Collector's Choice 2017

So many good records made it into my collection this year again. I'm more than happy with what I managed to pick up in 2017. I didn't make a whole lot of progress with my want list, but I was able to cross off some items at least. Plus I picked up a few records that weren't on that list and some that I didn't even know of one year ago. That's what makes collecting fun though. The other element that makes collecting really fun is the people you get in touch with. Quite a few people have helped me in my efforts by pointing me to records, selling, trading or straight up giving me records for free. All of which I'm very grateful for. My favorite pick up is the test press for Bane's It All Comes Down To This LP, because it embodies everything I like about collecting: great music, incredibly rare, release by one of my favorite bands, and I was tipped of by fellow collector.

Here's to 2018, which will hopefully add more new good music and some old records to my collection and get me in touch with more people. Let's keep collecting fun.

XXX

Ralf

Top Of The Pops 2017

My blog hasn't seen much action the last few weeks. The reason behind that is that I recently joined the club of hardcore dads and the little man has taken up most of the time, as any first-time parents will probably testify to. Anyway, we have found sort of a rhythm and the days leave some more free time again. I still have some records lying around that I picked up in the last few weeks and I'll make sure to catch up with the backlog in the nearby future.

But for now, it's that time of the year again. I can't believe another has gone by already. It feels like I just typed the year's end post for 2016. Crazy. 2017 has been a year with more ups and downs than the years before. I've seen close friends and family experience serious illnesses, death has been around my circle of friends way too much, and there have been some personal issues that close friends and also I had to deal with. Then again, 2017 saw many new friends, some friends and I started a band project, my wife and I went to a bunch of awesome shows, we got to hang out with friends from all over Germany and the world, and a very important friendship was rekindled. Plus, my wife gave birth to our first kid, so all in all 2017 has been a good year I'd say. Let's see what 2018 has to offer.

As I said before, I still have some records lying around that I haven't posted about, so the post count should be a little higher than it is, but it still would have been lower than in the years before. I took it slow in late spring/summer, kind of like last year, but I didn't finish as strongly as in past years. Oh, well.
One projection I can make for 2018 is that the first half of the year is going to see few pick ups and posts on here because I'm going to be a stay-at-home dad for half a year, which means I get to spend some real quality time with my son, but it also means that money will be tighter and buying records on a regular basis won't be in the cards.

2017 has seen some great releases in my opinion. I have noticed a tendency to buy more releases by old bands I already know and like. However, staying up-to-date with newer bands feels more and more like work. That's probably the old man in m talking. I often tell him to shut up, but it's getting harder. Luckily, I have friends who are a fair bit younger than myself and they keep me somewhat in the loop. Still, looking back on the records I bought this year and seeing which bands made my Top 10 this year, there is definitely an imbalance. Anyway, here are my Top 10 for 2017. No particular order.


Record Of The Year

Spirits - Unrest


7" Of The Year

Abuse Of Power - When Then Becomes Now


Demo Of The Year

Split between Open Your Eyes and Stand Point. They're also the only two demo tapes I picked up this year if I remember correctly. Maybe I should include tapes into my blog activities to keep track of that... Both tapes are okay, but there have definitely been years that were way better as far as demo tapes go. I know that you can listen to demos online, but that's not really caught on with me.


Honorable Mention

Free - Ex Tenebris

I still haven't picked up a copy because I missed out on the pre-order and the 7" sells for like 8+€ in  regular distros, so I couldn't bring myself to order a copy yet. 

Bridge 9 - The First 10 Years Box

Beautifully done with lots of details from what I have seen at first glance. I got my copy only this week and haven't really had any chance to sit down and spend some time with it. 

It All Comes Down To This

This is one of those 'Wow, I can't believe that record is mine now.' posts. And it's all thanks to Marcus over at Endless Quest. A few weeks ago he wrote me a message asking me if I'd seen the It All Comes Down To This test on eBay. I told him I hadn't, but that changed within seconds. The next six days were excruciating and I checked the eBay listing at least once an hour to see if it's still there and how high the price was already. Now I definitely know what people mean when they talk about the thrill of the hunt, haha.

