never heard either of these before. I'm not overly arsed. Just picked them up because they were cheap really.

The first Grade 7". I used to rock this band a lot back in 97-99 era, but I never owned this before.

Another one I used to own but sold or traded away - The Icemen 7". This one is on red. I used to own it on black so this is a nice upgrade. I must say, The Icemen 7" annoys me for its lack of insert. Next to it is a yellow vinyl Infest 7". This is just some reissue, but I don't fancy paying hundreds of dollars for a colour first press, so this is good enough for me.

Next, the Insted 7" on red (which I never owned before, I have gold), next to a Jazz June 7". Probably the first time Insted & The Jazz June have been seen together I imagine.

The original first press of the Life's Blood 7" on Combined Effort, which has been on my want list for ages, next to some Sheer Terror 7" with a crap cover:

A pair of Overcast 7"s that aren't particularly interesting, but I was listening to their LP a few weeks ago & I kinda like it:

I'm stoked on this next pair.. Rancor first 7" on green, but with a red cover (the green is supposed to come with a green cover). And next to it, my favourite 7"s of the haul, the Sub Zero 7" on blue. This one has been on my want list since 1996 or maybe even before, so I'm stoked to finally have it:

Next up, the most expensive 7" of the lot, the Unity 7" on Wishingwell Records. Never owned this one before. I'm slightly disappointed though that this copy doesn't have an insert. I'm not sure if its supposed to have an insert or not, but I'm assuming it is. I'd be grateful if anyone out there who has one could do me a photocopy of theirs. Get in touch. Also pictured is the original pressing of the Youth Defense League 'American Pride' 7" on blue. I only wanted this because they were on the 'NY Hardcore The Way It Is' LP. Been after it for years. I'm sure its crap though.

Finally, some 7" comps. The Rebuilding 7" with purple & grey sleeve (again, used to own it but got rid of it), and the 'Lacking Mindset' 7", which I mainly wanted because it features Unbroken.

And finally, the Super J Records double live 7". This features some Doghouse bands (Endpoint, Transcend, Majority Of One etc.) from about 1991. Its not the best comp in the world, but I picked this up because its on clear and I only have it on black:

So there you go. Not a bad haul for a Saturday afternoon eh? Coming next time, the LPs...

The Prodigal Son Brings Death

The latest release from Youngblood Records is a 7" by Mind Eraser entitled 'The Prodigal Son Brings Death' 7". The pre-orders went up for this in early December, and the demand was so high that the Youngblood online store got taken down later the same day. Unfortunately, I missed out on the first press colours. Given that I have nearly every version of every YB release, I was pretty disappointed. Oh well. It's just a matter of time before I pick them up on eBay I guess. Anyway, last week I discovered that the second press is now available, so I bagged myself one. 354 on red vinyl:

There are 10 songs on this 7". There's also the most useless lyric sheet in the world. Well, I assume it's a lyric sheet. I can't actually tell, since it's pretty much illegible. Check it:

This band destroys. I heard they were touring Europe his summer. I can't find anything about it on the internet, but I hope its true.

Never Give In!

Recently it has seemed like there have been a lot of opportunities to pick things up that I have been after for a long time. For the most part, this is cool, although there is a downside - which is that, unfortunately, these things aren't free. Every time I find some cool records, even if they are going at a reasonable price, I still have to pay for them. And whilst I love records, I hate spending money. So when Dave Byrd posted up his whole trade list for sale recently, I saw a great opportunity to pick up some things that have been on my want list for way too long... although I did worry that I was probably going to miss my monthly savings target. Oh well... there's always next month!

Avail are a band that I always liked, but whose records I never bought (well, that's not strictly true, I used to have their 7"s and the live 10", but I traded them away in the years of the Revelation trade board and I never got around to getting them back). Recently, as part of my "get everything I have on vinyl onto my ipod" challenge, I downloaded the first Avail LP and have been listening to it a lot for the first time in a LONG time. And it made me want to get the other records too. So I was took the opportunity to pick up most of their output in one go:

Next, another goddamn copy of that Blacklisted record. I think that clear vinyl is my favourite colour though, all things considered.

This next one is my favourite of the lot. American Nightmare 'The Sun Isn't Getting Any Brighter' 7" on orange:

There were only 100 of these made, back in (I think) 2001, and it has been on my want list ever since. I have missed out on this on eBay several times, mainly due to the price continually going up and me never quite being prepared to pay what it would take. I figured it was time to put that right.

Next, the A-Team 'Clusterfuck' 7" on orange. Not a lot to say about this one.

Crippled Youth 7" on clear. Again, it's been on the wants list for a long time. Too long.Four Walls Falling 7" on mint green. I have it on clear green. I didn't know the mint green existed until I saw it in a friend's collection in 2005. It's been on the want list since. No more.

My Luck 'Is Frozen' 7" on purple. I ordered this record when it came out & got sent orange. Purple is the rarest colour, which I have had on my want list for years.

Time Flies first 7" on clear. This is the first press on InVAsion Records. Again, this has been on my want list forever. Probably for about 9 or 10 years. Another one that I have missed several times on eBay.

I really like this next one. Wheelbite 7" on Malfunction Records. This is a limited version with the 'Wheeljungen' cover:

The back cover says that there are 46 copies. And it's numbered in the top right cover. Interestingly, the number is stamped using a stamp with 6 digits. My guess is that they set the first three digits to 666 and then numbered from 1 to 46 using the last two digits. If this assumption is correct then it looks like I have number 001. Can anyone confirm this?

I've seen this on eBay before, but never knew that the cover is printed on the flip side of a Barfight 7" sleeve:

There's also a cool insert explaining the cover:

Finally, Dave was kind enough to throw in something extra, which was a nice surprise. The Set To Explode 7", on red vinyl with silver labels. There were only 50 with silver labels (the rest of the press had red labels).

There was also a cool personal message on the dust sleeve:

And inside were some lyrics penned on a piece of note paper. I asked what this was, and it turns out to be the sheet that Dave used to sing from when the 7" was recorded, so a nice little piece of history related to this record.

Overall I'm stoked with this stuff, and glad to reduce my wants list for a change. Not often that happens these days.