Cold Cave from Hospital Productions - repress

I'm still waiting on the triple split of cold cave / blessure grave / crocodiles on down in the ground records but then I saw Hospital Productions repressed their debut single this time on clear vinyl, now I've been hearing that clear vinyl is the worst quality because of the manufacturing process, but then there's a label issuing all this stuff on clear vinyl...classic jazz etc because of the iron or whatever in the vinyl that magnetizes and somehow degrades the sound? Either way I'm pretty excited to get this on vinyl and not (just) because of the cover.
Cold Cave is really authentically working with kind of an outdated sound and cleanly capturing all the ..well coldness of the sound...I think the B-side 'Always Someone' expands on the pure drum machine / joy division sound with layers and layers of synth loops and distanced vocals...that sounds like they are slowly decaying away...that's a direction I'm interested to hear them take...combine the default machine aspect of the instrumentation and force some humanity into it with some kind of organic decomposition.
The 12" EP threw me with the guy and the girl on the sleeve it looked like some kind of peter bjorn and john thing before I had even heard it, so I kind of looked the other way...that'll teach me...the sound is anything but cute indie pop. It definitely takes me back to discovering killing joke and skinny puppy...that combination of technology and depression that The Smiths were lacking. It just made perfect sense...these instruments were meant to make this noise...you almost can't help but come up with this stuff.

COLD CAVE -painted nails - 7" repress on clear vinyl $8

the first pressing of 500 sold out in 3 weeks via mailorder. this is the second pressing on (clear vinyl) due to overwhelming demand on clear vinyl. i have seen the future, and it's no place for me. this is a special record for hospital. although we have always shared a certain love for trance, power noise, synth pop, and 80's industrial music it is the first time we directly venture into this controversial and rhythmic world. cold cave presents 3 tracks of authentically morose epic anthems with the texture of a shattered champagne glass.
imagine a highly damaged downward spiral era demo hitting the raw nerve to heart where all breaths freeze in rapture and all feelings croak in the blood of the beat-less heart.
clear vinyl repress.

cold cave from hospital productions

I have been hearing a lot about Cold Cave and I probably overlooked this single from Hospital Productions because I wasn't expecting this synth direction from the Hospital at all. It didn't exactly fit with the sort of thing I've investigated from this label in the past. I know Cold Cave has a 12" out as well which I haven't been able to track down...it's probably gone because this Cold Cave business is occupying that space between blank dogs and SIDS. Anotherwords it's more great messed up electronics. It's more distorted than Blank Dogs and darker/moodier than SIDS.
Not to be confused with the other CC, Crystal Castles.
I think I had it with Crystal Castles after a few weeks anyway, but seeing them live really blew it. More because of the crowd. I really felt like I was surrounded by a bunch of douchebags.

Here's hoping Cold Cave will scare the pussies away.

From Hospital Productions:
COLD CAVE - painted nails - 7" i have seen the future, and it's no place for me. this is a special record for hospital. although we have always shared a certain love for trance, power noise, synth pop, and 80's industrial music it is the first time we directly venture into this controversial and rhythmic world. cold cave presents 3 tracks of authentically morose epic anthems with the texture of a shattered champagne glass. imagine a highly damaged downward spiral era demo hitting the raw nerve to heart where all breaths freeze in rapture and all feelings croak in the blood of the beat- less heart.
to order: http://www.hospitalproductions.com

Some left at fusetron...(actually, they ran out before I could post this....literally like a few hours ago....sorry)..go get that triple split I posted about before. I know I did these out of order.
I'm a blogger, not a journalist!

Cold Cave / Crocodiles / Blessure Grave on Down in the Ground Records + podcast EP 35

So let's see here, brand new label, tri-split from Down in the ground records, and a podcast with a brand new label Stumparumper records with it's founder Pat.

First the single:
The crocodiles are like some no wave nightmare... a lot of really nice sounding messed up feedback... Hell, I can like anyone that uses feedback like this...lots of distorted yelling, mechanical drums. It's pretty catchy sounding, like later JAMC. God, I reference them a lot, but really it's that kind of mondo post punk fuzz sound. I guess I didn't get much further than them....so that's my reference...or like a Place to bury strangers/cramps. Better? No.

Cold cave is working with clean mechanics...it's really kind of dancy, they could make a killing crossing over into some euro-disco scene...or like Daft Punk...take themselves seriously for a minute. The track 'Sex Ads' sounds like the drum pad from a cheap keyboard was run through a couple distortion pedals and then a first....a casio SK1 human voice sound is used for the first and last time successfully by an artist. I'd recognize that sound anywhere. He's really deliberate in the sounds...it's all compressed, the distortion is clipped...it's not left to chance. 'Always someone' on the other hand is working with the glitch in an epic way...there's thousands of sounds here on this digital shitgaze track. Disintegrating, swirling around in this haze of malfunction. The only other single I've seen on Hospital productions is long gone, this is about the only thing at the moment, other than a 12" on fusetron.

It really reminds me of seeing this band in high school at this local college. It was a dark basement, and this guy had a backing drum machine/synth track on a walkman. He was all gothed out singing in the middle of this room of 5 people. At the time I just wanted a huge show, tons of equipment, lights...what the fuck was this? I bought a tape...I think it was called 'the Love of Death' or something ridiculously pretentious. Sometimes I would play it when I was waiting tables at Dojo's. I have to find it and put it on vinyl. Maybe the label I start would be one of those labels of just weirdo found music.

Last but not least is Blessure Grave....it sounds like there's real drums and guitar doing the same things stylistically as the above bands....this would be one hell of a lineup. Why does this sound optomistic to me? It's very Joy Division, the vocal effects are great. It's really true to that dark sound, lots of tom beats, that chorus guitar.
On 'Steps' they actually use an acoustic and get even darker, with this pulsating darkwave synth sound...it's done in a kind of low-fi way that doesn't push it into ridiculous territory. it's hard to explain exactly how these bands are getting away with this. I'm sure you could play something from the late nineties that would sound nearly like this, but might be too ernest, to aware. This is done in homage, still sincere, but pushing the electronics and throwing in a few lessons learned from contemporary projects, but then throwing it away. Who knows how these guys will do...there's a mystery around it on this level that I love.

They are playing all over LA in Jan, if you are on the west coast, make sure you catch these guys... most of the dates are with the crocodiles actually.

Just found out about this, but there can't be many copies left...get it from down in the ground for $7.

Let me know if anyone gets a test pressing...


THIS IS A PREORDER! VINYL SHOULD SHIP BEFORE JANUARY 20TH.
One track from each band. San Diego's Crocodiles (ex-members of bands you liked/hated) give us something special from the past and the future simultaneously, whatever that means. Listen and it'll make sense.
Philly's Cold Cave lives up to their name. You will be left uncomfortable and aware of everything around you.
Blessure Grave combines 80's goth, neo-folk and post punk into something all it's own. Artwork by Mark McCoy of WOUND fame. Limited to 540 copies: 40 hand-numbered test pressings w/ alternate covers, 100 solid white and 400 solid black. All orders of 2 or more will receive one white copy and the rest black.

3 random orders will receive a test pressing along with their normal copy as a way of saying thanks and hello.

For the podcast this week I talked with Pat from Stumparumper records who is starting what must be the most limited edition run of singles I know about. He's pressing some of his projects in editions of 20 with peter king....that's podcast episode 35. I think it's the perfect example of the future of vinyl...small batches of you and your friends music. It's not hard...Pat's doing it. There's no reason you shouldn't either.

Or me for that matter.