Derek™

I also feel like they were splitting up as a couple, and Joel was using the label’s social media platforms to post really cryptic messages, unrelated to any music. Like one day, a mock-up for a pre-order dropping at the end of the week, and the next day a photo of a field accompanied by “Thinking of her and simpler times.” Probably exaggerating a bit here, but hopefully someone can kind of attest. It was awkward for everyone involved – them especially, but loyal fans too. So I knew Solace was always a desirable record, but I hadn’t eyed its Discogs sale history in a while. Damn. There was a time when the Conspiracy red variant had sold for like $200, and the Mylene copy had gone for $90 at most. Now I see that same Mylene variant has fetched $300, which is nutty. (Especially since I think the Conspiracy packaging is way nicer.) Severely due for a repress, no doubt. Have you tried reaching out to the band directly on Facebook or anything?

*Solace repress and C:D press, right? At least with Solace, it exists and you can chase it down on vinyl if you want to shell out. It’d be so nice to have SOS and C:D on the shelf someday, though. They were in the works before Mylene had their internal drama / meltdown and completely dissolved. Such a damn shame. Those 2 albums and the couple of LPs from Evpatoria Report are probably the biggest “maybe someday…” wishlist records from my post-rock years.

Band has never been good but has also never sounded this bad. Everything about this is pretty remarkably abhorrent – the vocals, the mixing, the electronics. Just… 👌

The hobby's very own Jeremy Jamm.

Username checks out. While $19 absolutely does not get you what it did a decade ago, vinyl or not, I will say that vinyl MSRP has really flown off the handle in recent years especially. I almost shed a singular tear the other day, when I stumbled across an invoice for a 2014 press of Isis’ Oceanic – 2 LPs, thick gatefold and inner sleeves – for about $22 in total. Easily a $40 order out the door, today.

Aren’t all 3 of those bands kinda’ garbage though? I know Norma Jean had a pretty big following back in the day – especially among kids obsessed with Underoath or too afraid to explore music from any label that wasn’t T&N – but I guess I never really bit on the hype. It does look like their later string of records had performed better than I thought though, to be fair. Whatever they did with their lineup seems to be working well with critics and fans alike, I dunno. But those other 2… 😶

Would this count as seeing a band cover themselves? 🤔

But you’re confident that WATR was cut in-house by GZ? I only ask because “lifeless and compressed” is not really how I’d describe my copy, personally.

Nah. Pretty common misconception among hobby newbies and pandemic collectors. All plants have varying quality, good and bad. VMP have been using GZ almost exclusively for their ROTMs – for several months now – and they are absolutely killing it. I’ve heard that the latest Frank Ocean Blonde repress was pressed at GZ, too, and sounds phenomenal. “GZ = bad” is a pretty dated meme that doesn’t hold much water these days. They just press a way bigger volume of records, which results in a bigger volume of notably bad (and notably good) records compared to other labels.

Factually incorrect on all accounts.

These guys should do a split with Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.

I think I liked the concept and execution of Possessor more than Infinity Pool, but I ended up watching the latter last night. It was still entertaining and hearing Hecker’s music in widescreen was pretty surreal. (I know he scored The North Water last year, but I haven’t seen it.)

That silver-marble Repetition was super weird, I'm not totally convinced that you were slacking. Someone else can correct me if I'm misspeaking here, but I don't recall Numero ever had copies. Or if they did, they were very few. That variant was "Coming Soon" on their page for weeks and weeks, but something fucky was going on with distribution at the time... I swear you could only find it in Euro indie shops. It's a good thing we [the US] got a separate variant because I don't know anyone who actually scored a silver-black merge through Numero. Those clear Newbury LTIYs were up earlier in the week but must have sold out, because you're right – I'm not seeing them either. I recall them being $65 and that was before taxes and shipping... so literally $75 out the door, which is high even for Discogs' sale history. I'm sure they'll "find" a few more copies down the road for $80+ too. If you're set on getting one of those 2 LTIY variants, your best bet would probably just be eying Discogs or hoping someone here decides they want to cut back on variants for cheap. One will eventually surface at a fair price if you're diligent. Best of luck to ya'.

Hey Ligma. What would you consider "reasonable"? I noticed that Newbury pulled their usual bullshit and recently stocked some more copies of their clear LTIY, but at a pretty spicy markup. 😒 Scarlette copies were probably close to $43 PPD from Numero, when they were up. It was never really a cheap double LP to begin with... but the quality is definitely worth it. Also just wanted to mention that myself and several others received two A/B sides when we first ordered Scarlette copies from Numero. They were quick to resolve that mixup, but it may be a bit of a dice roll if you go for a sealed copy of that variant in particular. Just something to consider.

That really sucks to hear. I'm still waiting on my bundle to show up, but I know it includes shirts and there's no telling how it was all packaged. The whole "it's all about the music" argument is fine when you're talking about a singular dog-ear corner or some seam splitting... but I think you're well within your rights to be disappointed – and reach out to customer service – if you're dropping decent money to import something and it shows up completely mauled. All 4 corners in addition to seam splits is haggard. I'd ask for pics out of curiosity but I don't think I wanna' see that. Fortunately the band has said that they intend to keep these 2 variant replenished and available for as long as they can, so replacements should be pretty feasible if stock isn't limited or scarce.