Records
"Raped Ass" test pressing (take 3)
Here is another post about a test pressing of "Raped Ass." The previous ones are here and here. Obviously, this archive could easily degenerate into a collectorsfrenzy style log of highly priced auctions on eBay (Cimex-frenzy?). I've been tempted, but that's not quite the point. Rather, the idea is to collect together previously unknown or undercirculated information and ephemera related to Anti-Cimex and Shitlickers.
"Raped Ass" test pressing (redux)
I previously wrote about a test pressing of "Raped Ass," which sold on eBay for $590 in May 2006.
Now, a heretofore unseen (by me) sleeve variation accompanied by a test pressing with a different center label appears for sale, courtesy of Mats Bodenmalm. Wonders never cease.
Clear vinyl version of 2nd Anti-Cimex 7"
Over recent years, and especially over the recent days, I have received more questions about the clear-vinyl variation of "Raped Ass" than any others. A copy of it recently sold on the Swedish online auction site Tradera for 2032 kr, or approximately $289, which led to a flurry of e-mails to me and blog postings online. Actually, the occasion led to me hearing from an old friend, Christoffer, to whom I hadn't spoken in several years. I will attempt to give all the information available about this record, with the caveat that there is a good deal of conflicting information out there.
The vinyl facts: the record has the same matrix as the typical versions of "Raped Ass," clear vinyl, with one blank blue label and one blank white label. The sleeve is what's interesting.
Anti-Cimex "Anarkist Attack" 7" test pressing
Yet another test pressing post... As much as test pressings bore me, as I've mentioned, there is something to be said for collecting test pressings from the era when they were strictly utilitarian, before they were collectibles unto themselves. So: here's a photo of the test pressing of "Anarkist Attack," sent to me by a reader, Robin Wiberg. The story is that only 5 of these were made way back in 1982. I distinctly remember one of them auctioned on eBay quite a few years ago (I'd guess around 2001), which was won by a collector in California who specializes in test pressings.
Anti-Cimex "Victims of a ... Raped Ass" 12" test pressing
Yet another Anti-Cimex test pressing from the vaults of Mats B. was auctioned on eBay. For punks of a certain generation (ie, mine), the Distortion Records reissue of the 2nd and 3rd Anti-Cimex EPs on a single 12", around the same time as the 12" version of the Shitlickers EP/unreleased EP, was more-or-less life-altering. I may be exaggerating somewhat, but for many of us, these releases were the first opportunity to absorb these legendary records. Although I do specifically remember the first time I heard Discharge (and, admittedly, I recall thinking "What's the big deal?"), I can't say I remember the first time I heard Anti-Cimex. But the odd, red-brick-colored vinyl of this release nevertheless became a prized possession, and even though it wasn't long until I had begun my pathological search for all pressing variations of the two original EPs, this particular reissue holds a special place in my heart. But not special enough for me to shell out $72 for a test pressing of it—the winning bid on this auction.
Anti-Cimex "Absolut" LP test pressing
Collecting test pressings is boring. Collecting test pressings of great bands' later records (even if still great) is soporific. But someone whose portfolio hasn't been affected by the economic crisis shelled out $133.50 to be the proud owner of one of the five test pressings of the "Absolut" LP by Anti-Cimex. No metal, no funk, no death, just a lot of cash. The main selling points were that the previous owner was one Mats B. and it includes some weird insert/t-shirt order form. Watching what Mats has been unloading on eBay over the past couple months has been quite interesting, but I have yet to be blown away. Here's hoping he trots out something beyond giga-bonzer status soon (ahem...Shitlickers rehearsal tape...ahem).
"Raped Ass" EP "Swedish Punk" sleeve variation
This is likely the rarest sleeve variation of "Raped Ass." (Next would be the Really Fast Rec. pressing without the drawing of the violin on the inside of the sleeve.) Instead of the price "10 Kr.," which appears on the two normal sleeves of "Raped Ass," this one says "Swedish Punk." The two-piece sleeve is printed on the thin paper commonly considered the second pressing. The paper stock is similar to that of the domestic version of the Skitslickers EP. Notably, this pressing includes an insert, which is not included with any other pressing. (A later pressing of "VOAB," on Hardcore Horror Rec., includes an insert, unlike the earlier pressings.)
Bullshit Recordz 003 Variation of Skitslickers EP
Late in 2006, an auction on eBay revealed the existence of yet another variation of the Skitslickers EP's sleeve. This one is on Bullshit Records, which released Anti-Cimex's first EP and Absurd's EP. The auction description tells a story about Bullshit Records intending to release the record but running out of money so that "Malign Massacre/Studio Lane" had to step in to release the record. I do not believe this story. What is important to note is that Mats Boldenmalm had his hand in nearly everything relating to Skitslickers and Anti-Cimex, and was also responsible for creating some of the rare sleeve variations, such as this one. One such variation he did not remember having made until it was shown to him many years later. For this and other reasons, I take all stories about "pressings" and amounts of records/sleeves made with a great deal of skepticism (the seller also told me that someone had told him 3 or 4 copies of this sleeve exist). Mats was quite kind and forthcoming to me in 2001 when I wrote to him asking many questions on the subject in the process of writing an article for Maximum Rocknroll about Swedish hardcore, but a great deal of minutia remains to be clarified. In that article, I wrote that Jonsson, bassist of Skitslickers, was the proprietor of Bullshit Recordz, but I don't remember the source of that information.
"Raped Ass" test pressing
A test pressing of "Raped Ass" sold on eBay in May 2006 for approximately $590 to a Japanese bidder. The auction did not contain much useful information or a good photograph of the record, but here is the photo as well as the auction itself, with the winning bidder's ID blacked out. (The auction is still available from eBay, but not for long.)
The label of the test pressing is the same as that of some other test pressings of Swedish hardcore records from the era, which were clearly pressed at the same Swedish plant. It is unclear how many test pressings of this record exist, but this is the only one I have ever seen sold. Notably, all "pressings" of this record came from the same stampers and have the same matrices, so no matter how many sleeve versions there are (more on that issue in the future, of course), there was likely just a single run of test pressings.