The ship has finally sunk

So my copy of Sinking Ships last ever release turned up yesterday, Out Of Touch. It was mailed on the 16th September and only just arrived! They made these to sell at Sound and Fury '08 but the Gold version didn't turn up in time so they only sold the Blue version.



Anyway, it's not super rare and is limited 250. These are all over Ebay at the moment, I just need to get a copy of the Blue version now.

I wish I could of seen Sinking Ships just one more time before they split up. I saw in a tiny venue that got destroyed when they came on the stage. For some reason I never picked up either of the euro tour versions they had. I bought a tshirt limited to 40 they printed themselves in a garage.

Two more versions of Hammer Bros - II came in the post on the same day too, that I won on Ebay. I had won two Hammer Bros records from a seller on ebay and was outbid on the other two rare pressings he was selling. So I message him asking him to let me know if the buyer doesn't pay let me know. A week later he message me saying the guy hasn't paid so he gave me the 2nd Chance Offer!



I was so happy to finally get this version of the release. Its a friends press limited to 15 and has been silkscreened, also hand numbered. So I couldn't wait to find out what number I was getting.



I got number 1!

The other version I got was the Yellow Side By Side rip-off cover, which is also limited to 15. The vinly is a clear Blue and its a real deep Blue. I love clear vinyl especially Red and Green, it looks so much more classy than splatter and marble.



I read online somewhere, probably the B9 Board, that the band don't even listen to Side By Side and had nothing to do with the design of the cover. There are 2 other colours of the cover that I also need to get, Green and Blue.

www.myspace.com/sinkingships
www.myspace.com/hammerbros
www.myspace.com/fnsrecords
www.fnsrecords.com
www.myspace.com/welfarerecords
http://www.welfarerecords.net

Get Outta Town

On Saturday I finally got some records that I have been waiting to put in my collection for along time now. I'm so stoked to have them in my hands now, its been worth the wait.

The story how I got these records..I ordered a copy of their Split EP with Haunted Life [with the last show cover] from Enemyink, that were leftover from their last show. A long story short the order didn't arrive, got sent back twice to Enemyink for some reason. I got into contact with Charles from Make or Break, also runs Get Outta Town Records. He said he would sort the problem out for me as he uses Enemyink for Get Outta Town Records merch/webstore. I ended up buying a bunch of Get Outta Town records from him, that he had laying around and wanted to get rid of to clear out.

Make or Break have to be one of my top 5 bands and the only band I insist on collecting all their tshirts and records.

For their last show they made 5 different colour covers for their split 7" with Haunted Life and there hand numbered out of 66. Ever since this show I've been waiting to get all 5 copies of this record.

Make or Break - Last Show 2 The Secret of Ooze



Orange cover - 10/66
Light blue cover - 19/66
Pink cover - 28/66
Dark blue cover - 31/66
Green cover - 50/66

Another record I got was The Geeks - Everytime We Fall LP on Green out of 250. I already have the test press for this which my brother got me for Christmas, so a step closer to completing my Geeks collection.



I also grabbed the Kill Your Idols box set, for $10 I couldn't say no. The box set includes five 7"s, a 6.5" x 6.5" two color screened poster, a pin, a patch and a sticker. Hopefully get a chance over the weekend to listen to the whole set.





Charles also threw in a demo 7" from one of his other bands, he played in, On The Outside. I haven't heard much of their stuff before but what I had heard I really liked and I didn't own any of their records until now. So super stoked to get this, its a pressing out of 250 on clear green.



www.getouttatownrecords.com
www.myspace.com/makeorbreakhc
www.myspace.com/thexgeeks
www.myspace.com/killyouridols

Break Down The Walls!

I don't know how I have gone so long without a copy of this record in my collection. It should be mandatory for every hardcore kid who collects records. But I guess its not ebay gold and their not the most super-hyped band on all the messageboards.

Anyway I now have a copy of Youth of Today - Break Down The Walls, which will be on continuous rotation, on the record player,for along time.



I'm not a 100% on what the pressing info is, I'm guessing its either a 3rd press as the last copyright on the artwork is 1997. Maybe someone who knows their stuff could let me know.

Hammer time

Hammer Bros are a band I've been listening to few awhile now and are alot heavier than what I would usually be into. But for some reason I just can't stop listening to them. They're a band from Massachusetts, which is a place I love and this state seems to be putting out some of the best bands in hardcore past and present.

