VACATION VINYL
YEAR END TOP TEN

Here at Vacation Vinyl we love music. You've probably noticed. We picked out our favorite releases over the past year and whittled them down to 10 choices each. It wasn't an easy task, but here they are:

Aaron's Top 10

Aluk Todolo - Ordre
Aosoth - III
Craft - Void
Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sect
William Fowler Collins - The Resurrections Unseen
Hive Mind - Elemental Disgrace
Thou - The Archer and the Owle
Early Graves - Goner
Tim Hecker - Rave Death 1972
Ascension - Consolamentum

George's Top 10

Bitchin Bajas - Water Wrackets
Fennesz - Seven Stars
J. Mascis - Several Shades Of Why
Puerto Rico Flowers - 7
The Men - Leave Home
Phil Manley - Life Coach
Prurient - Bermuda Drain
Arbouretum - The Gathering
Follakzoid - Follakzoid EP
Peaking Lights - 936

Greh's Top 10

HTRK - Work (Work, Work)
The Present Moment - Loyal to a Fault
Animal Bodies - Kiss of the Fang
Brotman & Short - Heights
Chelsea Wolfe - Apokalypsis
Sex Church - Growing Over
V/A - White Eye of Winter Watching
White Hills - H-p1
Raspberry Bulbs - Nature Tries Again
Conrad Schnitzler - Ballet Statique

Mark's Top 10

Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You
Jamiroquai - Rock Dust Light Star
Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu
Vain - Enough Rope
Ides of Gemini - The Disruption Writ
Mayer Hawthorne - How Do You Do?
Type O Negative - Box Set
Cut Hands - Afro Noise I
Tombs - Path of Totality
Virus - The Black Flux

Pete's Top 10

Soror Dolorossa - Blind Scenes
Graveyard - Hinsingen Blues
Puerto Rico Flowers - 7
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
Old Silver Key - Tales of Wanderings
Brotman & Short - Heights
Hive Mind - Elemental Disgrace
Chelsea Wolfe - Apokalypsis
Lantlôs - Agape
The Present Moment - Loyal to a Fault

FULL OF HELL
& HEARTLESS
free in-store performances
Friday, December 9th, 2011 @ 7pm

FULL OF HELL

Full Of Hell could be described as the ultimate of extreme music: Take all the rawest, dirtiest and heaviest bits of Hardcore, Punk, extreme Metal, Grindcore, Sludge and even Power Electronics, give them to a bunch of young, angry and extremely motivated sickos and get wrecked.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrDo1ySLriY


HEARTLESS

Heartless is a hardcore/punk outfit from Pittsburgh that specializes in pummeling, morose, low-end/high-speed riffage. We'll have copies of their "Hell is Other People" LP in stock as well!


BURNING WITCH BOX SET four LPs, a DVD and a 40pg 12"x12" book! 40-page booklet & Live DVD


This beast has been in the works for over 3 years! The wait is finally over! The last nails have been pounded into the Burning Witch coffin!

Vinyl includes:
Towers LP
Rift Canyon Dreams LP
Bleeder/R.C.D. LP
Live at the China Club LP

Although Burning Witch only actually existed for a short period of time (1995–1998) the absolutely crushing impact they left is immense! This box compiles every authorized (ie: listenable) recording the band ever made. Towers... and Rift.Canyon.Dreams might be more familiar a they were compiled as the Crippled Lucifer CD.


LOINCLOTH
Iron Balls of Steel LP



Loincloth consists of (former) members from Confessor, Kenmores and Breadwinner with to goal to create instrumental prog/doom metal without any vocals, acoustic parts, no pointless guitar leads and no repetition. An interesting approach if you ask me, so let’s have a closer look whether they managed to deliver on their debut album, entitled Iron Balls Of Steel…

The phrase “All killer and no filler” comes into mind when listening to Iron Balls Of Steel. The album consists of 16(!) rather short instrumental tracks which hit the listener with the proverbial sledgehammer, while retaining the sort of musical sophistication in the best progressive rock/metal tradition. Try to imagine a fully stripped Intronaut or Mastodon and you’ll get a pretty solid idea of what you can expect from Loincloth.

