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.

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

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.

Isis Live Volume VI

It’s ISIS. Really what more can I say? They are one of those bands that you either hate or unquestionably love.  The ongoing Live series (undeterred by that whole ‘they broke up in 2010’ thing) captures the band at their absolute best and Volume 6 might be the best of the bunch. Recorded in November of 2007,  it is a collection of some of their absolute best material highlighted by the opening track; an absolutely brutal version of “Hive Destruction.” It is an album that can be listened to in the car and still melt your speakers, but I highly recommend you listen to it with headphones. Cliche as it sounds, listening to it like that really adds something to the album.

The vinyl release of this sold out fast (as is usually the case with Isis vinyl releases, live or otherwise) but you can still grab it via iTunes. Or you can search eBay and pay only slightly above retail (at least at the time of this posting) for the vinyl version.

The release itself comes in grey packaging with letter pressing all around. The sleeve, the insert all simple and to the point with a very nice overall look. The records themselves are pressed on some heavy duty feeling vinyl and overall it’s a really well put together release that was well worth the $20 Hydra Head had it priced at when it went up on the website.

I believe it was released on just black, grey and clear. No idea what the pressing numbers are (as is usually the case with Hydra Head releases.) The copy I picked up is on grey but to me it’s more a light grey/dark grey swirl. Whatever, this particular color is the nicest of the bunch because it ties into the rest of the packaging so well. And, as we’ve discussed, the most important part of the package – the music cut into the grooves – is top notch. So it is an overall A+ release and another job well done by the folks at Hydra Head.

Foo Fighters

When we get to the end of the year, and I start discussing with Nick and Juan our favorite records of the year I’m pretty much sure that ‘Wasting Light’ will be at the top of the heap on my list.  So, needless to say, I was pretty happy to pick it up on vinyl recently.

For one reason or another I kept putting off buying this particular record. Yeah, I’d bought the CD…and downloaded the album…and listened to it numerous times in the prior 5 months or so…but for whatever reason I kept putting off buxing it on wax. Luckily I finally stopped messing around and added it to my collection.

The record comes on two heavy duty pieces of wax – it’s honestly one of the most sturdy records I own – in a really nice gatefold packaging. As all three of us (Nick, Juan, and myself) have expressed on more than one occasion, double lps in a single flap jacket sucks. So it’s always nice when a label does it right and gives a double record the proper packaging.

The record also comes with the standard download code and card. What makes this one stand apart is that this particular digital download is ‘specifically cut from the original vinyl recordings.’ Maybe that’s common practice (I really don’t know) but I know that’s the first time I’ve seen it promoted on a download card I’ve gotten with a record. I guess for the real audiophiles that matters.

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.

Sharks Come Cruisin

Every once in a while, a band or a label gets ahold of us  and asks us to check out their band/their release/etc. That’s how I came across Sharks Come Cruisin. From Providence, RI this is a band that delivers some awesome ‘pub rock’ that, if that’s you kinda thing, you absolutely have to check out. To put it a little better, lets let the bands website take over for a second;

“Sharks Come Cruisin’ plays an energetic mix of original and traditional sing-along songs, keeping the themes of audience participation and celebration at the center of their music and live performances. SCC has played several festivals up and down the Eastcoast, from Florida to Maine, and had the opportunity to play with Dropkick Murphys, The Loved Ones (Fat Wreck Chords), and Lemuria (Bridge Nine Records). They have been compared to Flogging Molly, The Pogues, and Against Me!, and have been described as sea shanty punk, Irish punk, and folk punk.”

So, with that outta the way lets get into the record itself shall we?  Pressed on 180 gram wax by the fine folks at Pirate Press, this is a high quality release on some really heavy duty vinyl. The overall packaging (vinyl color & design, packaging, etc) really comes together nicely. When you factor in that the band completely funded this pressing (both the vinyl and CD versions) on their own by raising money through a Kickstarter account you can walk away impressed or at the very least respecting the hell outta their dedication to getting this record pressed in a high quality (and surely expensive) way while not having an ounce of ‘label support’ to offset costs.

I’ve got to say, this is a fine addition to the shelf/turntable. The music itself is great, and the quality of this pressing is top notch. If you’re into some of the bands mentioned above in the intro you really need to add this to your collection. You can do that by going HERE

Chuck Ragan

I haven’t been buying a whole lot of stuff lately, a couple of things here and there if the mood strikes, but a new Chuck Ragan album is always going to be a must buy. As a long time fan of Hot Water Music, I like Chuck’s solo stuff almost by default. Yeah the ‘punk rocker with an acoustic guitar’ thing has spread like wildfire, but Chuck (along with Tim Barry) is one of the absolute best at the style and continues to get better with each release.

This particular album, released via Side One Dummy, finds Chuck at the top of musical game. Front to back it’s probably the most solid release he’s had yet. And the total package of the vinyl is on par with the quality of the release.

There’s a few things of note here, but first the record itself. They put these in a sturdy gatefold that really compliment the record. There were a couple versions of these available on different colored wax, but I went with the ‘off white’ version that No Idea was selling. Nothing against Side One Dummy or any of the other places that were or are selling these, but No Idea Records is one of the most absolute class act labels going right now. So, I always try to support them when I can.

Also inside the gatefold is a poster that acts as the albums liner notes. One side has been designed to look like an old newspaper from the early 20th century and it formats the lyrics and info in columns as if they were stories in a newspaper

The other side features a black and white photo of Chuck and a couple of the musicians who played on the album

Finally, there’s the download card. Now at this point anybody who’s ordered or bought an album has run across this constant item. Generally, you get a slip of paper with a URL and a jumble of letters/numbers to use as your download code, giving you a digital copy of the album for your iPod, laptop, etc.  With “Covering Ground” the download card game has been stepped up with something that is more akin to a gift card, or your ATM card, than the standard fare.

One thing worth noting;  the card that came with my copy of this record is number 4202 out of 5000 (which you can see in the photo above), not sure why they’re numbered like that (except to say that there are apparently 5000 total copies of this record being pressed) but I’m sure, eventually, you’ll see someone put this record on eBay trying to sell it at a premium because their download card is number 2 out of 5000 or some other really low number that someone will convince themselves makes that particular copy MORE worthy of owning than another copy of the record on the same colored wax because it has a number in the 3000’s or something.

Anyway, this is a GREAT album and a GREAT overall package. You can add it to your shelf/turntable by going HERE

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

Samiam

Holy shit! So when Samiam is one of your all time favorite bands and after years of hiatus come back with a full length it’s time for full on emotional breakdown.

As I’ve mentioned on this blog in the past, Samiam were that punk band that transformed the direction of my listening habits. The lyrics and the style of that bands songs just transcended anything I was listening to at the time. Don’t get me wrong, I was almost immediately introduced to other bands in the same emotional realm but Samiam were the band that led me down that path. Soar was fucking earth shattering to me when I heard it and really changed my whole punk rock vocabulary. Growing up, I didn’t know a lot of people who listened to Samiam but the people I did know were usually pretty rad people.

The album is called Trips and I’ve only spun it a couple times but so far I love it. Early word is that most people are really digging it. It doesn’t suffer from the terrible production issues that crippled their last album. The production is tight and clean just like you would expect from any classic Samiam record. I haven’t worked through all the lyrics but these guys usually have at least one song per album that tears me up inside.

I really like the jacket and art on this record. Great layout and color scheme. I got a White (which has some black swirling) vinyl  limited to 300 and still available HERE. There is also a full stream of this album on Samiam‘s website HERE.

I plan on burning this thing up in the near future.