Sway - The Millia Pink And Green [12"]

SWAY is a band i'd only vaguely heard about before, but it wasn't until the end of last year when Saint Marie Records posted about doing a reissue of "shoegaze renaissance classic" THE MILLIA PINK AND GREEN, that the band caught my attention. This EP truly is an amazing piece of work. Originally released only on CD in 2003, this could indeed be called a shoegaze (or better: dreampop) renaissance classic. Very few modern dreampop releases reach this level. In recent years, only We Are The Dreamers comes close, in my opinion. These kinds of bands were the torchbearers that kept the shoegaze underground scene going during the years of absence of godfathers like MBV, Slowdive and Ride. Sadly the band Sway doesn't exist anymore since a few years, but founding member Andrew Saks still makes ambient electronic music under the name ASAKS.

Label: Saint Marie Records
Cat.nr.: SMR057
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Fall
02. Sounds Like Everyone

SIDE B:
01. Sullust
02. Ever And Ever
03. Opentillate
04. Channel (bonus track;not on original CD)

Comeback Kid - Turn It Around [12", LP]

Nowadays i don't listen to hardcore a lot anymore, and the last hardcore show i've been to must have been around 3 or 4 years or so, but TURN IT AROUND by COMEBACK KID is one of my favourite records from those days. I've seen them live a dozen times. Always a fantastic show; simply one big energy bomb. This is the band's debut album from the time when Jeremy and Andrew were still in Figure Four and Comeback Kid was "their other band". An amazing album.

I own 3 copies from the first pressing. The yellow one on the picture above is the rarest one, with only 100 copies made of that colour. Then there were 300 made on red vinyl:

 And last but not least, 400 made of so-called "blood splatter" (clear and red) vinyl:

Also 200 on white vinyl from that first pressing exist, and 1100 on grey vinyl from a second pressing on Give Me Strength. Best Times Records from Portugal made a picture disc a year later, in 2004.
Last but not least, Facedown Records (who released the CD version) did a vinyl pressing in 2011 with the following colours and quantities: 100 on black, 200 on pink, 300 on clear and 400 on green vinyl. In the old days, i would have collected all colours but i rather spend my money on other things nowadays. Doesn't mean that i don't treasure these three ;)


Label: Give Me Strength
Cat.nr.: GMS-003
Year of release: 2003

SIDE A:
01. All In A Year
02. Give And Take
03. Die Tonight
04. Changing Face
05. Playing The Part
06. Always

SIDE B:
01. Step Ahead
02. Operative Word
03. Biting Tongue
04. Something Less
05. Never Fade
06. Without A Word
07. Lorelei

M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts [12", 2LP]

A classic M83 album, this DEAD CITIES, RED SEAS & LOST GHOSTS. Their second album, from the time when Nicolas Fromageau was still in the band (and Morgan Kibby wasn't yet). It features the singles Run Into Flowers, 0078h and America, plus the 17 minute long title track that is not on the CD version (elsewehere to be found only on the America 12" maxi).
There definitely are some really great tracks on this album (Gone being my favourite) but i prefer the warmer and richer sound his later albums have, and in general: songs with vocals. This is mainly instrumental stuff. But a must have for any M83 fan or actually anyone who wants to check out how this band developed over the years.

Label: Mute
Cat.nr.: 9251-1
Year of release: 2003

SIDE A:
01. Birds
02. Unrecorded
03. Run Into Flowers
04. In Church

SIDE B:
01. Be Wild
02. America
03. On A White Lake, Near A Green Mountain
04. Noise

SIDE C:
01. Cyborg
02. 0078h
03. Gone
04. Beauties Can Die

SIDE D:
01. Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything [12", LP]

Like the copy i have of Loveless, another reissue on Plain Recordings. And like that release, the sound quality of this version is not the best there is.
A few days ago the band announced the remastered reissues (on CD) of both MY BLOODY VALENTINE's Creation albums in May, [see here], so here's fingers crossed for a vinyl edition of those remasters as well on a good quality pressing. And while we're at it, a vinyl edition of that EP's 1988-1991 wouldn't be bad either. But that's probably just wishful thinking.

Label: Plain Recordings
Cat.nr.: Plain104
Year of release: 2003

SIDE A:
01. Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)
02. Lose My Breath
03. Cupid Come
04. (When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream
05. No More Sorry
06. All I Need

SIDE B:01. Feed Me With Your Kiss
02. Sueisfine
03. Several Girls Galore
04. You Never Should
05. Nothing Much To Lose
06. I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless [12", LP]

Here it is; the album of the nineties. Unfortunately i only have a reissue on Plain Recordings, and the sound quality of their vinyls leaves a bit to be desired. But still it's better than nothing. I wonder how the original pressing of 1991 on Creation sounds. Anyway, LOVELESS is my favourite MY BLOODY VALENTINE release. A true genre-defining classic. And although disputed by both Alan McGee and Kevin Shields, rumoured to have cost around £250,000 in the making.


Label: Plain Recordings
Cat.nr.: Plain105
Year of release: 2003

SIDE A:
01. Only Shallow
02. Loomer
03. Touched
04. To Here Knows When
05. When You Sleep
06. I Only Said

SIDE B:
01. Come In Alone
02. Sometimes
03. Blown A Wish
04. What You Want
05. Soon

Soundtrack - Lost In Translation [12", Picture Disc]

This picture disc with the lovely behind in see-through underwear of Scarlett Johansson on one side, is one of my favourite picture discs. Normally i'm not too fond of picture discs due to their doubtable musical quality, but since this album is extremely hard to find on vinyl i'm pretty happy with it. LOST IN TRANSLATION has many great artists on the soundtrack; such as Kevin Shields, My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Death In Vegas and Air.

And, to be honest: who doesn't want Scarlett's ass on a picture disc?

Label: Emperor Norton
Cat.nr.: V2KP 117068
Year of release: 2003

SIDE A:
01. Intro/Tokyo
02. Kevin Shields - City Girl
03. Brian Reitzel & Roger J. Manning Jr. - Shibuya
04. Sebastien Tellier - Fantino
05. Kevin Shields - Goodbye
06. Death In Vegas - Girls
07. Squarepusher - Tommib
08. Phoenix - Too Young

SIDE B:
01. Happy End - Kaze Wo Atsumete
02. Brian Reitzel & Roger J. Manning Jr. - On The Subway
03. Kevins Shields - Ikebana
04. My Bloody Valentine - Sometimes
05. Air - Alone In Kyoto
06. Kevin Shields - Are You Awake?
07. The Jesus & Mary Chain - Just Like Honey