Whirr / Nothing - Split EP [12"]

When two of my current favorite bands release a split EP, i'm extremely stoked of course. WHIRR and NOTHING both provided two excellent tracks, and the result is one of the strongest EP releases of this year. While Whirr makes modern shoegaze, Nothing leans more towards nineties alternative rock on this release. For example Chloroform has a great Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream-era) vibe to it, which i like a lot. I saw Nothing last week in Amsterdam and they really rocked. Now let's hope Whirr will do a European tour as well soon. The EP is single-sided and there's a nice etched B-side that shows both bands' logos as eyes of the well-known "Nirvana smiley". It was hard to make a photo, but at least you'll get the idea:

There were several pressings made of this EP. Mine is the cream/green marbled one (1000 made) and there's supposed to be a DVD included as well, but that didn't come with my copy unfortunately.

Label: Run For Cover Records
Cat.nr.: RFC 109
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. WHIRR - Ease
02. WHIRR - Lean
03. NOTHING: Chloroform
04. NOTHING: July The Fourth

SIDE B:
etching

Warpaint - Warpaint [12", 2LP]

This weekend there were two really good albums coming out: Rave Tapes by Mogwai and this self-titled second full length by WARPAINT. While writing this, i noticed that i never wrote anything about their first album The Fool nor about their debut EP, which i also have on vinyl. Might do that within the next few weeks. Anyway, this new album is the best thing i heard in 2014 so far. The year has only just started, but still. The song Love Is To Die was released in October to announce the album and is one of my favourite songs, but also Feeling Alright (with a bit of a the XX vibe), Drive and especially the groovy Disco//very are excellent. The one and only Flood produced this album, and it's noticeable that a top producer was involved. He really did a mighty fine job. The album is less dark, more ethereal (or as they said for themselves in some interview, more sexy) than The Fool. The artwork consists of pictures of the 4 band members, blended into one. The inside covers show the individual pictures. The version that i have is is the limited edition on red vinyl. There's also an etching on side D of the band's logo. Quality stuff, and if there are more albums like this being released during the rest of the year i'll be having a really hard time to choose my 10 favourite albums - just like last year. Not that i mind, though. Keep 'em coming!

Label: Rough Trade
Cat.nr.: RTRADLP680
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Intro
02. Keep It Healthy
03. Love Is To Die
04. Hi

SIDE B:
01. Biggy
02. Teese
03. Disco//very
04. Go In

SIDE C:
01. Feeling Alright
02. CC
03. Drive
04. Son

SIDE D:
etching

Tomahawk - Stone Letter [7"]

It has been a bit quiet around TOMAHAWK, the band that features Mike Patton (Faith No More, Fantômas, Mr. Bungle), John Stanier (Helmet, Battles), Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard) and Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle). Their last album was from 2007 so that's 5 years already. But here's a sign of life: for Black Friday 2012 they've released this one-sided 7" single of the song STONE LETTER, which will be featured on their upcoming album Oddfellows (scheduled for January 2013). Curious to hear that album, as this single is pretty darn good. Like said it's one-sided; the B-side is etched.

Label: Ipecac
Cat.nr.: IPC 141
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Stone Letter

SIDE B:
etching

Nadja - Truth Becomes Death [12", 2LP]

In 2008, Conspiracy Records had the amazing plan to release 3 NADJA albums on vinyl that were previously only released on CD, on Alien8 Records. All in new artwork: awesome nature pictures by Seldon Hunt (known from his great work for bands like Earth, Isis and Jesu) for the inner sleeves, and embossed die-cut outer sleeves. Besides that they all have an etching on side D. Unfortunately i never managed to get my hands on Touched so far, but i'm happy enough to own both Radiance Of Shadows and TRUTH BECOMES DEATH. This album is originally from 2005 and Conspiracy pressed 200 on white and 550 on black vinyl. My copy is a black one. Three sides, three tracks of shoegaze/drone/post-metal. Awesome stuff.

The etching on this LP shows a forest:

Label: Conspiracy Records

Cat.nr.: CORE 065

Year of release: 2008

SIDE A:

01. Bug/Golem

SIDE B:

01. Memory Leak

SIDE C:

01. Breakpoint

SIDE D:

etching

M83 - Mirror [7"]

The song MIRROR by M83 is an outtake from their Hurry Up, We're Dreaming album, and previously only available as a download. It's been put to vinyl, as a one-sided etched 7", released on Record Store Day 2012. Naïve did the UK pressing of 500 copies; this is a copy of the USA version on Mute. No idea how many were made, but it was a limited quantity anyway.

The etching has the code to download the digital track from www.m83mirror.com

Label: Mute

Cat.nr.: 9531-1

Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:

01. Mirror

SIDE B:

etching

School Of Seven Bells - Face To Face On High Places [12", EP]

I believe this is SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS' debut release; a one-sided 12" on clear vinyl with a laser-etched image of a bird (magpie? crow?) on a branch with a ring in its beak. According to the credits, the band still had a drummer and bass player then, so it was a five-piece. On the debut album Alpinisms, one year after this EP, it was just Benjamin Curtis and the Deheza sisters. And nowadays it's only him and Alejandra Deheza.
This EP is much more experimental than their more recent work.

