USA Trip, Part 6 - Los Angeles (Part 1)

After leaving DC, we headed to the West Coast for a long weekend in Los Angeles. Once again I had lined up an opportunity to pick up some records in person to save shipping. This had fallen into place only a couple of weeks before we flew out, by coincidence. I had received a message through Discogs from someone who was asking if I would part with a record from my collection. I didn't want to let that particular record go, but it was pretty obvious from the discogs username that I was dealing with someone whose band I have always been big a fan of (Gameface), I took the opportunity to ask if he happened to have any spare copies of any records that I was missing. The answer was both yes and no. No, he didn't have any Gameface records that I needed. Not many people do. But he did have some rare copies of some of his solo releases, none of which I owned, but all of which I was interested in. So we talked a little and agreed a price... and then I asked if I could maybe pick them up when I was in LA in a couple of weeks' time. At the time I suggested this it seemed like a sensible option... although, with hindsight, I probably didn't really appreciate quite how big LA is, nor how difficult a place it can be to get around it. And there was also no way that I could have known that by the time I got to LA I would already be carrying 54 records about my person. If I'd have known all of these things in advance, then perhaps I wouldn't have spent the time to go and pick up yet more records when I could have been laying on the beach. But hey, at least it's a cool story. Kind of.

So on the afternoon of the first day that we were in LA we hopped on the metro and traveled up to the Chinese Theatre to meet up with Jeff Caudill for 5 minutes or so to collect the records. Jeff bought along the records I had agreed to buy in a jiffy envelope, and I made sure to get a souvenir photo as evidence of the deal.

This probably sounds like the dumbest thing, but when Jeff appeared seemingly out of thin air, I felt slightly unprepared and got straight to business. We chatted briefly for a couple of minutes, and then we parted company to carry on our respective days. But afterwards I felt like a fool for not at least telling him how much I enjoy his music. I don't want to sound like a fanboy or something, but I think it's important to be positive and kind to people. So I regret missing that opportunity. I wish I'd at least mentioned that the time Gameface played in my hometown of Leeds in 2000, it was pretty much the most excited I have ever been about any show ever. Or I could have mentioned how the time Gameface played in Leeds a couple of years later and the venue cut the power and he played 'Mercury Dimes' acoustically was one of my favourite show endings ever. Basically I missed the opportunity to thank the guy for making great tunes that I have brightened my life for over 20 years. Instead I was just some sketchy fool who bought some records from him on a street. Ha!

Anyway, on to the records. Here's the rundown of what was in the jiffy bag...

First, the 'Reset The Sun' 12". This was released last year. There were 150 on this orange and yellow vinyl, and 350 on black. I think this was a RSD 2017 release, but I'm not entirely sure on that.

I also got a test press of this 12" too.

Interestingly, the label is a split release between Fortunate Son and Revelation... and although there is a Rev logo on the back of the sleeve, this doesn't have a Rev catalog number. I'm assuming that Rev probably helped arrange the pressing and distribute it, but I'm just guessing.

This next 7" is ridiculously limited. This is a two song, lathe cut 7". As with most lathe cut records, not many were made. There were only 25 copies made in total, and it's hand numbered on the label.

Unlike most lathe cut 7"s, however, this is super high quality. It has grooves that run all the way to the centre label, and it has proper printed labels. If it didn't say it was lathe cut, I don't think it would be possible to tell. Great job.

Next is another lathe cut record, but this time a 10". There were 50 copies total, and they were made for RSD 2018 and sold in only one shop - Limited To One in NYC. I remember seeing this announced and feeling bummed thinking that I would never get one.

I got a pretty apt number too, #48/50.

Next I picked up both colours of the 7" that Revelation released last year as a benefit for the family of Jon Bunch. It contains two songs - a Sensefield cover, and a Black Sabbath cover.

It's kinda funny how things work sometimes. But the Black Sabbath cover is 'Wishing Well', which appears on the 'Heaven And Hell' album. What's funny is that I had never heard 'Heaven And Hell' before in my life until about three days before. Coincidentallly, it was playing in Joint Custody when I was there. I didn't know that at the time, of course, but I heard someone ask what was playing, and made a mental note to download 'Heaven And Hell' when I got home. So yeah, another funny coincidence.

I also picked up a test press of the Your Favorite Trainwreck / Communication Redlight split 7". Remember in my second Philly post I picked up a regular copy and said I didn't know it existed until a couple of weeks before I flew out? Well, I only knew it existed because Jeff offered me this test press... which also comes on glow in the dark vinyl.

And finally, a record that Jeff was selling on discogs and I decided to grab because I've been on a Lifetime kick the last couple of months. And because pink is the best colour vinyl.

So that was that. Another day, another deal. Except the day wasn't quite done yet. After making this street deal, we went to meet up with Tru and ended up having a pretty crazy Friday night adventure...

USA Trip, Part 5 - Washington D.C.

