Enter Shikari have been labeled under “post-hardcore,   electronicore and metalcore” in the past. Not only do I have no idea what the last two mean, but I also think that they break through defining lines in general. After slightly narrowing their sound in their sophomore album Common Dreads, they have once again busted through mere “genre” and really transcended into a mixed sound of their own. I’ve found that through my first listen I was quite confused and didn’t quite “get it”. However the more I listened to it, the more I found just how much I loved each crazy transition. So if you’re not quite feeling the album the first few spins, then keep going and try a few more times. The amazing video for arguing with thermometers seen HERE may help you in your quest.

The Actual Vinyl

This single blue 12″ vinyl comes housed in a rather cool looking lyric sleeve with blue light inverted triangle on the opposite side of the sleeve. The sleeve and vinyl themselves go inside the packaging which has alternate album artwork specifically for vinyl. The vinyl itself is a really cool blue colour and you’ll see from the below photos what they exactly look like.

Tracklist

A

1 – System…

2 – … Meltdown

3 – Sssnakepit

4 – Search Party

5 – Arguing With Thermometers

6 – Stalemate

B

1 – Ghandi Mate, Ghandi.

2 – Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here

3 – Pack Of Thieves

4 – Hello Tyrannosaurus, Meet Tyrannicide

5 – Constellations

$$

Right now it’s easily available for about $27-$40. If you’re in australia head to JBHIFI online and you can pick it up for $34 including postage. Otherwise just head to the enter shikari website or your local record store.

Why yes – Charlie Simpson WAS in that british boyband. However after the first few bars of Palahniuk’s Laughter, the first track from Fightstar’s first release you’ll realize his boy band days are long, long gone. The track is full of heavy riffs mashed together with big chorus’ which standard in the post-hardcore genre. If you’re lucky enough to have They Liked You Better When You Were Dead on cd, or if you’ve downloaded it then you’ll know just what an incredible start this band had. They have an amazing mix of tracks which is really audible in even just the two tracks gracing this 7″ release. Mono, the second track starts off with a really light guitar riff and somewhat dreamy backing vocals. But what really makes this easily one of my favorite 7″ vinyl is the huge eruption of sound closer to the end of the track and it’s preceding build up. This took me a while to get a hold of, but I was crazily lucky enough to get it for under $5 which is a complete steal – as it usually goes for $40+ because of its rarity.

The Actual Vinyl

This release is a pretty standard 7″ sleeve with the vinyl sitting inside the cardboard packaging. The artwork is quite cool and has 2 drawings, one is obviously a draw from fight club – the movie a la’ the book from Chuck Palahniuk from which the first title comes from. The same 2 drawings grace the center label on the black vinyl as well.

Tracklist

A -Palahniuk’s Laughter

B -Mono

$-$$$

The price of this vinyl is really dependent on how long you’re willing to wait. As of right now – there are no listings for it on ebay. However on discogs.com it goes for over $40. I waited about 3 months and managed to get it on ebay for about $5 which was incredible for the quality of this release. So if you’d like to get it I’d wait until you can find it for under $25 – however you should be able to find it for $30 if you look hard enough.

On the leaflet which comes housed in this amazing package it has a quote from “Joseph Kosinski” from 2010 talking about meeting Daft Punk and talking about them writing the score.

“… the discussion revealed a shared desire to create a score that blended classic orchestral themes with an electronic minimalism in a way that had never been done before… Now, three years later, we are in the final stages of mixing and the result has truly exceeded my high expectations.

Because the score was developed in parallel with the production of the film, I’ve had the opportunity to live with it for over a year now and it never fails to thrill and inspire me as we near teh finish line. I am excited for you to experience Daft Punk’s first contribution to the world of film scoring – I have a feeling it won’t be their last.”

This quote really just about wraps up all the things I want to say about this film score. I loved the film (screw the critics), and thought that the soundtrack was literally the perfect backline to such an atmospheric film. Originally I was a little bit iffy about daft punk taking on such a great leap. And after derezzed was released my fears weren’t exactly calmed. I feared that the soundtrack would be like another daft punk album and not really manage to hit that “score” note. After hearing this soundtrack in the film and when I got a hold of the soundtrack I was exponentially impressed by the brilliant mixture of “classic orchestral themes with an electronic minimalism”.

It’s an exciting time when such huge bands are starting to score films such as Trent Reznor, Atticus Ros and of course Daft Punk. It not only means a decent income for them – instead of downloading hurting them a little (I know that’s a rather questionable statement. However Disney would have payed Daft Punk a decent sum for this).

