Record Store Day 2

November the 23rd in the U.S is Black Friday and our lucky friends from across the pond have themselves a mini record store day with some exclusive releases issued. This year I got involved...sort of. This could be a long one...

So this little haul of vinyl started early Friday morning at 1am. I'd seen that Banquet Records has some of the Black Friday releases in and they would go on sale in the small hours. Luckily I'm something of a night owl and this sort of time doesn't put me off, so I waited up and swooped for the one record I was interested in. Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E

See back in 1997 I LOVED this record and whilst I haven't been able to stomach anything the band has done since, I still think this is a superb album, so when I heard it was being pressed on vinyl for the first time I knew I wanted to get it.

Pressed as a double LP on gatefold the packaging is actually pretty poor. The images seem to have just been blown up from the CD inlay and theres a printing mistake in that some of the thanks list is printed twice. Obviously a rushed job as this seems to have gone unnoticed. I've since learnt that these Incubus albums are getting a standard press in 2013, had i of known this I'd have probably waited. The Black Friday version is limited to 3000 I think of which I have number 1918. It's good to listen to this album on vinyl and I still think it's an interesting listen but man the packaging let's it down.

 

Anyway, the reason I didn't mind staying up till 1am was that I wasn't going to work the next day anyway, me and the Mrs where in fact venturing to Birmingham for the weekend for a weekend of booze, food, fun and....records, yeah you know I had record store motives in mind for the trip.
I'd been meaning to visit Ignite Records for ages and just hadn't ventured to Birmingham in that time, so I was looking forward to it greatly.
On entering I was immediately greeted by the owner Rich who also runs Speedowax Records. Rich set about quickly figuring out what sort of stuff I was into so he could make some recommendations. In fact in talking to Rich it turned out he'd read this blog via Marcus' blog which was pretty cool.

This was the first thing I picked up from Rich. Hardside - Time Is Punishment. Rich noticed me look at it and said he'd put it on for me if I wanted. On listening to it in the store it sounded pretty good so I grabbed it.

 

Good brutal stuff on Green vinyl released by 6131 records. The cover is damn cool too.

 

 

I've spoken before about how in record stores rather than buying on the net I quite often buy records I wouldn't normally be seeking out because It's in front of me and I tend to get a little punch drunk in the store. So LP wise I next picked up this.

 

 

Machine Head - Burn My Eyes. Here's another album albeit in 1994 here that I used to love. Albums like this ushered in a new breed of metal back then and this album was and is a terrific slab of thrash infused ferocity.

 

Nothing this band has done since has interested me in the slightest, they might be back to being meeetttaaaaallllllll now but their band wagon jumping nu-metal and rap-metal days were repulsive to say the least. Tracks like Davidian and Old are still cool though. In fact in a similar vein Rich had a copy of Chaos AD by Sepultura that I wished I'd picked up now too.

So Rich being a true vinyl pusher of course didn't let me leave the store only picking up two LP's he also pushed some 7"s on to me from his own Speedowax label. Glad he did though.

Let me start with this, Black Shapes - In The Mourning Light. Sweet Jesus YESSS!! This band seriously rip, I like this record a hell of a lot. It's the new band of the singer from November Coming Fire and sounds like Converge meets Hot Damn era Every Time I Die with some Refused vocal moments in places. It's bloody good stuff this. Electric Blue vinyl. Not sure of pressing details. Check it out!

Next Collision - Tiebreaker. Melodic Hardcore here in the style of Saves The Day and bands of that ilk. I really like this too, good catchy hook and melodies with some great chants and singalongs. Rich gave me a two cover version, the cover on the left being the pre-order version. Also contains the two pressings of the record on yellow and black. This double pack is numbered 6/25.

Weight Of The World - No Promised Land. Again a double pack of records on thick purple and black vinyl. Numbered 18/25. This is good hardcore stuff in the style of Trapped Under Ice and Expire

 Next two Rich threw in for free.

 

A split release between Douglas and Deathbed. Two pretty different bands of course. Douglas are UK stalwarts and play pop-punk. Deathbed on the other hand are fierce straight edge hardcore from Atlanta. Good stuff.

 

Snake Road - Severed. Quite a weird one this, I'm totally unsure about this band. Screamy shouted vocals in the style of Snapcase or someone but the music is kinda riffy twiddly rock and roll.Not sure it quite hits home for me but I'll give it some more spins.

So that concluded my Ignite leg of the day, Great record store and Rich is a true gent. It's always good to speak even briefly to a kindred spirit and someone with a similar taste in music. I'll defo be back sooner rather than later I think.

Anyway on leaving Ignite we ventured into Birminghams big shopping centre The Bull Ring. As well as picking up Krispy Creme doughnuts I ventured for the first time in a LONG time into HMV just for the hell of it, and wouldn't you know, they only had a vinyl section!! When did this happen? I think purely from the shock I picked this up.

Helmet - Meantime. This is the 2012 Back On Black reissue.

Nice looking gatefold packaging on 180 gram red vinyl.

Did this album really come out in 1992? 20 years ago? Time flys

Sir Admiral Rotting

Two records that I picked up recently here that are nothing alike in musical style but they share a common bond in that I'd to varying degrees been after both for a while.

First up, Rotting Out and their debut LP Street Prowl

I'd been after this record for ages but it just seemed to keep eluding me, every time a distro got it in I'd think 'cool, I'll grab that in a couple of days' and by the time I came back to pick it up it had all sold out. Finally I was in the right time at the right place to pick this up from Go The Distance.

Why are all the dudes in the band sporting their own merch? Who are they Iron Maiden? haha
Anyway I dig this record alot. Great paced modern hardcore that whilst nothing especially new holds up well against the other current hardcore heavyweights out there. This band should be more well known than they are.

This is the second press of the album and comes with this insert of a decent sized poster backed with the lyrics.

It comes on this glorious red with black marbling vinyl, which really changes shade when held up to the light. Good looking vinyl.

Next -

 

The wacky named Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell - Don't Hear It...Fear It. Ever since I picked up the Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats LP on a whim a few months ago I've been on the look out for something similar as I really love that record. I saw this on a couple of blogs and also on the Rise Above Records website the same label that released the Uncle Acid LP so thought it might satisfy the dirty garage rock itch that I've developed, so I made a mental note to check this out.

 



I promptly forgot all about this record of course so when I saw it staring back at me in a record shop a few weeks ago I took a blind leap of faith and picked it up. Funny story here, after I picked this record up in the store about 10 seconds later a couple came in and it quickly became apparent from their not so hushed whispers that this was the record they had come in to buy, after frantically looking for a second copy and following me down the vinyl rack they left empty handed...score!

This record is of course beautifully packaged just like the Uncle Acid one, that Rise Above sure do a nice job with their presentation. Gate fold sleeve this time and on ace thick (I presume 180 gram) green vinyl. Not sure of pressing info but I would guess this is of 500. This is a good listen too, I've only had a few listens and whilst it's not as immediate as the Uncle Acid album and doesn't quite grab me in the same way, this is good stuff that is a slightly different beast. I think with more listens I'll find more in it as it's got that sort of layered spacey sound.