Topshelf Care Package

Remember a little while ago I did a post about the new Prawn LP?

http://23rotations.blogspot.co.uk/2014_10_01_archive.html

In an order to not retrace my steps too much, here is the back story. My Wife ordered me the new Empire! LP for my birthday, a Prawn LP I had already bought came instead. Didn't get anywhere with Silver Bullet, so Topshelf sorted it. That's the story. Imagine if all my posts were that concise? 

So the story goes that Topshelf packaged up 'something cool' for me. Anything after the LP you ordered in the 1st place is a bonus right (when you consider there was no word of returning the Prawn LP I had been sent by mistake)? Well after a couple of weeks, this is what turned up! Couple more bits in there than I was expecting, so we'll dive into that in a minute. 

With my order, Seth at Topshelf attached a post-it to one of the poly-sleeves. In my eyes, the dudes got nothing to apologise for as it was completely out of his hands. But it's a nice sentiment all the same. 

On to what I was expecting to arrive in the 1st place: 

Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) - You Will Eventually Be Forgotten - Count Your Lucky Stars // Topshelf Records - 1st Press - Black /250 (180 gram). 

A Side.

There is a bit too much going on in the artwork and stuff to photograph everything clearly, so we'll go through bit by bit. 

B-Side

The centre labels are fairly identical on this release, save for the 'A' and 'B' change up. 

On to the artwork.

The art was handled by Yelena Bryksenkova, who has a brilliant attitude towards making art. Her stuff sticks out a mile away, and most of it centres around the theme of home and the confort of day to day objects. But I guess you can kind of see that from the what's going on here. Funnily enough, the 'Ribbon' comic book that was on pre-order with this album is illustrated by Ben Sears (a great artist, but a very different style). It's all cool though; I wish I had bought that book, as I'm enjoying this album a bunch. It's still in print so we'll see what happens I guess?

On to the gate-fold. Both this LP and the Prawn LP came from Topshelf and had these super thick gate-folds. I like this a bunch, and all of this information on an insert wouldn't be too cool. 

I photographed the individual panels, but really it's just the lyrics. This is the only bit in the writing that you probably won't find anywhere else. It just goes through a little bit of the recording process; a big list of thanks and a little bit of a gush about Bob Nanna. That's cool by me. 

Back Cover. 

I would like to see this artwork without all of the text over the top. I'll look into that. Also, a Cat sneaked into the illustration. Who doesn't love that? 

Since the gate-fold opens up like this, it made sense to get a photo of the entire artwork right? 

On to the 1st extra added in with this package: 

Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) - You Will Eventually Be Forgotten - Count Your Lucky Stars // Topshelf Records - 2nd Press - Sea Blue /350 (Topshelf Exclusive). 

Same deal as before, no real change on the centre labels. 

This record is really impressive. I wasn't really bagging on an extra variant, but I'm thankful that this was included as it's such a weird colour to get your head around unless you see it in person. Even held up to the light it doesn't look right. I guess that's one of those things though right? 

The last thing to talk about is this: 

A Great Big Pile of Leaves // Diamond Youth // Prawn // Field Mouse - Split - Topshelf Records - Atoz Media - 1st Press - Coke Bottle Clear /?

B-Side // Back Cover. 

I honestly don't know too much about this record. I assume that as these bands toured together, that it was a tour exclusive 7''? I've had a quick look to see what I can find out, but not too much is coming up. So I don't know if there were any variants, pressing info or much else for that matter! It's not on the Topshelf webstore last time I checked; and it's a cool 7'' that I'm happy to have.

Once more, in the light this thing has a completely different look to it. I'm still assuming it's Coke Bottle, but I'll find out when I find out? 

It's been a little bit of a long one, but necessary. Proof that great dudes come through in the end. Also, that Empire LP is absolutely mental, way beyond my expectations.