Here' i'm going through the special presses of this album. There's three available, all through different pressing. All of them have cool stuff going on, all of them pressed in different amounts, all of them a hassle to find. Let's go:
From the first press is the Sound and Fury '09 press of To the Beat of a Dead Horse. These were made for Sound and Fury fest a while back, the year before that they had a tape version of their demo available (don't have it, really want it!). Either way, this fest is often the product of some awesome exclusives. I'm sure Doug over at We Will Bury You has some awesome stuff you could learn from, starting here: http://doug-wewillburyyou.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/have-heart-songs-to-scream-at-sun-sound.html. Enough digressing, on to the vinyl:
Two things to note here at first. Number 1. The most horrifically awful shade of yellow is what this variant comes on (looking closer, there's some brown and white mixed in there too), and the 'theme' of this one is aptly titled 'Sun'. Number 2. The cover is a tad different. No clouds of rain, no child biking. Here we have a menacing chap on a camel and a sun complete with shades and tasche. You can also see the arrow to Sound and Fury '09 too, nice touch. I'm not sure who did the art here if i'm honest, either way it's great. Nothing better than a fest press with a new cover... These were numbered out of 100, and from the first press that makes the numbers up to 1000 (100-yellow/200-black/300-brown/400-grey). I ended up with number 74:
For those of you with sharp eyes, you'll see that the new cover is a kind of insert; with a quarter fold under cover, holding the LP inside the original jacket under the new cover. Two covers, one LP, winner. There was also a cd included in my copy, although no one needs to see that I assume. There's not really more that needs to be said I suppose. This was great for collectors and everything you want from a fest press. New cover, exclusive variant, hand numbering. Solid effort. On to the next one.
From the second press came the very elusive and sought after Spring Tour variant:
I honestly had so much trouble finding this one. I managed to find it eventually last year when a guy was parting with some stuff for christmas cash. This makes up the pressing numbers as such: (500-blue/420-clear green/ 80- seafoam green). That's right, 80. I believe this makes it the rarest pressing of this LP, aside from transitional presses (they don't count, lets be honest). The main selling point here is the great looking hand-numbered obi strip, and another exclusive variant just makes everything really appealing. I'm not that up on my knowledge about this one; for example, I don't know if all of them had the dashes of black in them that mine has. I don't even know who was on the line-up on this tour. I do know that it wasn't in England though! All in all it was a great find and i'm more than happy to have it in my collection. I ended up with number 61/80:
Finally, from the third press and possibly the most intriguing of all; the Record Store Day press. From what I know, these were made with the intention of being an indie store exclusive for RSD 2011. However, they were not made in time and ended up being sold online instead through the 6131 store. Either way, I got mine from a super nice guy called Petter.
And here we are! The numbers are made up (750-white 180gram/250- white 180gram). These look incredible. The 'blind' or letter-pressed cover is really effective and suits the variant perfectly. This variant doesn't have an insert, no gatefold (in fact it has a book style sleeve that opens) and the cover is all indented; the tracklisting and even the spine are all letter-pressed to have an embossed cover. Not only is this aesthetically different, but it kind of makes a statement; allowing the music speak for itself. Even the labels on the record are blank (unlike the 750 in standard covers).
Complete with Record Store Day stickers and an alternative clear sticker (unlike the standard white stickers with black writing found with the first two presses - no numbering on this exclusive press though!); this variant is everything that represents why more independent labels should have the opportunity to take place in RSD. Honestly, did you Back to Black Rainbow LP have this much time and dedication involved?
And that's it folks. Five posts and we're finally there. Well, that's a lie. In this time To the Beat has had it's 6th press. A rather cool looking Orange 180gram/1000 as all pressings are to follow I assume. And yes I do have it, and you will see it at some point i'm sure; but for now I'm going to have a look through my collection and see what I really want to write about. Some stuff has a great story to tell, others are off the 'never in my life will I ever afford this' list. Some stuff you could probably pick up easy enough. Either way, it's going to be fun. Thanks for reading!
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