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

Harkonen

In the fall of 2002, I was working at a small record store. Every once in a while myself and some of the employees would put together an order from Lumberjack Distro for ourselves (there wasn’t a lot of demand for that kind of stuff in southern West Virginia at the time)  and this is how I got my hands on some of the more awesome early 21st century releases. One of my friends/co-workers suggested I check out Harkonen – a band I had not even remotely heard of at that time – one day while looking over the latest distro catalog. So, with the next order we made I put myself down for a CD copy of ‘Shake Harder Boy’ and, once it came in and I got the chance to listen to it, I immediately fell in love. Now, almost 10 years later, the fine folks at Brutal Panda have given me something I had feared I’d never get to see; ‘Shake Harder Boy’ on vinyl.

 

If you haven’t heard Harkonen, you really need to get into it. Terms like ‘post-hardcore’ get thrown around a lot, but it works here. Just crushing stuff all around. The vinyl itself delivers those crushing riffs and looks damn good to boot. Brutal Panda kept the total press run really low with this one; only 300 total. 100 of them on clear, 200 on ‘ocean blue.’

We discussed the pre-order for this record HERE and, of this posting, there were still some of the ocean blue left. So if you haven’t already picked one up you ABSOLUTELY need to. It’s easily one of the absolute best albums of the 21 st century and this initial vinyl release of the album is awesome; with a full color packaging and sturdy vinyl you absolutely will not be disappointed.

Harkonen – “Shake Harder Boy” pre-order

Brutal Panda Records has stepped to the plate and is finally giving this criminally underrated album a long overdue vinyl release. Easily one of the best albums of the 2000’s (at least in my opinion) this is a release that has been a long time coming.

It’s a very limited release, only 300 total pressed. The first 100 on clear are already sold out, so, if you’re wanting to pick this up you better hurry. They pressed the remaining 200 on ‘Ocean Blue.’ So get moving and pick this monster up right now.

BUY IT HERE

Trap Them

We covered the news that Deathwish had put up this record last Friday. Today, the copy I ordered showed up. And it looks awesome.

One thing I really like about this release is the way they went with a basic black and white color scheme for the artwork. I know the original release artwork was mostly b&w but it did have some color. It didn’t look bad at all, but for me this black and white scheme just works better for some reason.

Inside that sleeve we find the record itself (on a pretty sturdy clear vinyl) and a simple black and white inner page for liner notes, etc. I continue to be a big fan of these kind of simple and to the point packages.

Sorry the images of the vinyl itself are a little grainy. I shot them in an area with absolutely NO natural light so they didn’t turn out as well as I hoped. But you get the idea I think. Anyway, this is an awesome package from an excellent band and tremendous label. If you like heavy music and vinyl you need to make this a part of your collection ASAP.

Atmosphere

Album – The Family Sign

Artist – Atmosphere

Purchased From – Fifth Element

Atmosphere, through good and bad, have always been one of my favorite rap groups. It was strange when they developed such a huge following to the point where every scene of people was listening to them. Especially after being the darling of the indie rap scene for so long. Through all the years of their evolution I think they might have now reached to where the standard definition of rap no longer fits them. Gone are break beats, battle raps, and any form of conventional production. All of these time tested rap traditions have given way to group instrumentation, brash – isolating production and conceptual rhymes. Not that this is Slug’s first foray into the story telling or conceptual rhymes but this record is almost completely that style of rhyme. This (though I’m not sure if I’d be satisfied if the change was permanent) is one of their best…..this is another example of raps evolution.

Now I got to make one clear point when talking about this album and that’s this is the only record where I hear flaws in Slugs lyrics. There are very few examples of bad rhymes on here but when you hear them, they are jarring. There are also some really bad lyrical transitions and tonal connections, things that Slug has always been brilliant at. Overall he rips it though, but those things are noticeable on a couple of tracks. That said, the flow and production/instrumentation of this record is some of the best stuff Atmosphere has ever done. Lots of acoustic and lead guitar work and plenty of piano and bass too. An emotional wreck of an album when the whole thing is finished and it’s washed over you due to it’s immensely personal feel. Musically this album feels super connected and cohesive. For sure their best effort on that level.

Now on to the packaging. Clear vinyl….sounds like shit as with most of the clear I’ve heard lately. The sleeve is a frame that holds whatever silver embossed inserts you choose. This is the pre-order version so it is signed by Slug. Came with a digital download so that’s as should be. I really wish the vinyl sounded better. Hopefully after a cleaning and a few plays it may start to.

Ryan Adams ‘Gold’ Lost Highway 10th Anniversary

Album – Gold

Artist – Ryan Adams

Purchased From – Elusive Disc

Lost Highway Records, one of the best labels of the last decade or so, is celebrating its 10 year anniversary in 2011 by releasing some of the best albums they’ve released over that decade on limited (1,000 of each pressed) clear vinyl as a thank you to fans. First up, the album that arguably put Lost Highway on the map; Ryan Adams second release ‘Gold.’

We’ve already covered Gold here once before and there’s not much different going on here compared to what Nick talked about; still a double 12″ and still a non-gatefold packaging (my biggest pet peeve with records; double albums in non-gatefolds.) And, like that release, this one has the bonus tracks that were only available on the 2 disc CD release from 2001 (which I have…somewhere in my mountain of CDs.)

While I’m happy to finally have this record on vinyl (it’s one of my all time favorites) I’m a bit disappointed that Lost Highway didn’t do something more with the release. If  it’s a special shout out to the fans for 10 years of support then give us something different, or at the very least give us a gatefold with expanded artwork…something to make it standout from previous releases other than pressing it on clear vinyl.

Employer, Employee

Album – Discography
Artist – Employer, Employee
Purchased From – Robotic Empire

I’ve been waiting  a long time for this record to be put out. I bought this bands 7″ on Relapse Records eons ago and was super excited to hear a discography was being pressed. Employer, Employee were a combination of Metal, Grind, Punk and Hardcore. They were super fun and equally as brutal. The art work was handled by Aaron Turner of Hydrahead fame. This record is a pressing of 300 on clear vinyl. At the time of this post over half of the records were still available at Robotic Empires web store. Hopefully Magic Bullet can get on the ball and get out the Jesuit discography, who were another amazing band from this era. Hints of that project have been seen at this link.