The Actual Vinyl

As you can probably tell from the continued barraging of glow in the dark images in this post – I discovered that the cover was not just raised but was also glow in the dark. After opening up the amazing gate-fold cover, a large image of Daft Punk tron style reveals itself. I really wish I could have that center image blown up rather large as a poster and put upon my wall.

Each vinyl rests in either side in very very nice paper, plastic lined sleeves. It’s a small thing having the plastic lining, but it’s so great putting the vinyl back in or taking it out with it. Also included in a page of liner notes which includes a digital download code. Thus the bad drawing out over mine.

Tracklist

A

1 – Overture

2 – The Grid

3 – The Son Of Flynn

4 – Recognizer

5 – Armory

6 – Arena

7 – Rinzler

8 – The Game has Changed

9 – Outlands

B

1 – Adagio for Tron

2 – Nocturne

3 – End Of Line

4 – Derezzed

5 – Fall

6 – Solar Sailer

7 – Rectifier

8 – Disc Wars

C

1 – C.L.U

2 – Arrival

3 – Flynn Lives

4 – Tron Legacy (End Titles)

5 – Finale

D – Bonus Vinyl Content

1 – Sea of Simulation

2 – Encom Part 2

3 – Encom Part 1

4 – Round One

5 – Castor

6 – Reflections

7 – Sunrise Prelude

$$1/2-$$$

This record is limited to 9072 and for that reason can be very expensive at times, but also can be snagged at a bargain price. On ebay right now it’s anywhere between $35 to $70 depending on where you get it and if you’re a lucky bidder or buying it now. I’d suggest (if you can) waiting until you can get it for around $30-45. However it IS an amazing record – so good hunting.

BRAND NEW – THE DEVIL AND GOD ARE RAGING INSIDE ME

Blurb

Oh how this album always manages to blow me away. It goes through different moods, genres and even has a great instrumental (welcome to bangkok – thus the bad word pun). But as with all amazing albums or bands, trouble always has a way of sneaking in. Which in this case was what is now called “fight off your demons”, aka. the 9 ‘untitled’ demo’s which were leaked onto the internet. “Leaked? So what?” you may ask yourself while checking your download speed on utorrent. According to this, Garret Tierney (bass guitar) had no problems with the leak and even suggested it was good to see so many people curious. Jesse Lacey (lead singer, rhythm guitar) had a much different view, saying that it had him pretty down. He also stated that he “felt those songs were wasted or something - that we had to go and write new things because those had been heard”.

Regardless of Jesse’s thoughts during said interview a number of the songs went on to either appear on the album or was released in some form. “Untitled 8″ went on to become Sowing Season, “Untitled 6″ became Luca, “Untitled 3″ became Jesus‘ single B side Brothers or aloC-acoC which was the b-side to Sowing Season and finally ”Untitled 7″ became the single Fork and Knife. Also if you’re somewhat of a conspiracy theorist – you may be able to hear similarities between “Untitled 9″ and Archers Bows Have Broken.

The Actual Vinyl

The cover art is something of genius and you can thank photographer Nicholas Prior for such. This now expensive vinyl comes in a rather curious looking gate fold. After opening it up there is an old photo with some rather amazing hair as well as a black light image on the other side. The two vinyl slide out either side of the package and my set has either a white paper sleeve or full black card sleeve to choose from. Rather curious I thought when the name is “devil and god” (white and black choice?), only me? Ok… On my variant each vinyl has part of the title in the background followed by the track titles of the songs of the corresponding side. Also included is a booklet of curious nature. It’s full of photos, a tracklisting, odd text and credits. My variant as you may be able to see from the photos below is the solid white from academy fight song. There is literally a bazillion different variants for this particular record including black/white marble, orange/black swirl and solid purple just to name a very few. If you’d like the full list – google is your friend.

Tracklist

A

1 – Sowing Season

2 – Millstone

3 – Jesus

B

1 – Degausser

2 – Limousine (MS Rebridge)

C

1 – You Don’t Know

2 – Welcome To Bangkok

3 – Not The Sun

D

1 – Luca

2 – (Untitled)

3 – The Archers Bows Have Broken

4 – Handcuffs

$$$

For some reason I was chosen by the devil or god (not even a pun?) to win this on ebay for about $50-$60. It was amazing. Probably the second best moment of my life. Of course coming second to that one time I found the last packet of mi goreng behind the out of date  Betty Crocker cake mix.

