Jul 29, 2009 This Week in Review - Reaching Hand, Strife, OS101, VOD

Here's one of the VOD 7"s. I haven't got a chance to listen to this stuff yet.

This is the Reaching Hand EP. Really like the photos and layout. Substance Records did a nice job. The other side of that insert is the lyrics, shout outs, and some more photos. They have a good old school hardcore feel to them. Check out their MySpace for some songs.

OS101 United Brotherhood of Scenesters Test Press. This is my second favorite OS101 album. Their first S/T ep was just ridiculous and crushes this full length. I do love this record, but that EP wow. If you don't have it, try and pick it up.

Also here's that piece of failed hardcore history. It's a shame cause I think this band had potential. The songs are good, and let's be honest, Tommy Corrigan with Tripface...how could this possibly go wrong? Thanks Sam!

Jul 14, 2009 H2O S/T - The Investigation Part 2

Quick update. I got an email from Marcus asking if I ever listened to the record. I said that I didn't think I needed to listen to it cause the grooves matched up, and therefore I was 100% sure it was the H2O s/t. He then replied with a lengthy email stating a few reasons why I should listen to it. Now a few of them I had thought of, and ruled out. Like for instance, it could be a mistake and then a recut of the plate. I thought this could be possible, but I also figured they would not make 2 plates unless they had to. Which meant that trutone would still have included their own stamp on the first one. He then mentioned the track layout could be different. This I thought of as well, but once again all the grooves matched up so I was sure it was the same track layout. But then he mentioned something that I completely missed. What if Blackout got the record mastered and pressed by someone, listened to the tests, and decided to go to someone else cause these guys had no clue what they were doing. I had to hand it to him on this one, that's a super smart, totally plausible theory. So with that possibility in mind, I spent an hour reviewing the true first press and the test press. And after an hour of back and forth flip flopping of the records I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the test press sounds like complete shit compared to the first press. Granted I know where the first press has been since birth. I know no one has played it but me. I also know it's a heavier pressing than the test press. But the test press sounds distorted and muffled. It doesn't pop like the first press. They're different quality, no doubt about it. So what does this mean? Nothing other than the Marcus theory is still alive, and I now have a new possible ending to this story, it was suppose to be the S/T test press, but it was shot down by Blackout. That would of course be my favorite ending to the investigation.

p.s. I sent an email to the ebay seller like 4 days ago and haven't gotten a response. I sent Bill(blackout) an email about it this afternoon and I also contacted some people about H2O email addresses. So that's it for now. Hopefully by the end of the week I can nail the origin of this thing down. *fingers crossed*

Jul 2, 2009 Cave In - Until Your Heart Just Stopped

Not sure if anyone was watching this Cave In record last night but what in the hell happened? This thing use to go for 120+. Now 49.79? That's a joke. In my opinion this is the best album they put out. I past out about 40 minutes before it was completed. But right before I did, I decided to set my alarm because it was at 37 bucks, and even though I expected to wake up with 2 minutes left and see it above 75, I thought it was worth a look. To my surprise, the alarm goes off, I press refresh, and the thing is still at 37 bucks with 1min 52sec left! I totally freak out thinking no one is watching this thing and decide to throw a steal bid of 41 bucks in with 10 seconds left. I thought I would either win it or get beat by 60 or 70 dollars. Neither happens and someone wins it for under 50. This totally confused me, so I decided to do some research. It seems that ever since March of 07 the orange/blue copy of this record hasn't broken 80 dollars. In fact, an auction ended on April 26th of this year for $34. I would keep my eyes peeled for this record in future. It might be in a slump...a very long slump, but at some point it has to pick up again. This record is just too damn good.
One thing of note here, there were 10 bids and 8 different bidders, not like 2 or 3. That's something to consider. The popularity of the record isn't down, just what people want to pay for it.