Iron Balls Of Steel isn’t a pretty record. It’s massive and raw and it has more staying power than Soilent Green and Crowbar combined. This album is graced with a massive production which perfectly underscores the uncompromising nature and attitude of this band. Very becoming indeed! -- "Alternative Matter"

free in-store performance
Monday, December 5th @ 8pm



Alison Chesley, aka Helen Money, plays her cello with guitar amps and effects. Her performance in this space will be amazing. Great chance to get up close and personal with this ace musician who has played on, and/or directed string arrangements for Broken Social Scene, Disturbed, Bob Mould, Anthrax, Russian Circles and Mono. You may have caught her opening for Shellac twice in LA recently!



The SlapYoMama! food truck should arrive between 7:00pm - 8:00pm. Slap Yo Mama serve Southern Fried Specialty Food. Their menu includes Fried Chicken, Greens, Mac N Cheese, Gumbo, Catfish Po Boy, Peach Cobbler & Banana Pudding!


Vacation Vinyl Holiday Gift Suggestions


Vacation Vinyl Tote Bag!

The Vacation black denim tote bag is here (in very limited quantity)! Specifically designed for carrying a few records and manufactured in Los Angeles by Blue Hen & Co from 14.5oz. black cone mills denim, this tote bag feature a Vacationl patch, 1" black cotton webbing handles, plus an interior 7" pocket (8.5" square)



Vacation Vinyl Gift Coin!

Vacation Gift Coins are now available for all of your gift giving needs. Reminiscent of drink tokens these (made in the USA) wooden coins are sold in $25 denominations. Get in to it.








Vacation Vinyl Felt Slipmats!

Old school classic thick black felt slip mat with 2 color Vacation logo print! This slipmat will protect records and show off the recipients favorite record store!












Vacation Vinyl Logo Patch
3-color embroidered iron-on patch, great to sew onto a favorite leather or denim.







Numark PT-01 USB Turntable

Listen to records speeds 33, 45 or 78 RPM on the built-in speaker, through plug-in computer-style speakers or hook into your stereo via RCA cables. This affordable portable turntable makes a great gift.





Dark and Somber Greeting Cards

Dark & Somber Greetings is the strange collaboration of photographer/entrepreneur Courtney Frystak and illustrator/designer/musician Farron Loathing. The use of traditional Black Metal photography for something as unlikely as greeting cards began as an internet gag, but somehow evolved into an actual greeting card company to the delight of thousands of misanthropic creatures who can at last feel comfortable sending a birthday card, or holiday message to one of their patron demons or family members.







free in-store performance
Monday, December 5th @ 8pm



Alison Chesley, aka Helen Money, plays her cello with guitar amps and effects. Her performance in this space will be amazing. Great chance to get up close and personal with this ace musician who has played on, and/or directed string arrangements for Broken Social Scene, Disturbed, Bob Mould, Anthrax, Russian Circles and Mono. You may have caught her opening for Shellac twice in LA recently!



The SlapYoMama! food truck should arrive between 7:00pm - 8:00pm. Slap Yo Mama serve Southern Fried Specialty Food. Their menu includes Fried Chicken, Greens, Mac N Cheese, Gumbo, Catfish Po Boy, Peach Cobbler & Banana Pudding!


Vacation Vinyl Holiday Gift Suggestions


Vacation Vinyl Tote Bag!

The Vacation black denim tote bag is here (in very limited quantity)! Specifically designed for carrying a few records and manufactured in Los Angeles by Blue Hen & Co from 14.5oz. black cone mills denim, this tote bag feature a Vacationl patch, 1" black cotton webbing handles, plus an interior 7" pocket (8.5" square)



Vacation Vinyl Gift Coin!

Vacation Gift Coins are now available for all of your gift giving needs. Reminiscent of drink tokens these (made in the USA) wooden coins are sold in $25 denominations. Get in to it.








Vacation Vinyl Felt Slipmats!

Old school classic thick black felt slip mat with 2 color Vacation logo print! This slipmat will protect records and show off the recipients favorite record store!












