Ben Folds - Landed

During one of my many trips to Milwaukee, I stumbled upon this 7" while wandering around Atomic Records. This store does not exist anymore, but it was one of my favorite record stores.  This particular record I remember buying, it was in a stack by the register, and my friend Bender and I both picked up a copy for about 3 bucks each.  Obviously one side is Landed, the first single from the Songs for Silverman album, the B side is a Dr. Dre song called Bitches Ain't Shit, here is the original.  This single came out in 2005 prior to the Songs for Silverman album.

mewithoutYou - [A-->B] Life

So this record is not "rare" or "limited edition" or anything like that, but it is simply awesome.  This is by far my personal favorite mewithoutYou record, and was their first on Tooth and Nail records.  Once in a great while artists will come around that will just blow your mind, and make you wonder how anybody can be that talented, and these guys are in that category, just listen to Silencer.  As I mentioned earlier, the CD was released by Tooth and Nail, but the vinyl was pressed by a group called Gilead Media out of Oshkosh, WI, how cool is that!  With all of the mewithoutYou records I own, the artwork is bigger on the vinyl sleeve than the CD, and the detail is just phenomenal, it really adds to the whole experience.  One of my other personal favorites is Gentlemen. (which is also the first mewithoutYou song I ever heard)

Useless I.D. - Dead's Not Punk

Alright Cool Cats, Useless ID is a band from all the way over there in Israel, and this is their first release.  It is a vinyl only release, and I have heard that there were only 1000 pressed.  No matter how many were pressed you can tell it looks very amateur. Their later releases were put out by Kung-Fu Records, but this one is on Yo-Yo Records which is in Germany.  This album is pretty good, but given the fact that it is analog, I could not find a music clip, so here is a song about drinking.

Here is another song by them that is probably in my top 30 list of favorite songs.

Nirvana - Bleach

For those of you who know me, you know that Nirvana has been a huge influence on me, and is still one of my all time favorite bands.  This is their first album, and as you can see, this record is unopened.  I bought it at the Exclusive Company in Oshkosh a long time ago. It is the original pressing, which is very difficult to come by nowadays, most Nirvana records you will find today are either 180 gram vinyl or colored vinyl, so this bad boy is rare.  This just might be the first record I ever bought, for a while it was hanging on my wall on display before it made it's way into my "collection." The recording itself is pretty raw and dark (have a listen to School) and it a cult favorite among some Nirvana fans.

...on a unrelated note, I found this song which was an unlisted track on the No Alternative compilation, it has been called Verse Chorus Verse, Laundry Room, and Sappy.  No one really knows what the song's actual name is.  I love the way Kurt's voice sounds in it, maybe that's why I wanted to be a singer.

NOFX - The Decline

In keeping with the "rock opera" genre I started yesterday, let's talk about the 18 minute song that inspired Green Day's "opera" songs, according to the band.  The Decline was released in 1999 on CD and vinyl, and the first 155 copies on vinyl were rumored to be clear, though I have never actually seen a clear one.  The CD's were actally clear as well, I would show a picture of this, but I sold my copy a while ago.  The B side of this record is a version of Clams have feelings too, I guess I'm not sure what else to say about it other than have a listen.
The Decline

Green Day - Jesus of Suburbia

Let's go back in time... I was riding with my friend Elliott in his car, and he had a burnt copy of the new Green Day album (which at the time was American Idiot) and he played me this song, and I was in love.  You see, this album was critically acclaimed because it was considered to be a "rock opera," and to have a punk song last that long was pretty epic.  I have been listening to Green Day since about 1994, and in my opinion, each new album they put out seemed "softer" or "more poppy" than the last. So I was pretty pleased to here such a good album that had depth and maturity.  Whatever, let's talk about the record, it is a 10" record, which is slightly smaller than a normal size LP. It is the same size as the old 78s, but plays at 33 1/3 RPMs. Side B has the Jesus of Suburbia "rock opera" on it, while side A has a live version of St. Jimmy.  Here is my opinion again, but there was another "opera" song called Homecoming, which I think should have been on the other side.  Perhaps I am just biased because these are my two favorite songs from the album, but whatever. The vinyl is solid yellow, but if you hold it up the the light you can see swirls in the vinyl... I actually just noticed it, and it looks pretty cool.