Anyway – This album is usually found for about $100+ on ebay and such. It really comes down to which variant you want and how flexible you are on such. If you want this record I probably wouldn’t spend over $120 as if you play the waiting game you’ll be able to get lucky. However if you want it NOW then you might have to dish out about $120 – $170.

But don’t let the price keep you away. Being able to spin this record after failing yet another horrid day of compulsory Uni subjects is freaking phenomenal .

Brand new, one of the hardest bands to search both on Google and on eBay, released their first album in 2001. It was titled Your Favorite Weapon and was filled to the brim with power-chords, and pop/rock riffs. Although they stopped playing most of the tracks after their second album for many years due to a rather large change in sound, I am quite the fan of this debut from one of my favorite bands.

To celebrate it’s 10th birthday, this stunning album has been re-released and re-pressed. I was extremely glad to hear news of the re-issue, mainly because the original pressings cost about $150 second hand. Anyway – this new issue has BRAND NEW cover art (ohh god… did I really just do that?), new liner notes, online downloads for remastered album and demo tracks AND the exclusion of the song “… My Nine Rides Shotgun”. All of the previous additions are great except for the song exclusion. I’m not sure why it was excluded, since it was a bonus track for the Japanese version(?) and the vinyl edition. The song itself does have a different sort of a feel to it though I think, which could have been a factor.

The actual vinyl

With new cover art, it looks very cool – and a massive jump further on the awesome scale when you feel the embossed “your favorite weapon” near the bottom of the front cover. It then opens out for a gatefold of one picture then flipped for the other side. You’ll see what I mean in the photos. I’m not sure why they did this with such a wide canvas for them to put anything they like. They could have just as easy put the slide in lyric sheet in the inner gatefold which could be seen as making more sense. Though don’t get me wrong – it’s still not a horrid middle to a gatefold.

As I said there is a lyric sheet insert which has a photo of everyone in the band followed by lyrics and credits. The actual vinyl comes in 4 variants (just for the re-issue), I have the black but there is also supposedly 500 CLEAR, 500 LIGHT BLUE and 1000 WHITE. Before I forget, the middle of each vinyl size just has a photo of Jesse(?) jumping up with a guitar.

Tracklist 

A

1 – The Shower Scene

2 – Jude Law And A Semester Abroad

3 – Sudden Death In Carolina

4 – Mixtape

5 – Failure By Design

6 – Last Chance To Lose your Keys

B

1 – Logan To Government Center

2 – The No Seatbelt Song

3 – Seventy Times 7

4 – Secondary

5 – Magazines

6 – Soco Amaretto Lime

FREE DOWNLOAD EXTRAS

Jude Law and A Semester Abroad (2000 Demo)

Secondary (2000 Demo)

Logan to Government Center (2000 Demo)

The Shower Scene (2000 Demo)

Logan to Government Center (2000 Throwaway Demo)

Last Chance to Lose Your Keys (2000 Throwaway Demo)

Magazines (2000 Throwaway Demo)

$-$$

Really depends where you get it.

Ebay comes up around $40 to $70 for the re-issue. But if you go to shopradiocast they were still selling them for $30 last time I was on there. So just shop around and see what is in your price range. Though it depends if it goes out of print soon – and if it does, then expect the price to jump very high.

It was only after forming in 1991 and releasing 5 albums did  AFI manage to finally accumulate much commercial success. This is a little surprising considering the quality of their first few albums. AFI’s music has always jumped around a bit in feel and genre. This has become very apparent after the electronic experimentation that was Sing the Sorrow, the very dark yet slightly more pop December underground and the even slightly poppier(?) Crash Love which was released in 2009.

The Art Of Drowning kicks off with the ‘warm up’ Initiation, then kicks off fast and loud with The Lost Souls. It then sprints through the rest of the vinyl in the special way that fast and loud AFI were well known for. I should also say that included on side A is the vinyl only track Dream Of Waking also makes an appearance as the last track on that side. This isn’t the first time that AFI have had vinyl only tracks. For example a few tracks are left off the CD version of the Reservoir Dogs inspired Answer That and Stay Fashionable.

Although I love this record as a whole, I must say that side 2 really has some gems. Although Days Of The Phoenix is rather over played by certain demographics – the song itself still remains rather great. Then it rolls through Catch a Hot One to Wester, 6 To 8, The Despair Factor and finally maybe one of my favorite AFI songs – Morningstar. 

The actual vinyl 

This is a single sleeve vinyl. The cover is the main album artwork which actually looks awesome in such a large artwork size.  The back side is a continuation of the front image coupled with the track listing divided in half for each side of the vinyl.

