Desolate Beige

Sometimes I like to take a quick dive into my collection, looking for something to post about that I may have overlooked or just not bothered to photograph. In the case of this record I may not have even ran this blog when it came out. 

State Faults - Desolate Peaks - Tiny Engines - 1st Press - Beige Marble - /275 

The first reason for posting this record, is that it's a great record from an incredible band that might not get the attention they deserve. Another reason is this variant is lovely. It looks a little more lavender than beige in this light, and I'm a sucker for a marble record. With the amount of No Idea Records releases I own, you kind of have to learn to love marbled records! 

Another great thing about this LP is the letter-pressed cover. The art in itself is beautiful, but the lettering just makes the packaging a little more lush. 

Back Cover 

I accidentally cut the back cover photo out, but if you head to the Discogs release page for this LP you can see it. 

The insert comes with this woodcut style illustration that I'm a big fan of. 

The other side of the insert houses all of the lyrics. All thanks and credits are printed on the back of the jacket. 

A couple of years ago there was a mad rush for people to get this record, and there still should be. 

Home, Like Noplace is There

This is an album that I've been wanting to write about for a little while, but there have been a couple of road blocks. For one, I didn't get this album the second it came out, and by the time I did, everyone and his dog had an opinion on the musical content of the record. This is not a bad thing, as it's a fantastic record and i'm glad that it's getting the attention it warrants; it just means I had nothing to say that hadn't already been said. Fresh into it's third pressing and I feel like I can sit down and offer a bit of an insight here. At least as far as the product itself is concerned: 

This particular variant is from the 1st press, I think it was /250, effectively the most common or 'distro' colour of the 1st press. I picked it up from Different Kitchen along with a bunch of other great stuff i'll get on to talking about hopefully. I remember when the first whispers of this started floating round on the internet, and the album art was popping up here and there, the cover really stuck out. It seems to fit the musical content of the LP, and translates way better for being a 12''. Even the colourway is cool; I went through a phase where it seemed every LP I was getting was either on clear blue or clear orange, and I got really jaded on these colours, but I'm into here. But Tiny Engines (who put this out) normally kill it with their variants, some great starburst effect stuff, and even their flat variant always look really crisp. 

Just a quick picture of the back of the sleeve. Really simple, no tracklisting, no bar-code, not much. Just the Tiny Engines logo in the bottom right. 

One of the first things I noticed when picking this up was the sticker on the poly sleeve, indicating the band's name (as it doesn't appear on the cover/ back cover) and also the name change, having previously being called The Hotel Year. They released an album under this name, titled 'It Never Goes Out'. There was some rumour of the LP being released through a label (possibly Mightier Than Sword Records?) but as far as I can tell this never happened for one reason or another. I like this small, possibly insignificant detail. I think all albums should come in poly sleeves. I hate having to buy them, and I hate when I run out and have to decide what album gets de-sleeved to protect a new purchase. But with cool little things like this, it makes good use of all the free space with on the poly sleeve. This album art definitely makes more of an impact for not having the band name splattered about somewhere. 

The last thing i'll write about here is the neat little booklet that comes with the record. It's annoying when an album comes with no printed inner sleeve/ insert or whatever. But having a booklet is way cooler than either of the previous options. I get that it's more of a hassle, but it's worth it. I'm a fan of sitting down and really having a good read through with these. 

Here's another couple of photos just to show what is going on in here. Part lyrics, part artwork and some other neat little elements that really make it worth investing in the physical product. 

From a music perspective, you've heard it all before. This album is great. Many people consider it album of the year type stuff. Whilst i'm never sure on that kind of thing 'til a few weeks into the following year, I will say that I've been listening to this album more and more with the passing weeks in owning it. At first it didn't hit quite right, but now it's really working for me. Also, it came out on Tiny Engines, and this year they've been hitting it right with just about every release. If you haven't yet, invade their Bandcamp and check out that Somos LP.