Portishead - Third

Another from the Tuesday Record From Spillers year. I consider myself a casual Portishead fan, but still picked this one up when it came out (well, a week after. I suspect it just didn't happen to be in on vinyl the week before. The internet tells me that this is the US version, and it takes a while to cross the sea). I'd read lots about it and you couldn't miss the hype, so I had to check it out.

I was a bit underwhelmed on first listen, but it grew on me. A lot of the songs seem more subtle than on their previous releases. Except Machine Gun. That one is pretty in-your-face. We Carry On might be my favourite song. This is definitely one of those records I don't listen to enough. Sometimes the idea of changing a record over three times seems a bit much! The download code didn't work (as it's the US release you need a US IP-address to download it) , and the mp3s I made of it are a bit shitty (some days the USB turntable works better then others). I like it though, and I think it is easily on a par with the other albums. Not many bands can pull that off after such a gap between releases.

I finally got to see Portishead at ATP's I'll Be Your Mirror last summer and they were incredible. The songs on here really came into their own live.


Format: double 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 11
Cost: £13 new
Bought: Spillers
When: 06/05/08
Colour: black
Etching: none
mp3s: download

Apologies I Have None - London

We're five and a bit months into the year now, so the comment I'm about to make should carry some weight: this is my favourite record of the year so far. Hands down. (Although it is worth saying that the new Above Them record hasn't arrived in the post yet.) I apologise in advance for the gushing praise I have for this album.

I knew I was going to love this one before it came out. I rarely get really excited about new releases anymore. I look forward to them, but that doesn't sum up the excitement I had for this one. For some reason I hadn't seen them until the Calvinball/ONSIND/AIHN split release show, despite having known the name for some time. Their cover of ONSIND's Either He's Dead... amazed me (more on this when I come to talk about that record) and the other songs were perfect. I do enjoy it when everyone in the band sings at once, and even more when the crowd join in too. That was the first time I heard Sat in Vicky Park, a song that I still can't get enough of.

In fact, that kind of sums up my feelings towards the album as a whole. I just can't get enough of it. I've played it over and over again since I got it. I'm not sure what it is about it (although it might be the massive choruses). I'm almost beginning to worry I'm over playing it and I'll get sick of it, but that hasn't happened yet. All the songs are brilliant. I wasn't that into The 26 or the piano-led Foundations at first, but the latter has grown on me and seeing the former live has convinced me. And I love that the songs work equally well as punk, metal, or acoustic songs.

I pre-ordered the album (in my excitement) so it came with a lovely screen-printed poster/map in an envelope with my name on and sealed in wax. To say I was impressed by that is an understatement. I do enjoy little touches like that (not to mention the cd copy included). I've had some bad luck with pre-ordering lately (as mentioned, my Above Them record seems to have been eaten by the postal service, and my Cursive record meant I didn't get the other stuff I ordered until it could all be posted at once) but this one arrived a day early, so it was worth it.

I'm pleased that this record turned out so well and that they've been getting great reviews for it. There are a lot of great bands in the UK punk scene and it's really nice to see them all doing great things. This record is one of those great things.


Format: 12", gatefold sleeve, cd sized booklet, poster
Tracks: 10
Cost: £13 new
Bought: Band's website
When: 12/03/12
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: cd

Chuck Ragan - Live From Rock Island - The Daytrotter Session

In January 2010 there were a number of things I didn't know: I'd never heard of Banquet Records nor the Daytrotter Sessions, and I didn't know the name of the attractive girl in my maths class. I've since forgotten the latter, but I did find it out at one point and naturally had a very quick Facebook stalk. In the Pages she liked there was one about Frank Turner playing at the Hippodrome in Kingston, all arranged by this record store that looked incredible. It probably says a lot about me that I then spent even longer on their website than her page on Facebook, promptly forgot all about her and planned a trip to Kingston as soon as possible.

A few days later I got on a train to Kingston (which always involved a 25 minute wait at Twickenham) and made a line straight for Eden Street. I wasn't disappointed. I'd seen pictures of the shop and thought it looked very cool. My memory is a bit hazy due to the excitement that comes from finding such a shop, but I'm pretty sure this is one of the first records I picked up in there, and when I realised that "very cool" was quite the understatement. I'm a big fan of Chuck (as I've mentioned before, and will again) and would buy every record he's ever put out if I had the cash. As I said, I'd not heard of Daytrotter, and even less that this recording existed so I was very excited to get it. I spent a lot of time and money that afternoon, and text Hugh afterwards very excitedly to tell him about the shop and my purchases.