Inside is the vinyl slid into a normal paper sleeve. An awesome lyric sheet is included, this sheet has lyrics one side and thank you’s and production credits on the opposite side along with the winged demon seen on many early AFI releases.

As for the actual vinyl, the center sticker has the tracklist and which side on one sticker and the other has previously mentioned winged demon. As for the actual colour of the vinyl – I have the purple marbled. However there are MANY MANY variants. All of which I will try to list. I’ve taken them all from discogs.com, so I’m not sure if they’re all official or if there are more or not. Regardless I’ll list them now:

- Blue Marbled

- Fuchsia Marbled

- Grey Marbled

- Maroon Marbled

- Purple Marbled

- Smoke Grey (which was the limited edition)

- and also possibly just a plain black

Tracklist

A

1 Initiation

2 The Lost Souls

3 The Nephilim

4 Ever And A Day

5 Sacrifice Theory

6 Of Greetings And Goodbyes

7 Smile

8 Story At Three

9 Dream Of Waking (Special vinyl only track)

B

1 The Days of the Pheonix

2 Catch A Hot One

3 Wester

4 6 To 8

5 The Despair Factor

6 Morningstar

$ - $$

I found it for around $25 – 40 on ebay. Just depending on which variant you want. It’s also still in press from what I know so it shouldn’t be too hard to get a hold of it. And it’s definitely worth getting a hold of if you like earlier AFI.

La Dispute started in 2004 and by 2008 they released their debut album, Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega And Altair to a rapidly growing number of fans. Fast forward three years and their sophomore album Wildlife was thrown into their fans excitedly shaking hands like an 11 year old unwrapping a nintendo 64.

With a play time of just under an hour it’s an exhilarating ride that throws you from 0 to 100 km/h and back again before you can realise you’ve just drooled all over your fan made t-shirt.  What really surprised me about this album was how many times you could come back to it and keep finding amazing bits you’d missed. May that be from certain tracks you hadn’t quite seen the beauty in, or the abyss like lyrics (saying ‘deep’ lyrics would be pretty cliche’).  From St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Blues, to the crazily popular King Park, to I See Everything and a Broken Jar – you may really start to wonder what aspect of life is missing from this album. From dilapidated buildings to accidental child murder, to cancer and schizophrenia – all the dark parts of the alleyway you dare not trek down are not only illuminated but thrust at you with crashing drums and haunting lyrics. I dare not rant more about this incredible hour of auditory bliss – but if you haven’t heard of “La Dispute”, I think now may be a good time to give them a listen.

The actual vinyl

This is another fairly straight forward gatefold double LP. Front cover has the album art – without the fancy Wildlife title which is a sticker on the plastic wrapping. The first side of the inner fold has a picture and the credits from the record. The second side has the large symmetrical flower which serves as the icon for La Dispute at the current moment anyway. In the center of the flower has written – To (intentionally scratched out word) for everything. And the back has the back angle of the front artwork followed by the track listing. Each line symbolizes a new side to the record, if you’d like to know which songs are on which record. The vinyl itself comes in plain paper sleeves and has the roman numeral for which side of the vinyl it is. So from I – IV for those a bit over tired. Also included is a card for online download and what I think is the booklet from the CD which contains the lyrics.

As with the first LP – This has MANY variants. I’ll list them below. They may not be 100% – if you have any corrections just let me know. For the “record” (heh), I have the plain black version since I was poor at the time of great importance.

20 Black (Test Pressings)
250 Clear / Clear (Only in Deluxe)
500 Dark Yellow / Clear
500 Dark Red / Clear
750 Dark Green / Clear
1000 Gray / Clear
2000 Black / Black

Tracklist 

1 – A – I

1 – A Departure

2 – Harder Harmonies

3 – St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Blues

4 – Edit Your Hometown

2 – B – II

1 – A Letter

2 – Safer In The Forest/Love Song For Poor Michigan

3 – The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit

3 – C – III

1 – A Poem

2 – King Park

3 – Edward Benz, 27 Times

4 – I See Everything

4 – D – IV

1 – A Broken Jar

2 – All Our Bruised Bodies And The Whole Heart Shrinks

3 – You And I In Unison

$$ – $$$

This just really depends on when you get it, how lucky you are and which variant you want. It ranges from anywhere between $27 to $200 for the Limited edition Clear vinyl. All I can say is good luck – because it’s definitely worth it.