Jesus of Suburbia
Homecoming (I know it's not on this record, but I like it...so there!)
To get the best experience, I suggest listening to the whole album.

Since by Man - We Sing the Body Electric

For those of you who know their classical music, since by man is a title of one of the movements in Handel's Messiah, (which was my last post) but this band has nothing to do with Handel.  Since by Man (often written as ¡sincebyman!) is a hardcore band from Milwaukee, and was one of the projects formed after the band Managra broke up, (Managra guitarist Eric Alonso was the bass player for Since by Man) If you want to here what Managra sounds like click here!  We Sing the Body Electric was released in 2002 (although the record has a copyright date of 2003) on Revelation Records, and the LP was actually pressed by Revelation, which isn't that common.  I also noticed that the numbering on the vinyl itself was hand carved into the wax, which makes it that much cooler.  I can give you a taste of what the record sounds like, but I will advise you to turn down the volume, as this one starts out with a lot of screaming.  Click here to hear "Push the Panic"

Handel's Messiah

Happy Easter Everyone! In honor of Jesus rising from the dead, I figured I would show off my Messiah 3-record set.  This was recorded in 1958 featuring The London Philharmonic Choir, and The London Philharmonic Orchestra, and supposedly is the first Messiah recording ever.  It was recorded over eight 3-hour recording sessions at St. Mary Magdalene Church, in Paddington.  The director was Walter Susskind, and it was recorded and mixed by Dr. Eric Beurman.  I think I picked this up in a thrift store for under 5 bucks, and it is just a pleasure to listen to.  It is one of those records that crackles when you drop the needle on it, but still has that decent sound quality to it.  It is one of those albums that I would run out with if my house was on fire.

Motion City Soundtrack/Trampled by Turtles (Split)

I recently found this at record store and freaked out, for many reasons.  First off, I was with my friend Elliott, and he introduced me to Trampled by Turtles.  Second, Motion City Soundtrack was covering my favorite song by them (and I love MCS).  Third, it was only 3 bucks!  This 7 inch features TbT (trampled by turtles) covering a MCS (motion city soundtrack) song, and vice versa.  "Wait so long" is basically a punk rock folk song, and you can listen to it here.  This song is really near and dear to me because when I first heard it I was dealing with a lot of emotions (and it was really cold outside) and this just seemed to capture any angst and frustration that I was feeling, and send it off into the cold, dark night.  You could say it gave me an "out with the old, and in with the new" feeling which is what I needed for some time.  Now after hearing this song and loving it, I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I heard the MCS version.  It's way to slow (listen for yourself MCS version) but the more I listen to it, the more I like it.  The other side is TbT covering a MCS song.  I can't really say a whole lot about this one because I am not familiar with the original, but feel free to judge them for me.  original version. cover version.  If you can't see the record, it is pressed on blue wax and smells just lovely.

Tsunami Bomb - The Ultimate Escape

Tsunami Bomb is one of my all time favorite bands, and they have some very cool vinyl out there.  This is a picture disc from their 2002 release.  It was pressed in limited quantities (I am not sure of the exact count) and sold on the Warped Tour.  Side A has the album cover art and the song listings, while side B has a picture of the band (at the time). I have seen a picture of someone holding an autographed copy of this record, but I think that if I got the opportunity to meet Emily in person, I would probably faint, or something equally as cool.

20 going on...

