Top Of The Pick Ups 2016

2016 has been another good year as far as record collecting goes. And even though I cut down massively on buying records for a good three months, I managed to buy a decent amount of records and pick up some really cool collectibles throughout 2016. These records comprise the Top 10 Pick Ups 2016. They're pretty much only records by my all-time favorite band and range from "Whoa, this is an incredible record. I didn't think I'd ever own over a copy of this." over "Huh, I didn't even know this variant existed, but I'm sure glad I stumbled upon it." and "I really like that cover." to "This record means a lot to me because it was a gift by a very generous person.". Especially the last category still makes hardcore and record collecting so much fun.

Thanks to everyone who pointed me towards a record, sold records to and  traded records with me, or even gave me a record as a present. Thanks to everyone who has been following my blog this year and has engaged me in conversation of some sort. It's been a lot of fun.

XXX

Ralf

Record Collectors Unite

When I was visiting Marcus, he treated me to some records he'd released on his own label The Endless Quest. Hope Defeated are/were (I'm not 100% sure if they're still active) a band from Canada. Now, you might ask yourself, why does some dude from the UK release a rather - at least to my knowledge - unknown band from Canada? The answer is quite simple really: because the singer and the guy running the label knew each other through collecting records and blogging about it. Doug  hasn't been active for some time, but his blog We Will Bury You is still worth checking out. If you want to know more about the story, you should pick up a copy of this 7" and read all about it.
I really like the story behind this release. It's always cool to see how shared interests can bring people together no matter where they're from. The story isn't the only thing I thoroughly enjoyed here. The record itself is pretty good as well. Thanks again for hooking me up with an instant collection, Marucs.

Black vinyl out of 150.

White vinyl out of 100.

And finally, a very cool Chain Of Strength rip-off sleeve out of 60 aka the Blog Nerds Pressing. You can also see a flyer that tells the story of Marcus' label and how this 7" came about.