Breather Resist - Charmer

I remember getting a copy of this on CD as part of a Promo thing through a mate, and I fell in love with the songs and the production on this record straight away.





I honestly have no idea why I didn't pick it up when it first came out on LP, as I have never owned a copy of this one. I remember seeing the artwork and being blown away by the cut of the cover and the overall aesthetic of the whole packaging side of it.





This one came out on Level Plane (under license from Jade Tree) in 2004 and it has taken me 6 years to actually put my hands on a copy. While it has been on my top wants list for some time, I'll be honest and say I never looked that hard for it.



I like this over all of the other stuff of theirs I have, as this record has a full on Botch/Math-Metal vibe, that I really fucking love! That and it was recorded by Kurt Ballou, so you know I am alllll over that shit Motherfuckers!



Picked this up off a Euro dude on eBay. Paid about $20. Stoked.

Millencolin - Life on a Plate

You have to love that Epitaph have kept all of their old vinyl, and kept it so well. So many times Deadstock is destroyed and the records are lost forever, but I have bought a couple fucking winners in the last couple of months.



Millencolin were one of the first punk bands I went to see. I saw them at the No Fun at All show I mentioned a couple posts ago (so I won't go into it again), but I have been going about getting all of the punk records that remind me of summer, from when I was growing up.



This was right at the top, along with the first No Use for a Name records on Fat (the only ones I am interested in to be bloody honest!). I got this in the mail today, and I have to say that it looks like it was pressed last week, not in 1995.





For me, this record still stands up as one of my Favourite 90's pop punk records. Fast, melodic, with super fun lyrics.



Not much else to say on this one, except that I am super stoked to have it sit on my shelves. This will get a good and proper spin during this summer!

Hole - Live Through This

A record I have been looking for for so fucking long that it hurts.



This record has so many memories for me growing up. I was a big Nirvana Fan, and when Kurt and Courtney got together, I felt the need to explore Hole. I am really lucky that I started with this record, as if I had of started with "Pretty on the inside", I probably wouldn't have been so into the band. Not that it isn't a good record, but being as I was 15 years ago, then I can pretty much say that I wouldn't have been into it, as I had much more descriminitive tastes.



At 15-ish, I was working in a Milkbar (local/corner store for you non-Australians) stacking the fridge and cleaning up the back yard area, and the shop owners eldest son was a huge Cobain/Nirvana fan, and as such got me into a lot of good music. This was a time before the internet was the behemoth it is now, and trying to track down rarities of Nirvana and the such were pretty fucking hard. He was one of the first people I knew who were on to Hole, and dubbed me this onto a tape (The other side was Soul Asylum's "Grave Dancers Union") and I used to listen to it on my walkman in the fridge and freezer of the shop while I was stocking the shelves in there.

I really had no knowledge of other shit like this, except for Nirvana and Soundgarden, and this record had great production, and there were rumours that Kurt Cobain had written most of the record for Courtney Love were circulating (which would explain why the songs are so fucking good, and still stand up against the test of time Today), so I was stoked on it, and I wore that tape to fucking nothing. I still have the copy of the CD version I bought years and years ago in a box somewhere, but now I don't need the fucking thing anymore, because I have this lovely piece of wax finally in my collection.



No insert on this one. It has all the details listed on the back of the jacket. No mention of Kurt though, only Dave Grohl.

I was pretty lucky with this one, as I have seen it go for upwards of $100 on eBay. I was about to go to bed, and I never actually wake up to bid on stuff when I set my alarm, so I just put my max bid on and hoped for the best. I woke up the next day, checked my eBay account and found that I had won it for $41. Seriously, to buy this LP in Australia in 1995 would have cost me $25-ish dollars anyway (and $39.99 if it were released today and I bought it in an Australian Store), so I think I made out like a bandit on this one!

This is super clean, plays like a dream and was another top want crossed off of my list. Stoked to say the least...

Ancient VVisdom / Charles Manson Split LP

Nothing overly exciting with this post, but I found this LP interesting, so I thought I'd post about it.



I'll be honest and say I have no real idea how I got onto this one, only that I must have been turned onto it by Dwid writing about it somewhere. Ancient VVisdom is Nate from Integrity and one of the dudes from Iron Age doing Dark Acoustic Folk stuff. One the sticker on the front, it says that a main influence is Danzig, and I can feel that vibe. The recording isn't top notch, but it really adds to the feeling of the record, and it does make it sit in line with the Charles Manson songs, as he has limited access to recording gear I can only imagine.



I really like the AVV stuff, and I have read that they have a 7 inch coming out soon on Withdrawal Records, so I will be sure to pick that up.