The Exception (45)

Ok, here is a fun one.  This was a band that my dad was in back in 1988 (that is when this was recorded) and they made a record!  When I was younger I remember having a whole box of these...I wonder what happened to them all.  I know you are all curious, yes, the two songs are originals, my father played bass and sang some 80's style background vocals.  Sadly, I do not have a digital version of this one, if you really want to hear it then you need to get in touch with me and we can have a record listening party because it is good stuff.

The Starting Line - Say it like you mean it

This is another record that I got a long time ago, and for a while, I didn't take it out of the plastic wrap.  Sadly, one day I bit the bullet and unwrapped it.  This one is numbered #74 of 1000, and seems to be pretty rare as well.  It has the purple swirl thing going on the actual vinyl, but I am not a fan of listening to it.  If you are familiar with records, there is a certain "warmth" sound that most vinyl-fanatics rave about, well, that "warmth" makes the songs sound really wavy and watery, and kind of give you a dizzy feeling. Another unique thing about this record is the packaging, it is three-fold, and this is the only record I own that has this, it is most likely for the couch picture.

This is my favorite song from this album

The Pac-Man Album

C'mon, did you really think I didn't own video game related vinyl? This is the Pac-Man album, and it's really bad.  From what I have heard, it is based on (or created because of) the pac-man cartoon, and features classics like this.  Even though it is not very pleasant to listen to, it is still pretty sought after.  As you can see from the pictures, it is a picture disc with two different illustrations that look like they were straight from the cartoon.  The last time I checked on ebay, the sleeve (not the record, just the sleeve) was going for $25.  I picked mine up at a crap store for $15 thanks to the owner's son misquoting me a price.  Either way, I still think it's pretty cool, I mean, it is pac-man after all.

Alkaline Trio - Remains

Alkaline Trio's second collection of B-sides and rarities is one of my favorites.  Once described as "puke colored" (I have other records that could claim that prize) this 2 LP set does contain yellow/green spattered vinyl.  It contains songs from the split CDs and other compilations, and has two extra songs on it that were not on the CD version.  If my memory serves me correctly, I got this on clearance because some of the plastic wrap was torn, but it didn't affect the album at all.

"Metro" from Remains

New Found Glory (picture disc)

I can't honestly remember the first record I bought, but this was one of the first ones that I got.  This is #26 of 1000, so it's pretty rare, and truthfully, I have never seen another copy of this record anywhere. I bought this at the Exclusive Company in Oshkosh back in the early 2000's.  Side A has an Atari 2600 controller (for those not familiar with old school video games) and side B has a closeup of the truck of a skateboard, side A was one of the images on the CD cover, I am not sure about side B.

Here is the first song from the album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VULEek9vOGk

First Post!

Hello Cruel World,


My name is Chad, but you can call me Chadly.  I am in love with music, and over the years I have acquired some neat albums that I would love to share with you (because the world needs more sharing) So for the next few months (or years) I will give you a tour of my collection.  But I could probably talk about other things than just music...so I probably will.


The first musical memory I had was dancing in the living room to Greg Kihn's Breakup Song on 7" vinyl, This was when I was about 6 years old and my brothers and I would listen to this record on my Mom's fisher price record player (which she still has) while we would dance around in our jammies.  One day while dancing the record jumped off of the player and was stepped on by one of the children.  Sadly, it was cracked, and never played again.  About 20 years later I found a copy for 99 cents, but we will get into that later.


My "collecting" phase began shortly after high school.  One of my closest friends, Josh Bender, and I were quite obsessed with a certain Billy Joel, so we had a little contest to see who could get more of his records.  Now most of these we found at thrift stores, and they were easy to come by, and to be honest, I am not sure who won that contest, but it caused me to love the art of flipping through old records at second hand stores which is where I picked up the first part of my collection.


At first I started collecting rare records because it was cool (or at least I thought it was cool) but then I learned that vinyl just sounds better, well, for the most part.  Over time I started selling CDs and replacing them with the vinyl versions, as of me writhing this I still have about 400 CDs, and probably just as many records.  So thanks for being interested in something that I find interesting, and if you don't like it, read something else.


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