Sunday, January 20, 2013

Crom: The Cocaine Wars 1974 - 1989 (Orange vinyl)

Out of all the records I purchased from fishknuckle, this was the most exciting and surprising.  I had heard from Crom, but never actually sat down to listen to them before. I picked this up really cheap and even he was amazed that I got such a good deal on it.  I literally put it on when doing some work and had to sit and focus on the entire record.  This is an absolute gem.  This record is all over the place, mixing genres that should not be mixed and completely laden with samples that I am sure they have no rights to.  Just hilarious from start to finish and still, it had some decent music in there. On side B, there is a track that ends with a wind sample and it just goes on and on and on.  It must last 4 minutes or so..



Here is a great example of Crom, at their finest.



Now, maybe I am crazy.. but it sounds very much like this...




Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Husker Du: Eight Miles High (Original black vinyl)

This is a cover of Eight Miles High, originally written by the Byrds in 1966.  This release is from 1984 on SST records. This single was released just before the classic Zen Arcade album.



Original version


Apparently this was considered an example of Raga Rock, because of it's incorporation of the sitar and Eastern musical elements. Also, the free form guitar solo was admitted to be heavily influenced by John Coltrane's playing.  A very interesting collection of styles and ideas.

Another great record from fishknuckle

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Pulling Teeth: Witches Sabbath II A389 (Reverse groove, single sided black 7")

This is one of the coolest records that I got from FishKnuckle. It is a 7" of Pulling Teeth covering Symptom of the Universe by Black Sabbath.  This is part of the Witches Sabbath series, Volume 2.  The record is single sided with a smooth, uncut B side and the track on side one is actually reverse grooved and needs to be played from the inside-out. This whole series was a very clever idea and a great marketing tactic  These were all very limited production and this song was only available with the pre-order of the Japanese "Viscous Skin" cd release by A389.   






Terror: Rhythm Amongst the Chaos (Black and white swirl vinyl)

Another from FishKnuckle, Rhythm Amongst the Chaos packaged in a really nice gatefold sleeve and printed on black and white splatter vinyl.  Excellent presentation from Reaper Records on this overall. 


Meltdown: No Tomorrow 7" (Limited clear vinyl)

Nice, clear copy of Meltdown: No Tomorrow 7" that I purchased from FishKnuckle.  Very simple art, silver on black with the Meltdown M logo embossed on the cover. 



John Browns Army (JBA)/Regan S.S.: Split 7" (Yellow and black split vinyl)

A pretty cool split that I purchased from FishKnuckle.  Reagan SS and JBA on split black and orange(ish) vinyl.



Charles Manson: Inner Sanctum 7" (Black vinyl)

Out of FishKnuckle's collection again, I thought I would give this a shot.  Charles Manson's "music". This is a Holy Terror release and I never really understood their and A389's fascination with Manson.  Anyways, it's an interesting record, but I cannot say that I enjoy the music or would ever listen to it again.  
It's good for novelty sake, if nothing else!

 


Black Sabbath Vol 4 (Odd Taiwanese, black vinyl pressing)

Another records from FishKnuckle, this is a very interesting pressing of Black Sabbath: Vol 4. It is an odd Taiwanese  pressing that is housed in a piece of cardboard with a printed cover that looks to be heat shrunk on.  



Lewd Acts: On Lonely Nights/Lung Patrol Split/Head Wounds & Sharp Tunes (Clear, Black and Root Beer vinyl)

FishKnuckle had a big stack of 7" that were all relatively cheap, I decided to give these 3 Lewd Acts records a try.  The last one is a great cola or root beer color. 



MC5: Kick out the Jams (Picture disc vinyl)

I am not the biggest fan of picture discs, but I couldn't pass this one up from FishKnuckle.  Classic MC5 reprinted by Black on Black on picture vinyl. 


The Locust: New Erections (Clear with blue splatter vinyl)

Another prize from FishKnuckle's collection. The Locust: New Erection on really nice splatter vinyl


Adolescents: Self Titled (Original Black Pressing) from FishKnuckle

I found a seller on eBay names FishKnuckle.  He was located just outside of Seattle and had a ton of interesting records for sale.  I contacted him, bought a few on eBay and then went to his house and got a good handful more.  He was a great guy and has great taste in music.  We actually ran into each other a few weeks later at a Death Grips show in Seattle. He was selling his stuff off to fund a backpacking trip overseas. Best of luck to him! 

Here is one of many that I picked up from him.. Adolescents, first pressing on black vinyl. A classic for it's era. 

Big Business: Mind the Drift (Black Vinyl)

This is the last Big Business record I need for my collection.  I found it from a distro in their "collectibles" section. Even though it is out of print from Hydra Head, they had a copy left over from the distro. It was a little more than it would have been originally, but still a little cheaper than eBay. However, HH printed a cream colored version as well as a split pea soup with carrot vinyl.  I figured it was safe to pick up a black copy and keep an eye out for the variants and grab them as they come up. 

The artwork on this is really interesting.  The inside of the gatefold is a collection of postcards they made with fictional locations.  The entire theme is as you would expect for Big Business...bizarre. One of the gimmicks for the preorder of this was the vinyl along with a collectors plate and stand to keep in your kitchen.







Revelation Sampler - 25 Limited White Vinyl

Revelation records 25th Anniversary live show vinyl on limited clear vinyl. I picked up a couple copies of these that were leftover from the show.  It's amazing to see all of these bands together and the variance of bands that REV put out of the years, which ones exist and which ones made the show.



Deicide: Once Upon The Cross (Limited Green Vinyl)

Most definitely a Death Metal classic.  This was very hard to find a first print of and each time it would show up on eBay, it would be out of my price range.  I got lucky and was tracking an international seller who was listing a ton of old school Death Metal records and this repress came up.  It is limited to 100 copies and on a great green color vinyl! I  had never seen this pressing before and got it for under half of what the black original press would have cost.  This is one of the best versions I could hope to have. 



G.B.H.: Charged Original 7"

Strange story on this one. I would walk my dog down the block every day passed this Saab that had been sitting in a carport forever.  Finally, I saw the guy sitting outside of his house, smoking and I thought to ask him about the car.  Long story short, he was moving and had lost his licence a while back and the car had been sitting.  So, I worked out a deal with him and bought the car with my girlfriend.  Now, when we were in his mostly vacant house filling out the paperwork, I spotted a small stack of 7" records and asked him about them.  There were a couple of classic rock, 2 Bauhaus and this G.B.H. record.  I asked him what he was doing with them and he said he was just going to pitch them in the trash.  Said that if I wanted them, I had to take them all.  So, in the end we made out with the car and this great 7" along with a few other fun ones!  You never know where you will find cool records, I guess.