After leaving Philadelphia we headed further south to Washington D.C. I hadn't been overly excited about visiting DC before we booked the trip, but the more I looked into it, the more interesting it seemed. In the end it was probably my favourite city because there was so much to see, and so many big spaces (of which I am a huge fan). We spent three days there and filled each day with great sights and people.

Day 2 started with rain and a trip to the Smithsonian, after which we hooked up with fellow blogger and record nerd Chris. A little after meeting Chris, we hooked up Dave & Geert and went to the Dischord House where we took this photo:

The rest of the afternoon we spent doing tourist stuff. Aside from a little rain, it was a really great day. Then before Dave left he gave me a record that he was supposed to give me in Philly but forgot - the Disengage 'Expressions' LP on white. This originally came out in 2012 and there were only 120 on white. I was holding out for a white one, so I guess it took 6 years before one came along at the right price.

After parting company with Dave & Geert, we headed up to Joint Custody Records. I've bought stuff from this place on discogs, so was keen to check it out in real life.

Once again, the boxes of 7"s proved more interesting than the LPs, and I managed to find a few things that caught my eye...

First, the Angel Du$t 'Stay' 7" on clear Photobooth Records. There were 200 of these. This copy replaces the one that I lost in my vanishing box a couple of years back.

The next is the Blacklisted 'So, You Are A Magician?' 7" on clear purple. I couldn't help but wonder whether Dave had perhaps dropped this here by magic for me to find?

I couldn't resist this red vinyl copy of the Edgewise 'Silent Rage' 7". I think this is a tour pressing although I'm not 100% sure.

Next, Endpoint 'Idiots' 7" on Doghouse on clear. This has been on my want list for an insane amount of time. I would always forget which colour I had and which I needed. When I stumbled upon this I checked my list to make sure I didn't get it wrong and was able to finally cross it off once and for all.

It's rare that I add older Integrity records to the collection, but I was missing the split with Mayday on red. This leaves only one version of this one that I am missing - the purple.

This next one is an interesting one for sure - a limited cover version of the Peace 7" on React! It's numbered out of 40 copies on the back and, according to discogs, was made for RSD and sold at Celebrated Summer Records in Baltimore.

Red Death 'Detterence' 7" on Lockin' Out on red. You can't really go wrong with Lockin' Out releases.

Another small hole in my Malfucntion Records collection - the second press of the Right On 'No Joke' EP on on pretty pink:

And one from the bargain box - a first press of the R'N'R 'I've Had It b/w/ Your Rules' 7":

And finally, the Lee Harvey Oswald sleeve version of the Striking Distance 7". Technically the most common cover, yet somehow I didn't have it.

So as had become routine, after the 7"s I went on to the LPs, feeling I couldn't really be bothered.

I didn't really find anything, but Chris found a sealed Praise 'Leave Them All Behind' 12" release show edition. Given that I didn't get around to picking this record up at all yet, I figured this was as good a copy as any to grab, and it seemed like the right location to pick it up from.

I didn't find anything else. But the one thing I had kinda hoped to pick up in the store was a blue vinyl copy of the Protester 'Hide From Reality' LP. The copy in the rack was sealed, so I asked the dude working (who just so happened to be the drummer in the band) whether if a record int he rack did not say a colour on the sticker, whether it was definitely black. He asked what record in particular I was referring to. When I mentioned that I had hoped to find a colour Protester LP, he told me that he had one gold copy left in the back, and went to get it. A couple of minutes later he emerged with it, and when I asked how much he wanted for it he replied with the regular store price. So obviously I had to take it.

What's cool about this is that the gold is the most limited colour, being out of 85 copies. Apparently 100 were pressed but 15 were intentionally destroyed. These were only for sale at Joint Custody on RSD 2017 I think. One copy has sold on discogs for $120, so I guess I was pretty lucky with this one.

Once again I managed to negotiate a discount for buying a bunch of stuff in one go. So I got this cool haul of records for a really, really great price. This helped me to stretch my record budget just that bit further. But again, after getting back to the hotel I then realised that the downside of my negotiating skills was that this haul added another 10 7"s and 3 LPs to my holiday collection, bringing the total haul to 56 records (38 7"s and 18 12"s). My lack of a suitcase strategy started to annoy me, but it dawned on me that if things got too bad I could just throw my clothes in the bin to make some more room.

Next stop, Los Angeles...

USA Trip, Part 4 - Philly (Day 2)

After the Saturday trip to Double Decker, Sunday was all about seeing Philly. All I knew was that I wanted to see the Rocky steps and Love Park. Anything else would be a bonus...

Well, inevitably we also ended up checking out a couple of record shops. The first, Long In The Tooth, was disappointing. The 7"s were the least organised of any place I have ever been. There was literally no order to them whatsoever. They were not organised by genre, or alphabetised or anything. It was hard work, and yielded no results for me. So then we went to Sit & Spin - a place I had heard of thanks to instagram, as they often seem to post cool stuff.

With the knowledge I had gained from Double Decker, this time I decided to save my time and ignore the LPs, so went straight to the 7"s. Thankfully there were only 26 boxes to look through!

