Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me.

No witty title here, i'm not a funny guy anyway. I try hard though, honest. It had seemed a while since I posted about Touche Amore in any great depth, so we're diving in and getting through all the variants of Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me. This was TA's second LP, and their first through Deathwish Inc. which are about as brilliant as a record label can get. There's a few records in here really close to my heart, and one or two tell a little bit of a story I guess. By the way, this is going to be a long one, so bare with me.

Onwards we go:

First press on clear /100. Scored on a private deal through a great dude from a great label for a pretty good price. Actually, this is the last one I grabbed to complete the set. On numbers, definitely the rarest. A few were sent out in random pre-order packages and a few got sold at a release show. Then a bunch turned up on eBay... But aside the point. When held up to the light, my copy has a few tiny streaks of white in the mix, I'm not sure if that's the case with all copies though. 

First press opaque green /300. The rarest pre-order colour. This went up for sale back in the day when Deathwish wouldn't list colours or availability at the time of preorder. You would order yours, and the colour you got was on a first come first served basis. If you ordered duplicates and weren't on the ball early, there's a chance you could end up with four of the same colour. There's pros and cons to this method, and I didn't mind the ordering system either way. It's nice nowadays to know what's available off the bat though... 

First press opaque blue /700. This variant had a decent amount of black and white in the mix and looks really nice. Again, this could have happened on a bunch or a few. I honestly don't know but I like my copy just as it is. 

First press white /2000. The most common of the first press colours, and my copy has tiny flecks of black in the mix (barely noticeable). As the black copy of Parting the Sea... didn't pop along for quite a while, it's a mystery as to what the plant was also doing at the time (footnote:possibly the deluxe, but with the different weights maybe not). Unless Deathwish were really up on their game and pressed up early. I wouldn't imagine so though, as at the time 4000 odd records was a fairly substantial first press for a band of TA's size and saw them through at least a little while. You never know though. 

2nd press clear green /209. Australian tour press, and probably the variant that pops up the least. Thankfully, a buddy grabbed one super early, and sold it on to me a couple years later when my collection was making some headwind. Probably the copy I was most excited to grab, and it's nice to know it came from a good home. 

2nd press opaque red /2942. This was picked up on the Touche // La Dispute tour of 2011. Again, there seems to be some minor white flecks in this copy. The colour of the record and insert seem to match up pretty well too which is a nice addition. 

3rd press black /? I think it's a Deathwish continual press, as in once it runs out; more black copies are made and go up for sale with little to no difference between one another. I picked this up on 25/03/2012 at a Touche Amore show in Nottingham with Pianos Become the Teeth and Palm Reader as support. That gig absolutely drained me, and is possibly the best show I have ever been to. Pianos were so intense that night, and Touche played with an aggression and passion I had never seen before in my life. I went nuts. I have some great photos and videos from that night courtesy of my other half. After the show I pestered relentlessly and got a copy of this completely signed by all 5 dudes. I questioned Nick Steinhardt on the design of the LP and the re-drawings of To the Beat of a Dead Horse (CD/ 10''/ 12'' all have re-drawn art of the same concept) and chatted to Elliot Babin about drums. If I was annoying or too chatty, they hid it well and were polite as hell, staying behind to converse and running between one another, sharpie in hand to get this LP signed. Funny side note, they didn't know they were carrying black copies, but I saw on the Deathwish Tumblr that there were copies ready for the tour, and got into an argument (well, the most polite argument, let's say debate) with singer Jeremy Bolm about it. He opened up a copy and saw it was black and started cracking up about the whole thing. Super nice guys, all of 'em. 

Close up of the sleeve. This signed copy is one of my collection prides, and definitely the copy I pull out most from the shelf. Going top left clockwise the signatures go: Jeremy Bolm (vocals) // Clayton Stevens (guitar) // Nick Steinhardt (guitar) // Tyler Kirby (bass) // Elliot Babin (drums). I'm extra fond that it was signed personally to me too, STAY RAD! 

As this is the last time these jackets pop up, i'll take a minute to take you through some of the LP aspects. Starting with the B-Side label we haven't seen yet. Live photo, credited to Clare Vernon on the sleeve. All other photography credited to Ryan Aylsworth. 

The inner sleeves are printed on both sides. This side contains lyrics (all of Jeremy Bolm's original handwritten efforts if memory serves, and I believe there is a mistake or two in there, which is cool) to all of the songs. 

