sometimes things are more important than blogs. sometimes they aren’t. right now, we’re in the first sentence stage.

we’ll be back soon….tweaking the format to be more catch-all i think. im not going to be cataloging my purchases anymore, instead just writing when i feel inspired by whatever. thanks to anyone who’s given a shit to check this.

SXSW’11 round up soon.

-jer

1.9.11 – Prosthetic Records
Trap Them – Darker Handcraft LP (pre-order)

Extremely excited about this release, as Trap Them are an ever-improving monster of a band! So excited that I pre-ordered the gray vinyl from Prosthetic. Pre-ordering is not something I do very often, so this one is pretty special. Please go here to check out a song that may bring you to inflict violence upon your surrounding area.

1.13.11 – Everybody’s
Obscura – Retribution cd

I found Obscura’s Cosmogenesis to be a technically solid listen, but lacking in the ferocity department. Retribution is Obscura’s first release, and while still forward-thinking in its delivery, plays more to the power and fury of death metal. Unfortunately, I cannot highly recommend Retribution, as after several spins, nothing sticks with me. More of a if-you-happen-to-come-across-it-and-cannot-find-anything-else-but-want-to-hear-something-new mood, which is where I found myself on this particular day.

1.17.11 – Hell’s Headbangers
Immortal – At the Heart of Winter LP
Deathspell Omega – Paracletus LP
Inquisition – Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult 2LP

Jer and I love us some Hell’s Headbangers, and I feel this is an outstanding trio of a purchase! Two amazing slabs of late 90’s black metal, and last year’s release by the viscerally progressive beast known as Deathspell Omega. Immortal is a favorite of mine, and although not my favorite record, I still stand in awe of At the Heart of Winter. I put this on, and air-guitared, grimaced, and headbanged all around my apartment! I am new to Inquisition, but they fall into the vein of Immortal, and this 2LP reissue has some fantastic packaging thanks to the HH horde. More headbanging ensued. I heard a couple of tracks from Deathspell Omega’s Paracletus last year, but did not get around to tracking down the vinyl until now. Not for the cold, grim and necro. This is a mind-altering take on black metal. Go here to listen to snippets of each song. You will quickly find out whether or not this is your thing.

1.19.11 – Shake It
Immortal – All Shall Fall cd (used)
Dio – Magica cd (used)

Awesome, and well… not as awesome. More Immortal in various formats is not a bad thing! Musically, Dio’s Magica is a bit flat and lumbering, but his voice is always amazing!

HB always suffered from trends in music, and the show I witnessed a couple of nights ago reflected this ad nauseam. In all honesty, they should change the name of the show, as the amount of headbangable material is truly in question here. For the fun of discussion and hating (or possibly liking), I have posted all ten videos that were played in the hour-long program (with my comments):

Sacred Oath – Counting Zeros – This is the video that opened the show. Seriously?! This is just embarassing all around, and unfortunate for all who have endured this song and video, but most unfortunate for Dee Snider and Jon Stewart, who seem to have spawned a love child in the form of Sacred Oath’s vocalist.

We Came As Romans – To Move On Is To Grow – This video is a vast improvement in the visual department when compared to Sacred Oath, but musically, it is equally nauseating. I hate this stuff, with its all-metal-button production, clean-singing guy whining, and ubiquitous, tough-guy vocals from a 2nd dude. Can someone tell me when this nonsense will stop?

Chiodos – Caves – I cannot believe the concept for this video has never been done before! A band, playing in the desert! Craziness. Similar to WCAR before, except Chiodos only needs one guy to handle both horrible vocal styles. I hate skinny manpris.

Gwen Stacey – A Dialogue – Come on! Enough of this already! I thought the kids running in this video had the right idea, run as far away as possible. Wow, was I fooled. This band has the dual-vocal thing going, with the clean vocals provided by the emotive bass player. The chorus contains the worst type of clean vocals, that before-emo-existed-as-a-genre singing filtered through a Blink-182 influence. This just sucks.