SIDE A:
01. Limb By Limb
02. Face To Face On High Places
03. S.Ada.Licht

SIDE B:
etching

The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love [12", 2LP, Limited Edition]

Their new album Future This just came out, but after a few listens i can say that i like their debut 10x better. A BRIEF HISTORY OF LOVE is darker, more intense, and to my opinion therefore much more exciting. This is a great package: a 180 gram double album with a nice embossed sleeve with the band name in golden letters:


But what makes this a limited edition, is that it includes a bonus 12". A one-sided, etched, black/pink 12" in a pvc sleeve, that features a remix of Velvet by Gang Gang Dance.




Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: CAD 2916
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. Crystal Visions
02. Too Young To Love

SIDE B:
01. Dominos
02. Love In Vain
03. At War With The Sun

SIDE C:
01. Velvet
02. Golden Pendulum
03. Frisk

SIDE D:
01. A Brief History Of Love
02. Tonight
03. Count Backwards From Ten


Bonus 12"
Cat.nr.: MIX 2916

SIDE A:
01. Velvet (Bdg Remix)

SIDE B:
etching

Soulsavers - Kingdom Of Rain [7"]

I really dig the warm voice of Mark Lanegan. Either you love him or you hate him. He did the vocals on this one-sided 7" by SOULSAVERS. A dark, folky song. And on the B-side there's this cool etching:





Label: V2 Records
Cat.nr.: VVR5045527
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Kingdom Of Rain

SIDE B:
etching

Baroness - Red Album [12", 2LP]

The RED ALBUM by BARONESS is -to my opinion- still their finest work to date. One of those rock monsters, in the same league as Mastodon's Leviathan or Burst's Origo.

I own two different versions of this classic. The one pictured above is one out of 1400 of the first pressing on Relapse Records; here's the details:

Label: Relapse Records
Cat.nr.: RR6721-1
Year of release: 2008

SIDE A:
01. Rays On Pinion
02. The Birthing

SIDE B:
01. Isak
02. Wailing Wintry Wind
03. Cockroach En Fleur

SIDE C:
01. Wanderlust
02. Aleph
03. Teeth Of A Cogwheel

SIDE D:
01. O' Appalachia
02. Grad


But now it becomes interesting. Before Relapse did their pressings (i believe they've done 5 so far, on various colours), the Hyperrealist label did a one-off pressing of 1000 copies. It's on clear dark red vinyl:

The gatefold sleeve is a glossy one (the Relapse isn't), it's 33 RPM whereas the Relapse version is 45 RPM, and there's a poster included of the artwork. But the really special thing about this release is that it's got etchings on the outer inch of each of the 4 sides. This is what they look like:

One of the coolest things i've ever seen when it comes to etched vinyl.


Label: Hyperrealist
Cat.nr.: HR 016
Year of release: 2008

SIDE A:
01. Rays On Pinion
02. The Birthing

SIDE B:
01. Isak
02. Wailing Wintry Wind
03. Cockroach En Fleur

SIDE C:
01. Wanderlust
02. Aleph
03. Teeth Of A Cogwheel

SIDE D:
01. O' Appalachia
02. Grad

Baroness - Second [12", EP]

Before BARONESS got big with Red Album and Blue Record, they had a few EP's out and this is one of them - their second, d'uh. It's out of print these days and copies are going for big money, but what i really like about this release is that it has a great etching on the back.So it's single-sided.
Check it:

Label: Hyperrealist Records
Cat.nr.: HR 010
Year of release: 2005

SIDE A:
01. Red Sky
02. Son Of Sun
03. Vision

SIDE B:
etching

Alice In Chains - Jar Of Flies/Sap [12", 2LP, Limited Edition]

ALICE IN CHAINS' vinyl double album JAR OF FLIES/SAP was originally released in 1994 on Columbia. The Sap EP had been out in 1992 on CD and simultaneously with the CD release of the Jar Of Flies EP in 1994, this 2LP was released.
Just like that limited pressing, the reissue by Music On Vinyl from 2010 has an orange side A/B and a blue side C/D, while side CD is etched. The biggest difference is that the original pressing had used the band's name logo for the etching, while this re-press has a tribal sun logo.
There were 2000 copies coloured vinyl made by Music On Vinyl; later re-pressings are on black vinyl.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 086
Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:
01. Rotten Apple
02. Nutshell
03. I Stay Away
04. No Excuses
05. Whale & Wasp

SIDE B:
01. Don't Follow
02. Swing On This

SIDE C:
01. Brother
02. Got Me Wrong
03. Right Turn
04. Am I Inside
05. (Untitled Bonus Track)

SIDE D:
etching