Split #3

Name: Gnod / White Hills‎
Album: Gnod Drop Out With White Hills II
Year: 2010
Label: Rocket Records
Links: Gnod Bandcamp Rocket Recordings Bandcamp

2015 re-pressing of 500 copies

I'm not a big fan of GNOD at all! I guess that's not the start of this weeks Split #3 post you were looking for but there is White Hills to throw into the mix as well. This weeks split is not really a split but a collaboration between two bands. They both went into the studio (not necessarily together!) and bashed out a stunning album called  GNOD Drop Out With White Hills II.

This album has been on my want list for sometime and I managed to nab myself a copy in January. It is a double containing 8 songs. Each one brilliant in a different way from the next. I don't know what it is about Gnod on their own that doesn't appeal to me, but the blend of both these bands together gives for a very balanced album.

Run-a-Round

The opening track on the albums is ‘Run-A-Round’, which is a fluid Motorik drive with calming vocals from Dave W (from White Hills). There is a fan made clip on YouTube where somebody has sound-tracked their rainy nighttime journey down a motorway with the musical soundscape of ‘Run-A-Round’in the background. It is strangely fitting, and to my mind at least, very Gnod. Pun intended!

Title Track - Drop Out

The beautiful artwork on the sleeve is done by Johnny O Rocket. He has also done other artwork for both these bands along with The Heads, Acid Mothers Temple, Mudhoney, Serpentina Satelite and many more.

 This Pink sleeve version is a repress. The original sleeve was without the pink art added. The first pink re-press was in 2013 with pink vinyl. The pink copy I have is a 2015 re-press on white vinyl limited to 500. There was also a  2011 yellow version of the pink style on yellow translucent vinyl. Get whatever copy you can cause they are hard to come by!!

Full Album

Vinyl Friday

Name: White Hills

Origin: New York USA

Album: No Game To Play

Year: 2003 (Reissue 2016)
Links: Bandcamp

Label: White Hills Music (Reissue 300 Mics)

Yes folks it's Friday, which means it's the beginning of the weekend. What better way to start the weekend than give my turntable a spin. Hopefully, every Friday I'll post a random album, tell you a bit about it and post a Youtube clip. Then it's up to you to tell me what you think. Hopefully you'll find something along the way to tickle your musical fancy! This topic shall be called "Vinyl Friday" forever more!

First up is an album called 'No Game to Play' by White Hills who are a Psych band hailing from New York. This slab of colored vinyl is limited to 200. There are also 800 on black vinyl. 

Before I bought this LP, the only other White Hills album I had was the s/t from 2010. I loved it! So when I heard they were releasing their debut 'No Game to Play' on vinyl, I jumped at the chance. It was a surprise to me that Dave W Recorded this album by himself before Ego Sensation came on board. The album starts off with what sounds like an Arab boy belting out a chant which eases nicely into a wonderful baseline that continues throughout the song. Dave layers the rest of the song with a repetitive chorus and fuzzed up guitars. The end melts effortlessly into the second song 'Above All' and straight into the epic 8 minutes spaced out synth soundscape of 'They've got Blood Like You've got Blood'. It picks up the pace again with 'coming For You' like a rocket being cast into orbit! The following couple of songs give a sense of being in outer space drifting into the unknown. This album sounds very much like a soundtrack to a film I'd very much like to watch!