Vacation Vinyl Logo Patch
3-color embroidered iron-on patch, great to sew onto a favorite leather or denim.







Numark PT-01 USB Turntable

Listen to records speeds 33, 45 or 78 RPM on the built-in speaker, through plug-in computer-style speakers or hook into your stereo via RCA cables. This affordable portable turntable makes a great gift.





Dark and Somber Greeting Cards

Dark & Somber Greetings is the strange collaboration of photographer/entrepreneur Courtney Frystak and illustrator/designer/musician Farron Loathing. The use of traditional Black Metal photography for something as unlikely as greeting cards began as an internet gag, but somehow evolved into an actual greeting card company to the delight of thousands of misanthropic creatures who can at last feel comfortable sending a birthday card, or holiday message to one of their patron demons or family members.
HIVE MIND record release party
& free in-store performance
Black Friday, November 25th, 2011 @ 8pm




"It’s dense stuff; breathtakingly thick, enveloping sound. It’s hard to make the case for an album of what is essentially variations on roaring, growling noise to those who aren’t already sold by that description alone – but this really is gripping. No “wall noise” or one dimensional static blast here; there is a huge amount going on, each small part making up the whole. This truly immersive, expansive record is without a doubt one of the best noise albums of the year, and is a must for anyone of a curious, abstract inclination." -- FACT Magazine

"By far the most opaque Spectrum Spools release to date, Elemental Disgrace will pull listeners from the relative safety of modern electronica’s escapist climate and immerse them into a disorienting, nerve-ticking murk. This aptly titled long-player consists of two side-long pieces. Its earthen drones -- slowly shifting, stratified and charged with post-industrial electronics -- draws riveting parallels to man’s continued assault and pillaging of the natural world. Focused and brutal, Elemental Disgrace nevertheless maintains a unique sort of beauty—a celebration of decay as natural force, perhaps— and represents a dark respite from the zoned-out banalities of so much current experimental electronic music." -- East Village Radio






This is the list of Record Store Day releases we are carrying, however they are limited in availability and some titles have yet to show up. Get here early!

The Beatles - Singles 7" box set The Grateful Dead - Live Europe '72 vol. 2 4xLP
Pink Floyd - The Wall Singles 7" box set Pinback - Information Retrieved pt. B 7"
Syd Barrett - The Photography of 7" + photography book Wilco - Speak Into the Rose 10"
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee pt. 2 Deluxe LP Phish - Party Time 2xLP
Ryan Adams - Do I Wait / Darkness 7" Various Artists - Wheedle's Groove: Seattle's Finest 7" + book
Jimmy Cliff - Sacred Fire 7" Chris Cornell - Songbook 2xLP
Fear - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 7" Yardbirds - Ha Ha Said the Crown 7"
Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2 LP Yardbirds - Ten Little Indians 7"
Bob Dylan - Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window 7" box set The Byrds - The Times They Are A Changin' 7"
Janis Joplin - Move Over! 7" box set The Byrds - Eight Miles High 7"
Miles Davis - Quartet 10" The Lovin' Spoonful - Alley Oop 7"
Nirvana - Nevermind Singles 10" box set All That Remains /Jasta
Soundgarden - Live on I-5 Before the Doors 10" Type O Negative - Albums box set -
Iron & Wine - Morning Becomes Eclectic LP Death Grips - Exmilitary LP
The Black Keys - Lonely Boy LP Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - American X: Baby 81 Sessions LP
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik 2xLP Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 2xLP
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Kiss My Amps Live LP Boris - New Album LP
The Doors - LA Woman singles 7" box set The Misfits - Devil's Rain LP


HYDRA HEAD releases for BLACK FRIDAY

In addition to the NEW releases listed below, we have some exciting and rare TEST PRESSINGS from the Hydra Head Vault through the years. You'll have to stop in the store to find out what these are and purchase them!




Black Face - I Want To Kill You b/w Monster 7"
Black Flag's Chuck Dukowski + Oxbow's Eugene Robinson = Black Face: a selective collective take on music as riot and Dukowski-era Black Flag. On tour Spring 2012. 7" available on black, white, grey and 'mystery' colors




Helms Alee - Weatherhead Cassette
Ltd to 300 cassette edition of second full length from Tacoma's Helms Alee. Grunge is SO back.



