''Litany''

MADE TO BE PLAYED OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN 

(Message on reverse of sleeve)

Sleeve - Front (Test Pattern)

Sleeve - Back (Test Pattern)

The sleeve opens up to poster -size:  Left hand panel shows lyrics below Art Nouveau  swan motif, overlaid onto cemetery image.

Reverse of sleeve - poster of collage by 10K.
 Central Ouroborus (cyclicality) and Scarab beetle (rebirth & regeneration), over microchip, over crucifixion, with western 'imagery' radiating out, also includes man working on circle of bolts and another man with chains. All bordered top and bottom by narrow strip of nature -sun set / rise over coast. Sun looks a bit like a light bulb, probably a coincidence. 

Could you explain the collage that's in "Litany"?

Marbles: Its supposed to be a visual representation of the song. The images in the center symbolize repetition; the man doing work, mouse on a treadmill, a maze, an ouroborous, and a scarab, and Jesus on the cross. The images radiating ourward are the things that we reproduce; work, struggle, chaos, death. Sunrise and Sunset.

No inserts, but this one arrived with a patch, which looks the same as the one that went with the  ''Triumph of Life'' Newcastle version, so maybe this copy was picked up on that tour?

Stats:

General:
Tracks - A: Litany / What Could Have Been  B: Colour Removal / Reset The Ride
Released: 2004
Label: Test Pattern Records TPR 108 (1st & 2nd Pressings) Havoc Records TPR 108 (Later Pressings)
Matrix A: TEST PATTERN-108A - MPWMSLECQRYPQQAPCC
1st Press Matrix B: TEST PATTERN-108B 3=R

Pressing Info:
TEST PATTERN Version:
First Press of 1000 Mar 2004
Second Press of 500 Feb 2005
Third Press of 1000 Nov 2005
8Test Pressings.
6 on Shampoo coloured vinyl (1)

HAVOC Version:
Black Vinyl:
First (4th) press of 3000 May 2006. 

Second (5th) press of 2000 May 2007

Third (6th) press of 1000 Nov 2011
10 Test Pressings

At the bands request there is no limited version of this record. (2)

Inserts:
No regular insert

Variants:
White vinyl (Test Pattern)
Black vinyl (Havoc)
Shampoo colour vinyl (Test Pattern)
Limited Reptoid (Havoc)


Sleeve Variations:

Front Covers - Left: Test Pattern (Cream paper, No Logo), Right: Havoc (White paper, Logo bottom RHS)

Back Covers - Left: Test Pattern, Right: Havoc (Record company details on bottom edge)

Vinyl Variations:

Vinyl - Side A: Test Pattern did the first two pressings on white vinyl.  Subsequent pressings by Havoc on black vinyl

Vinyl - Side B: As above

Limited 'Reptoid' Version:

From the owner of copy # 3/3: ''I bought it from Felix Havoc of Havoc Records at Chaos in Tejas in 2006. I was standing at his merch table, browsing with a friend, when the guy next to us asked if there was any special edition of the Litany ep repress that Havoc had just released. Felix responded that there wasn't, at the band's request, and the guy said that was too bad because he'd buy it if there was. Felix pulled out a Sharpie, and wrote "LIMITED REPTOID PRESS #1/1" on the record and sold it to the guy for three bucks. My friend Mike and I indicated that we were now interested as well, so he numbered ours 2/3 and 3/3, respectively. So, strangely, the numbering goes 1/1, 2/3, & 3/3 for this "edition". The band had no knowledge of this taking place and, to my knowledge, it's the only "limited" version of the Havoc pressing of Litany that exists. The reason behind the reptoid business is because Felix was in the middle of driving the Swedish hardcore band The Victims around on tour and they'd been discussing and joking about the reptoid/reptilian/anunaki conspiracy in the van.''

One wet weekend it occurred to me to contact Felix and find out if he'd get the sharpie out and indulge a weird guy from the UK... It turns out he's The Best; here's his reply:
Ok, sure thing, I don't remember doing this, but it sounds like the kind of thing I would do when bored at a merch table.          

5/5 available HERE.

Notes:

Record has third part of coded message etched into vinyl (see matrix info above).


From FU online store:
5th official release by the band and our first real EP. 4 tracks about repetition and cyclicality with more than willing nods to early UK punk and possible motorcycles. Most impressive, the sleeve folds out into a massive 12 panel collage pieced together by 10k Marbs a la Crucifix/Crass/Winston Smith. One of the most substantial singles in the discography. (3)

Related artwork from 'Epics in Minutes' CD compilation:

litany

Pronunciation: /ˈlɪt(ə)ni/

noun (plural litanies)

• 1a series of petitions for use in church services or processions, usually recited by the clergy and responded to in a recurring formula by the people.
•  (the Litany) a litany contained in the Book of Common Prayer.

