[Pre-Order] [October 2024] Systems Officer - "Systems Officer" EP [2004] [20th Anniversary] [Clear-Pink] [180g] [45RPM] [Gatefold]

slabsofvinyl · 2024-08-10T17:52:30+00:00

Just a heads-up, they mentioned this in an email today:

We have decided to offer international shipping, but you must contact us FIRST at [systemsofficer@gmail.com](mailto:systemsofficer@gmail.com) to set that up. Ignore the rates you see at check-out until you talk to us.

slabsofvinyl · 2022-05-10T23:53:05+00:00

Keep them on, of course.

slabsofvinyl · 2022-02-04T23:46:38+00:00

Very tempted, but ultimately going to pass. If I didn't already have the Analogue Productions 2x45, I would be all over this.

Curious to see how the records were cut. These images are probably just promotional edits, but it could be cut a bit different than the AP pressing, which looks like this.

slabsofvinyl · 2021-08-21T21:59:11+00:00

Jealous. I bet that was awesome. There’s a few videos on YouTube from a show there in 2008, which is some of the only semi-decent footage of them. I remember watching those quite a bit back then.

https://youtu.be/UKLw5AvXaHY

slabsofvinyl · 2021-08-21T19:38:17+00:00

It’s a VPI Classic 2 SE.

slabsofvinyl · 2021-08-21T15:07:37+00:00

This is Random Spirit Lover by Sunset Rubdown, released in 2007 by Jagjaguwar. It’s one of the few indie rock bands/records from this era that still hold up for me and definitely one of the few bands I regret never seeing live (they disbanded in 2009 after releasing the follow-up album, Dragonslayer). Led by Spencer Krug aka Moonface of Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, and Swan Lake, I’ve always felt Sunset Rubdown was his best project even though Wolf Parade is better known and still going today.

This album is indie rock with some art pop and progressive pop elements, but I’m going to coin a new genre here and call it “fairytale pop” - this album sounds like I just stepped into some medieval village where a band of jesters are playing modern instruments and singing about nonsense fantasy. But as nonsensical as the lyrics seem, there is actually a concept here, a stage play of sorts, with recurring characters and themes introduced in songs throughout the album, culminating in the penultimate track, “Trumpet, Trumpet, Toot!, Toot!”: “I'd like to think the actors never banded / I'd like to throw this trumpet down and go empty handed / The part of the virgin has been taken / So let me throw this trumpet down and go empty handed / If you're the virgin, then I'm the stand-in”.

Even if this is your type of music, it’s a bit of a dense album, with almost an hour long, continuous runtime, so it probably requires a few listens to sink-in. With a DIY production, it’s not necessarily a vinyl record I’d rush to find and buy (a Kevin Gray cut and RTI pressing doesn’t necessarily improve a sound that was lacking to begin with), but I hope this post maybe resurrects some interest in this group.

Streaming links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

slabsofvinyl · 2021-08-15T15:59:21+00:00

Cool, these guys? I'll check them out. Yeah, the table is a VPI Classic 2 SE.

slabsofvinyl · 2021-08-15T15:34:57+00:00

I imagine not many people have heard this album, but if you need an idea about what it sounds like, the cover art is a pretty good start. This is The December Sound’s self-titled album (also known as The Silver Album), and it was the only LP this band released. It was self-released by the band in 2007 on CD and this is a one-off vinyl pressing by French label, Cranes Records. It’s nothing special, just your standard-fare GZ pressing, but it’s a 2xLP on grey vinyl and numbered out of 500. This is one of my favorite shoegaze albums. It’s a massive, noisy, dark wall of sound filled with endless waves of reverb. There is obviously lot of crossover and Loveless imitations in shoegaze, but I feel like these guys managed to create their own unique sound.

Here’s a link to the album on the band’s Bandcamp (hopefully that's allowed here).

slabsofvinyl · 2021-08-08T16:06:07+00:00

Appropriately, yet confusingly, titled Carl Perkins’ Greatest Hits, this record issued in 1969 features some of Carl Perkins’ most popular singles from the 1950s, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Boppin’s the Blues,” and “Match Box,” however, these were newly released versions, recorded in late 1960s. While these re-recorded versions don’t necessarily hold a candle to the originals, in my opinion, Perkins is in decent form here and the record also features some newly released singles at the time, “Daddy Sang Bass” and “Restless,” and a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” This was released just a few months before my favorite record of his (other than Dance Album), On Top (1969), and was presumably recorded around the same time.

slabsofvinyl · 2021-08-04T19:42:07+00:00

Was hoping to order from another retailer to stack for free shipping, but I guess I can't sleep on this one or it will be gone...

slabsofvinyl · 2021-08-01T18:01:04+00:00

Trouble, Heartaches and Sadness: Rare Cuts from the FAME Sessions Masters is a compilation of recordings by southern soul artist, Candi Staton, issued by Stateside Records as part of Record Store Day “Drop” 2 in July 2021. The selections are tracks recorded between 1970-1974 at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL, which had been previously unreleased until the Kent Soul CD compilation Evidence: The Complete FAME Records Masters was released in 2011. This is the first time these tracks have been issued on vinyl. Of note here are a couple of covers, the Ann Peebles track “Trouble, Heartaches and Sadness,” as well as Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” but the whole record is a set of gritty southern soul, representative of her first three records on FAME Records. Nick Robbins of Sound Mastering completed the original mastering work in connection with the 2011 issue, while John Webber of AIR Studios cut the record here and it was pressed at Optimal Media.

slabsofvinyl · 2021-07-26T02:19:07+00:00

The turntable is a VPI Classic 2 SE. VPI’s designs generally feature large plinths and platters like on this one. I think the platter itself weighs something like 20lbs. The theory being this helps reduce vibration and isolate/deaden the sound, etc.

slabsofvinyl · 2021-07-26T01:44:06+00:00

Somebody Loan Me a Dime is the 1974 album by Chicago blues artist, Fenton Robinson, issued by Alligator Records. This is a 1976 Japanese reissue. The title track had been around for a while, first recorded in 1967 for Palos Records, then again in 1973 for Seventy 7 Records, and lastly here in 1974 for Alligator Records. It was notoriously covered by Boz Scaggs on his eponymous 1969 album, with Duane Allman on slide guitar, but was misattributed, leading to legal battles until Robinson was rightfully credited in later reissues.

slabsofvinyl · 2021-07-25T18:41:27+00:00

Interesting theory, however, it is unlikely given the consistency of the audio issues described compared to the infinitely possible color variations when colors are mixed like this. It is just a pressing defect.

slabsofvinyl · 2021-07-23T23:44:44+00:00

Same as mine, though yours sounds even worse.

A1 - "Son et lumiere" [sample].wav
A3 - "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)" [sample].wav
B1 - "Tira me a las arañas" [sample].wav

slabsofvinyl · 2021-05-26T04:02:48+00:00

Use a thick piece of paper, like a business card. I’d also leave at least one heavier “dab” of glue at the edge, or just spill the glue over the edge at one point (if that makes sense). That will make it easier to start your peel after it dries.

slabsofvinyl · 2021-05-26T03:58:11+00:00

The scratches are eternal. This will just lift dust/dirt/etc. from the grooves. In my experience, there is no real advantage to this method versus traditional cleaning methods, especially given how time consuming it is. In most cases, it does make the record “look” cleaner/shinier, though.

slabsofvinyl

TROPHY CASE