Record store haul: February 26, 2012

Today I took a lovely trip down to Used Kids Records of Columbus, Ohio, my favorite record store so far, to see what kind of goodies were in store for me today.

Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (LP, $8)

I'll always consider Swans to be a favorite of mine, even if their latest album (this one) didn't really do too much for me. It's good, to be sure, maybe not Children of God or White Light from the Mouth of Infinity good, but it's still the same Swans I've come to enjoy. Foreboding and claustrophobic, although not as interestingly experimental as Soundtracks for the Blind was. (But a nice bonus: no Jarboe!)

Wolf Eyes – Human Animal (LP, $8)

This one was a pleasant surprise. Used Kids usually has some neat avant-garde-ish stuff, but I didn't expect to find one of my favorite Wolf Eyes albums there. Sadly, the vinyl version doesn't have the No Fucker cover "Noise Not Music" that the CD has, but that's okay. It's also in really nice condition, which is always a plus (a lot of used LPs I've seen at Used Kids can be particularly grimy), especially for a six-year-old album.

Black Dice – Peace in the Valley / Ball (7", $3)

This one was a bit of an impulse; aside from Beaches & Canyons Black Dice hasn't done much to impress me, but it's on a blue splatter vinyl so how can I resist? Being one of their earlier releases, even before Beaches & Canyons, though, it's pretty decent. Throbbing, noisy rock sort of stuff. Also, it was apparently supposed to come with a forty-page booklet of artwork, but mine didn't have it—just an empty pocket where it's supposed to go. And the sleeve smells vaguely of cigarettes. What a gyp.

This Moment in Black History – About Last Night / 7th Heaven (7", $2.5)

TMiBH is my cousin's band, and it was pretty neat to see this single buried in the giant punk 7" boxes. It's pretty typical of their style, somewhat noisy garage punk, although it's debatable whether "About Last Night" is good enough to warrant its own single. And I'm not sure if the audio quality on "7th Heaven" is terrible or if it's a result of my turntable not really liking 7"s with the larger jukebox-style holes. They're so hard to center.

Infidel? / Castro! – Bioentropic Damage Fractal (2×CD, $3)

It's not often one finds good double albums, and even less often that they're a mere $3. This one is another spastic sound collage / mad avant-garde electronic / cybergrind sort of thing (like a heavier and noisier Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver.1.28). It's an incredibly difficult album but well worth it if you are one to stomach lots of brain-wrenching noise and beautiful ambient drones.

Godflesh – Songs of Love and Hate boxset (2×CD+DVD, $14)

I was never really that much into Godflesh until I discovered Songs of Love and Hate via Spotify, and was instantly captivated by its catchy, nigh-hip hoppish brand of industrial metal. So naturally I was quick to snatch up this boxset, which contains both that album and its companion remix album Love and Hate in Dub PLUS a DVD of music videos In All Languages. This was probably my favorite find, and I'm really looking forward to checking out the remixes and videos.

Olivier Messiaen – Quatuor pour la fin du temps (cassette, $1)

Hot on the heels of my recent review of this piece, I found this tape conveniently lurking about. I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm sure it's just as pleasant as the version I've already heard.

Big Audio Dynamite II – The Globe (cassette, $1)

I only got this for my girlfriend, I don't really care for Big Audio Dynamite (or The Clash either, really). But I do really enjoy how this era of music was really big on tapes and there are always lots of good '90s releases at Used Kids to dig through.

I didn't realize, unfortunately, that Record Store Day is in a mere two months. I'll have to squeeze some budget out for that.