For once I even told my wife that I was going after a real heavy hitter, because I knew that the price was going to be rather high. After all, test pressings of early Bane records almost never pop up and are thus almost impossible to find. So having a shot at this one was really exciting. Luckily, my wife is very understanding about my record collecting and even more so when it's about Bane records.

The final minutes of the auction were really gut wrenching and I was still hoping for a steal, because the price was still pretty moderate shortly before the end of the auction. It rose quite drastically in the last seconds, but the final price was still below my personal limit. And anyway, sometimes you just have to pull the trigger. It's only money after all. After I won the auction I contacted a few friends who also happen to collect Bane to see if I'd effectively ruined any friendships. Luckily, a bunch of them weren't even aware that this test had been up on eBay. Less competition and no friendships ruined, I'll take that.

Nobody really knows how many copies there are. However, I recall Marcus telling me once that Equal Vision Records used to make 8 test for the early releases and given the fact that there are also 8 tests for Bane's Give Blood LP, which was also released on Equal Vision, it's probably a good guess to say that there are 8 copies of this test as well.

I've only ever seen one copy up for sale and that went from Kyle Whitlow to Marcus. Comparing the picture of that copy with my copy, I noticed that the labels on my copy are still blank as in not filled out. Check out Marcus' copy to compare. I guess it's enough to fill out just one set of labels and then just go by the label's name and the catalogue number. Does that mean Marcus has #1/8? Knowing his luck with (Bane) records, probably yes. I also asked the seller where he had the test from in the first place. All he told me was that he'd bought a collection from someone and that test was part of the collection. Makes you wonder whose collection that was, but the seller wouldn't tell me more.

This is really one of the absolute gems of my collection and I can't thank Marcus enough for tipping me off.

EURO 53. 'Blank' A side label.

For an occasion like this I had to pull out the other copies as well and go for the group shot.

Ich vs. Wir

After missing out initially on the last release by my favourite indie band from Germany, I made sure I got in the game with this one right away. I ordered the deluxe pre-order edition months ago and was anxiously waiting for it to arrive. And the LP doesn't disappoint. The last LP had to grow on me a little bit, but this one hit home right away. With every record Kettcar has become more pop and less indie, but the lyrics are as good and politically minded as back when some of the members still were in one of German's finest punk bands ever ...But Alive. Great record that has already received a lot of play these last few days.

Pink G.I.

The last pick up from the Battery show in Leipzig is this pink copy of Government Issue's G.I.'s First Demo. A buddy of my mine is in the process of weeding out his collection and he told me (and a few other friends) that he was bringing one or two boxes of LPs and 7"s with him to the show. So a bunch of my friends and myself were huddling around the trunk of a car flipping through records, in the middle of the night and in 5° Celsius weather. Hardcore kids / record nerds are truly a special kind of people... He had a bunch of records and some rare items I was interested in, but I was watching a very special record on eBay at the time and had to hold my funds together. Anyway, I did pick up one record because it's by a great band, it's on my favourite vinyl colour and it came at a very reasonable price. G.I.'s first demo was pressed way after the fact, namely in 2004, and there have been a few pressings since then. This pink copy out of 100 is part of the 2nd press.

Stabbed

Nowadays you're kind of forced to order at least two records when ordering from the States to get your money's worth. So when my buddy asked me if I wanted to order the new Cutting Through LP with him, I said sure, but I also made him order the latest Drug Control 7". I liked the first one and I also like this one. I went for the purple one, because next to pink I think purple is one of the nicest colours for vinyl. Especially when it's marbled like this one. 600 copies.

A Will To Change

Another pick up from the Battery show in Leipzig. A buddy had ordered a copy for me and he brought it along to the show. The Cutting Through debut on New Age Records was a release I'd been really looking forward, because I was really into the demo. But for some reason, this record hasn't clicked with me yet. I can't even put my finger on why that is, it just hasn't hit me. I hope that'll change. 77 copies on this clear vinyl with the green labels.

There's Always Room For One More...