Holy Grail – My Last Attack – I am over this rehash as well. This stuff is so contrived and watered-down compared to the original bands of this style. I do enjoy the video though. Very simple, black-and-white with the band thrashing it out on a small stage for some fans. At least this is deserving of play on a show called Headbangers Ball, as there is a lot of headbanging and shredding. The wailing vocals at the 3:54 mark are terrible.

Oceano – Weaponized – In case you may not have noticed, I am a fan of the more extreme (not the band) side of metal, but I am not a fan of this death-core genre. For those of you not able to discern vocals of the deathly variety, this vocalist is generic at best. I do not like the sychronized headbanging. It is especially lame in slow-motion. I just picture these guys practicing their moves like Kip Winger would. I like videos with a story I can follow, but I expected more brutality and carnage than was delivered.

Underoath – In Division – Musically, this is the best of the bunch for this style. Visually, this is the most aesthetically pleasing video of the entire hour. Personally, I would still never watch this again.

The Empire Shall Fall – Lords of War – Is this the former vocalist of Killswitch Engage and Seemless? Guess his best days are behind him. Not as bad as Sacred Oath, but a dreadfully boring song and video. I liked the outro riff/chorus better when it was done by about 100 different stoner-metal bands in 2003.

This Is Hell – Bloodlines – This is the hardcore equivalent to Sacred Oath. While I liked Holy Grail playing for some fans, this just looks silly.

Deftones – You’ve Seen the Butcher – I do not own any Deftones albums, but I like some Deftones. This is not some of the Deftones I like. This is very… artsy? No, this is lazy, and completely forgettable.

Whether any of these bands are your bag or not, feel free to comment. – Tim

MY FAVORITE STUFF of 2010….

Biters “s/t 10″ / Its OK To Like Biters”
No records got more play than these 2 EPs by Atlanta’s Biters. Short, sharp, spring-action power-pop with a sneer. Here is my favorite song of 2010.

and the rest in no certain order…

Trap Them “Filth Rations” EP
they just get better with each release. the seriousness with which this band takes what they do is some Black Flag shit. I preach it all the time, this band is important.

High Watt Crucifixers “s/t”
Texas punk rawk ‘n roll with hooks, and one of the best live drummers you will ever see.

NAILS “Unsilent Death”
14 minutes of pulverizing hate. so brutal i only capitalize their name…just like SLAYER.

the Secret “Solve Et Coagula”
seething Italian’s high-fivin’ NAILS in the hate department. Kurt Ballou-production takes it to a smothering level. this record also has my favorite artwork of the year courtesy of Justin Bartlett…iconic and evil.

Jesse Malin & the St.Marks Social “Love It To Life”
Jesse tells stories, loves the Bad Brains and the Boss, and sounds like it. The man has yet to let me down as a songwriter or motivator. PMA.

Nachtmystium “Addicts: Black Meddle II”
an ambitious frankenstein’s monster of a record. pieced together black metal, dance beats (yeah, i know!), sprawling ambiance, goth-y electronics, and a grime… all creating some absolutely fucked amalgamation that works.

Danko Jones “Below The Belt”
Danko’s been at it for a while and he’s a king of rock. the best record of his career…make sure to get the bonus tracks too.

Night Horse “Perdition Hymns”
Night Horse play big, fat, boogie rock’n roll. classic and bad ass.

Broken Teeth “Viva La Rock Fantastico”
Broken Teeth have balls, big balls… with Bon Scott in-his-pigtails tattooed on’m.

Burning Love “Songs For Burning Lovers”
Chris from Cursed has a new band…similar formula but adding in some ‘Ass Cobra’-ish good times. the song ‘Alien vs Creditor’ has my undying love.

Torche “Songs For Singles”
just as poppy as they are heavy…its no wonder they’re one of my all-time favorite bands.

the Gracious Few “the Gracious Few”
i will listen to Kevin Martin sing ANYTHING…especially Zep-flavored tunes.

Triptykon “Eparistera Daimones”
that tone, that heaving, oozing, black ‘n bleak TONE. a worthy follow up to the gargantuan ‘Monotheist’ masterpiece. (anyone else think Tom G. Warrior looks like Chris Benoit?)

High On Fire “Snakes For The Divine”
they’ve become like Motorhead at this point. you know what you’re getting and you just fucking love every second of it.

