I forget. And I hear you on missing out on the first Jesu record. I have Broadrick’s blog on my RSS reader now just to avoid similar mishaps.

What’s the explanation for the lower sound fidelity with colored/translucent vinyl? Does the addition of dyes/coloring agents/what have you yield softer or more easily deformed discs or something? I don’t doubt your assertion, but I’ve never had the opportunity to A/B a set of discs. I’m just happy vinyl physically presents a barrier to brickwall compression during mastering, so anything after that is gravy.

Crap, now I feel bad for having gone out and found a clear translucent copy of Superunknown on the eBays. And I was so happy I finally had a version of “Like Suicide” that wouldn’t develop a fatal skip because it was on the outside edge of a CD, too.

I certainly support paying a few extra bucks for attractive packaging and a 180g press. However, there’s one indulgence I can’t stand, and you won’t convince me otherwise: coloured vinyl ALWAYS produces lower sound quality. Translucent is worse than opaque, but anything other than black is a compromise. And seeing as most vinyl fanatics prefer the sound of our chosen medium, why spend more to make it worse?

What were we talking about again?

The Idolator Blog: Where logical discussions are had without people getting called “fuckstick.”

From a business standpoint, I feel like the limited-run vinyl choice is somewhat defensible. In the age of ridiculously-priced CDs, the colored vinyl, big gatefold sleeves, and big art actually give you something for your dollar. Unfortunately, those things cost extra money, which means that if a label’s going to make sure they recoup their investment, they have to charge more and print less. This isn’t to say that the move doesn’t smack of opportunism as well, but given the big secondary market for these releases on eBay, Hydra Head could probably charge even more than they already do.

Or, they could print more, try and get a bigger volume discount at the cutter’s, and sell for a lower price, but that’s risky. Easier to keep your vinyl releases’ statuses as object d’art. Metal fans (like myself) are kind of suckers for those things, anyway, as you say.

(It’s also worth finding out if there’s an independent record store in your neighborhood – EveryDay Music in Portland, OR, for example – chances are, they’ll probably get a copy or two, and the prices, while still probably higher than original sales prices, will be better than on the eBays. I don’t live in Portland, but every time I visit, I always manage to snag a few releases that I missed during the internet release cycle).

/Ugh, I’m the one that dragged Hydra Head into this in the first place. How did this happen?

All things considered, I have to be kind of OK with Hydra Head, at least on a strictly musical basis. Once I moved to Boston, I learned about Isis, and through them I wouldn’t have learned how much I like Neurosis, Jesu, Zozobra, Boris, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, et al. That label, much as I malign the scenesterism associated with it, got me back into heavy and aggressive music again, after a college dalliance with more jammy music.

Then again, I’ve introduced several devotees of jam bands to Jesu and Boris with good results. Who knew?

[/Seeing Big Business with Tweak Bird soon, along with Opeth, Mastodon, Kylesa, Intronaut, the Melvins, and, yes, Isis.]

Working at First Avenue in Minneapolis is what made me realize how open-eared jam-fans often are. A couple times the DJs before jam shows (the DJs pretty much uniformly hated hippies, as did most of the very punk-identified staff of the time, late ’90s), would throw on music that didn’t fit the sensibility much, and the crowd would eat it up.

That’s really down to the Dead–so many different strands of music in what they did, and fans began following those strands as well. They’re a fantastic foundation band, the way the Beatles or Prince are–you can go in so many directions from them.