Hot Water Music - 2

Life has been really hectic. My wife and I are currently doing a renovation on our family room/kitchen area, so my records are put away until they move to their new home out for all to see! Add to that that I am now saving for a REGA P2 to play my records on, and build a new system from the ground up. Shit will be fucking awesome!

So, that's why it has been a while in between posts this time, but here is a 7 inch I picked up today (Sorry for the crappy photos...).



I have had a special place for HWM for a while. It brought me and some people I used to hiold special together, and although I don't associate with most of them any more, I still have SOME good memories of the times we all shared. Including one of my first road trips to watch a band play. HWM came to Australia, played at the Arthouse Hotel (300 capacity venue, Melbourne's answer to CBGB's I guess), and I lined up for hours to get into that show. Then they played at some club in Ferntree Gully (Out in the 'burbs maaaaan), and then down in Hastings which is about 90 minutes from the city centre. I went to all the shows they played, I worked in between, Did not sleep, then after the Hastings show, Drove to Adelaide to watch them play that night again. I remember that Kill Choir Project played that show too. I miss that band.

Anyways, I didn't sleep much that night either, and then drove home and went to work again. Good times on that one. I did that kind of shit for a few years, surviving on very very little sleep and just trying to cram as much as I could into every day. I still do that now, but I don't bounce back as well as I used to...



This 7 inch is the second in an undetermined series of live records from Hot Water Music, all recorded just after they got back together and started playing shows again. I love the simplicity of the layout and the details, and it all comes down to the music on the record. This has 2 of my favourite HWM songs on this one, Wayfarer and Rooftops, so this is a winner from the get go.



This has sold out already (it came out a week ago), and I was lucky enough to get it at a local record store, but if you see this 7 inch, buy the fucker, you won't be disapointed.

Alkaline TRio - Maybe I'll Catch Fire.

For a really long time I thought this record defined me. Looking back, I think it really did capture a lot of what I was feeling at the time, but I don't think it really defined me...



For years, I was a sad sack of a skinny kid (Now I'm fat old and happy!), thinking I was Australias answer to Matt Skiba, but all I was doing was stealing his lyrics and screaming like a fucking banshee. I did love what I was doing, and I told him a couple times how much I loved what he did. He probably thought I was a crazy fucking kid, when I was really a 24 year old man with an obsession.



I do have a cool Alkaline Trio story that I haven't shared yet...

Nope, just checked, I haven't. An old mate of mine used to run a radio show called Mondo Bizarro (He now does Short.Fast.Loud on Triple J), and he drop me a line to let me know his co presenter was interviewing Matt Skiba, and would I like to sit in on it? I was stunned. He had to ask if I was still there... One short call to work to let them know I was "Sick" and that I wouldn't be in that day and I headed into Brunswick to the 3RRR studios to meet my idol. I got there, and like a true fanboy, I took a record to get signed for me, and a CD for my then Girlfriend (Now Wife). The Good Mourning record had just come out, so I took a copy of the CD for the signature for my chick, and my copy of "I Lied My Face" off for Matt to sign.



When I get there, the whole band has turned up. I was fucking stoked. I get Dan and Matt to LP and all of them to sign my Wifes CD, and there were a few kids who had won a competition to be there to meet the band, and they were all super nice and not rude at all. I was in heaven. The kids were led out and Dan and Derek were cold chillin' in the foyer, and I said my thanks and went to bail, when Adrian (The DJ) piped up and said, "Hey Craigos, you wanna sit in on this one?". Of course I bloody well did want to!

I was in the room while Matt was on air, and towards the end, Adrian says "I have Craigos here, he is your number 1 fan." I turn Red, Matt says "Hi Craig", and then Adrian asked if I have a question I want to ask. I ask a question and then it moves onwards from there.



I don't actually remember the question I asked. I really wish I did, because I am sure it sounded retarded, but Matt Skiba never missed a beat. After that I was leaving to head home, and I remembered that I'd bought Adrian a demo tape from my new band, and headed back in telling him I had a new tape for him, and Matt Skiba stops, turns around, and asks if I have on he can have too? Seriously, could this shit get any better? I give Matt the tape, tell Adrian I'll hook him up next time and then I apologised for ripping off his lyrics and bailed.

And that's my Alkaline Trio Story...



This record came out in 1996, this is the Re-issue, and I bought it from Epitaph. I did have the Original once, but sold it (along with the signed copy of "I Lied my Face Off", I know, I'm a fucking moron) along with every other record I had at the time. I will track down the Original pressing again, but this will do for me to listen to. I love this record, I love the songs so much, and I even really dig on the artwork.

Buy it. Spin it. Love it.

"I've got a big fat fucking bone to pick with you my darling..."

Rocket from the Crypt - Live from Camp X-Ray

I did actually write this out last night on my phone while in bed (and I can tell you that was a pain in the ass), then I had problems sending it, and I reset my phone, and then the fucker was gone. Just gone.

But, I will recall as much as I can, and just write again...



So, I have had this record for some time, close to 3 months probably, but I have not posted it because I actually bought it for my Wife. My Wife doesn't actually collect records, but in an effort to involve her, I bought her this LP. Now, she supports my habit as much as she can, she doesn't go off her head when I spend a little more than I probably should, in fact she supports me in everything that I do ever. That's just how fucking awesome she is.