Old Man Gloom - Christmas Eve I & II + 6 + Live in NYC 180g vinyl LP
ltd to 1000 on black and color vinyl in 2 color silkscreen jacket
Old Man Gloom is the best band on the planet, hands down. This 12" vinyl edition of their 2003 3" CDEP (now complete with their full 2002 'Live in NYC' performace on Side B) proves it.




Pyramids/Horseback - A Throne Without A King 180g vinyl LP+7"
ltd. 1000 on black and color vinyl.
A sprawling beast of unique nature - at once beguiling, terrifying and completely immersive. A more successful pairing of experimental-metal-drone-ambient-krautish-noise-rock collaborators you are unlikely to find, in our reality or any of its parallel relatives. Exclusive individual tracks from both participants, combined with their 45 minute collabrative sonic mass in four parts.
free in-store performance
on Friday, Nov. 18th @ 7pm



Tennis System likes noise. It likes it so much that at this year's SXSW, the local Austin cops shut down two of its shows due to noise complaints. Via two guitars creating a reverb whirlwind, roaring drums and a droning bass, they will flatten you with their sound, and dig you out from underneath the pile along with their buried shoegaze melodies. The noisy, earnest legacy of Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, and the Jesus and Mary Chain lives on in the expansive, catchy-as-hell pop songs of Tennis System.




DOLORVOTRE & THE HAUNTING PRESENCE
free in-store performances
on Saturday, Nov. 19th @ 8pm



Another Crepusculo Negro double-feature here at Vacation Vinyl, Dolorvotre will slash out ghasly, wailing black metal pushing you downwards into a halucinogenic hell while The Haunting Presence spew forth violent and shamanistic chaos invoked by horror and anxiety, conjurations of supernatural terror!






FYF & Vacation Vinyl present
WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
plus special guests TBA
at the ECHOPLEX, Thursday, January 26th



Hard tickets are available at Vacation Vinyl for $15 CASH ONLY.

We are also selling soft tickets (cash only) to ALL FYF shows, which includes these upcoming gems:

LEMURIA w/ Roman Candles + more @ the Smell, 11/25/11 9pm - $9
THOU / The Body / Harassor @ the Smell, 1/17/12 9pm - $10
free in-store, Wednesday, November 9th @ 7pm


Exploratory New Jersey-born prog-metal peddlers EAST OF THE WALL are preparing to drop their third full-length slab of methodologically unique output, The Apologist, this Autumn. Longtime followers of this act, and the numerous related current or previous acts leading up to this recording — including but definitely not limited to The Postman Syndrome, Day Without Dawn, El Drugstore, Argonauts — have been awaiting this release for some time.

The piercing feedback leads into an elephant-sized sludge metal riff on the album’s opener, “Naif”. One might hypothesize (as I did) that the rest of the track will be a sludgy beast. Well shame on you and me! “Naif” soon undergoes a drastic stylistic change that will leave the listener wondering what had just happened. From Sludge, to post-rock, back to sludge, than to an almost alternative/progressive rock feel to the end. Adding huge contrasting sections to a single song is East of the Wall’s specialty (“False Build” is a perfect example of this). “Naif” flawlessly flows into “Linear Failure” which features one of the most gorgeous, jazz oriented guitar sections I have ever heard. You just have to hear it to believe it. But that is just one section of the song because once again, the band surprises you with flawlessly switching to a completely different section without sounding forced. One might criticize it for sounding “random”, but this is not the case. These shape-shifting entities called “East of the Wall songs” sound completely organic and are performed with such virtuosic skill that is makes the whole song flow very well.