• 2a tedious recital or repetitive series:a litany of complaints

Commodity Fetishism:

Shampoo / clear vinyl

Newer pic of shampoo vinyl (6 copies)

Test Press (Test Pattern)

Test Press (Havoc)
Note initials on sleeve giving clue as to which band member traded this

(1) Looking For Gold Blog
(2) Havoc site

(3) FU Webstore

''No Pasaran''

A Stateless Society

Sleeve - Front

Sleeve - Back

Vinyl - A & B sides. Some have pure white labels, others have cream-coloured labels. One of each is shown here. 

Poster / Insert - Front

Poster / Insert - Reverse: Republican Posters and Photos + Lyrics

Three Insert Variants:

Above: Big & Small on glossy paper

Above: Big and small glossy again - the small one is single-sided

Xerox insert

Flyers: Some copies have a small flyer advertising Deranged Records Releases - two examples are shown above, the bottom one has the label-owners 'want list'.

Stats:

General:
Tracks: No Pasaran B/W Circling The Drain
Released: 2002
Label: Deranged Records D-030
Matrix A: DERANGED YOUTH-30-A
Matrix B: DERANGED YOUTH-30-B

Pressing Info:
First Press of 900 or maybe 1100 (Out of press)
Approx 50 with colour photocopied sleeves
Approx 20 with large spindle hole
7 Test Presses.

Inserts:
Three different inserts. 1.Gloss, double sided poster ('Regular' insert). 2.Xerox, double sided poster (same as gloss) 3. Small single sided Xerox paper. (1)
Some also have Deranged Records flyer advertising contemporary releases (various designs)

Variants:
Regular sleeve
Xerox sleeve
Large spindle hole

Xerox Sleeve (RHS): Image is cropped a little differently and is more xeroxy. Also the "B/W" text band in the top right corner of the xerox version is all white, rather than white with black patches.

Notes 1: No Pasaran

''The clip is from the movie Land and Freedom, the 2nd best movie about the Spanish Civil War, and is supposed to be a really stirring intro to the song about the same topic. We've played this song less than 10 times ever, the last being in Barcelona, where we thought it would be appropriate, but was actually just kind of tacky....we generally have weird feelings about this track now.'' (2)


No Pasaran Documentary:

No Pasaran / They Shall Not Pass from Yoav Segal on Vimeo.

(Spoiler: Franco prevailed and replaced the democratically elected government with dictatorship, began executing his opponents and carried on doing so until his death in 1975, by which point Spain's economy had integrated into the western capitalist framework).


Francoist Spain (Cropped from Wikipedia)Francoist Spain, also historically known as Nationalist Spain during the Spanish Civil War, refers to the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco took control of Spain from the government of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War.
The coup had the support of most factions sympathetic to the right-wing cause in Spain including the majority of Spain's Catholic clergy, the fascist-inclined Falange, and the Alfonsine and Carlist monarchists. The coup escalated into a civil war lasting for three years once Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany agreed to support Franco starting with airlifting of the africanistas onto the mainland. Other supporters included Portugal under Antonio Salazar, while the presentation of the Civil War as a "crusade" or renewed reconquista…

The Francoists took control of Spain through a comprehensive and methodical war of attrition which involved the imprisonment and executions of Spaniards found guilty of supporting the values promoted (at least in theory) by the Republic - regional autonomy, liberal or social democracy, free elections and women's rights. The rightists considered these "enemy elements" to comprise an "anti-Spain" that was the product of a "Judeo-Masonic" conspiracy, along with Bolsheviks, which had evolved after the reconquista of Spain from the Islamic Moors, a reconquista that had been declared formally over with the Alhambra decree of 1492 expelling the Jews from Spain.

For nearly twenty years after the war Francoist Spain presented the conflict as a crusade against Bolshevism in defence of Christian civilization. In Francoist narrative, authoritarianism had defeated anarchy and overseen the elimination of "agitators", those without God and the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy… This discourse obscured the social roots of the war and analysis of its origins. Many Spanish children grew up believing the war was fought against foreigners; the painter Julian Grau Santos has said "it was instilled in me and I always believed that Spain had won the war against foreign enemies of our historic greatness. (3)

Notes 2: Circling The Drain

From 2001 Interview:
What is your favourite song from a lyrical standpoint and why?
Mike: Mine is ''Circling The Drain'', which is a theme that developed from the summer I had. I just had the worst summer ever and whatever could go wrong did go wrong and things kept getting worse. (4)

From March 2010:
This song stood out for us because it was not fast. That's pretty much it. Also we still play this song almost 10 years later. (5)

Sleeve Notes:

Front Cover: Original photo-montage by John Heartfield.

John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld; 19 June 1891 – 26 April 1968) was a pioneer in the use of
art as a political weapon.