Butch Walker & the Black Widows “I Liked You Better When You Had No Heart”
my favorite songwriter. Butch doesnt ‘rock’ anymore, get over it or move on. ‘She Likes Hair Bands’ is a perfect pop song.

for my 80s sleaze-rock compatriots…these are worthy of your cash
-Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction “We Are Volsung” (the best of the bunch)
-Reckless Love “s/t”
-Motochrist “Corvette Summer”
-Bad City “Welcome To The Wasteland”

other records i very much enjoyed
-Deftones “Diamond Eyes”
-Ryan Adams & the Cardinals “III/IV”
-Electric Wizard “Black Masses”
-Daughters “s/t”
-Swans “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky”
-Black Mountain “Wilderness Heart”
-Black Angels “Phosphene Dream”
-Superchunk “Majesty Shredding” (WHAT A COMEBACK!)
-Boris/Ian Astbury “BXI”
-Acid Tiger “s/t”
-Frightened Rabbit “Winter of Mixed Drinks”
-Trash Talk “Eyes & Nines”
-Dax Riggs “Say Goodnight To The World”
-Bongripper “Satan Worshipping Doom”
-Solace “AD”
-Haust “Powers of Horror”

favorite shows–
-Biters @ Blind Bobs / Dayton, OH …a tightly-wound 30 minute set of power-pop-punk perfection, closing with probably the greatest version of ‘Strutter’ ever played.

-Eyehategod @ Headliners / Louisville, KY …an amazing end to an important day. As EHG took the stage, i said “oh man, can you feel that? this is gonna be special.” i was right…a night of ‘at the brink of disaster’ scumbag metal. it was nice to have a little fear for a change.

-Portal @ Maryland Deathfest / Baltimore, MD …this was a readjustment to everything i’d programmed my brain to know as heavy, evil, or what extreme music is capable of. i simply cannot do this experience justice with any adjectives or comparisons, and i hope that tells you something.

-Trash Talk @ Red 7 / SXSW …the connection between Trash Talk and the kids was powerful. bodies…flying…off….everything. this show was so inspiring, i followed them to their next show across the city. it was the first time in my thousands of shows that i’d seen a band play back to back sets within 2 hours!

other awesome stuff from 2010….

-Eric

-having my photo used for the back cover (as well as 30 more inside) of the Trouble “Live In LA” deluxe gatefold LP artwork by High Roller Records in Germany. 16 year old me is still shitting himself over having his name on the same record with Kory Clarke.

-mine and Donny’s 10th year of SXSW
-the drunken sunday at Maryland Deathfest with Tim, Jonah, and Dave.
-having Rolling Stone Online use my photos for their Top 25 Record Store feature
-starting and maintaining Worship Volume 4 with Tim.
-the Floor “Below & Beyond” box set
-Earth “Beaurocratic Desire for Extra Capsular Extraction” deluxe reissue. played almost everyday since i got it.
-discovering Doc’s Records & Vintage in Ft.Worth, TX
-Hells Headbangers mail order
-the packaging to Watain’s “Lawless Darkness”
-taking Eric to see Greg Dulli for the first time
-Kevin Sharp’s monthly column in Decibel Magazine
-again…Portal
-Bill’s return!
-slidin in the backdoor to see a re-energized Deftones on a whim, courtesy of Tony Adams’ magic
-its been a good year for the Entombed guitar tone. that said, i am pretty much worshipping this developing scene of bands doing the dirty punk/metal/d’beat hybrid thing…whatever you want to call it. they have a common thread of sounding urgent and ready to kill their leaders. i dig that. (Trap Them, Nails, Burning Lovers, the Secret, Gaza, All Pigs Must Die, Kvelertak, etc…)
-you for reading

My apologies to the following always-reliable bands, as I either haven’t purchased the cd yet or am waiting for the vinyl:
-Killing Joke, Wovenhand, the Erotics, Lyrics Born, and the Jim Jones Revue

oh yeah…and the point of starting this blog was to track our record shopping for 1 year. I counted them up… my sick ass acquired 423 different records this year. Thats not downloads or mp3s…thats actual, physical product. Support real live record stores, support hard-working labels, support amazing bands, buy their stuff, spread the word….and always Worship Volume 4!

