Finishing the Zürich haul - United Mutation / Blindfold / Jimmy Cliff

ok. getting back on schedule with these last three 7" pick ups from my work related stay in Zürich, Switzerland.

first off the United Mutation - götterdämmerung 7" - L&F 028
this is one of two 7"es on Lost & Found Records. it features 5 live songs from a show at the East Side Club on 09/17/1987 and 2 songs from a 1982 recording session at Inner Ear Studios with Don Zientara. the other 7" features 9 songs from that same recording session at that legendary studio plus 1 song recorded at the same show.
why mix the recordings like that instead of doing a live 7" and one with what might have been the bands first recordings. well i guess that's just what you can expect from a shitty rip off label like L&F. they probably thought they could sell more copies like that.
does anyone know if they ever put out a demo tape? were these the recordings for something like that?
share your knowledge!!

next up is the Blindfold - world of fools 7" - Machination Records 05
this is one of the last releases by these legendary belgians. prior to this one they had already dropped their old school hardcore influences to become one of if not the best emo band in europe so this record doesn't hold any surprises. 2 great songs, stamped innersleeve, and a beautiful lyric insert.

last but as usually not least is the Jimmy Cliff - vietnam / she does it right 7" Island Records 6014 003
yes, this is another odd one out. i am generally not much of a reggae fan but this guy did some great stuff. as far as i know this was his biggest hit. it originally appeared on a s/t LP in 1969.

and while taking a group shot of the 3 I realized all of them have some kind of religious thing going on. weird coincidence that i kept those for one last post of everything I bought in Zürich.

Edgewise

Yo!
Everything that piled up while I wasn't at home from mid November to early January has been taken care of. Things look like they might be working out alright and I feel just fine today so I'll pick up where I left off. Posting about the last of the purchases I made in Zürich.

It was one of those 'Oh, I didn't even know this record exists' moments. Not sure how I generally feel about these situations but this time it wasn't just another variation of a record I already own and it was cheap so I didn't hesitate.

What I picked up is the last LP by Edgewise. A band not many people seem to care about. In my book though they are a solid band that I enjoy once in a blue moon. This being said I have to admit I'm not the biggest fan and therefore am happy with now owning a copy of each release listed on discogs minus the discography which I would never listen to anyway. Most of all because it was only released on CD.

Instead of just showing you the one release LP I picked up lately I want to feature both LPs and the 7" because I feel they don't get the appreciation they deserve and I didn't see them appear on any blog before. So here we go:

EDGEWISE - silent rage 7" - 1990 - Smorgasbord Records #3

Their earliest release is pretty much rooted in the Youth Crew genre with some heavier NY influences and at times reminiscent of Clevo bands like Integrity or Confront.

I love the big foldout cover and overall look of the layout.

Something not too many bands still do these days.

This is the 2nd press on clear vinyl out of 500 copies. 

EDGEWISE - massacre of the innocent LP - 1993 - Harvest Records HARV 030

Their 1st full length is quite a step away from the 7". Cleveland is still here though but late 80s NY got upped in the mix on account of the Youth Crew style which is not really to be found anywhere anymore. Therefore you can certainly hear the 90s shine through. Not unlike they do with early Refused, Undertow and a bit of Unbroken. Altogether this makes for a pretty unique record. 

EDGEWISE - s/t LP - 1997 - Gain Ground Records GG 9b

This is the 3rd and last output which again got heavier. There is definitely no Youth Crew anymore but Integrity still come around now and then. The vocals are rougher and the whole sound more metallic. The faster parts are mostly gone and they slow it down so far at times that they border on Beatdown when they do so. But this doesn't mean they dropped their typical 90s influences. Occasionally I get reminded of Snapcase even. Not a mix you hear to often. Now, things you don't hear too often can be rare for a reason. Most bands fail terribly at it but Edgewise don't. Although I don't like them enough to put them on regularly when I do it is always a pleasure. A lot of bands from the 90s didn't hold up too good but I like them just the same today as I did when I first heard them. Solid stuff you might want to check out.

It's happening today

Now that all the pick up fails are dealt with, on the last day of 7 weeks on the road I'll feature of the Zürich haul the purchase that is 2nd only to the sealed Devo LP.

Slapshot - back on the map - Taang! 12 - 1986

Yellow labels denote the third press. According to discogs it came without any inserts. Unfortunately the Taang! discography does not give any useful info on this album at all like with most of the other releases. Someone needs to tackle that project. Give the nerds what they want.

Despite what it says on discogs my copy has a Taang! A4 Catalogue. From the records advertised on here I would say this was probably repressed in 1990.

This version was the last one missing for this 12". So here is the whole family. Not really a hard job to accomplish yet I'm happy to cross that one off the list.

This is the lyricsheet that came with my blue label first pressing. The second press white label version should have that too according to discogs but my copy doesn't have any inserts at all.

And here we have the one-sided A4 Taang! Catalogue that was included with the first pressing. Too bad I couldn't find any pictures of the one that came with the second press. Maybe that's because discogs is right and there really were no inserts. Would be interesting though to see where the label was at when that one dropped.

