Getting Lossed

As 2014 draws to a close, I have a last look around the usual haunts for anything interesting I may have missed; and it turns out that I did. Run For Cover released a few 7''s that I completely missed the boat on, and so they went on the Christmas list. 

First up we have: 

Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) // Joie De Vivre - Split - Run For Cover Records - 1st Press - Maple /494 

This is kind of a funny one as it technically was a Christmas present, but I managed to sneak it before Christmas. The Mrs, went a bit overboard and so I managed to sneak this one early by buying it from her (along with a Seahaven book that I forgot to photograph). It kind of gave away the whole bunch as I knew she had ordered from RFC in order to grab this, but it's all cool. 

Back Cover // B-Side

This record doesn't really photograph well; it kind of looks orange in this photo and that's really not the case at all as it looks maple in person. Not to worry too much though. 

Errol Hoffman handled all the art for the split, and has recently done a series of artwork that follow a similar theme. Everything that he does from artwork to photography to typography is always worth a look. Although not typical art for this kind of musical coupling, it works a treat. 

On to possibly the coolest design aspect of this record. 

As opposed to a single sheet insert, a booklet is provided where E!E! (IWALE) take up the inside pages and Joie De Vivre take the inside spread. 

After the lyrics, the band discuss the titles and themes of the songs a little. Both songs are references to obscure SNES and NES games respectively. Then there is a little on the recording process, and finally thanks and credits. I don't think I've ever seen a photo of this couple where they are not smiling which is super sweet; particularly when you consider the often sombre tones of their music. 

Joie De Vivre's side of the insert. 

There's a bit less going on this side; after the lyrics there is: band personnel, recording and mastering credits. Then thanks. However, the tracks on this side of the split are up there with some of the best Joie De Vivre songs I have heard. Both bands are completely on top of their game here. 

There's a few to get through in this post, so on to the 'what I actually got for Christmas' section...

Adventures // Pity Sex - Split - Run For Cover Records - 1st Press - Red W/ Blue Colour in Colour /1000

At least that's what I'm assuming it is? Red A-Side, Blue B-Side /500 could be another possibility? None of the specified colours have this murky brown blob listed anywhere. I guess it's not too important either way but it would have been cool to know. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

From the track-listing here you get to see that each band pulls an original song out the bag, and a cover. Adventures cover Behind This Wall by Turning Point and Pity Sex cover Gigantic by Pixies; both very different songs and both covered incredibly well. 

Adventures Insert. 

This is a single sheet two-sided insert. Although both bands get a side each, all thanks and personnel are on this side of the insert. Strangely, the lyrics to the covers are included here as opposed to just writing credits. 

Pity Sex Insert. 

I don't normally call stuff like this, but for me Pity Sex definitely delivered it on this split. Acid Reflex is probably the coolest song by this band, and the artwork suits this song perfectly. 

Speaking of the artwork, Kimi Hanauer from Adventures and Brennan Greaves from Pity Sex teamed up for the art and layout on this one. And to top it all of Will Yip recorded it! 

And finally:

Cloakroom - Lossed Over - Run For Cover - 1st Press - Blue // Yellow /319 

I've been looking forward to something new from Cloakroom for a while and this really did not disappoint. The variant matches the artwork well, and gives a real teaser of what is to come from this band with their new LP 'Further Out' that's up for pre-order through RFC now. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

Lossed Over will appear on the LP, but B-Side Dream Warden is the real reason for grabbing this. Matt Talbot of Hum fame handles all the vocal duties on this track, and to add to it all, this 7'' and the forthcoming LP were recorded and engineered by Matt Talbot at Earth Analog studios. I'm sure I have posted at least one Hum record here, and this strange collaboration is just about as perfect as you can get. 

As this record didn't come with an insert, this is where we end for today! 

Thanks for reading.

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.