These are my two recent pickups.. nothing super rare:



Hammer Bros - S/T [Black with Gold labels]



Hammer Bros - II [Yellow /100]

I haven't been collecting much of their vinyl, apart from a few I picked up at Ieperfest this year and a record release verison of their newest LP that I've had for awhile now.

I got outbid on 2 of their 7"s a few months ago on ebay and since then I gave up. Well recently 4 of their 7"s showed up on ebay and I got lucky on all 4, kinda. I got outbid on the 2 rarest of the 4 and won the other 2 for a few dollars each. I noticed the same person won the other 2 that I needed, so I sent the seller a message saying if the bidder didn't pay for them to let me know and I'll buy them. Well last week he sent me a message saying the guy never paid. So he sent me the 2nd chance offers!

They should be coming in the post within the next week, or so.

www.myspace.com/hammerbros

Not a record

I love collecting zines. It's not just reading the interviews or reviews that I find so fascinating. I see them as a piece of art, that you know a huge amount of effort has gone into producing it. Someone has spent hours on end cutting and sticking, looking for that perfect image for the front cover. Or going through pages and pages of newspapers looking for that letter, to cut out, to complete a title. I love deconstructing the hierarchy on each page, looking at the actual layout that has been used on each page.

They feel so much more personal and real compared to someone who has thrown a bunch of shit together in photoshop, that they found on google in 5 seconds.

Anyway I saw a copy of the Go It Alone zine called 'Closure' that Mark Palm, the singer, made and sold at their last show. I ended up getting it for £1.50 with no other bids, so I was happy.



It's full of pages and pages of photographs from 2002-2007, there aren't many photos from the earlier years I guess because cameras weren't as popular back then. Each photo has credit to the photographer, the date the photo was taken and usually the location. There a few stories also explaining whats going on in some of the photographs and general stories from various tours etc.

It's more than music

I ordered all 4 colours of the Have Heart demo repress, from Bottled Up records. This is about the millionth time it has been repressed. Anyway the black version is hand numbered and I got number 50/100. I would of took a picture but my camera can't focus that close. I had number 49 too, but gave it to my brother. For some reason I liked number 50 better. The pressing info is as follows:

Have Heart - 2003 [Black /hand numbered /100]
Have Heart - 2003 [Clear purple /145]
Have Heart - 2003 [Solid orange /177]
Have Heart - 2003 [Solid purple /234]

Jeff also put two copies of his Start Today zine, for free, numbers 5 and 6! I only got a picture of number 6 as my brother took number 5. I read the zine straight away and its an awesome read. The interviews aren't your boring run of the mill questions that you see in every other zine. They seem so much personal and to the point and get a real insight into the bands. Also its not 5 pages long like most other zines, its really thick and packed full of live-shots too.



You should seriously pick a copy of this up if you call yourself a Champion fan, as I got towards the end of the interview it had me choking up and nearly in tears. The Gorilla Biscuits interview is great too, I skimmed over The Geeks and 108 interview, but will definitely be going back to read them and the Break Through interview.

http://www.myspace.com/bottleduprecords

An order from Bridge 9

The records in this post are probably the same as what every other hardcore kid/record collector received in the post over the past week. There nothing special in the sense of being super rare.

One of the packages I picked up from home was my Bridge 9 order, which cost me $37 in postage! It wasn't so bad as I had split the order with my brother. But now Bridge 9 are doing free postage on all orders over $75 for Europeans, I wish this offer was on their site when the Crime in Stereo, Ruiner, Energy and Cruel Hand pre-orders went up.

They never seem to package the records well, apart from the actual mailer there is no other protection. I've always worried about ordering from them after seeing pictures of warped records people in England have received from them. Whether this is due to the climate change or packaging I'm not too sure.

But so far I haven't received a warped or damaged record from them, touch wood.



Anyway the first record I pulled out was the new Energy lp named 'Invasions Of The Mind'. I ordered two colourways, Teal /200 and Orange /500. I had previously ordered the single, Race the Sun, for this record too which came a few weeks ago. I'm not really sure why they put out the single. If you wait a week you can just buy the full length, and not have to pay for shipping twice in one month. But me being the record nerd I am I had to order the single to have a complete collection and as the law goes 'buy it now for $4 or buy it for 6 times as much on ebay in a month'.

