Purple Sky

Another 2014 release. Looks like things are getting a little more current; and more importantly I got this in the post today, and there is nothing more exciting than getting a record you half forgot you ordered. 

Further Sky by Basement. This is the first release from this band since they came back from the dead (hiatus), and it was well worth the wait. But you probably already knew that. Banquet Records here in the UK managed to get the purple /1500 variant (3 colours were pressed: 500 Clear / 1500 Purple/ 5000 Blood Red and Orange mix). This is cool, as shipping on import records mean we most often end up with the most common or 'distro colour' here But every now and then, Banquet and a few other cool retailers do something like this. Normally i'm not too precious with that kind of thing, but purple sounded the most appealing of the bunch. Banquet got 300 on this variant, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were long gone now. 

Back cover/ B Side label. A few things: that looks like a barcode in the bottom right. I know there's 7000 of these records out there, but fuck barcodes. I like that the A/B labels look like they're hand-stamped, as the print has a little cracked and faded effect. Also, bottom right shows the Run For Cover logo, and for the past couple of years that label has really been killing it. Oh, and yup, that is a cover of Animal Nitrate by Suede on the B-Side. My parents were big into Suede, so it's kind of nostalgic in some round about way. I might show them this cover, they'll probably just moan. 

Another cool surprise for me was that this release comes in a thick card gate-fold sleeve. Kind of odd, but I like it. I have a few gate-fold 7''s, but they're all for double 7''s. I guess they went all out as it's a comeback release maybe? Why photograph it from this angle? I thought the printed spine looked spiffy, and I like to make small houses from record sleeves in my spare time. 

Gate-fold sleeves have all this extra space on the inside, so it's nice to see it put to use so well. I often moan when a record comes without an insert, but here i'll let it slide as this looks far better in my opinion. The in-studio photographs and the small doodles dotted around the place are nice touches. Also, lyrics/ thank you's etc. etc. 

This variant looks great held up to the light. Run For Cover always do solid colourways for every release; even their flat colours always look crisp. Purple always looks pretty sweet anyway. and I kind of had my heart set on this one, so it was nice to grab it.