COMING SOON: “I Get Wet” re-release

Has it really been a full decade since Andrew WK appeared (seemingly) out of thin air and rocked our smile covered faces off with his collection of goofy, fun Party Metal? It has indeed and Century Media is going to celebrate that anniversary in style this July.

From Century Media’s website (bolding my own)

A decade ago, pop-metal party icon, ANDREW W.K., released his renowned debut album, I Get Wet. In honor of the album’s 10-year anniversary, ANDREW W.K. has joined forces with CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS for a special re-issue edition to be released on July 17, 2012…I Get Wet features hit songs that helped make ANDREW W.K. the household name that he is today. The album includes party anthems, “Party Hard”, “Party Til You Puke” and “She Is Beautiful”. This special reissue will include not only the full-length original album, but also a second disc featuring a generous helping of never-before-heard live recordings, early demo versions, alternate mixes and other previously unreleased material. There will also be a limited number of autographed deluxe editions each containing a very special “SOMETHING” directly from Andrew’s private collection – including everything from a lock of his hair to a world tour airplane ticket stub. In addition to the special CD release, I Get Wet will also be reissued as a special double gate-fold vinyl LP.

Double wax with a gatefold and (presumably) the goodies listed with the CD re-release? Two words; Hell. Yes.

This upcoming summer just got a whole lot more awesome.

Jon Snodgrass & Friends

 

Drag the River is one of those bands you either love or hate at this point; the people who love them, love them because of the music – or the lyrics – or whatever it is that makes the tunes they produce appeal to their ears. The people who don’t love them hate them because they’re not ALL or one of the old punk bands the members of the band used to be in. But whatever…that’s there prerogative I suppose. I happen to fall on the love side of the equation and that’s why we’re here today.

Jon Snodgrass has one of the most distinct voices of the alt-country/country rock/punk country/whatever you want to call it movement. Personally, I put the distinction of his voice up there with Ben Nichols. Meaning that if you hear a song and he’s singing it you KNOW it’s a Drag The River or Jon Snodgrass solo song, just like you KNOW a song is a Lucero or Ben Nichols solo song.

This particular album, released by Paper+Plastik, features a slew of folks you’ve heard of (the ‘Friends’ part of the title obviously) including Chris Wollard of Hot Water Music fame, and musically is pretty straight ahead stuff. Nothing ground breaking or earth shattering but it is still a very solid release. If you’re into that kind of thing (the punk country, alt-country, whatever you want to call it) I highly recommend you check it out. Plus, it can be had for a song at only $5. The release itself is very straight and simple, but still very well done. No overly ornate or over the top artwork or packaging, but still a very nice looking release. The actual vinyl itself caught me off guard when I took it out of the sleeve the first time; very heavy duty stuff. Like, I’d swear this was a 180 gram release. I don’t recall having any other 7 inches in my collection that are nearly as sturdy as this particular release. So good on you, Paper+Plastik, for getting this pressed on such sturdy vinyl.

Finally, for those of you that are interested, there were 523 of these pressed on this one. 239 on clear, 189 on white and 95 on white/red. If you want to order it head over to the Paper+Plastik webstore and snag one, but you better hurry – they’re down to just the clear ones as of this posting.

Public Awareness: Ryan Rado Of Ill Patriot On Tourette’s, OCD And The Quest For Peace Of Mind.

This is a non-vinyl related post but still crucial and something that I need to bring to people’s attention. I originally posted it on the other music site I write for (The 1st Five) but I figured that the word needs to be spread as much as possible.

The name Ryan Rado may not be familiar to most people. He probably isn’t well known outside of the very small and inter-connected hardcore community. Especially the hardcore scene in Nashville, TN. He was the lead vocalist for Ill Patriot and currently sings for Worker. He was also involved with bands like As Cities Burn, Jonezetta, Life In Your Way, and a handful of others. But you still may not know the guy personally, but you probably are very well aware of his plight and what he is going through.

You see, at the age of six, Rado was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Surely something that is not easy to fully comprehend for a six-year old. Rado is now 33 years of age and has been struggling with TS and OCD and making attempts at getting a handle on his situation. We all know someone, a friend, relative, friend of a friend, in a similar (or even the exact same) situation as Ryan. A mutual friend of Ryan and us here at The 1st Five (and They Still Press Vinyl), brought him and his condition to our attention. To say that his story touched us would be an understatement. Rado is searching for alternative ways to get a handle on his condition that veers outside of the norm of prescription medications. Medications that more often than not change a person in such ways that they become someone else due to their effect.

We here at The 1st Five (and They Still Press Vinyl) are all about helping people and spreading good vibes. As well as exposing you to new music. This is not a plea for money or even pity. Just spreading the word on Ryan, his search for peace in his life and awareness of these illnesses that affect so many but so few encounter or are fully aware of.

Check out the video trailer (link below as it’s not letting me embed it for some reason) to get an introduction to Ryan and also his blog in which he will document his “quest for peace of mind”. If you feel inclined to assist financially, awesome. But in the least we ask that you offer support and send a lot of positive vibes and thoughts his way.

