Taylor Swift – Red 2xLP Part Deux

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Another fuckin’ post about Taylor fuckin’ Swift! Hey man, you knew what you were getting into when reading this blog. It’s not like my unhealthy obsession with T-Swizzle is any secret. Ha!

Anyways.

Going back to the original post about her RED record, I mentioned that it was a sorely missed opportunity that the record has not been pressed on red vinyl. It would have made great sense given not only the title but also how much Swift was going on and on and on about the importance of the title and the color red. Well hell. It seems that someone somewhere realized that screw-up and went ahead and did press it on red vinyl. BUT. Not before making it difficult to get.

You see, right now it’s awards season. At least when it comes to country music. So the American Country Music Awards are in high gear right now accepting and taking in votes for their awards show later this month. The exact date escapes me right now. So prior to that, they usually send out to whomever makes up their “panel” (I use that loosely because I honestly have no idea how it exactly works with them when it comes to awards decisions and votes) any and all promotional items to be for their consideration. This usually means new versions and editions of album releases with new write-ups geared towards swaying their vote. You could say that it could be considered variants and special editions of releases, but they’re normally CD releases.

Well. With Taylor Swift‘s RED, they seem to have gotten savvy and pressed the album on red vinyl and sent that out to the panel members. And of course a few of those members got smart and dumped their copies on eBay. Of course. Where else?

A few  started showing up out of the blue and thanks to a fellow record nerd and Swift addict, I got given the headsup on them and one seller in specific that had the best deal. So of course without a second thought I swooped on it.

First, the album was sent out in an oversized LP mailer box more fitting for a box set. It was adorned with a nice sticker boasting a bold statement about Swift. (Signed RED CD was not included. No one needs to know my damn address)

Inside, the record was packed in bubble-wrap and in a “sleeve” presenting the accolades of past to sway the voter to choose Swift for the awards.

The jacket itself is exactly the same as the regular version with the exception that the barcode on the back has been stricken-through with a sharpie as any promo-only releases would have been. Anyone who has ever worked in a music store and radio station will know what I’m talking about whenever any promo CDs and releases were received. This was and still is the norm.

How ’bout that? Red vinyl for a record titled RED. Now THAT makes sense and fits along with any and all grand master plan Swift may have.

And it’s heavyweight vinyl too. So that makes it mo’ better.

That’s it.

It’s red. As it should have been right out of the gate.

 

YOUWRETCH – Sympathy of Wolves LP

Going back to the earlier post on being a fan and supporter of certain labels, this record falls squarely in that place. I’ve been really into all the records and bands that Forward! Records have been putting out. First it started with Pity Sex and their Dark World EP. From there I also checked out Procession and Radiator Hospital. I exchanged a few emails with the label and they were always courteous and appreciative of the support. In a recent newsletter, they posted about YOUWRETCH. Forward! was going to be doing the vinyl and their album, Sympathy of Wolves was already streaming online. It would appeal to fans to doom, sludge, black metal, and crust. OK. I enjoy a few of those styles, so why not? I checked them out and was immediately hooked. And pre-ordered the LP of course.

As has become typical with Forward!, the first 100 pressed are on color vinyl. For YOUWRETCH, they did white vinyl. Works perfectly with the black and barren silkscreened fold-over cover art.

To give you an idea of what this band is all about, here’s the post I did for the other music site I write for:

Hailing from the birthplace of the Purple one, YOUWRETCH are Minneapolis’ bastard children of all things doom and gloom and quite possibly grind. Their music is abrasive and harsh. Blame it on the harsh winters of the area, YOUWRETCH deliver a brand of heavy music that doesn’t make its mind up. It’s fast, heavy, noisy, and even a melody or two find their way into the spastic assault of the senses. And one thing that is clear with the band’s full-length Sympathy of Wolves is that they are not afraid to experiment and mix things up. The ambient-like break in “Cobblestone & Smoke” is a welcomed respite to the brutality and powerviolence that preceded the track. And the aural destruction that follows it.

YOUWRETCH formed in 2010 and by the sound of a few of their recordings, they sound like seasoned veterans well-ingrained in their own style and approach to heavy music. My exposure to the band was by simple coincidence. 

They will appeal to any metalhead and hardcore punk kid who has branched out in also digging doom, gloom, black metal, and powerviolence.

 Check out their Bandcamp stream below and if you need to order this LP, as you should, click here.