-- Review of their new album by American Aftermath
OS OVNI
free in-store, Friday Nov 4th, 2011



Physicists deal in quantum probabilities. Wizards wrestle with magic. OS OVNI dream synthesizers. Emerging from the more idiosyncratic side of reality, the duo of Logan Owlbeemoth and Omebi Velouria build minimal sonic structures around time travel pop hooks using warm synths, simple effected vocals, colorful costumes set in a 2070's celluloid film setting and visual projections made of hyper changing colorful pixel bits in the ...shape of UFOs, cats and hearts. Their sound is both accessible and charmingly home brewed. As the collision of rebellious oscillations and layered harmonics clash and hum, it seems that their music is trying to pry open a gateway to its own science fictional universe. The shimmering gateway opens, and what you find when you look inside is OS OVNI.




HULL
free in-store, Monday, Nov 7th, 2011



Hailing from the streets of Brooklyn, HULL has yet again emerged with a creation to outlive the ages. Hard at work since the release of their debut album, Sole Lord, in 2009, ideas were envisioned and the mighty wind of creativity brought upon this Earth the latest saga, “Beyond The Lightless Sky”.

Known to behold vast sound expanses, HULL maximizes harmony and tone within one monstrous palate. Upon your brow, focus, as a furious whip of intermingling guitars propel you through the atmosphere as a low pulse resonates through your entire being while the pounding drums blanket all chasms of reality. Find yourself immersed in a musical tide as it is played out before your ears beyond the lightless sky.


VUM free cassette release performance
Friday, October 21st at 7pm



VUM's first cassette was "Strange Attractor" on Los Angeles' Living Tapes in 2009, and now they're playing Vacation Vinyl to celebrate the release of the "Night Sun" also on Living Tapes. Dreamy Keyboards and guitar melt in some sort of new-wave post punk bliss.





New Hydra Head Records releases are available IN STORE at Vacation Vinyl starting Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 at 11am. Mailorder copies will be available the following Monday, October 24th at 11am depending upon availability.


Botch 'We Are The Romans' 2xLP



Super limited 2xLP color vinyl repress with jackets and inserts from the original pressing over a decade ago. Each copy includes 2xCD of the 2007 remaster with bonus tracks. Limit one per person, no exceptions. First come, first serve. Original '00 pressing poster available to first 25 customers. Available in Solid Orange/Solid Blue (ltd to 250) or Black Orange Blue Haze/White Orange Blue Haze (ltd to 200) vinyl. LIMIT ONE COPY PER CUSTOMER!


Jesu 's/t' 2xLP



2xLP repress of debut release from Justin K. Broadrick's post-Godflesh project. Original '04 pressing poster available to all customers through the store. Available in Clear Gold (ltd to 100), Brown (ltd to 300) or Black vinyl. LIMIT ONE OF EACH COLOR PER CUSTOMER!


Prurient 'Time's Arrow' LP or CS



With 'Time's Arrow' Dominick Fernow's long running project once again finds itself evolving, unfolding, and permutating. It is at once an extension of, and natural progression from, the redefining sound brought forth on Prurient's most recent full length recording, Bermuda Drain. Available in Gold (ltd to 100), Purple (ltd to 300), Black vinyl or Cassette.




CRAFT - VOID LP on SOUTHERN LORD



Erupting forth from the filthiest ranks of the underworld, the long-awaited new album from Swedish black metal horde, CRAFT, is finally upon us!

Diehards of CRAFT’s vicious, orthodox black metal bombardment have been seething in anticipation of this album for years, their immensely praised/feared 2005-released Fuck The Universe full-length having infected the metal community on impressive new levels for this previously cult outfit. But 2011 will bring that wait to a crushing end, with the release of the band’s fourth LP, Void. Delivering a nine-track convoy of punishing black hymns over forty nine-minutes, Void does not just pick up where Fuck The Universe left off, rather it also explores some crushing new angles, as well as revisits some of CRAFT’s earlier, scathing days, and wholly channels the band’s obvious, endless hate unto the human population. (from EARSPLIT).

Vacation Vinyl will have copies available on Clear with Black Splatter vinyl.


HIGH ON FIRE / INDIAN / IT'S CASUAL ticket with purchase



Purchase any IT'S CASUAL vinyl NEW at Vacation Vinyl and get a FREE ticket to this show at the Viper Room!

