Big Black – Songs About Fucking

I got a copy from amazon us, most parts are same with this release except:
1 big black sticker on front but not 2 small (one in black and one in green)
no code

I have a few of these Green Vinyl pressings, (this one, the new Shellac and the new Didjits comp) and they're pretty noisy - no 'pops' per se, but lots of squiggles, hisses, and short whooshes - bad noise characteristics, I would say, and nowhere near 'audiophile' - I'll take PVC over PET any day.....!

My only comparison point sound-wise is the original Touch & Go CD and I want to say this sounds like it has a bigger and more cavernous stereo image than the CD did. I was really curious about this non-PVC “Green Vinyl” thing though, since I’ve never seen anyone but T&G advertising that, and I have to say this is a great pressing (though apparently it’s injection molded, not pressed). Perfectly centered, no warping, dead quiet track gaps. It has a very similar feel in the hand to the records I own that were pressed in West by Sonopress in the early ‘80s. Like those, the material at the lead-in groove is completely flat, without the teardrop-like rounding that most records have, and then it comes to a sharp squared-off outer edge.

Feels like a much higher quality release than most of the stuff that gets pressed these days from super high volume places like GZ.

Picked this up only two days after Steve Albini ed. I didn’t know him, but I grew up in Chicago and saw Shellac so many times that it almost felt like I did… and of course I followed his career as an essayist and shitposter. From that perspective I have to say the version of Steve Albini I ired most as a fan was the person he became—self-reflective, principled, humble, hilarious, and the commander of a recorded drum sound that is so real that I don’t think anyone will ever equal it. The Steve Albini that made this album, and then formed Rapeman soon after, must have been a little shit… but the menacing power of the music is undeniable.

I just picked this up, and out of the 3 pressings I now own, this one sounds the best. It's pretty full, and the bass seems to sound louder, too. The OG was pretty good, and the 2018 reissue is great, but this 2023 one is the best, in my opinion, anyway.