Well, I saw this locally in my favorite record store and I decided to to pick it up. I guess this means I am giving up. As far as their 12"s or albums go, damn, you could find those anywhere back in the 90's. Every distro and indie record store had that Ebullition "It Disappears" 12" and the "Lyburnium" album on Verminform was pretty easy to find too. But gawd damn, those 7"s were impossible to find. It has only gotten worse with time and now they go for ridiculous amounts of money that I can't really justify or afford. My two decade wish of getting the 7"s is over. Unless someone has a line on them for cheap. Then I'm back baby!
Moss Icon was the band that basically laid out the blueprint for all the 90's emo/screamo that would follow. These guys are literally name dropped as an influence by every single emo band that has existed. The legend has grown way past their popularity they ever had while playing. Now Temporary Residence Records has put out this discography that only makes the legend grow.
The layout is very simple and sparse much like their original records, with all of it in black and white. The tri-fold cover folds out to show the pictures from their three 7"s. They are from left to right, Memorial, Mahpiua Luta, and finally the self titled first 7".
There were some small pressings of color vinyl released but I am more than happy with good old black vinyl. To tell you the truth anything else would throw off the whole aesthetic of the package anyway.
Some of the nicest elements of this album are the inner sleeves. Usually I am not a fan of printed inner sleeves, but this seems to work.I took pictures of a couple to give you an idea. For all I know these are what the 7" inserts look like. Not that I would know.
The third album's b-side is a blank etched picture of the memorial figure. I tried to get a picture of it, but it does look way better in person.
I have no idea about pressing numbers or have any idea about colors. For me, this one is just about the pure joy and the memories I have about those crazy 90's emo days. 19 songs to remind me I used to wear fake black rimmed glasses on stage. As always, I am an idiot.
I need this for the same reason that you did...because of those elusive 7 inch records. I meant to pick this up from REV already, but those IME and YOT represses had to come first. I'll grab this someday because you can't stop the wind...
ReplyDeleteI am trying to find copies of four (possibly five) Moss Icon live recordings that were uploaded (in FLAC format) to the bootleg-only torrent tracker DimeADozen, at some point between mid-2012 and early 2013 if I'm remembering right. I don't believe these sets have been reposted since then, and do not seem to have been publicly shared elsewhere... I lost my entire collection of live/demo/rare material (including these M.I. recordings) around five years ago, and these shows are among those I miss the most.
ReplyDelete• The first recording was a longer version of the second set on Blogged & Quartered's live comp, from 1991. I'm pretty sure it was shared with the venue and exact date unknown, labeled simply as having been recorded in the D.C. area in 1991 - the correct venue is likely the Safari Club. The full recording had around 8-9 songs, including absolutely incredible takes on "Kick the Can", "The Life", and most notably a version of "It Disappears" that blew away the released version (not an easy feat).
• I believe the second recording was a slightly longer version of the 1988 Annapolis set that opens Blogged & Quartered's live compilation, with one or two additional songs.
• The third recording was a longer excerpt of the Crofton Fire Hall show, from which "I'm Back" and "It Disappears" (on the It Disappears 12") are culled; I think it was only around 6 songs long, so probably not the full set.
• Finally, there was a brief set (or excerpt of a longer one) that I believe was from 1990/91/92, also around 5 songs long, which included an otherwise totally unknown tune called "Home of the Brave Song" which was really quite amazing. I have a vague recollection of the notes attached to this last set explaining that it was part of a multi-band benefit affair along the lines of the Positive Force shows of the day.
I would love to reacquire these special recordings for obvious reasons. They have not been reposted to DimeADozen to my knowledge, but the fact that they were initially distributed there is encouraging - after all, these are digital files that dozens of people downloaded only a few years ago, not a single copy of an analog tape slowly degrading in someone's garage. If anyone who has copies of one or more of these M.I. shows (or any others) sees this message, I'd be extremely appreciative if you could get in touch with me at:
theclassicrremains｟ᴬᵀ｠ɢᴍᴀɪʟ｟ᴰᴼᵀ｠ᴄᴏᴍ
(replace the latter part of the address with @gmail.com - this is to avoid my address being harvested & spammed.)
Hopefully the limited information I detailed above will encourage others to seek these recordings out and/or make them accessible to other fans of this unique and wonderful band.
Thanks!!