Have you heard of weed?

People might call you cool and you might feel cool, but you’ve definitely never been cool enough to put weed in an album that you’re releasing. A new installment of Dopesmoker, Sleep’s third album, will do just that; Since cannabis leaves are sealed into the vinyl, metalheads are gassed everywhere.

According to New Musical Express magazine, Sleep released a remix of the iconic album on a premium vinyl pressing that features real cannabis fan leaf pressed into the disc with the support of Jack White’s Third Man Records.

The pressing was created in collaboration with Doghouse Farms, producers of award-winning marijuana. (FYI, Jon Hudnall, founder and grow manager of Doghouse, is a supporter of good genetics and vibrant soil.)

THE REVEALING

The fresh vinyl edition will be available in two pressings: A regular black vinyl version of the new Dopesmoker vinyl edition will be sold in stores and online and is available to pre-order now. However, if you want the limited deluxe edition of the Weedian High-Fi cannabis leaf edition, you can only order it at Third Man Records’ physical location in Cass Corridor, Detroit.

On August 26th, a revised version of the album will be made available digitally for the first time, making it accessible on all streaming services. Pre-orders will be released the same day as the vinyl release, which is not yet scheduled.

This Friday, August 26, Sleep’s landmark album Dopesmoker will be available on streaming sites after being remastered from the original tapes, according to an announcement by Third Man Records on Instagram. “The record will be available in two new vinyl versions. For the first time ever, pure, unadulterated original marijuana leaves are encapsulated in PVC to create a deluxe “Weedian High-Fi” pressing of the record, only available from Third Man Records in Cass Corridor, along with a black vinyl LP , which can be pre-ordered on Friday. So far, about 250 comments have been made on the post.

In addition, Third Man Records announced that the album will also include the deep cut “Hot Lava Man” in digital format for the first time and will also be available on these vinyl pressings. Hot Lava Man was also released by Third Man Records on SoundCloud during the announcement.

THE IDEA

In an interview with High Times, Sleep’s bassist and lead singer Al Cisneros explained that the goal of making a ‘high-fi’ version of one of their releases was inspired by a tour they had on Third Man Records, and he saw a limited edition Jack They had released White 45 which had liquid in the vinyl. He added that he believes the Third Man Pressing team in Detroit made this possible.

As NME reports, the insect from Jurassic Park trapped in amber ultimately served as the inspiration for the concept. Featuring gold and various green mottling that combine to create the look of trichomes and calyxes on a bud, Sleep’s Release features fan leaves encased in green wax.

Dopesmoker was first released for London Records in 1996 but was shelved until a version now known as Jerusalem was released by The Music Cartel. (It might have been harder to release an album with a marijuana reference in the title back then.) Later iterations were released in 2003 and 2012.

In April last year, the remastered edition of the album was released by Third Man Records.

ABOUT THE BAND

Formed by guitarist Tom Choi, drummer Chris Hakius and singer/bassist Al Cisneros, the band Asbestosdeath evolved into Sleep in the early 1990s. With the addition of Matt Pike on guitar, Asbestosdeath became a four-piece and released two songs, “Dejection” for Profane Existence and the independently released “Unclean”. After he left, Choi started Operator Generator, It Is I, Noothgrush and the Black Jetts in Las Vegas. Asbestosdeath found Justin Marler to replace them and the group changed their name to Sleep.

Jerusalem was published by Sleep in 1998 as “Official Pirated”. The Music Cartel in the US and Rise Above Records in Europe gave Jerusalem an official, legal release a year later.

The original Dopesmoker recording was eventually released in 2003 through Tee Pee Records. It is usually considered the final iteration of the album. The soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s film Broken Flowers includes a sample of this song.

Pike later formed the sludge metal band High on Fire while Cisneros, Hakius and Pike joined the doom metal band Om.

The two 7-inch singles by pre-sleep band Asbestosdeath were collected on one CD and issued by Southern Lord Records in 2007.

Stoner rock is a term used to describe Sleep’s musical style, characterized by sluggish, down-tuned bass playing and similarly deep guitar chords. Repeats are often used along with Al Cisneros’ vocals to create a “hypnotic mood”.

Since the release of their second album, Sleep have used cannabis-inspired imagery, often presented in a “quasi-religious” manner. In a discussion of Dopesmoker’s recording, Matt Pike said that most of the time, the band spent much of their label advance on marijuana.

San Jose-based band ‘Sleep’ were considered the “ultimate stoner rock band” after forming in 1990 by some commentators, who noted that they had a significant impact on metal in the 1990s. Critics have praised Sleep’s previous releases from Dopesmoker, with one from Spin describing it as “amazing”. The band revived in 2009 after a hiatus in the late 1990s.

FINAL EFFECT

Sleep is the coolest/best stoner rock band I’ve ever seen. The Dopesmoker marijuana fan sheet pressing is the boldest move a band has ever made. Talk about pacemakers; The idea of ​​pressing something symbolic into vinyl would certainly be on the minds of many artists. Pulling this out of the bag after so many years will surely have fans wondering if there’s more to come.

If you are blessed enough to own a copy of this vinyl, it should undoubtedly serve as a collector’s item.

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