Breather Resist – The Second Half 7″

I was initially going to post some long-winded entry about how lazy I’ve been in posting about new records. And I have been beyond lazy. Maybe even uninspired. I’ve had some great records come in and re-discovered a few in my collection, but nothing to get me off my ass to write. So this will be a somewhat conscious effort to do something.

It’s no secret that I am big supporter of certain labels and whatever music they release. Regardless if I have never heard of the band, if they’re on a particular favorite label, I will more than likely end up buying it. And surely enjoying it to no end. The case was always 100% for certain with Initial Records. I’ve shed plenty of tears over them when the label closed its doors. But their discography was and still is unbeatable. It helped that I lived in Louisville, KY when they were in operation and I was able to get plenty of all that they put out. But I also missed a few things in the dark years when I was more concerned with partying and being in college than buying and listening to records.

So because of that I have been searching to fill in some of the gaps in my Initial Records collection. But I’ve been a bit passive aggressive about it. Not really making it a priority but when the opportunity does cross my path, then I go for it. And it happened this past week with Coliseum announcing that they’d be putting a vault sale of rare and out of print records from not only themselves but also any bands they’re associated with, past and present. So going down then list we had a few Coliseum test presses and out of print early releases. OK. A couple of Lords and Young Widows rarities. Cool. And then we had some Breather Resist. Interested. Even better, they had the Breather Resist 7″ done by Initial Records. Both colors and a test press. Easy no-brainer purchase.

So luckily I was able to secure the Breather Resist The Second Half 7″ on green, clear, and the test press.

The entire run was limited to 1,000 on the two colors. I am not 100% sure on what the breakdown between the two colors within the 1,000 is. The green is numbered #4 out of 1,000.

     

The clear is numbered 666 of 1,000.

     

And the test press is 1 of 6. Simple test press of course.

This is very much-welcomed addition to the Initial Records collection. Not to mention that it’s a killer 7″ with two great tracks.

And added enticement for the vault sale, which is still going on by the way (click here), is that 25% of the sales from all Coliseum Vault items will go to benefit the ongoing care and medical bills of Callum Robbins, the son of Coliseum producer and friend J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines, Office Of Future Plans) who was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). So that is also an enticement and reason to help out and also get some great records.

And oh yeah. They threw in a rejected test press of the Coliseum True Quiet 7″ that was released on Deathwish Inc. That was  nice touch.

Now I can say that I have a Deathwish Inc. test press in my collection. Hurrah!

If you’re a record nerd with any Initial Records releases I may not have and you’re willing to sell or trade, hit me up. We can work something out. Hollah!

CONVERGE – All We Love We Leave Behind 2xLP

Awwwwww yeah!!! Here I am back to regain some of my hardcore punk street cred.

The almighty Converge returned with a new album, All We Love We Leave Behind. To say that this is album is a beast is an understatement. This is Converge at their meanest and rawest and most intense. In the band’s already ongoing 20+ years career, this album is a summation of all things Converge and then some. They have taken everything from before, beaten it into the current sound and style, and come up with a mish-mash that encompasses all the  best they have to give. And it’s fuckin’ glorious!

If you’ve listened to the album by now, then there is no need to “review” or retread what AWLWLB is all about. If you feel inclined though, just mozy on over to the proper review of the album I did on T1F. No, this is more and all about the vinyl. Vinyls. Records. Rekkidz. Yeah.

Waaaaaaaay back in late August, pre-orders for this bad boy dropped on and went live on Deathwish Inc. As expected fanboys and girls clamored for this and ordered with the quickness. Myself included of course. I don’t even remember what the expected release date was at the time. That’s a bit irrelevant by now. All that is widely known is that this pre-order was fraught with delays all thanks to The Beatles. Yes. The Beatles. I have no beef with the Liverpool foursome and their music. I enjoy what they’ve done and I’m cognizant of their influence and contributions to pop and rock music. (If you’re one of those narrow-minded assholes that kept saying “Fuck The Beatles” and bitching and moaning about their music when tied in with the delays faced by a lot of labels and record manufacturing plants, please do me a favor and get fucked. You’re an idiot and more than likely some young 20-something who doesn’t know his/her head from your own ass).

So yeah. The Beatles…or rather, whomever is holding the rights to their music nowadays, decided to release a massive box set of all of their records. Being that it’s a massive catalog and undertaking, this tied up at least two of the major record manufacturing plants in producing it. Which of course affected every other customer/label/band who had records to be made. Including Deathwish Inc. and all the Converge AWLWLB 2xLP.

