So Saturday was Record Store Day 2013 and, as ever, I was up outside Banquet Records very early. I like Record Store Day a lot - it's the one thing I get to be obsessive about (I love seeing queues outside shops knowing there's still small handful of people getting excited over about their particular niche), every year I have nice conversations about music with strangers in the queue and the atmosphere is always lovely. This year I arrived at Banquet 45 minutes earlier than last year but was stood a good few meters further back; the popularity is growing but that's no wonder given the ever-increasing number of exclusive releases.
Anyway, one of the highlights for me was this Deftones record. I'd heard about the plan to release seven Deftones RSD records featuring some live cuts from each album before the full list was announced and I thought it was pretty cool. The rest of the list appeared and there were some other interesting releases but the Deftones one remained one of my top priorities on Saturday (I popped into Banquet again on Sunday and there were still copies there, but the early start was worth it to (almost) guarantee a copy).
There may only be four songs, but they're great to hear. I was initially worried that the recordings of Teething and Nosebleed would be the same as on the Back to School EP but luckily they're separated by five years. The quality is good (except for the start of Minus Blindfold where the sound wavers a little) and the sleeve looks way nicer in real life than I expected. Most of all, it's great to go back in time and hear Chi play bass again. I was saddened by the news of his passing, especially because I thought he was getting better. I suppose I always thought I'd see him on stage again, but now I'll have to make do with these recording instead. One other thing that's particularly nice about this record is at the start of Teething when Chino says "if you never heard of this band right here, we're called Deftones from California" and you're reminded that Deftones weren't always a massive band and the crazy idea that people hadn't heard of them. It's like in Grosse Point Blank where John Cusack's assistant says "I just find it amusing that you came from somewhere". Teething and Engine No. 9 are my favourites at the moment.
Of course it wouldn't be a Record Store Day post without a slight moan about prices. When this appeared on Banquet's site it was listed as a tenner - "what a bargain" I thought. Then Sister Ray put out their price list and had it at £32 which I assumed must have been a mistake. Spillers' list later also had it nearer £30 and I began to panic - maybe Banquet got it wrong and this record really was going for £30! Then their price jumped up £27 before falling back down to a slightly more reasonable, but still pretty expensive £20. Somebody is almost certainly making a killing out of this and I doubt it's Banquet or the Deftones. Having bought this one I'm pretty much tied into buying the next six, and if they think they're getting £140 out of me for what will probably be about 28 songs, well, they're probably right. I'm a sucker I know. The spine has seven little circles, one for each record, and they are going to look lovely on my shelf when they're all out.
Format: 12"
Tracks: 4
Cost: £20 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 20/04/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