But then I thought "Fuck it!" She isn't ever going to chill in the study, sit in the easy chair, drop the needle on this and listen to it, and I listen to it at least once a week, and it still blows me away every time! So here it is, in all it's glory: Rocket From The Crypt's "Live from Camp X-Ray".



I don't have a story to go with this one like I normally do. To be honest, I really missed the boat on this band, and only got into them after they broke up, and even then I only own this LP of theirs. I just can't get behind the others as much as I want to.



I Don't know how I missed this for so long though. With lyrics like "So peel back those dirty sheets/let's see that wet spot now", and the horns. I must have been a deadset moron...



The artwork of this record & the plain Black vinyl just capture the mood.

I'm fucking into it.

Baroness - Second

Another week and still too little posting. Seriously I am so furious with myself. I have also got so many records that I haven't listened to yet. eBay has been pretty good to me this last week, lots of rad records for pre order and just buying stuff I love. My wife has been super supportive too, so that makes buying a really fun experience, as in I don't need to find money and sell too much shit. I'm into it.



On to the record for today.



Another one of those records I have been trying to get back into my collection, and the gods of eBay shone down their countenence upon me, and I snagged this at the first bid. I was about to go to bed, saw that the auction ended in 3-4 hours so I put a bid of $40ish and went to sleep.



I woke up bright and early for work, checked my phone (I do most of bidding on my iPhone) and saw that i got it for the opening bid of $29.99. I put it down to the fact that it had a higher start bid that people just passed it by. Their loss/my win.



The music on this, the bands second EP is fucking flawless, and to be brutally honest, probably the last of the bands work that I really really enjoy. It ebbs and flows and is almost like a single song. I just love it.



The artwork is also top notch, similar to First, and does have he same look as all the stuff Baizley does now (not that I don't like his work, this is just a bit different and alot of fun).

The etching on the B side is epic. Just fucking epic!



The band is coming out to tour with Metallica here, and I am pumped to suss that shit out!

If you can, buy this, or wait for the reissue of First and Second on 1 LP on Hyperrealist (they keep assuring it will happen!). A good result for me. Hahaha.

Danzig - I

I gotta be honest and say that I was a bit nervous to post about this one. And the only reason being, I didn't want to take it out of the sleeve and open it up fully to photograph it. I hadn't actually done so until I took the photos for this tonight. I just didn't want to ruin the cover, and being a gatefold, I was worried it would fuck it if I opened her up.



It didn't and I was so glad. Until tonight, I had only seen photos of the layout. I can honestly say, that in person, it shits all over any photos I have seen . It is fucking classic. Just like the record itself.



I had originally planned to buy this for my mate for his birthday (Sorry Shane, I know you're gonna hate me, but fuck dude, it's Danzig I, in mint condition...), but when it arrived I couldn't. I love my homeboy more than anything, but this record looked so good when I busted it out of the packaging, that I forgot all about his tiny hands, and just thought about how fucking awesome this was to finally own. Don't worry, I managed to get him something as equally fucking awesome for his Birthday.



I honestly don't think much needs to be written about this record. It's Danzig. If you don't know, you deserve to have your record collection stripped from you, and your hearing removed for life. This is the best of his solo work in my opinion. Lots of people debate, but I actually think that they just went downhill from here. II - Lucifuge is still awesome, and I love about 3/4 of III - How the Gods kill, but I kinda gave up after that. I just went back to listening to early Misfits.



There is only 1 problem with owning a record this awesome, in as good condition as this one is (Don't be fooled by the photos, this thing is as fucking clean as shit!), is that I now need to track down II and III, and then start trying to search down those Misfits records... Fuck That!



I got this from a Japanese dude on eBay. I tell ya what, I have bought a bunch of stuff from Japanese dudes on eBay, and they fucking know how to look after older records. This thing is 22 years old (I have checked the Matrix numbers on this against the info on Misfitscentral, and it all looks legit for the first pressing). I now try and buy all my older/rare stuff from Japan if I can.



Seriously though, look at the fucking center of this jacket. How could you not be stoked on that! The only thing that would have made the LP cover better, would have been to leave the Label info and barcode off of the back of the sleeve. We can't have everything can we.



Can we?

Carry On - A Life Less Plagued

I have neglected my blog for the last week, and I have so many excuses, but I won't be busting them out. It just comes down to a case of not being diligent enough with my time.



This isn't the latest addition to my collection, but this is a record I have neglected and I underestimated/under appreciated it for way too long.



These days I don't listen to a great deal of hardcore, and I'd say that it's because I don't enjoy as much as I used to. Bands that border on the lines of powerviolence grab me more, but this LP still kicks me square in the fucking balls!



I got this off of my mate Billy for $40, which is really pretty good, even though this is most common version on black. He was selling most of his collection, and had this on Orange and Clear too, but they were a little rich for my blood, so I was happy to add a Black copy to my collection.



I first got I to this band when a band I was in covered one of the tracks off of this LP. It was The View, I only remember because it was short as shit.I don't remember if I actually ang it, or if Erle did and I played bass, but I had to learn the song, as short as it was, and then I actually started listening to the rest of the album, and was really suprised as it was just an awesome hardcore record, at a time when I was listening to a majority of metal and grind like Mastodon, 3 inches of blood and Pig Destroyer.



The artwork is pretty good. Fairly standard Jacob Bannon of the time.

There was a reissue of some early stuff released recently, but it just doesn't grab me like this record did. I guess it was a time and place for me.