PEEP AND DESTROY, October 30th

TOMMY KAT RECORDS film kickstarter

"Tommy Kat Records" is new series being developed for Internet or TV broadcast about a woman owns an independent record store and the struggles she faces in a tough economy and the digital age. The story will focus on these difficulties as well as the sort of people who love and frequent independent record stores across the country.

They're attempting to raise some funding via Kickstarter to make this project a reality. Below you can view the promotional trailer they've made:



And please visit their Kickstarter page if supporting this interests you!
PRIZEHOG free in-store
Friday, October 14th @ 7pm


For all of you hard and heavies that like it slow and low, and dig the likes of the Melvins, Harvey Milk, Boris and other slo-mo dirge merchants. But Prizehog infuse their low end assault with all manner of druggy psychedelia, warped doom pop and blurred blissed out slow-core, conjuring up a sound that pounds and pummels, drift and shimmers, grinds and churns, slipping effortlessly from bombastic Melvinsy howl and chug, to a super hooky heaviness, that reminds us of the warped Buttholes beholden noisepop of Prizehog pals Wildildlife, from a sort of bluesy, blissed out tarpit ZZ Top swing and swagger, to a dark and dolorous black hole heavy slowcore a la Codeine or True Widow, often all wound up into a single song.


Blood, Sweat + Vinyl
Music + Film Festival
15th of October in Oakland, CA



Bay Area Premiere + DVD Release Party:
Blood, Sweat + Vinyl: DIY in the 21st Century
Independent documentary focusing on music labels Neurot, Hydra Head and Constellation. Featuring live footage and interviews with Neurosis, ISIS, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and many more!

Vacation Vinyl is a sponsor of this event, and will be present as a vendor.
Vacation Vinyl's own Pete Majors is featured in the interviews!

Bands Performing at Premiere:
Evangelista
Oxbow
Ides of Gemini

15 October 2011
6:00pm
$15 ($18 at door)
All ages

Oakland Metro Operahouse
630 3rd Street
Oakland CA. 94607
www.oaklandmetro.org

Event and Ticket Info at:
www.bloodsweatvinyl.com


Sigur Ros - Inni
pre-order + ticket bundle!



Vacation Vinyl is taking part in an exclusive, limited pre-order/ticket bundle offer. Those pre-ordering INNI (3xLP/DVD) will receive 1 complimentary ticket to the official LA screening/premier of INNI in their town and will receive their copy of INNI on november 15th. Tickets for this pre-order promotion are limited, so you might want to act fast.




We now have old-school thick black felt slipmats with 3-color Vacation logo screenprint available both in the physical shop and on the web store! Make sure your turntable knows where those records came from!
PLANNING FOR BURIAL
free in-store performance
Tuesday, September 27th @ 7pm



“Leaving is quite possibly the most amazing record ever to mix shoegaze, metal, doom, drone, and everything beautifully badass. Seriously epic songs that fill your heart with joy and make your ears fucking bleed. Crank this motherfucker up and let the bliss wash over you while you bang your head.” – Anti-Gravity Bunny

“Planning For Burial bring together drone and shoegaze, this time with little splashes of doom metal and black metal. Bringing to mind Jesu, Pyramids & Nadja and My Bloody Valentine as well as the dreariness of Explosions In The Sky’s All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, this album is, much like HANL’s perfect Deathconsciousness, overflowing with emotion, almost to the point of being exhausting. I very strongly recommend this album, because it is definitely one of my favorite releases this year.” - Shock Mountain


Blood, Sweat + Vinyl
Music + Film Festival
15th of October in Oakland, CA




live rituals by
VOLAHN and ARIZMENDA
Saturday, September 24th @ 7pm



Live rituals by two unique LA-area bands operating loosely within the field of
black metal, clean, sparse atmospheres to dirty wailing tortured screams and washes of guitar punctuated by distant drums.






the BERLIN BRATS
Friday, September 23rd @ 7pm



It’s circa the mid-1970’s and the Rolling Stones are recording in the luxury of the Caribbean and the New York Dolls are in the midst of their death throes… but in Hollywood, Ca. the Berlin Brats are torching the Sunset Strip, demolishing pay-to-play live gigs and bringing rock and roll into a psychosexual realm – all before the Sex Pistols have played a single note.



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