The session on the record is awesome. I'm not sure Chuck has ever played a bad show, and even if he tried the songs would make it brilliant alone. When I come to talk about Feast or Famine on here I will undoubtedly rant about the first time I saw him and how California Burritos is way up there on the list of Songs That Changed My Life. That said, Glory is such a brilliant song I rate that one nearly as highly. The version on here is great. It's lovely little record in every way. Nice orange vinyl and some words from Chuck about each song too.

A few days after my first-of-many trip to Banquet I got round to checking out Daytrotter's website and was taken back again. The list of bands that have recorded for them is incredible. I spent the next day filling up my office computer with session after session of my favourite bands, bands friends were into, and bands I'd never heard of. Through that website I got into Low, Doomtree and the Constantines and heard so many fantastic recordings. I love the whole set up (bands passing by pop in and record a few songs for them) and the bands they get to come in never fails to amaze me. Not all end up on vinyl, but I'm glad this one did, otherwise I may still be ignorant to it.

All in all, this record alone represents a number of massively significant events both in terms of the music I'm listening to, but also (and more importantly) to the fact I now live in Kingston, visit Banquet nearly weekly and go the shows they put on. I can't even begin to list the bands I've got into because of them, nor the incredible shows I've seen. Of course it's mostly down to how awesome the guys that run Banquet are, but in part it's down to that little bit of Facebook stalking. I'd thank the girl, except I've forgotten her name and it would be incredibly creepy.

Format: 10", insert
Tracks: 7
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Banquet
When: 18/01/10
Colour: orange
Etching: no
mp3s: no (but all Daytrotter Sessions are free downloads)

Lemuria - Pebble

Another one I got at the No Idea Yard Sale. I saw Lemuria the day before at Fest, but it was early on a long day and I didn't fancy carrying LPs around with me all day (again). The record came out ages before and I saw them twice in the summer in Kingston, but didn't buy it then either. I'm not sure why I put it off so long. I like their other two records a lot and figured I'd be into this one too. Better late than never I suppose.

It sounds different to the previous records. I guess the normal way to describe it would be "more mature". It still sounds like them, just somehow more relaxed. It works. I like Gravity as an opener; I'm a big fan of an intro song that's not quite a full song itself. I've always enjoyed the dual vocals, in fact I've kinda wished they'd do it more. Bloomer is an odd one lyrically. Actually, a lot of the songs have quite cutting lyrics in different ways. Durian just reminds me of the time I ate durian; it doesn't taste good. There are pretty much no gaps between the songs on here, just straight from one to the next. I read that Hüsker Dü used to do that in live shows so no one had a chance to comment to their friends what they thought of the show. I like it on albums too (side note: makes it a bitch to make mp3s with the usb turntable. The LP came with a download code but it didn't work, so I'm still mp3less on this one). I should listen to this record more often, it got a little bit caught up in the whirlwind of record buying at Fest, and a bit neglected upon my return. I don't know if the tunes are as obvious and noticeable on here (except Chautauqua County - oh oh oh's always get me), but I do like the record as a whole.

Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 10
Cost: £5.58 new
Bought: No Idea yard sale
When: 30/10/11
Colour: black
Etching: no
mp3s: download code

The Murder City Devils - The Murder City Devils

Another day, another American band I never got to see (although they've also reformed now), and another album I love. I had this on cd for a few years, and gradually bought on their albums on one format or another. When I was at the No Idea Yard sale at Fest, they had all their distro stuff and it was all mega cheap due to the exchange rate. Like I said before, I spent a lot of money there that morning. I picked this one up because its one of my favourite albums and I like to have those on vinyl (I suspect cds are dying a slow death, but somehow records will survive; my cd collection will become redundant and my records will stay awesome. Wishful thinking perhaps).

At 22 minutes long, you've barely even started listening before its over again. But at that length you can justify playing it again. From the first time I heard The Murder City Devils I thought they were great. A great punk-rock band in every sense. Get off the Floor might be my favourite, although Broken Glass and Boom Swagger Boom are up there. Tell You Brother is a sobering finisher. They reissued all the albums on red and white vinyl at one point, and I got a copy of In Name and Blood from that lot. I kinda hoped that this would be coloured vinyl too, but I'm not too upset that it isn't, it's just a great album.

Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 10
Cost: £6.20 new
Bought: No Idea yard sale
When: 30/10/11
Colour: Black
Etching: Side A: "Rise up you devils..." Side B: "Rise from your graves and avenge us!"
mp3s: download card

Snapcase - End Transmission

About two thirds of my vinyl is currently stored at my parents house, which is a far from ideal situation, but until I find somewhere I want to live for more than 6 months, it's easier to keep it there. Everytime I go back I flick through the records and look at ones I'd forgotten I had. I was popping by yesterday and decided to bring a handful of record back with me, mostly ones that had been neglected. I also picked up this one, an album I have on cd and is definitely not neglected. (For the record, its actually kinda nice to have some LPs there - its like record shopping through albums you know you'll like and they're free!)

So yes, I love End Transmission. I think it's an incredible record. When I was at college Hugh bought it on cd and I borrowed it and enjoyed it. A few months later I picked up a second hand copy of Lookinglasself on cd but didn't get round to any further Snapcase-back-catalogue shopping for a while. I'd heard of Interpunk and was also really getting into The Paper Chase a year or so later. Interpunk was stocking some cool Paper Chase records and I'd just got my student loan, so I did a huge shop on there (I always get carried away when the postage goes down the more things you buy) and bought a copy of End Transmission. Luckily, my memories of how good it was hadn't lied to me and I still think its great now.

I'm a sucker for a concept album, and I like the theme here. I was particularly amused by the fact the songs weren't in the order the story suggested on the insert and that there were songs not on the album. I later bought Bright Flashes on cd which nearly fills in all the gaps. I've never sat down and played the songs in story-order. One day I will, probably. The singer's voice is incredible, and on songs like First Word he just keeps going when most people would be out of breath. New Kata is an incredible song too, but there's not a bad song on there. Musically its perfect too - the drum intro on First Word always puts a smile on my face. Other highlights include The Beat, and the last two songs.

It's also a nice example of a lovely package overall. Deadformat reckons that they only pressed 300 copies of this colour (a colour that a friend once described as "condom-coloured") and I pretty much never manage to find the rarest print runs. I've looked for a bunch of my records on there and I nearly always have the most common pressing (worth noting that that website was the main inspiration behind this blog, that and the new John Peel archive and a few other websites of people doing similar things). It also comes with the last two songs on a bonus 7", a lovely way to include the songs that wouldn't fit (also, they're both incredible so it would be a crime to leave them off). I like the Victory records that have the folded sleeve like this (I have a couple of others). From looking at pictures on Deadformat, it seems all of the inserts have the limited edition number crossed out, although they also reckon there were 3006 pressed.

In a fantastic bit of eBaying I picked up the first four Snapcase albums on cd for a tenner from some guy in America (I gave my second copy of Lookinglasself to Hugh). I also eventually got Bright Flashes second hand in Melbourne. This album is undoubtedly my favourite of the lot. It's quite a different sound to the other albums, less harsh but still as ballsy. Writing this made we check their Wikipedia page and it turns out they've reformed and are playing some shows. I hope so much they come to the UK, I never saw them and would love to have the chance. I bet they're incredible to watch.

Format: 12", 7", a4 insert
Tracks: 13
Cost: £7.92 new
Bought: Interpunk.com
When: 06/11/04
Colour: Clear pink, black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Small Brown Bike - Nail Yourself to the Ground

I bought Dead Reckoning years ago on cd and thought it was awesome. Quite why it took me years to get round to buying any other Small Brown Bike records is beyond me. To make matters worse I ended up buying the rest of their back-catalogue (and new album) within a matter of months, meaning none of had really much of a chance to settle in properly. I can't really remember which record is which very well, or tell them apart. This one stands out because its only an EP, but that's about it. And I don't mean that in a bad way, they are all subtly different, I just need to make more of an effort.

I picked this one up at the No Idea Yard Sale at Fest. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to fill in the gaps in my collection. Of course I now have them all on vinyl, except Dead Reckoning which is definitely my favourite. I'll talk more about the morning spent queuing for that record buying experience at a later date, I'm sure. I spent a lot of money and got some great vinyl.

Its a good record, they all are. Not a particularly illuminating review, I know. Sorry. I doubt anyone reading this is expecting me to say anything too grand about it. That said, the opener is pretty massive tune. The pedal steel on So I Fall comes out of nowhere though, bit of an odd one. The final track closes it back in nicely. I do like an EP, short and sweet.

One of the reasons I'm doing this blog is to make an effort to listen to my records better myself. I think it'll work in cases like this, where I haven't properly got into a record yet. I know it better know, and a few more spins and I'll realise it's awesomeness!

Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 5
Cost: £4.96 new
Bought: No Idea yard sale
When: 30/10/11
Colour: Purple?
Etching: Side A: "You and me don't like wars" Side B: "Forget our reckoning, dead own no place"
mp3s: cd