The other side contains what look like two merged photographs from either a practice or small show. I love the weird effect caught against Jeremy Bolm's upper body, and the general layout. The writing on the left (top to bottom) is band personnel, recording, mastering and photography credits. Right side (top to bottom) are thank you's, broken into individual and band thanks (such as bands they have toured with, the same was done on the previous LP). 

Back cover. This is the first time the band name and LP title feature on the sleeve (it runs down the spine too). Top centre is a barcode, bottom centre is the Deathwish logo. Although I can't see it credited anywhere, all of the design and layout is the work of guitarist Nick Steinhardt. He does 99% of all the bands work (and a bunch of other great stuff too), and as I mentioned, I questioned him on it too. Apparently the Asterisk logo resembles a sun converging with road marks. Also, the font is based on old Americana truck signage if memory serves. I have a bunch of other knowledge on the design of all their LP's, but it's probably best not to ramble too much. 

The design changes here. The vinyl is from the black continual press, but the jacket was made as a Euro // UK tour exclusive when Touche hit the road with Converge in late 2012. This was a collaboration cover, where Jacob Bannon created an interpretation of the original cover, and hand screened these copies up. A little Converge, a little TA. Also, it looks incredible and is so vibrant in person. 

Back half fold cover. These were also limited to 500. The PTSBBAM 'Asterisk' logo in red, and in the box below it reads JB / TA /500. It looks like there was room to number these also, but never happened maybe. I couldn't make it to one of these shows (which really sucks as it sounded amazing!) but Darren over at Dog Knights was a real sweetheart and grabbed one for me. Also, my friend who sold me the clear green offered to help out too. Record collecting can have such a great community feel to it sometimes right? 

On to the final variant (for now at least); the deluxe edition /961. These were all on black 180 gram vinyl and had different centre labels from all the other presses. Also, just to clear confusion, this went up for preorder at the same time as the first press. However, Deathwish have it listed as a separate Deluxe Edition. 

The print quality on this is mad, so i'm going to show a few photos from the booklet of the deluxe edition. This is a Tilde (title in Latin) and is also the title of the first song on the LP. 

Double spread of the original artwork. 

Some more photography (this could be Aylsworth or Steinhardt photography, I can't see the crediting anywhere) with lyrics from Art Official (track 4 on the album). 

This looks like a similar shot to the back cover photo of the standard LP. Opening lyrics from Face Ghost. 

The record sits in a jacket inside a dust sleeve, with the lyrics printed as per the standard press. The packaging and design is pretty sturdy, and the quality of the whole package is just insane. Big shout out to Deathwish for getting it so perfect. 

Back cover. Aside from the photo and barcode, this sticks to the same design as the standard pressing. However, the front, back and spine print are in silver foil, and look fantastic. My copy has a ding or two on the corners and spine, but I really don't mind. Stuff like this will struggle to stay pristine through shipping. I don't get awfully caught up on that stuff when it can't be helped. 

Also, these are the changed up labels for the deluxe (A/B labels are near enough identical). The speed indicates 45 rpm, but I'm sure last time I played this copy it's actually 33 rpm... Also, not too sure on the building pictured but it may be the Deathwish offices at a guess? 

A few little extras before I finish up. This was a promo poster that came with a copy of the LP (opaque green if memory serves - I have some promo stickers too but I forgot to photograph them), I'm sure thousands were made but I only have one and it stays in the sleeve of the LP it came with. 

This is the Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me anniversary screen printed artwork, released via the Deathwish Estore a year after the LP came out. These were designed (and possibly hand screened) by Nick Steinhardt and limited to 365 (geddit?). My wife bought me this as a wedding gift, and she did a great job of framing it too. Speaking of that, sorry for the glare off the frame (I suck at pictures, but you know that by now). 

Also quickly, here are my Touche Amore tattoos related to this era of the band. The Asterisk logo (at the time of photographing I had a bit re-done) sits in my elbow ditch, and the tilde (from the deluxe LP, also fresh from the day) runs along the inside of my elbow joint. Both were pretty painful, and both mean an awful lot to me. 

I could rant on more, about how the LP was recorded at Black Lodge by the incredible Ed Rose, and how Elliot Babin used the same snare that On a Wire (The Get Up Kids) was recorded on. I don't know how I've retained so much knowledge about this LP, or the band in general. But it is what it is. I would also love to have a test press of this LP, but I don't think Deathwish have made them available to the public. So this is where i'm at for now. Any questions, feel free to ask and i'll try my best to answer. I have some merch from this LP and tour cycle too

Damn, this has been a long one. Cheers for sticking with me on this one. 

Thanks for reading.

I may have forgotten a thing or two, I'll try to edit accordingly if anything catches my eye.