Sparsely Packaged Magic

Okay, so we have delved a bunch into how cool packaging can be on this blog. However, have we ever gone into the depths of how thoughtless and lame packaging can be? Probably, and this is by no standards a benchmark on awful packaging; it just lacks a lot. I think what gets me more is this album (Or mini-album if you're one of those guys) is so good, and that it deserved a little more than it got. Also, whilst not going for silly money as such, it has fetched way more than it's original asking price recently. Crazy.

Thrash Magic by Playlounge. Not their debut appearance I don't think, a few things got released by this band in 2012? Mostly splits and comp tracks, but this is 7 tracks of complete Playlounge. All on Clear w/ Green splatter. When I first got this I thought the minimal splatter thing was really odd and not my deal, but I've warmed to it. It's definitely something a little different and adds to the whole minimalist thing going on here.

B-Side // Back Cover. On each side, one of the skull's eyes doubles up as a centre label which is pretty neat. Fear&Records put this out. In truth I only picked it up recently, along with a Chain of Flowers 7''. I think this 12'' was £2.50, and I would've happily paid full price. But such is life, it's long gone now and since Playlounge released their LP earlier this year so now have a little more (well deserved) hype. 

But seriously this is what you get here. A sleeve and a record. No download code, no insert, not even a bloody dust cover. Funny, as the full colour printed, well designed sleeve would suggest that their was a little bit of a budget here. Well never mind, I still enjoy these songs. Sweet Tooth is just incredible. 

NaiLounge

I have had some mad good post over the last few days. Cleared up a few pretty big wants, and mostly got them at a good price. So i'm going to try and keep posting new arrivals for a little while; but i'll still be heading back into my collection before long to unearth some of the good stuff. 

On to today though. Looking back, I don't think I've ever posted about a Dog Knights Productions release. This is strange to me, as for the past couple of years I've picked up at least one variant of each release, often a couple, even a test press here and there. Darren who runs Dog(e) Knights is a great dude, and works super hard to bring some absolutely amazing releases to the table. Which brings me on to one of my most anticipated releases of the year...

Nai Harvest and Playlounge have knocked heads and banged out this split - aptly nicknamed 'The Flower Split'. These are two of the best UK bands around right now, and consist of two members a piece but both have a sound so full you'd never know until you knew if you get me. Both have already released new material this year (both through Dog Knights too!) and here they produce a new track each, as well as covering each others tunes. Without telling you too much, it's great so buy it. 

So, first thing to note is that it's a flower shaped 12'' record with a 7'' table surface. This is DK60, so maybe it was a landmark number and they got a little fruity at the drawing board. This record looks incredible, and is lazer cut to make a clean design. This is the NH side, and has the Dog Knights logo at the bottom of the centre label. 

Playlounge side, and another DK label. Of all the colours, I thought this one was most appropriate as it kind of looks like a daisy. Also, it was the most limited variant, but all the colours look great. It's weird, I have multiple copies of some Nai Harvest releases, and only one of others. I never intended to buy multiples with this band, it just kind of happened. At the time of ordering I thought one copy of this would be enough, but now it's here there's a real temptation to snatch up another copy or three. 

Funky little sticker on the top left of the sleeve. The record came in one of those thick poly-sleeves that picture-discs are most commonly housed in. In fact, I have another shaped record in this kind of sleeve. I get that these are probably a little more durable, and it's nice to know these sleeves are slightly more rigid with the shape of the record being a little off the norm. 

Group photo, I think this is an actual photograph too which is a nice touch. Top left and bottom right are the dudes from Nai Harvest, and the other two make up Playlounge. Fun trivia, the bottom two (drummer/singer from Playlounge and guitarist/singer from Nai Harvest) both have matching Twin Peaks tattoos if memory serves. Nai Harvest definitely throw in a couple of Twin Peaks references in their songs here and there. 

Back of the photo. Track listing and some other stuff. For all accounts this looks like a Lew Currie illustration (NH drummer), he put out an art zine a while back which was a great insight into the work he does. There are no rules here, I might do a zine entry or two. Also, the blocked out bit at the bottom is the bandcamp link to download the songs (blocked out by my fresh MS Paint skills- I haven't downloaded it yet). It looks like all those codes were done by hand, which considering there's 1500 of these just goes to show how much dedication goes into these releases. 

I think both of these bands are great, and I love the work that Dog Knights produce. Definitely one of the most consistent, hard working labels around. If you didn't know, now you know.