Video: http://vimeo.com/23539383

Ryan Rado’s Blog: Figuring It Out

Trap Them ‘Seance Prime: The Complete Recordings’ now available

I can’t speak for Juan or Nick but me? I’m a BIG fan of these guys. So, I quickly snapped this up as soon as I saw the word that it was up at the Deathwish e-store.

If you you want to get your hands on this beast hit up the link quick; there’s only a thousand in this pressing (300 clear, 700 white.) but I assume if there’s a big enough demand and this sells out DW might continue their trend of repressing stuff on black (ala what they’ve done with some of the Converge stuff recently) so that nobody is left out (or presumably is forced to pay secondary market prices I suppose.)

Anyway, here’s the details via the Deathwish website;

“Seance Prime: The Complete Recordings” 12″LP combines all of their pre “Seizures In Barren Praise” material (the “Seance Prime” CDEP and material from their split 7″EP with Extreme Noise Terror) into one brutal 12″LP release. All of the material has been remastered by guitarist Brian Izzi and the release also features reworked packaging from designer Ryan Patterson (Coliseum, etc.)

The “Seance Prime” sessions were recorded by longtime Trap Them engineer Kurt Ballou (Converge) at his now infamous Godcity Studios. This release in its original form put Trap Them on the map with listeners and critics worldwide as one of the most interesting heavy bands out there today. Songs like “Day 13: The Protest Hour” and “Day 14: Pulse Mavens” are a tornado of D-Beat hooks, frantic bursts of speed, and earth shaking dirges. Erasing the line between metal and punk with every unpredictable twist and turn. All of it dizzying and awe inducing, already deserving to stand among the elite of the extreme metal and hardcore genre.

Hydra Head Record Store Day pre-orders

I was just checking out the Hydra Head blog and found this bit of news that might interest some of you. They are offering ALL of their Record Store Day releases via their website as limited pre-orders. The logic behind this seems pretty simple; Sure it’s Record STORE Day and the point is to actually go and support your favorite indie store. But some might not have that option, so they have come up with this idea and at least some of their fans can get a hold of these records. Even if they don’t have a store in their area or a store in their area that will have these releases.

If your’e interested you can check these pre-orders out by heading to the Hydra Shop by hitting THIS LINK

And the winner is…

Our latest contest to win a copy of the new Most Precious Blood album ended on Saturday night, so first of all thank you to all of you who entered. But only one of you can win. So, with no further delay, we’d like to congratulate our winner; Joseph Curtis.

Congrats, Joseph. As soon as you get your mailing address back to us we’ll work on getting that record into your hands as quickly as possible.

Thanks again to all who entered and stay tuned for Contest Number 4 coming sometime soon.

The Twilight Singers

Album – Dynamite Steps

Artist – The Twilight Singers

Purchased From – Sub Pop

I love the Twilight Singers, Afghan Whigs, Greg Dulli, ect. This is the record we’ve been waiting for. The last Twilight Singers album was kind of out of step for me but this one seems like it might be back where they need to be. Nice combination of rock and the feeling of theater.

This is one of those things I saw on youtube a while back and i’ve always wanted to share.

REMINDER: Contest Number 3 ends 2 weeks from today

If you haven’t already entered yet, you’ve got 2 weeks until we draw a winner for the black/white marble copy of Most Precious Bloods latest release “Do Not Resuscitate.” Hit the link below for details, rules and how to enter.

WIN FREE MUSIC, CLICK HERE

Ortofon OM 10 Super

I hated the stock cartridge that came with my Music Hall USB 1 Turntable and after a few months I started noticing some distortion on acoustic recordings. I’d been wanting to replace the stock cartridge from day one but I hadn’t so the distortion and some spare cash gave me the kick in the ass I needed to get a nicer set up.  I really didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg since this isn’t the highest of quality turntables. I knew of the Ortofon OM 10 Super from discussions on hi-fi forums. I knew that it was one of the best sub $100 cartridges money could buy. I asked Needle Doctor via email for their advice and they suggest the exact thing I was thinking.

This thing was super easy to set up. It seriously took like five minutes. The first thing I tried it out on was the Ben Nichols LP that I got recently. It was the record that I had initially experienced the distortion on with the old cartridge. I found out that the distortion was in the recording to some degree. The distortion was less but still there on S’s of some vocals, not nearly as bad though. The second record I played was Ryan Adams – 29. If you want to show off a turntables dynamic range, this is the record to play. The song Night Birds in particular is haunting and has all kinds of stuff to pick up.

Overall this cartridge sounds phenomenal! It destroys the stock Audio Technica that came with my turntable.If you want a sub $100 cartridge this is the one to buy.

Against Me!

Artist – Against Me

Album – ‘High Pressure Low” b/w “Strip Mall Parking Lots” acoustic

Purchased From – No Idea Records

One of those records I took a flyer on one day while ordering some stuff, so, I didn’t expect much. I ended up being pleasently surprsed by the 2 songs here and even more pleasently surprised that there was a copy of the Against Me acoustic EP thrown into the package for good measure.

This one is pressed on pink and has a die cut, removable center hole (hadn’t seen that one before.) Not 100% clear on the number pressed on this color but all the info I’ve gotten says it was limited to 400.