Now, I have always been interested in Charlie Manson and The Family, as I went through a stage where I was interested in all Serial Killers, Cult Leaders, etc, and the story of Charles Manson is a super interesting one. I won't go into it here, but if you only know him as what you have seen on TV, read into it, it is a weird and interesting read.



As for his musical exploits, I am interested in the songs that he does, and I'm really keen to see how the Elements Series on Magic Bullet goes, but for the most part it is pretty standard Folk/Pop stuff. The first song of his on this LP is a ripper, The Irony of Life, but the second song sort of tumbles along. Not bad, but nothing on "Look at your game Girl", that's for sure.

A nice little 1 sided LP on Red. Pick it up from http://www.withdrawalrecords.com/ while the dollar is so strong (if you're in Australia I mean), and it won't cost you much at all.

I'm on leave this week, so hopefully some updates to come!

Cursed - Blackout at Sunrise

This EP was the perfect pre-cursor to the III: Architects of troubled Sleep LP. From the start of the Blackout at Sunrise with the whispered vocals, to the super noisy Kittens Cover, Hawaii. I think that the production on this is better than the III LP though. I just like it more.

I have no story for this EP (although it is the 3rd time I've owned it), but I do find it really funny that the inners of the picture discs are the wrong way round. Kinda like putting the labels on the wrong side.

I do like that there is an explanation of the song printed on the insert though. It's been way too long since I have seen a good story explained behind a song.

I picked this up pretty cheap in a private sale, so I am even more siked on this. I still don't know if I love or hate Picture Discs though...

Extortion - Degenrate

This was my number 1 want for the last year atleast. Very rarely does this show up for sale, and when it does it commands a premium for such a current LP.\



Probably the best work from Perth's Extortion. Angry PV influenced Hardcore. Rohans stark artwork works really well on this release, and I do like it a lot better than the CD versions artwork.



Raw. Fast. Angry.

Fucking stoked to get this into my collection. Picked it up in a private sale with a total ruler of a dude in Sydney.



Again, Stoked to have this one on my shelves. It ain't going no where this time motherfuckers!



Go and buy the CD version of this. It will rip your tits off.

Samiam - You are freaking me out.

I have to say, that on a record front, I am kicking goals at the moment, because I honestly do not know how long I have looked for this LP!



I remember the time I actually bought my CD copy of this album (Which I actually still own, 10 years later!), which was on the second floor of Dixons recycled records in Dandenong. It was a time when I had been listening to pretty much only Swedish punk bands like Millencolin, No Fun At All and Satanic Surfers, and when I saw that this CD was on Burning Heart, I didn't hesitate and just paid the $8 sticker price. I remember getting it home, putting it into my CD player and being a little bummed out, as it wasn't superfast and poppy. I have to be honest and say that I put it away for a little while after the first listen.



Over the years, my taste changed a little, especially when I started to get into other sorts of punk bands, and I came across this CD in my collection, so I pulled it out, chucked it on, and I loved it. I got my hands on Clumsy and Ashtray, and that sums up my love for Samiam really. NB: I wasn't super stoked on the older stuff, although I really should give it a go now, as I reckon I would love it. I also didn't vibe on the last record either. It wasn't bad, and I quite liked the production, but it didn't grab me for some reason. Also, they ripped off a Blueline Medic song pretty hard after Donnie gave Sergi the demos for the last Blueline Medic LP. Kinda cool in a way, pretty shitty in another.



Every time I listen to this now, I remember seeing Samiam last year at the Arthouse Hotel in Melbourne (for those overseas, it's a 300 person pub/bar that has been the main stomping ground for Punks of all genres for the last 20 years, and will be closing it's door forever in May 2011), because they played so many songs off this album.



So, I saw this on eBay, and I had missed a copy the week before when it went past my $60 limit at the time. I had gotten to the point where I needed just "Man up and pay what I needed to get it", so that's what I did. $66 later, and it's finally in my collection. I have seen it on another site for sale in it's 4x7 inch box set, but to be honest, don't want to have to get up after each song and change it over, I'd rather this on the LP format I have. All that aside, I will probably buy it to have the 4x7 inch box set, just to look at...



This thing is so clean that it hurts. The cover art is amazing on a larger scale and this copy is in amazing condition. I was a little apprehensive as it was coming from Canada, and the Canadian Mail Service is pretty woeful (Not bagging Canada or Canadians, but your mail service sucks!), but this arrived in lightning fast speed and in the best possible condition.

If you haven't heard this album, buy the CD (or hell, download it even!) and sit back and enjoy.

Now all I need is a copy of Clumsy on LP... Anyone?