Just returned from another successful crate-digging excursion to Dallas. I can always find something at Good Records and CD Source, but Doc’s once again had me drooling in the sleeves. I regret not buying that Masters of Reality debut with the original art, but maybe it will survive until my next visit.

via Doc’s Records & Vintage
all used vinyl
-Voivod “Rrröööaaarrr ” (original on Noise/Combat)
-Voivod “War and Pain” (original on Metal Blade)
-Ryan Adams “Rock N Roll” (180gram with alternate cover art to the cd)

-Afghan Whigs “Gentlemen” (on Sub Pop, did not include the bonus 7″)
-Afghan Whigs ‘”1965″ (on Sub Pop, promo copy)
-Black N Blue “In Heat”
-Junkyard “s/t”
-Faster Pussycat “Wake Me When It’s Over”
-LA Guns “s/t”
-LA Guns “Cocked & Loaded”
-the Makers “Rock Star God” (2LP)
-XYZ “s/t”

via Good Records..
-Reigning Sound – “Too Much Guitar” (new)
-Reigning Sound – “Time Bomb High School” (new)
-the National – “Alligator” (used)

via CD Source…
-Babylon AD “In The Beginning” (used cd)
-Little Hell “Emotional Vampire Sound” EP (used cd)

I dig CD Source, their used cd selection is massive and i adore the sweet Chinese woman who greets you. I also had to appreciate the ‘High Fidelity’ snarky’ness of the clerk who rang me up. As I shopped, I was using my phone to look up tracklistings on a few imports, as well as that Little Hell EP. You know, looking to see if they included non-LP tracks and such. When checking out, Cliche Indie Clerk says “hmmm, this one rang up $99.99 on the Internet. Its out of print, $100 bucks please.” I knew what he was getting at, and despite not doing it (looking up pricing to re-sell), I kinda dug his suble-yet-polite ‘Fuck You.’ I’ve been on the other side of the counter and know how that burns your ass, so I let him have his false win and just smirked.

via Shake-It Records
-the Secret “Solve et Coagula” …limited edition mail-order only gold pressing, with free poster. mucho thanks to Billy.

-Yob “the Great Cessation” (2LP)
-Earth “Bureaucratic Desire for Extra Capsular Extraction”" (2LP on limited Grey w/free poster)
(yes, I know…Southern Lord’s dick is firmly in my mouth at this point)
-Sonic Youth “the Eternal” (used, deluxe version) ..i consider this a victory for patience. this album is the ONE time i purchased the CD instead of the vinyl upon release because of cost. the first vinyl edition was around $35 and not justifiable. later, a cheaper, $24 version was issued…but I’d already bought the CD. this was the $35 for $15 used. altho…since i initially bought the CD, i guess i really did end up paying about $30 for this album. uh…nevermind. DAMN.

via Phil’s….
-Rush “Fly By Night” (used LP….fuck you Timmy for making me watch ‘Beyond The Lighted Stage’)

via Rhino Handmade…
-the Stooges “Have Some Fun: Live At Ungano’s” (mail order only live show from the ‘Funhouse’ era. includes a few mini-photo reprints from the actual show, a reproduction of the newspaper ad, fold-out liners by Lenny Kaye, with a slipcase cd, all housed in a box/shell gimmick.)

via Coextinction Records…
-Unsane “Coextinction Recordings 1″ brand new songs only available digitally. 3 songs, $4. i dig Unsane so I figued I’d help support their new venture with Coextinction and its digital-EP series. 2 of the songs are vintage, teeth-scraping Unsane. the last however, is throw away sound effects crap…the kind of song listed as a bonus track or b-side that makes you feel cheated. As Lars Ulrich’s wizard-of-a-Dad would say, “I would delete that.”

15 forms of music purchased in 2010 that I enjoy:

Trap Them – Filth Rations 12” EP …My favorite band of the last few years, and this EP is yet another progression in the world of Trap Them. Four furious songs that completely annihilate on side one, and an etching of part of the amazing cover art by Justin Bartlett on side two. Cannot wait to hear the new LP coming soon!!!

Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power 2LP/gatefold/reissue …The record that sent me on this amazing journey into the world of extreme music. Yeah, this was not the most extreme (not the band) record I had heard when it was released, but I was only at the tip of the iceberg at this point, and Vulgar… spoke volumes to me. So happy that it was finally released in an absolutely stellar vinyl format!

Nails – Unsilent Death LP …13 minutes of aural hatred, rivaled only by the likes of Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer and Trap Them! This 3-piece has one mission, and that mission is to destroy you with punishing hardcore grind, and slabs of sludge-like breakdowns. Perfect for those days that come all too often…

The Birthday Party – Live 81-82 …If I recall correctly, Jer located this in the used cd bin at Sound Garden in Baltimore. I love The Birthday Party albums, but was not aware of this release. I enjoy the magic of music being constructed in a studio, and I enjoy going to see bands live, but a live recording that I was not there to see rarely brings me any excitement. Live 81-82 sounds like you are there for a band coming unglued in some type of nihilistic ritual of sounds and syllables! Amazing!

Venom – Black Metal 2LP/gatefold/reissue …In all my record store searching, I have never crossed paths with a vinyl version of this album, but thanks to Back On Black, I now have it! Such an awesomely fun and ripping record. Not a big fan of LP reissues with bonus tracks, but this version separates them, with sides a and b being the album, and sides c and d are the bonus tracks from the cd reissues from several years back. Lay down your soul to the gods rock and roll!!!

Daughters – Daughters and Hell Songs …I recall hearing Daughters debut, Canada Songs, and not really thinking much of it. So other than an amazingly drunken viewing of them live at SXSW in 2007, I was not paying them any attention until I read a review of the self-titled release from this year. After hearing this fantastic release, I read that Hell Songs was very similar, so when I came across the LP at Everybody’s, I picked it up as well. Both records are a modern noise and grind take on The Birthday Party and The Jesus Lizard.

Watain – Lawless Darkness 2LP/triple gatefold …The packaging of this album is outstanding, but the music contained within is the air-guitar album of the year!!! Seriously, I air-guitar and headbang to this constantly when it is spinning. A thrashy, blackened riff-fest full of great songs! The hype around these guys this year was a bit ridiculous, but this album proves that they may be worthy of such.

Corrosion of Conformity – Animosity LP …I happened upon a used copy of this at Everybody’s back in January. I had not heard this in many years. Funny that an album released in 1985 would receive as many spins as this one has in 2010. Needless to say, I am really happy I bought this.

High On Fire – Snakes of the Divine 2LP/gatefold …Summoning the gods of the riff yet again, Matt Pike and company deliver another amazing album. I have said it before, but in all honesty, High On Fire is everything that is right about heavy metal! Even Iommi must nod his head in approval.

Triptykon – Eparistera Daimones 2LP/gatefold …Contrary to the beliefs of many, Monotheist is the best Celtic Frost album ever. Yes, I know, I have listened to Morbid Tales, To Mega Therion, Into the Pandemonium, and even Cold Lake many times, but Monotheist is a monster. An album only Tom G. Warrior could conjure, even though I questioned whether he could. Eparistera Daimones continues in the stride of Monotheist, just as Warrior said it would, and I could not be happier for it!

Slayer – The Vinyl Conflict LP Box …This is all the American Recordings albums on 180g vinyl. Yes, there are some not-so-stellar moments in this box set, but there are many more Slayer-f’n-rules awesome moments! And it is Slayer. And it is Slayer on vinyl. Really, do I need to say more?!

Autopsy – Awakened By Gore 2LP/die hard version …Dude at Nuclear War Now! knows how to do it right! Awakened By Gore is a compilation of the two Autopsy demos plus live and rehearsal tracks. This version comes in a hard-bound book jacket with a back patch, sticker, poster and massive booklet. An amazing piece in any death metal fiend’s collection.

The Cure – Disintegration 2LP/gatefold/reissue …I love The Cure, and I was super-excited to see this reissued by the fine folks at Rhino. Like many, Disintegration is my favorite in myriad of great records by The Cure. An amazing listen every time.

