Vinyl Distractions: Quicksand - Manic Compression

Call it the beautiful weather we are having, or the maybe the overdose of sugar I have been ingesting, but I think I am over my Sultans epidemic. Am I still bitter? Well of course, but that is to be expected when the promise of a lukewarm spinach pie could have been in my belly. One must not wallow in sorrow for long, and I am moving on to another edition of Vinyl Distractions. Today, we feature Quicksand, a band whose catalog is seeing a rejuvenation of late, and I am featuring their last lp, Manic Compression.

I recently had a conversation with a friend about the mysticism of collecting Revelation Records discog #1-22. It has become the unfortunate Holy Grail of hardcore. I say unfortunate because I think there are so many rare and interesting collections to grasp a hold of. That isn't to say I am not of a fan of several of these bands, I own reissues of a handful of the 1-22 collection. But I wouldn't dare go anywhere near an original Bold record or Perfection of Desire, it just isn't good music to me. Seriously, how many of you still listen to Bold's Speak Out? And I'll take Judge over Youth of Today any day of the week, I have never been the biggest fan of youth crew, though. Either way, these twenty-two records of decent hardcore have become revered among the hardcore community.

This crazed fetishism of vinyl records and the constant search for the rarest pressings, thus causing an inflation of modern day vinyl records and prices, I believe stems from this collection of music. A bold statement? Well, so is saying that Bolds music has actual merit. One thing is for sure, you won't see me dropping loads of cash on the first Sick of it All 7inch. The Storm, maybe, but I'll keep my distance from most of the stuff.

Let's talk about Revelations later catalog, which released several hardcore, post-hardcore, and indie gems. Like Quicksand's Manic Compression. Now is this record necessarily rare? Not really, just hard to find. But it holds some weight for me, for I have always loved Quicksand and their play on a genre. I found this record just by chance, several years ago, while flipping through the old Record Breakers used vinyl selection. Looking through this selection was a nightmare, rarely was there anything relevant of the times, and usually in horrible shape if there was. Whilst sifting through the piles, I came across this record, for a mere 7.99! It was that feeling of pure achievement, kind of like the time I bought the ToH zine split 7in between Fucked Up and Think I Care for 2 dollars. And to this day, Manic Compression is one of my favorite finds in my whole collection. I'll take this record over any of Rev 1-22 any day.

Now for a little game, let's play find the sarcasm!