Both inserts from the 1st press. Notice the 'slight' yellowing of the mailorder sheet.

1st & 3rd press mailorder sheets side by side

Ba Ba Back on the map.

Ageing process. L 2 R should be 3rd 2nd 1st press but is indeed 2nd 3rd 1st press

I know. I really need to do something about the quality of the pictures I take. This was a rush job though done in what little time I had at home while the tour resided nearby over Christmas.

 

Tomorrow I'm finally going back home where I'll have to take care of a few things so it will most likely get a little more quiet on here again. After that next up on .LIC. will be the rest of this haul plus everything I got in the mail while being away. And more updates to my Unbroken discography.

 

Deutsche Lieder

With all the different kinds of music I like and the resulting shitload of records on my wantlist it's pretty hard to remeber everything about each of those records. What's a good price? Did it come with any inserts? What's the first press? ... Unfortunately the records I do know the answers to hardly ever pop up at record stores which is why I always end up buying records I love but have no idea about pressings, inserts, price and so on. This results way too often in buying releases that miss the lyricsheet or overpaying.
Everytime that happens I say to myself that next time I'll pay more attention instead of getting carried away by the joy of having found a great album. While that works better and better it still happens and it drives me crazy. Like with the Killing Time LP featured in my last post and the one this is going to be about.

Being introduced to hardcore as an adolescent was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. When I got to check out some US classics I was hooked which lead to me discovering what was currently happening overseas and locally. But no one ever pointed me towards the classics from where I live and the last few years saw a pity growing inside of me concerning that hole in my musical education. Especially in regard of german punk. Taking babysteps into this realm I discovered one of the first german punk bands (according to the info provided on discogs) Below you can see what I believe to be the first press of their 2nd LP

 

Rotzkotz - lebensfroh + farbenfroh - No Fun Records NF08/15 - 1981

This is another record I picked up in Zürich, Switzerland. I am from Germany and therefore wasn't able to go online while browsing the offerings of the local vinyl dealers. There were a lot of really great records just sitting there. Most of those I wasn't sure about pressing info etc. so I took a quick foto to remember what to check on when being back at the hotel later. This one though I was dead sure had a good price and was the right pressing. So I bought it. What I didn't remember though is that it's supposed to have a booklet coming with it. Motherf$?#!%. Now I know why the price seemed good. Fooled again. I REALLY need to do something about that

One step forward two steps back

Many moons ago Killing Time's Happy Hour was one of the first hardcore albums I owned. It never was a favorite of mine but it's definitely a solid record well worth to be in anyone's NYHC collection. Due to this I just owned it on a measly little silver disc in a plastic case all the time up until mid december last year.

I was on a workrelated trip to Zuerich and had some time to go record shopping. When I saw the LP version without the lyricsheet I wasn't sure if it was ever released with one. I thought I had seen it with a lyricsheet in bad condition a while ago but couldn't really remember so I asked someone who collects everything on Blackout! Records. He said it doesn't come with one which is why I picked it up. A day or so later he wrote to let me know that he inquired with the guy who runs Blackout! and of course it was issued with a lyricsheet. Damn! Bad luck sticks to me. At least it was very cheap and in great condition.

 

Killing Time - happy hour - Blackout! Records BLK14LP - 1992

 

Wazmo Nariz

Chicago born performer Wazmo Nariz did have his eyes on the city's early punk days. In 1978 he released his first 7" on the local independent label 'Fiction'.

Check out the two neckties. Apparently this was his trademark.

I picked up this record a few years back for two reasons.
This flex review:

"Fast synth/wave punk on the A side, no guitars but “real” drums. Quite entertaining, reminds me of early Devo or the manic Geza X sound. B side is more in the pop punk vein, with guitars and good melodies. Good single."

And because it was dirt cheap.

The A-side really is a little hit if only for the weirdness but as you might already know I like that.

This 7" was rereleased in the UK by Stiff Records with a different B-side track: 'Wacker Drive"
I might have to check out that song to see if it's worth picking up but then again I'll probably just add it to an order I'm placing anyway or pick up a copy at a store if I come across one as it's not going to demand deep pockets either.

In 1979 Wazmo and the Wazband released the following LP which I recently picked up

 

Wazmo Nariz - things aren't right - I.R.S. Records - 1979

I like the layout of the sleeve and the way it is in sync with the titel but unfortunately that's about it for this record. Definitely the most boring release I picked up since I bought the latest Blondie LP last summer. Well, the Blondie record is really bad. I cannot listen to it. This slab of vinyl here is just boring. It has lost most of the weirdness and borders on uninspired 80s pop even though it was not released in the 80s. Even 'Checking Out The Checkout Girl' which was released as a 7" with another track off of the LP, 'Who Does It Hurt?', on the flipside cannot hold a candle to 'Tele-tele-telephone'.

One side of the innersleeve. The other's blank.

Beautiful rainbow labels round out a visually pretty good release. Too bad the sonic part doesn't match.

Before they were picked up by I.R.S. they released a 2nd 7" on Fiction maybe that one holds another hit.

To be continued...