While living in Berlin, in 1917, he anglicized his name from "Helmut Herzfeld" to "John Heartfield," an English name to protest against the anti-British fervor sweeping Germany. In 1916, crowds in the street were shouting, "Gott strafe England!" ("May God punish England!"). (3)

"No pasarán. Pasaremos." (They shall not pass. We will pass) Two Nationalist vultures (i.e. condors), one with a swastika and the other with the Falangist symbol look out over Madrid. Republican bayonets point at them from below.

Heartfield's photo-montages satirising Adolf Hitler and the Nazis often subverted Nazi symbols such as the swastika, in order to undermine their propaganda message. (3)

''The Cross Was Not Heavy Enough''. Positive Christianity. Nothing to do with the ''No Pasaran'' 7", but included because it might be topical...




More Heartfield images HERE.

No Pasaran's reproduction of Heartfield in monochrome is also a nod to seminal UK band Discharge

''After the total disaster known as the first Fucked Up 7" which was a black and white mess, Mike has really improved his layout skills''
(Damian speaking in interview with NOT A GAME Fanzine)

Commodity Fetishism:

Cassette - more info HERE

Approx 20 were 'accidentally' made with large spindle holes.

Test Press - blank labels + xerox sleeve

Test Press - hand-written (misspelt) labels

(1) Discogs

(2) Notes from Fucked Up ''Couple Tracks'' LP

(3) Wikipedia

(4) Equalizing x Distort Zine Issue 1

(5) Looking For Gold Blog

''Dance of Death''

THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND AND THE DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE AND WE SHALL BE CHANGED

(Message on reverse of sleeve)

Sleeve - Front

Vinyl - Side A: Repress on Left, Original Press on right - Repress has larger text

Vinyl - Side B: Repress on Left, Original Press on right - Repress has larger text

Sleeve Folded Out - Front

Sleeve Folded Out - Back

Flyer: 
Some copies have a small flyer advertising Deranged Records Releases, the above picture shows 3 examples.

Stats:

General:
Tracks: Dance of Death B/W Zezose
Released: 2004
Label: Deranged Records DER-52 (1st Press) DER-52 RE (Represses)
1st Press Matrix A: DERANGED YOUTH-52-A
1st Press Matrix B: DERANGED YOUTH-52-B
Repress Matrix A: DY#52-A    GOLDEN
Repress Matrix B: DY#52-A    GOLDEN

Pressing Info:
First Press of 1000 Nov 2003
Second Press of 500 Jan 2005
Third Press of 1000 Nov 2005 (same plates as above)
*8 Test Pressings for first press in manilla sleeve/numbered (1)
10 Test Pressings for repress
*Probably actually 7 - see pics at end.

Inserts:
Some (usually 1st press) also have Deranged Records flyer advertising contemporary releases (various designs)

Variants:
First Press
Repress (Slightly different labels and matrix, see above)



Notes:

From promotional info:
The title track features guest vocals by Ben Cook from NO WARNING, and VIOLENT MINDS (2)


From Epics in Minutes CD notes:
We wrote this at the same tome as ''Police'' but let it just incubate for a year and a half until Iron Maiden released an album of the same name. We went back to Audiolab and got Ben Cook From No Warning to come in and do back ups at 2am.


Extract From MRR Interview with David Eliade (2004):

OK switching gears, what is Dance of Death about?

Well that song sort of deals with the same shit – its about like the imperialist lifestyle and how its been perfect and reproduced to such a dazzling extent, that people within it are convinced that it is the best way, and that they love it. Its like Stockholm Syndrome, when a captive begins to love and revered the captor. The Harbinger’s spiders laid their eggs inside all of our heads, and convinced us to keep dancing in the muck, because we love it. We love smoking and eating non-food, so we love cancer. We love making money and cheating, so we love crime. We love TV and novels, so we love being stupid. We love war and punishment so we love pain. We love life, so we love death. (3)

Extract From Scene Point Blank interview (2006):

It seems like a lot of your lyrics use a classic rhetorical strategy where you talk over an audience's head in hopes that they'll educate themselves. This is fairly uncommon in the broad world of punk, which is usually much more didactic; what's the rationale behind this and what kind of responses have you seen?