The artwork on this record is awesome, when I get a better camera I will take some decent photos that do it some justice. It's a gatefold which really do make you feel like you have bought a quality record as it shows effort has gone into the production of it.



Also all Bridge 9 releases now come with a CD version of the record in a white paper sleeve, plus the digital download from their website. I'm not really sure what the point of the CD is, as I'm sure most people use the digital download and put it straight onto their Ipods. But Bridge 9 aren't charging more for the CD so you can't really complain about getting a free CD.

The actual record is alot different from their first full length 'Punch the Clock'. Mainly due to the use of various production efforts, for example the use of an electric drum machine and the vocals seem to have an effect added to them in parts. The overall feel of the record is alot darker and not as upbeat compared to the previous full length. Also it doesn't have as much as a pop punk sound to it.



Next up is Crime in Stereo - Selective Wreckage LP. I haven't got round to listening to this record as of yet. I've been a big fan of everything else Crime in Stereo have put out so far and for what I understand this is a collection of unreleased material from 2005-2007 and the split ep with Capital. So it should be pretty awesome. I picked up a copy on clear green and is a pressing of 200. I didn't see the point in getting the other two colours as they were out of /500 and /2300, so not super rare and I was worrying about the cost of shipping. But when I've got some spare cash I will probably get the other two colours to complete the collection, as there both still available from the Bridge 9 store.



Finally the last record in the Bridge 9 package, the new Cruel Hand ep 'Life In Shambles'. I ordered the brown colourway out of 300. I haven't listened to much Cruel Hand before I had ordered this, but I thought I would order it anyway as it was only $4. This is another one of those samplers Bridge 9 put out a week or two before the full length, 'Prying Eyes'. I didn't bother ordering the full length when they went up, I wish I had of done now. Bridge 9 still have the black pressing out of 200, which comes with gatefold artwork, in their webstore but it to your cart you get an error, which usually means its sold out.

I had a phone call last week from my Dad saying alot of packages had arrived at home for me. So I made the trip home from Uni to collect them.



Please excuse the terrible photos. I'm using a camera I got given for free because none of the buttons work, flash is permanently stuck on and the focus hardly works.

The first one I opened was the Wolf Whistle demo 7", on Trouble Mind Records. This is Trouble Minds first release with their next one being the Rival Mob EP which is being split with Triple B Records, something to definitely keep an eye out for! The record was well packed and the shipping was super fast from America.

Its on black vinyl and is a pressing of 500. Being a massive Have Heart fan I had to have this, with Pat Flynn on vocals.


http://www.myspace.com/wolfwhistlema
http://www.myspace.com/troubledmindrecords

The next package I opened was the Paint it Black New Lexicon tour edition, on a very nice clear blue, the tour edition is out of 250 and I received number 132. I didn't get to see them on their tour with Trash Talk as all the shows were too far for me to travel. I really wanted a copy of the tour edition and thankfully Gertjan from Belgium was kind enough to pick me up a copy when Paint it Black played their after the tour had been through England.





Next is a record I already own, Horror Show - The Holiday on white. But the cover got bent because the seller packed it really shitty. It came in a normal 7' mailer with two pieces of cardboard either side, but the cardboard was about 2" by 2"! Anyway one of the corners got bent pretty bad.

Horror Show have to be one of my top 5 t harcore bands, and for me to make a top 5 list it would be near impossible.

I got lucky with this record, I think, the seller was selling two different colourways. The white version and the clear of which I had both already. The clear [/500] had a bid already on it at 99p with a few hours left and the white [/300] didn't. So I put a bid in on white version, as it was the rarest of the two, for £1.50 and ended up getting if for 99p. When 6-7months ago I paid $20 on American ebay for the same record. Horror Show seems to be more popular over there.

So now all I need is the light pink version out of 75 and my collection will be complete. I got outbid on a copy a few months ago on ebay, ended up going for $40/50 I think it was.

The first post of many

I've been meaning to start a blog, documenting my record collection, for a long time now. But I keep putting it off due to laziness, University work and other commitments.

So tonight instead of doing Uni work, I have decided to make a start on this blog. I will be updating it as I receive new records in the post. Also when I've got some spare time, I will try to pick out some of my favourite records from my collection and write a short review/description and the story of how I got the record.