But all the waiting and inherent bitching and moaning by the aforementioned narrow-minded assholes, was well worth the wait. The 2xLP release of AWLWLB is incredible. How can you beat a foil-stamped gatefold jacket and full-art in the centerfold as well as the insert?!?! You can’t!

     

The foil-stamping made it fun to photograph properly with and without the camera flash and even natural light. So shiny!

And of course as expected, it was off to the races to figured out what colors would be pressed and how limited they’d each be. Speculation ran rampant as soon as the first few orders started being received by all the clamoring fanboys and girls. Right out of the gate, Deathwish Inc. announced that there’d be a three-colorway as usual with their releases. Plus a 180gram Black and also an exclusive Yellow for their Kings Road Merch & Epitaph webstore.

At the time of posting this, the only pressing numbers known are the 180gram Black (1,000) and the KRM Yellow (1,000).

     
     

    

And there is also yet another color, a Red/Orange Swirl that the band currently has on tour in Europe. The exact pressing on that is still up for debate after much discussion and arguments over it. We will know in due time.

So. That’s a total of seven variants including the Black 180gram. And surely if you haven’t kept up the dominant record nerds message boards discussing this release, you’re wondering where that Clear variant came from and what’s it all about. So far it is being speculated that it’s a “friends & family” pressing much like Relapse Records does with their releases (coincidently also on clear vinyl). But if you’ve been a long Converge and Deathwish Inc. fan and supporter, then you know this along the same lines as the Axe to Fall ”shards” and the Jane Doe reissue “peach” variants which were  randomly inserted to the first few orders and also given to long-time friends and supporters of the band and label. And are ridiculously rare and limited.

     

So there you have it.

Converge‘s All We Love We Leave Behind 2xLP. I’m sure that all pressing info will be released soon. And then people can start going nuts over what colors they have and how limited they are and inflate their senses of entitlement even more. Ha! Just kidding.

Taylor Swift – Red 2xLP

By this point it’s no secret that I have an unhealthy obsession with Taylor Swift and her music. It’s a bit inexplicable since I am not a 14-year old girl. Instead, I’m an old and jaded hardcore punk rock metalhead. Weird huh?

So Swift put out a new album this year, Red, and as expected, it decimated all in sales and release week records. Sold a gazillion records already out of the gate and when tour dates were announced and tickets went on sale for next year, those sold out with the quickness as well. And yes, I will be hitting up one of the tour dates here in FloriDUH!

The vinyl version of Red was released a few months after the regular edition. The 16-song tracklisting requires this to be a 2xLP. Nicely done gatefold jacket with the lyrics and images printed on the inside. The vinyl itself is a solid heavyweight. It continues the trend of quality in the release as the Speak Now 2xLP. Only difference is that this sound a lot better.

A great opportunity was completely missed by the label and even Swift herself. This record begged to be pressed on red vinyl. Why wasn’t it? With the amount of importance that Swift made of the color red and how it fits into the theme of the album and its songs, red vinyl would have been a no-brainer for the release.

As for the music itself. Red is further moving along in Swift’s effort to expand her sound and veer away from any trappings of the pop-country she had a foothold on. The new songs are still all pop but a few flirt with indie rock and some more experimentation. There is even a hint of dubstep in there!

Recently, someone asked me why I am so hooked on Swift and her music. It was an easy question to answer: the fact that she writes her own music and lyrics (yes, she has some co-writing credit on some songs), is impressive enough and gets mad respect from me. Her music is catchy as all hell and I’m ok with it being mainstream and Top 40. I may have been weaned on hardcore, punk, and metal, but I still can appreciate and get hooked into a good pop song.

And don’t worry, I’ll regain some of my hardcore punk street cred when I get my hands on the new Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind 2xLp and post about it.

Baroness – Yellow & Green

What more can be said about Baroness that hasn’t already been said? For me, they are one of those bands that are a “no doubt about it, must buy!” in a time when the bulk of my non-vinyl music listening comes from iTunes or a service like Pandora, Spotify or Rdio. Their last 2 full lengths (“Red Album” & “Blue Album”) are absolute heavy music classics that everyone who even remotely likes metal or any kind of heavy music should have in their heavy rotation – be it on CD, digital or vinyl. So, with that kind of track record behind them expectations were high for their latest release, a double behemoth titled “Yellow & Green.”