When I went to see Battery, there was yet another reason why I was looking forward to the evening. A few weeks prior to the show I'd received a message by a fellow collector on Instagram. He contacted me because he has a strong Spirits collection and knew that I also collect Spirits. While exchanging messages, we found out that we had traded before back in the days of messageboards. Funny, how things go sometimes. Back to the trade. The other party had posted a picture of this version of the Spirits/Die Faster split 7" I'd never seen before. I commented on the picture and it paid off some time later, because he had picked up a another copy for a buddy of his, who didn't need it, so it was made available to me. There are only 17 copies as you can see in the second picture. Technically, this is not really a Spirits variant, because as far as I know they never played at United Blood festival. But whatever. Really glad I managed to pick up this one and to meet my trading partner in person after so many years of knowing him.

Close up of the backcover.

Battery

Battery played a bunch of shows in Europe recently and for the last of theses shows at Conne Island in Leipzig there was a special press. A buddy had told me a few weeks before the show that something was in the works, so I was even more looking forward to the show. The whole show had everything a great show needs: fun road trip, great food, meeting old and new friends, record trading, record buying and of course a band that played an awesome set and had a message. Man, that was a great evening. To top everything off, there was the aforementioned limited version of Battery's debut 7". The label putting out this repress has done a really good job with these. You also get a flyer explaining the relationship between band and venue. Looks like this might be a new collecting thing: venue/Conne Island presses... 200 copies on white vinyl, 100 copies on gold vinyl for friends and crew.

You Can Stay Here

Iron Chic have done it again: They delivered an awesome record. It must be really tough for bands to keep going after one of the members has died, but I guess it can also be therapeutic. You Can't Stay Here is a little darker, understandably, but still catchy in its own way. I don't like it as much as their previous records, but this one could very well be a grower. The artwork is really cool and the gold foil on the cover is a very nice (and expensive) touch. 2000 copies on gold vinyl.

For The Rejected By The Rejected

Picking up a copy of this LP was long overdue. With the Battery shows in Europe coming closer, I finally picked up a copy, and what can I say, the band and Rev have done a great job. Even if you already have everything by this band on vinyl or CD, this releases is worth picking up alone for the booklet. Incredibly well done.

One Two One Two This Is Just A Test

A few weeks back I posted about the new Spirits LP and how I struck out at getting a test. Thanks to Instagram and its group of record collectors I was able to acquire one much sooner than I'd hoped for. I'd commented on one of my pictures and another person's that I was still looking for a test press and out of nowhere I got a message from a fellow (Spirits) collector who told me that one of the labels doing the tape release for the new LP still had one or two tests and were willing to sell. Less than two hours later I'd completed the transaction and a few days later the test press was already on my doorstep, again much sooner than I'd expected. Thanks, dude. I'm very grateful you helped me out. #16 out of 20.

If you follow my blog regularly, you have probably noticed that Spirits always go all out for the packaging for their releases. Of course they did that for the tests as well, which means these come with a special spray-painted cover and inner jacket.

Funny sidenote, I've never seen the use of test pressings explained on the back of a sleeve.

Unrest On The East Coast

To keep things interesting for us collectors, Spirits came up with a little something for a short tour on the east coast a few weeks ago. Special inlay for the picture frame cover, plus the inner sleeve comes with spray-painted art work. If you look closely, you can make out the number on the label underneath the right leg of the X. My copy is #23 out of 50 copies total. Love it.

Acme

Another long time want: Acme's demo 7". Little is known about the band and about the releases. A clear variant is listed as 5th pressing on Discogs, but apart from that there's only mention of this black variant. Weird, but then again, I understand it was kind of the band's policy to remain mysterious. Anyway, good 7". Need the compilation LP at some point.

Time In Malta

This one is the last one I took home from Marcus. While talking about the trade, he showed me this record and played it for me. I'd only been familiar with the band by name but never listened to it as far as I could recall. Well, I liked what I heard and I knew that my wife would like it as well, so I gladly took this copy of Marcus' hands. Thanks again for everything, mate. See you next year hopefully.