10,000 Marbles: I just write how I'd like lyrics to appear. We don't want to tell anyone what to think, really, I just like my lyrics to rhyme, use interesting imagery and words, and be about interesting topics. I'm not in this to spread any particular worldview. And yeah, when we do have particularly objective topics, they're usually tucked inside a metaphor, so the song is more interesting and you aren't hit upside the head with rhetoric. I had militarism in mind when I wrote "Triumph of Life," and smoking when I did "Dance of Death," but I like being discreet, you know? (4)

Sleeve Notes:

Sleeve - Front: 

From Essay by Evan Blanco: The cover is the Alfred Kubin sketch “Sterbendes Mädchen” [“Dying Girl”] from his Dance of Death series of sketches.14 The sketch shows a girl sitting in a chair with a downward glance as the spectre of death looms over her right shoulder. As death reaches out to clutch the left wrist of the girl, she offers no recourse nor wanting. She is totally complicit with the end of her own life. This relates to the message conveyed by “Dance of Death” in the sense that the individual is complicit with the death of their individuality or ability to self-determine. (5)

Sleeve - Reverse: 'The Calavera of Don Quixote' by  Jose Posada 

Jose Posada (1852-1913)

Posada, Jose Guadalupe - Mexican engraver and illustrator. Born into a peasant family in Aguascalientes, he was an apprentice lithographer at the print shop of Trinidad Pedrozo. His first illustrations were for Pedrozo's radical weekly El Jicote (The Wasp, 1871), but after 11 issues the magazine was closed down by the authorities and Posada was forced to flee with his employer to Leon in Guanajato. Here he taught and published lithographs, and in 1888 was able to set up his own print shop in Mexico City. He began to illustrate Antonio Vanegas Arroyo's broadsheets of sensational news stories (accidents, executions and natural disasters) and urban myths (women giving birth to animals or turning into fireballs). In 1895 he began to etch on zinc, which became his preferred rnediurn. Despite a vast popularity; he died in poverty in Mexico City.

Posada was a model for the Mexican muralists as a popular artist producing vivid and simple images in a distinctively non-European mode with strong elements of political satire. He is best known for his calaveras, witty images of skeletons performing the rituals and pleasures of everyday life. Often dressed in bourgeois finery, they mock the pretensions and vanity of the living. (6)

Commodity Fetishism:

Test Press 5/7 (First Press)
Note 'Pickering Dot' below spindle hole, indicating these were probably pressed at the Pickering Plant in Canada

Test Press 7/7 (First Press)

Test Press (Re-press) 6/10
Pressed by United, probably following closure of Canadian pressing plant

(1) Looking For Gold Blog
(2) Deranged 

(3) MRR Interview - on Looking For Gold Blog
(4) Scene point Blank Interview - on Looking For Gold Blog
(5) 'The Hidden World: The Visual Culture of Fucked Up' Essay by Evan Blaco
(6) The Bullfinch Guide to Art History

Sugar Daddy Live Split Series # 8(Split With Melvins)

Front:
Package comprises the  above silk-screen print, with the record behind, both housed in a clear polyvinyl sleeve.

Back:
The print has the 'series number' (8) stamped on the reverse. The polyvinyl sleeve allows the record to be seen.

Stats:

Tracks:

Side 1: 21st Century Cling-Ons  - Performed by FU

Side A: Rat Faced Granny (Live) - Performed by Melvins

Released: 2013
Label: Amphetamine Reptile Records  Scale 133
Matrix A: 12-0604 A K SST NOISELAND MPO
Matrix B: 12-0604 B K SST NOISELAND MPO
Pressing Info: 700 copies
Inserts: No regular insert
Variants: No variants



Notes:

21st Century Cling-Ons - Announcement on LFG (Feb 26 2013):
So we did that split with The Melvins and we did a new song for it, recorded maybe 2 years ago? Probably not that long ago, but long enough that I can't remember how long ago exactly. A long time. We didn't sound like this last time you heard us, and we don't sound like this anymore either, so kind of while we were on hiatus we developed a new style for a few days, wrote this song and then ditched it. Anyways, stream "21st Century Cling-Ons" on Pitchfork HERE.

Sugar Daddy Live (From Wikipedia):

Sugar Daddy Live is a live album by the American band Melvins. It was released on May 31, 2011. The songs are taken from their 2008 tour, with the majority of the tracks coming from their two most recent studio albums at the time. All thirteen songs were released as split 12" singles with bands selected by the Melvins for a split series. Though some of the bands are submitting new material, others like The U-Men and the Cows are submitting previously released material due to being defunct bands. Off! was the first band in the series to have new material submitted with Butthole Surfers (Although their tracks are unreleased live songs) being the second. Die Kreuzen, Negative Approach and The Necros are all on one split under the title "Midwest Hardcore". 

Sugar Daddy Splits vol. 8 w/Fucked Up  (From Am Rep Shop):

The eighth release in this 13 volume series has Melvins "Rat Faced Granny" (live from Sugar Daddy LP) on the A-Side and Side One with Fucked Up's "21st Century Cling-Ons".
Mackie designed silk screened sleeve by Obsolete Industries. Hand stamped Vol. # on back side. This comes in a heavy duty 8mil polyvinyl sleeve (made for picture discs so you get to view your purdy splat color vinyl).

Screen shot - Am Rep shop