Blurb

In accordance with his somewhat experimental album intro’s, Conor Oberst kicks off the album with a few people at what sounds like a warm up before a gig. When it kicks in with an acoustic guitar coupled with Obersts’ fragile voice you’ll know what you’re in for with this album. The second track Method Acting shows off what he can do with a band in tow. The track has both an uplifting and slightly depressing side which Bright Eyes has been so famed for. The whole album is incredible and probably my favorite Bright Eyes album – I’m wide awake does come close though. Lifted was what really let Bright Eyes be known throughout the music scene and it’s for good reason. Personal favorites are – Method Acting and Bowl Of Oranges.

The actual vinyl

This gate fold is meant to appear to be printed on a fabric. The inside has all of the lyrics plus 5 cool little picture drawings. And the back just has the Saddle Creek Logo. The 2 vinyl both come in clear plastic sleeves, and the center picture on the vinyl is from a drawing from the center gate fold. All 4 vinyls are identical except for the vinyl side number. So there isn’t a specific track list either all up or to say which songs correspond with each vinyl. Although the lyrics are all in order so you can go by that to know which songs are in order. However I think it’s just a good enough reason to listen to the whole album in it’s entirety just like god intended.

Tracklist 

 A

1 – The Big Picture

2 – Method Acting

3 – False Advertising

4 – You will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.

B

1 – Lover I Don’t Have To Love

2 – Bowl Of Oranges

3 – Don’t Know When But A Day Is Gonna Come

C

1 – Nothing Gets Crossed Out

2 – Make War

3 – Waste Of Paint

D

1 – From A Balance Beam

2 – Laura Laurent

3 – Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love And To Be Loved)

 $$

This is sometimes hard to find. It just really depends where you want to look for it. It’s sometimes in record stores and such for about $30 to $40 unopened. It doesn’t look like it’s on Ebay at the moment but I’ve seen it go from anywhere between $20 (second hand) to $55 (new). Really depends how fast you want this I suppose. Although I can say it’s definitely worth the purchase in the end if you do like Bright eyes.

If Pretty Hate Machine was Trent Reznor showing us who he is, then The Downward Spiral is showing us his inner sanctum. It’s a dark and atmospheric (two biggest words used EVER, I know), and I believe it to be just about my favorite album of all time. Where his next album expands and tries different themes and sounds, this album is really coherent, down to the point and a freaking INCREDIBLE ride from front to back. There isn’t one song I could skip – and this is the first album I bought on vinyl (at the same time as Lifted – Bright eyes).

It should be said as well that there is literally a BILLION different variants of this album – as with every NIN release. The actual release I picked up is the “US retail release, issued 2008. Very similar to 1994 US promo vinyl.” Catalog number-B0011697-01

The actual vinyl

Downward Spiral in this incarnation comes in a gate fold with a large art thing which covers the whole inner fold. There’s a pic below, but it has 13 teeth stuck in metal with metal scrapes below said teeth. Apparently it wasn’t a good opportunity to just have 9, inch scrapes. This image – alone with all of the rest are also from the CD release. The outer side of the gate fold is just the standard album art.

Now, as all gate fold releases I’ve seen, the 2 vinyl slide in either side. Both black vinyl of this release are housed in sleeves, one side of the sleeve is lyrics and the other is a large piece of imagery. It’s a little hard to slide out the vinyl – which I think it’s good. But does force me to pinch the very outer edge of the vinyl which I get quite edgy about. Heh. Then the actual vinyl has art in the center sticker for side A, then side b has that vinyl’s track-list set to the standard downward spiral backdrop.

Tracklist 

A 1 – Mr. Self Destruct

2 – Piggy

3 – Heresy

4 – March of the Pigs

B 1 – Closer

2 – Ruiner

3 – The Becoming

C 1 – I Do Not Want This

2 – Big Man With A Gun

3 – A Warm Place

4 – Eraser

D 1 – Reptile

2 – The Downward Spiral

3 – Hurt

$$

This album is available in one million variants. You think I’m joking when I say one million? I’m not. And it really depends as to what sort of a collector nut you are – as to which edition you like. I’m a stickler for art and lyrics – so I passed up the picture disc version. However the pic disc version looks amazing and I might get it in the future.

Anywhere - Usually $35++++++ Really depends as said.  Most expensive on ebay of current is $60. I was lucky enough to get it for $20 second hand.

ps. This is NOT a record to play anywhere near your parents. If you haven’t listened to NIN before, you literally have to lock your door – dig a hole in your room and create a torture chamber under your house. Then dress up in tight black and then blast this whole album so loud your ears implode. Or the album will cut you in your sleep. No joke. “You wana know how I got these scars?”