The December Sound - Silver Album [12", 2LP]

By coincidence i stumbled upon the vinyl edition of SILVER ALBUM by THE DECEMBER SOUND recently. I had this album digitally already for quite some years (it came out in 2007) and i've been playing it regularly ever since. But apparently in the meantime it has been released on vinyl by French indie label Cranes Records, back in 2012 already. Why didn't i know that earlier?? If i'd known i would have instantly bought it. I consider myself lucky because it's only been pressed in a small quantity of 500 copies, and Cranes' webstore still had it available.
The album is a great mix of shoegaze, noise and psychedelic music. Definitely recommended if you like not only the obvious My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus And Mary Chain, but also The Brian Jonestown Massacre and A Place To Bury Strangers. It's hard to say which tracks i like best, because they differ so much from eachother, but Never, Drone Refusenik, Painkiller and especially Truth Hurts are definitely among my favourites of this album. And compared to the CD, the vinyl edition has an untitled bonus track as well. Really happy that i have this great album on vinyl now!

Label: Cranes Records
Cat.nr.: 04
Year of release:2012 (album originally released in 2007)

SIDE A:
01. Never
02. No Heaven Like Hell
03. Drone Refusenik
04. Do You In

SIDE B:
01.Painkiller
02. Reminder
03. 月 の 音 12

SIDE C:
01. Maker
02. Il Forte
03. Kill Me (Before I Kill You)

SIDE D:
01. Truth Hurts
02. Tape Tape
03. Not If It's On Your Time
04. untitled bonus track

Botch - Unifying Themes Redux [12", 2LP]

UNIFYING THEMES REDUX is a compilation of demo recordings and songs taken from 7"es and compilation albums. BOTCH was a great mathcore band  that existed until 2002, and was a clear influence to later bands such as Norma Jean. Originally the album was released on CD in 1997 on the Excursion label under the name The Unifying Themes of Sex, Death and Religion, compiling tracks from the Faction and the John Birch Conspiracy Theory EP's, but in 2002 bonus tracks were added and it was reissued on the same label with a new name: Unifying Themes Redux. In that form, Hydra Head re-released it in 2006 on CD and the awesome Garden Of Exile label did the vinyl edition a year later. So this version is like a reissue of a reissue. They did two pressings and the copy i have is from the second pressing (450 in total, of which 200 on grey vinyl). Brutal stuff. Especially their version of B-52's Rock Lobster (C3) is something worth checking out.

Label: Garden Of Exile Records
Year of release: 2007
Cat.nr.: GOE11

SIDE A:
01. God Vs. Science
02. Third Part In A Tragedy
03. Inch By Inch
04. O Fortuna (The Opera Song)
05. Closure

SIDE B:
01. Contradiction
02. Ebb
03. Stupid Me
04. In Spite Of This
05. End Of Discussion
06. Wounded

SIDE C:
01. Liquoured Up And Laid
02. Leavers Take On Genesis
03. Rock Lobster
04. Frequent Mass Transit
05. Sudam

SIDE D:
Live set from WFMU
01.Third Part In A Tragedy
02. God V.s Science
03. Ebb
04. Baseless Spine
05. Closure
06. Stupid Me
07. Dead For A Minute

Isis - Panopticon [12", 2LP]

PANOPTICON is to my opinion the best album by the mighty ISIS. On vinyl, it came out both on Trust No One Recordings with the same artwork as the Ipecac CD in the fall of 2004, and on Robotic Empire with alternative artwork a few months later. I have a copy of that version; of the 4th press / 400 on blue, from 2007 to be exact. I could listen to this album for hours in a row without getting bored. Excellent stuff.

Label: Robotic Empire
Cat.nr.: Robo-041
Year of release: 2007 (originally released 2005)

SIDE A:
01. So Did We
02. Backlit

SIDE B:
01. In Fiction
02. Wills Dissolve

SIDE C:
01. Syndic Calls
02. Altered Course

SIDE D:
01. Grinning Mouths

Jesu - Sun Down / Sun Rise [12"]

Pressed on really nice clear vinyl with red in the middle, this SUN DOWN / SUN RISE 12" by JESU has a lengthy song on each side. Sun Down starts with some heavy riffing before it turns into a shoegaze song. After a while it fades out and then an ambient part starts. Sun Rise has less variety throughout the song and sounds much more electronical, but is still a great song. My copy is part of the second pressing, with only 300 made of this particular color.

Label: Aurora Borealis
Cat.nr.: ABX011
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Sun Down

SIDE B:
01. Sun Rise

Jesu - Lifeline [12"]

A great 4-track EP by Justin Broadrick's JESU. The title track of this LIFELINE EP has a bit of a The Cure-vibe (Disintegration-era), and on Storm Comin' On you can hear Jarboe (of Swans). The packaging is also lovely (which is always the case with Hydra Head releases) and the version i have is the first pressing in gold/black split.