Continuing their evolution into being something more than just another modern sludge or prog metal band, “Yellow & Green” finds the band playing around with a more “dreamy” (for lack of a better way of putting it) sound scape that, other than the tuning and use of heavy riffs, is something closer to a band like Dredg than some of their heavy contemporaries and that is a a surprisingly good thing. While at times the 18 tracks that comprise this album seem to all be one continuous jam it still manages to hold your attention.

As for the vinyl release  itself, there were a few different variations that the always reliable Relapse Records put out for the fans and the collectors alike.  There’s the absolutely insane Deluxe Hardbound Book version that saw a total of 3000 pressed with 500 Yellow/Green split, 500 on Dark Green, 500 on Orange Cream and 1500 on Opaque Yellow. There’s also the standard double lp gate fold release with 9100 total pressed; the standard 100 on clear that Relapse does for every release (and rarely, if ever, release to the public), 1000 on 180 Gram black, 1000 on Yellow (A & B sides) and Green (C & D sides) and 7000 on standard black. (All pressing info via Discogs)

As is typically the case with Relapse Records vinyl releases this is a fantastically put together release with awesome artwork (done, as usual, by Baroness’s own John Baizley) and the always greatly appreciated gate fold packaging. Combine all that with the fact that Relapse keeps the price of the release to nothing one would call absurdly high it’s absolutely a release you need to look into. It’s still available on the standard black pressing through the Relapse web store so slide over and pick it up today.

Single Mothers – S/T 7″

On one too many occasions I’ve gotten suckered into the hype over a band. Whether it’s from reading incessant posts and gushing from fanboys on message boards like VC or friends who swear by the bands, I get sucked in and most often than not walk away disappointed. Or the hype and novelty wears off and those rose-colored glasses end up coming off.

But every so often…and rarely…a band truly lives up to what I’ve heard and as soon as listen to them, I become a solid fan. Especially after witnessing their live show. Funny how seeing a band live usually confirms and cements the affinity for them. When they’re good of course.

With Single Mothers I am not sure if there was any hype surrounding them per se. May have been simply due to their connection to Touché Amoré who are the darlings lately. Not taking anything away from TA because I dig them a whole lot. Jeremy Bolm of TA started a label, Secret Voice, and the first signing/release is the self-titled 7″ from Ontario’s Single Mothers.

What initially got my attention from Single Mothers was how close their post-hardcore sound was to that of These Arms Are Snakes. Not a carbon-copy or emulation, but more of a kinship in sound and style and feel. It was that same bombastic and spastic frenzied noise. And not to mention some of the most snarky and cynical lyrics I had heard in a while.

The initial offering from the band and Silent Voice is in the form of a 7″: two colors: Yellow (out of 275) and Black (out of 800). All is good. This is a must-buy for fans of the genre.

 

The packaging is simple enough with a folded sleeve with all the pertinent info about the band and release and whatnot.

        

As it turned out, the band played a record release show and of course they were to have special copies of the 7″. I didn’t find out until well after and chalked it up to a loss. I didn’t see the point of posting all over record message boards begging for a copy from anyone willing to sell theirs if they one. But as luck would have it a few weeks ago, a fellow record nerd in Canada posted that he had one up for grabs. With the quickness I messaged him and after completing the deal and the mail taking forever to show up, I had my hands on the record release version.

I was already sold on this band but seeing them live when they recently played here in South Florida a couple of week ago…man…that is what truly did it. Single Mothers is a band that has to be witnessed performing live. Their shows are complete trainwrecks (in a great way) of insanity and fun.

If you’re still plenty curious about Single Mothers and want to get more insight into their self-titled 7″…check out the review I did for them over at The 1st Five. Then go out and get your hands on this 7″.

Or not. Doesn’t matter.

 

Torche – Harmonicraft

Torche are one of those bands that just gets better and better as time goes on. With their latest release, “Harmonicraft”, the boys from Miami have not only produced their most accessible album to date (at least in terms of potentially widening their listening base of fans) but probably their best album since their classic self titled debut and my personal Album of the Year (so far.)

For their first release on Volcom Entertainment , the Torche gang goes all out on the vinyl release; pressed on clear vinyl, with a gatefold sleeve and a bonus slipmat for your turntable and, of course, the “instant digital download” the label and band put together a great package that comes in at a really good price ($19.99) when you consider the overall quality of the vinyl this is pressed on and the packaging itself. Nothing cheap about this release.