Swans – Cop/Young God/Greed/Holy Money …I have been traversing the Swans discography over several years, but this release, a 2cd compilation of their material from ‘84 to ’86, had alluded me. I had seen used copies available online, but for more than I cared to spend. Unbeknownst to me, this collection had been reissued, and I happened upon it a Shake It Records back in April.

Various Artists – Swedish Death Metal 3cd and Grind Madness at the BBC 3cd …I am writing about these together as both harken back to a time when extreme metal was in its infancy. Swedish Death Metal serves as a companion to the book of the same name by Daniel Ekeroth, chronicling the Swedish Death Metal scene from its beginning to 1993. This 3cd has the usual suspects, but also has many bands I was not familiar with, and forced me into a 3-day binge of downloading demos online! The Grind Madness… set is a collection of all the Peel Sessions from the early days of Earache Records, everything from Napalm Death to Heresy. A must have for the grind aficionado.

Well, in 2010, instead of spending those game tickets on a spider-ring or chinese-fingertraps, you can now buy the new Iron Maiden album.

I can appreciate some of the iAge’s benefits, but this is a new level of ‘disposable.’ A 9-minute Iron Maiden track has the same value as a cartoon pencil topper. The machine had 2 options, plug your ipod directly into it or it burns-then-spits a cd of your ticket-won tracks.

What next? What could the possibly come up with next to make music even more of a throw-away commodity?

here’s a record geek’s (me) version with empty mailers. don’t worry, they’ll be reused soon enough….soon enough.

Below you will find a copy of the email that started the idea for this blog. Tim had made a trip to Louisville to record shop, and I asked him to shoot me an email with what he bought. The write-up was so fun, it superkicked my brain into goin, “Huh? We should do this all the time and track our ridiculous record store excursions” …which leads to you reading this right now. All Hail Tim!

“From: Tim
Subject: Louisville purchases
Date: November 18, 2009 7:08:18 PM EST
To: Jer

While the drive down by myself listening to music was cool, record shopping is better as a 2-person or more activity.

I hit the Great Escape first. I was overwhelmed by all the comics when I walked in. Got distracted looking around at them. Wish I was more into comics because they all look cool, but I have no idea where to start. Could not make much sense of the used cd’s, as they seemed to have 2 sections of rock and such.

Crank 2 dvd (used)
Cannibal Corpse – Kill cd (used)
Dysrhythmia – Pretest cd (used)

Off to the Book & Music Exchange. Spent a solid amount of time in there. Used vinyl sucked. Did take advantage of the 5 for $30 on used cd’s deal.

Led Zep – BBC Sessions 2cd
Deicide – Serpents of the Light
The Crown – Possessed 13
Murderdolls – Beyond the Valley…
X-Files Season 1 dvd set

Cruised down the street to Ear-X-Tacy. They have changed things around. Did not waste too much time with the used cd’s, as the selection is always shit. The upstairs was closed off. Flipped through the metal vinyl. Nothing great. Flipped through the metal cd’s. Not much there either. Listened to some of the Shrinebuilder and Halford cd’s on a listening post. They had some huge incense kiosk set up by the metal cd’s. They have trimmed their selection down as there seemed to be less bins, and everything was spread out.

Devin Townsend – Addicted cd (new)
Terrorizer #189 (Abbath) & #190 (Peter Tagtgren)

Headed left out of Ear-X-Tacy, and down a little bit to a place called Underground Sounds. Strange little place. Incense burning. Pointless used cd section. Carry rock, indie, jazz, soul, funk and hip-hop cds, with small amounts of used and new vinyl for each. Had a huge section of King Crimson catalog cd’s new, so you have an idea of what these guys are about. Although I found a couple of things, I am not sure I would go back again.

Albert Ayler – Spirits Rejoice cd (new)
Skinny Puppy – Spasmolytic 12″ single (used) (I had this on tape. It was my first Skinny Puppy experience. Super-cool art.)

Walked over to a Starbucks and grabbed a Pumpkin Spice Latte for the road.”