Label: Hydra Head Records
Cat.nr.: HH666127LP
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Lifeline
02. You Wear Their Masks

SIDE B:
01. Storm Comin' On
02. End Of The Road

A Place To Bury Strangers - A Place To Bury Strangers [12", LP]

Last weekend i went to see A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS in Amsterdam. It was the third time i saw them, so the surprise was a bit gone, but boy is this a good live band. A total in-your-face assault of noise and shoegaze while it's only three guys on stage.
This self-titled debut LP i bought shortly after i saw them live the first time and was completely blown away by them. It's been pressed in various colours; mine is white as you can see on the picture and apparently it's the third pressing of which 300 copies were made.

Label: Important Records
Cat.nr.: IMPREC170
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Missing You
02. Don't Think Lover
03. To Fix The Gash In My Head
04. The Falling Sun
05. Another Step Away

SIDE B:
01. Breathe
02. I Know I'll See You
03. She Dies
04. My Weakness
05. Ocean

Jesu - Conqueror [12", 2LP]

To me, CONQUEROR is still the magnum opus of JESU. Their (or i should say his, as it is a one-man project) second full length is a perfect example of how some post-metal bands have more in common with shoegaze than metal. I dare actually say that this album is more shoegaze than for example The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - a band that's often labeled as shoegaze while their music is pure indie / power pop. Anyway, if you like drony melancholic shoegaze with powerful guitar chords then this is your album.

Label: Conspiracy Records
Cat.nr.: CORE046
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Conqueror
02. Old Year

SIDE B:
01. Transfigure
02. Weightless & Horizontal

SIDE C:
01. Medicine
02. Brighteyes

SIDE D:
01. Mother Earth
02. Stanlow

School Of Seven Bells - My Cabal [7"]

A true gem on Sonic Cathedral, this yellow coloured 7" by SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS. It features the song MY CABAL and a remix of that song by Robin Guthrie (of Cocteau Twins fame). The version on the A-side is different than the one on their Alpinisms album (or the song's 12" on Ghostly International for that matter), but that's no wonder since this single came out a year earlier than the album. It's more straightforward, mainly because of the drums.
Robin Guthrie did a great job with the remix as well, giving it a less mechanical and more shoegazy touch; so more in the direction of the album version if you want.

Label: Sonic Cathedral
Cat.nr.: SCR004
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. My Cabal

SIDE B:
01. My Cabal (Robin Guthrie Mix)

The Last Town Chorus - Modern Love [7"]

I picked up this single by THE LAST TOWN CHORUS because the title caught my eye. Indeed it turned out to be a cover of the David Bowie song MODERN LOVE, so i was curious and bought it. And it's a pretty good version actually. Totally stripped down, with a steel guitar; quite atmospherical. Apparently this track has been used for the Grey's Anatomy series.

Label: Loose
Cat.nr.: VJS8
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Modern Love

SIDE B:
01. Wintering In Brooklyn

School Of Seven Bells - Face To Face On High Places [12", EP]

I believe this is SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS' debut release; a one-sided 12" on clear vinyl with a laser-etched image of a bird (magpie? crow?) on a branch with a ring in its beak. According to the credits, the band still had a drummer and bass player then, so it was a five-piece. On the debut album Alpinisms, one year after this EP, it was just Benjamin Curtis and the Deheza sisters. And nowadays it's only him and Alejandra Deheza.
This EP is much more experimental than their more recent work.

SIDE A:
01. Limb By Limb
02. Face To Face On High Places
03. S.Ada.Licht

SIDE B:
etching

Asobi Seksu - Strawberries [7"]

Although i like ASOBI SEKSU a lot, this is the only vinyl release i have of them so far. It comes in a gatefold sleeve (see pics below) that can also hold another version of this 7" (cat.nr. 816TP7S, with a CSS remix).




Label: One Little Indian
Cat.nr.: 816TP7
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Strawberries (Edit)

SIDE B:
01. Strawberries (The Whip Remix)

Coalesce - Salt And Passage [7"]

Although i like COALESCE a lot, i noticed this is actually the only vinyl release of them that i have. A nice one, nevertheless.
As can be read here, there have been 2 pressings of SALT AND PASSAGE in various colours. Mine is translucent red/black, so apparently second press of 226.

Label: Second Nature Recordings
Cat.nr.: SN069
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Son Of Son Of Man

SIDE B:
01. I Am This

Soulsavers - Kingdom Of Rain [7"]

I really dig the warm voice of Mark Lanegan. Either you love him or you hate him. He did the vocals on this one-sided 7" by SOULSAVERS. A dark, folky song. And on the B-side there's this cool etching:





Label: V2 Records
Cat.nr.: VVR5045527
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Kingdom Of Rain

SIDE B:
etching

Floor - Dove [12", LP]

FLOOR was a band that was formed in 1992 by (a.o.) Steve Brooks, who would form TORCHE in 2004, when Floor had stopped a year earlier. This particular release, DOVE, was recorded in 1994 but only saw the light of day 10 years later: in 2004.

My copy is part of the 5th (and final, as far as i know) pressing from 2007. 279 copies were pressed on blue vinyl.

Label: No Idea Records
Cat.nr.: No Idea 155
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Who Are You
02. Namasté
03. In A Day
04. Figure It Out
05. Floyd

SIDE B:
01. Dove