Various Artists - Holidays In The Sun [12", 2LP]

Bumped into this HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN compilation on my way out of the Utrecht record fair a few weeks ago. A double LP for a ridiculously cheap price (just over 1 euro per side) and in mint condition, or at least the records are. Clearly never played. I've never seen this compilation before but that is probably because it was only released in Greece, and those albums rarely show up in the western parts of Europe. It's from 1994, which means there are probably not many copies floating around, since vinyl was already clearly on its way back at that time. But for this price and with the tracklisting on the back i knew i couldn't go wrong at all, even though i already have a lot of these songs on other vinyl releases. It covers alternative rock, (post-)punk, new wave and synthpop - and all of them hits! Just check below and you'll see what i mean.
By the way, Gary Numan's "Cars" is the '93 Sprint Mix version. It's not credited like that on the cover though.

Label: Mercury / Polygram Greece
Cat.nr.: 516 849-1
Year of release: 1994

SIDE A:
01. SEX PISTOLS - Pretty Vacant
02. BAUHAUS - She's In Parties
03. XTC - Making Plans For Nigel
04. JOE JACKSON - I'm The Man
05. GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOURS - Hey Lord Don't Ask Me Questions

SIDE B:
01. SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES - Christine
02. MAGAZINE - Shot By Both Sides
03. THE JAM - Going Underground
04. P.I.L. - This Is Not A Love Song
05. GARY NUMAN - Cars

SIDE C:
01. VIOLENT FEMMES - Blister In The Sun
02. IGGY POP - Real Wild Child (Wild One)
03. MADNESS - Baggy Trousers
04. NEW ORDER - True Faith
05. HEAVEN 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
06. LES NEGRESSES VERTES - Sous Le Soleil De Bodega

SIDE D:
01. NICK CAVE - Deanna
02. THE HOUSEMARTINS - Me And The Farmer
03. THE LA'S - There She Goes
04. THE HOUSE OF LOVE - Shine On
05. INSPIRAL CARPETS - This Is How It Feels
06. THE MISSION - Butterfly On A Wheel

The Afghan Whigs - Debonair [7"]

This 7" by THE AFGHAN WHIGS is one of the things i bought while i was in London in May this year for the Slowdive concert, at a store called Flashback Records. A really nice record store based in Islington, with a cellar full of awesome vinyls. I bought quite a few 7"es there, so you'll be reading more about those on this blog sooner or later. (There's actually another record store there close by called Haggle Vinyl, but that owner was so extremely rude and being a total arrogant asshole, that i walked out of there thinking i must have dreamed it had happened. Never experienced anything like it and it was actually the only record shop in London that i didn't buy anything, despite the fact that i initially wanted to). Alright, back to this single. DEBONAIR is probably the band's best known song, and a pretty fine one as well. That whole Gentlemen album is fantastic of course. The single comes in a nice gatefold sleeve, with a cool "Stax rip-off" logo on the front. On the B-side there's album track My Curse, and non-album track Ready which is a cover of a song by a band called Scrawl. Both songs feature vocals by Marcy Mays, who was the singer for Scrawl.

Label: Blast First
Cat.nr.: BFFP95
Year of release: 1994

SIDE A:
01. Debonair

SIDE B:
01. My Curse
02. Ready

Stone Temple Pilots - Purple [12", LP, Limited Edition]

Just got back from summer holidays, and i didn't post on this blog for nearly a month so there's a lot of catching up to do. This amazing limited edition of a recent reissue on Music On Vinyl for example was one of the latest things i bought right before my vacation. PURPLE is yet another great grunge classic that Music On Vinyl has released, and the limited edition consists of 1500 numbered copies on purple (duh) vinyl. My copy's number #329. The song Vasoline on this album was one of my favourite songs when it originally came out in 1994.
During my absence, the label has released STONE TEMPLE PILOTS debut album Core as well, so i'll be writing something about that one pretty soon as well, i assume.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 816
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Meatplow
02. Vasoline
03. Lounge Fly
04. Interstate Love Song
05. Still Remains
06. Pretty Penny

SIDE B:
01. Silvergun Superman
02. Big Empty
03. Unglued
04. Army Ants
05. Kitchenware & Candybars

Pale Saints - Fine Friend [12"]

Bought this 12" by PALE SAINTS at the Utrecht record fair last April, together with the Flesh Balloon EP. I like that one better, to be honest. For some reason i keep on hearing Knocking On Heaven's Door in the title track of this FINE FRIEND EP (which doesn't go away once that's in your head), and the second song is too much prog rock as far as i'm concerned. I didn't know that side of the band yet, by the way. But not really my cup of tea at least. The tracks on the B-side are more to my taste: dreampop à la Cocteau Twins. So that's 50% of this EP. But hey, for only 1 euro i couldn't go wrong.

Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: BAD 4013
Year of release: 1994

SIDE A:
01. Fine Friend
02. Special Present

SIDE B:
01. Marimba
02. Reprise

Lush - Hypocrite [12"]

The later period of LUSH is not really my favourite one, although the Split album (where this single is taken from) still has some pretty fine songs. HYPOCRITE, which is most likely their best known song, is an up-tempo punky tune, quite unlike their earlier work. The other song on the A-side, Love At First Sight, is more my kind of Lush. The B-side has another up-tempo song and a danceable remix of the song Undertow (from that same Split album). All in all a welcome addition to my Lush collection, but not my most cherished one.

Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: BAD 4008
Year of release: 1994

SIDE A:
01. Hypocrite
02. Love At First Sight

SIDE B:
01. Cat's Chorus
02. Undertow (Spooky Remix)

Catherine - Songs About Girls [7"]

Being a massive Smashing Pumpkins fan, this was a single i just had to buy when it came out and i saw it lying in my local record store. CATHERINE was the band of Kerry Brown (Smashing Pumpkins' bass player D'Arcy's husband at the time), and Billy Corgan produced the song on the B-side; It's No Lie. A pretty much unknown band to many, but still quite worth checking out if you're into 90's alternative rock.
This single is part of the Rough Trade Singles Club series.

Label: Rough Trade
Cat.nr.: 45rev 35
Year of release: 1994

SIDE A:
01. Songs About Girls

SIDE B:
01. It's No Lie