Not sure what the pressing details on this one are but it looks like the band bucked the trend of releasing multiple variants on different colors of vinyl and is keeping it in one color with a large pressing number so that everyone and anyone who wants this beast on vinyl doesn’t get stuck paying some ridiculous secondary market price for the privilege. As someone who finds flippers to be one of the worst parts of the vinyl market this is something I can get behind. Yeah, it’s nice to score that really rare variant if that’s your thing and you really like a band/collect a bands entire catalog (including every possible variant.) But if you’re someone who doesn’t give a damn about all that and just wants to listen to good music without paying a ridiculous premium for it then this is a fantastic development that hopefully more and more of the well known bands on small labels can get behind.

If you haven’t already you really do need to buy this record. If you haven’t heard any of it, here’s a taste; the video for Kicking

Pity Sex – Dark World EP 12″

One of the few perks of writing for music sites and zines is the plethora of free music I come across for reviews and promos. Not that I get a lot of free music but I do get to check out plenty of new bands and records. I do my best to spread the word on bands and albums I end up digging but even bands I’m not keen on, I still give them a bit of “press”. I mean, if they’re taking the time and effort to create music and art, why not give the bands a bit of a break? Especially if they took the time to contact me and send me stuff to check out.

 One of the bands that I recently got the opportunity to check out is Pity Sex. They’re from Ann Arbor, MI and I came across them when we got news that they had signed to Run For Cover Records. When I say “we” in this instance, I am referring to the other music site I write for. Pity Sex play a style of lo-fi pop that is peppered throughout with noise and fuzzed-out guitar tones. The bio describes them as being akin to Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and Hum. Some pretty heavyweight comparisons there…and they are spot-on!

 

Upon listening to their Bandcamp page, I was hooked right away. Since for the past few months I’ve been listening to more and more non-hardcore bands and music, Pity Sex appealed to my palate. The band has put out two EPs so far, one of which, Dark World, was pressed by Forward! Records. I did not hesitate Googling the label and finding the site to order the EP. I have no idea how long pre-orders had been up, but the first 100 copies of the EP were to be pressed on White vinyl. But that later changed to Creamy Pink. I hoped that I got my order in quick and early enough to snag the color.

And sure enough, I did.

The record overall is great. Simple packaging and jacket. The vinyl is not completely heavyweight but there is some heft to it. And it definitely is a Creamy Pink. With a bit of marbling throughout. The only thing that has me a bit peeved is the lack of insert. But that’s OK. I’d rather have the music and sound speak for itself more than anything else. And for the price paid…$12 (which I assume included shipping because I wasn’t charged anything additional)…is very well worth it.

Pity Sex are a new pleasure to listen to. If you dig good music, then check them out.

White Zombie – La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 LP Reissue

I can still remember the first time I had heard White Zombie. Much like every regular budding metalhead back in the late 80′s and early 90′s, it was all about what was being played on Headbangers Ball. So it was when they premiered…I think they did…the video for “Thunder Kiss ’65″. I had never heard of the band at all and as soon as the video played and the music was blasting, I was hooked. It wasn’t the typical Metal I was used to and definitely was completely different from the Hardcore and Punk I was in the midst of back then. The next day I rushed to the local record store…it may have been a Record Town (I think it was called that)…and bought the La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 CD. From the booklet to the music to the obscure movie references and samples throughout, I was enthralled in this band and became life-long fan. Still am.

For no specific reason(s) I never picked up the vinyl version of the album. Nowadays it fetches some big money on the ol’ eBay. You know, that glow-in-the-dark version of the record. I think that’s the first and original pressing of it. Thankfully the record has been reissued by Music On Vinyl who are well-known for high quality releases…as well as being pricey since they’re imports for us here in the U.S. A single LP can usually run from the $30+ range. But it’s worth it from what I have seen and heard with this reissue of La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1.

Limited to 1,000 numbered copies, it’s on a clear with white smoke color…which has been joked to be “cum-color” since it does look like that. It’s a decent heavyweight vinyl and sounds just phenomenal.

The reissue is very well-done. The artwork pops. The insert is great. The vinyl is nice and heavy. And overall it sounds great. If you’re a fan of the band as I am, this is definitely well worth it as I already mentioned.

Later this month on the 25th, MOV are also reissuing Astro-Creep: 2000, White Zombie‘s 1995 follow-up. That one is supposed to be on a translucent green and also limited to 1,000 copies. This will technically be the second reissue of the record as back in 2007 a repress was done for Hot Topic stores. That reissued was on clear with red splatter and came in a clear sleeve. No jacket.

More human than human…indeed…