As you would probably expect, ni 26 boxes I managed to find some hidden gems. And, just like Double Decker, most of the things I was interested in were $2-4 in price, making them impossible to say no to.

First up, a couple more 7"s by The Damage Done. I kinda got into collecting these this year after Kyle sent me a test press of their final release. The first is the 'Never Wash Away' 7" on clear blue:

The second is a white vinyl copy of the final 7" on Rivalry Records, the 'City Of Hope' 7". What makes this copy interesting is that it has the silver labels. This was a pressing plant mistake. The entire first pressing of this record was a total car crash, and out of the 817 copies pressed, less than 100 got out into circulation. So a nice little find.

Next is this weird copy of The First Step 'Demo 2001' 7" on Livewire. Id never seen this version before, and had to look it up to make sure it was legit.

Not easy to see in this photo, but in the bottom right of the back cover it says 'ltd second press' and is numbered out of 100 copies.

What's weird is that the first press limited colour was this baby blue vinyl and the second press red vinyl. So this second press on blue just confused me. But it does appear to be on other peoples' collection lists, so it clearly exists and isn't a mixed up copy. Which is good.

Next one that pretty much nobody will give a shit about - a Naked Angels 7"! This is a tour press of the 'Intent To Kill' 7" on Doghouse Records numbered out of only 50 copies. I didn't even know this existed, so it was cool to grab one for uber cheap.

I've seen Mike post a lot of One Up 7"s recently. If it wasn't for his post a few weeks ago, which made me check which of their records I owned, I would have been convinced that I already owned this Posi Numbers version of their second 7". But I didn't. And now I do.

I'd also pretty much forgotten that I missed out on the first press clear vinyl pressing of the Red Hare 'Lexicon Mist' 7", until I had a copy in my hands.

And another Dischord 7", a brown vinyl repress of the Teen Idles 'Anniversary' 7". I missed this when it came out. I checked Discogs and it reckons that this was pressed in 2011. Is that really possible? It seems like about two years ago.

And finally, a 7" I didn't even know existed until about a week before I flew out to the States. This is a split 7" between Your Favorite Trainwreck and Communication Redlight. I bought this because I bought the LP by Your Favorite Trainwreck back in 2012 and really enjoyed it - it's a band with both Popeye from Farside and Jeff from Gameface. I never knew they released anything other than that LP, until a week before I flew out (for reasons that will later become clear). So finding this glow in the dark vinyl 7" felt a little like destiny.

So that was the haul from Sit & Spin. I didn't buy as much as I did in Double Decker, but I really enjoyed flipping through the boxes. I did also flip through the LPs too but, just like the previous two shops, there wasn't much there. And after 26 boxes of 7"s, I was well and truly fed up of looking at records.

After Sit & Spin time was running out. We went to Love Park and then had to leave. But the day wasn't over yet...

Before my trip, I had spotted some LPs on discogs all being sold by Dave from Six Feet Under Records. We agreed a price, and then the question of shipping arose. Knowing I was heading over to the States, I asked where he lived and it seemed it would be possible to meet up and get the records in person. Once again, I saw the opportunity to save shipping and eliminate the risk of shipping, although I obviously wasn't thinking about having to haul these things around America for the next two weeks. Oops!

This one was literally hot off the press. The inserts weren't even ready. But the covers are really, really nice.

This is the 'blood in the water' colour vinyl, out of 307 copies.

I was also lucky enough to grab one of the leftover United Blood copies for a reasonable price. There were 100 of these on clear vinyl with this badass shark cover:

I had said previously that I wouldn't buy any more discohgraphies, but these were hard to resist. Maybe I'll change my mind in a couple of years, but for now these are cool.

The rest of the records I had arranged to collect were all Paint It Black LPs. And the record I was most excited about was the release show version of the second LP, 'Paradise'. I've had this on the want list for a while. I love the simplicity of the cover, but given there were only 25 copies, it was never going to be an easy one to acquire. The annoying thing is the crease in the bottom right, which wasn't there when I was given it, but which happened as a result of me transporting it in my suitcase like an idiot.

I also picked up the pre-order version. This one is on the same light green opaque vinyl, in a screen printed sleeve which is numbered on the inside in silver ink. It's pretty rad.

And a third version, which is a tour pressing on a darker green vinyl. This one is also numbered on the inside of the sleeve, although this time out of 203 copies.

I also picked up two copies of their 3rd LP. I didn't own a single copy of this record, so I decided to scoop two different cool versions. Firstly, the friends pressing, which comes on a blue/green swirl. There were only 120 of these.

And the second copy is a blue vinyl second press copy of in a tour sleeve, out of 250 copies:

So another successful day of record shopping, although at the end of the day when I had to pack my case I realised that I had now given myself a big problem. I'd picked up 27 7"s and 11 LPs in two days in Philly, plus I still had the 4 LPs and 7" from the previous days in Boston & Brooklyn. And I still had another two weeks to go...