Be Forest - Earthbeat [12", LP]

For some reason i completely missed this great album last year when it came out, and only discovered it last January. BE FOREST is a band from Italy and they play a seductive, rhythmic type of music. Kind of a mix between the XX, Esben And The Witch and Warpaint. It's also got some post-punk (Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen) influences. While the percussive rhythms seem to derive from world music, the ethereal vocals definitely make this band fit into the dreampop category. Be Forest creates a very distinctive sound for that matter and EARTHBEAT is a very pleasant album from start to finish. The day i'm writing this, they embark on a European tour for the next two and half weeks, and they'll be playing Amsterdam so i'll make sure i'm gonna see them. Stoked for that!

Label: We Were Never Being Boring
Cat.nr.: WWNBB#51
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Totem
02. Captured Heart
03. Lost Boy
04. Ghost Dance
05. Airwaves

SIDE B:
01. Totem II
02. Colours
03. Sparkle
04. Hideway

We Need Secrets - Melancholy And The Archive [12", LP]

By coincidence i came across some songs by WE NEED SECRETS on the internet recently, and i liked them so much that i decided to order the MELANCHOLY AND THE ARCHIVE album. I wasn't familiar with this band from Canada at all; or actually it's not really a band but rather a one-man project by Chad Peck who plays in a band called Kestrels. Fuzzy guitars dominate the album (in a good way), reminding me of My Bloody Valentine, Swirlies, Fleeting Joys and Ringo Deathstarr. Talking about Ringo Deathstarr... Elliott Frazier of that band plays guitar on the song The Archive and has also mixed the album. It's only been pressed in a very small quantity: 50 copies on clear/glitter and 300 copies on black, of which i have one, as you can see. Always nice to discover new acts like this. And Saint Marie Records is definitely a label to watch closely, since they are putting out a lot of great stuff recently.

Label: Saint Marie Records
Cat.nr.: SMR039
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. How You Remember
02. Months Like Years
03. I Would Take You Over Me
04. Melancholy
05. Uncommitted Crimes
06. The Archive

SIDE B:
01. Pain Lines
02. Auster
03. Sleeper
04. Interiors
05. Cycles

Swervedriver - Setting Sun [7"]

Always great to hear a sign of life by a band like SWERVEDRIVER. This 7" single was released for Black Friday 2014 and is the first release since their 2008 single The Hitcher. A few days ago they announced they'll be releasing a brand new album this year, so i'm much looking forward to that. Both the A-side song SETTING SUN and Days (a Television cover) on side B are laidback tunes that remind me a bit of Buffalo Tom and Lemonheads. But most of all the remind me of Swervedriver, so that's a good sign. Hope they'll throw some more effect pedals in on the album, and i'm a happy man.
The centre labels are not corresponding with the sides on my copy (they're mixed up), but looking on Discogs i saw i'm not the only with that problem. Looks like the whole pressing had it.

Label: Cobraside
Cat.nr.: CSD7 1404
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Setting Sun

SIDE B:
01. Days

I Break Horses - Chiaroscuro [12", LP]

CHIAROSCURO, the second album by I BREAK HORSES, came out in January this year. Two and half years after their debut Hearts, which was one of my favourite albums of 2011. And i must say that this one also has become one of my favourites of this year. Not sure if it will end up in my Top 10 of 2014, but i've still got some weeks to think about that. Compared to Hearts, it's just as electronic - but on the other hand sounds ten times more electronic. Any connections with shoegaze like they had in the past have disappeared, however Medicine Brush would come close to dreampop if it wasn't for the beats and elecronica. A grower, this album. Put on your headphones and let it get under your skin.

Label: Bella Union
Cat.nr.: BELLAV428
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. You Burn
02. Faith
03. Ascension
04. Denial
05. Berceuse

SIDE B:
01. Medicine Brush
02. Disclosure
03. Weigh True Words
04. Heart To Know

Mogwai - Record Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1. [12"]

Listening to Teenage Exorcists on RECORD INDUSTRY 3. FITNESS INDUSTRY 1. i wonder why MOGWAI didn't put this great song on Rave Tapes. Apparently all three new songs on this EP's A-side came from that album's recording sessions. Together they show exactly how diverse this amazing band's music is: a catchy rock song, a cinematic instrumental track and a post-rock tune (also instrumental) that builds up slowly until it ends in a bombastic noise explosion.
The remixes on the B-side are also pretty decent, especially the Nils Frahm remix of The Lord Is Out Of Control which is actually really good. I just realised that i saw both him and Mogwai at this year's Best Kept Secret Festival. Stunning performances, by the way.

Label: Rock Action
Cat.nr.: ROCKACT89
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Teenage Exorcists
02. History Day
03. HMP Shaun William Ryder

SIDE B:
01. Re-Remurdered (Blanck Mass)
02. No Medicine For Regret (Pye Corner Audio Remix)
03. The Lord Is Out Of Control (Nils Frahm Remix)

Whirr / Nothing - Split EP [12"]

When two of my current favorite bands release a split EP, i'm extremely stoked of course. WHIRR and NOTHING both provided two excellent tracks, and the result is one of the strongest EP releases of this year. While Whirr makes modern shoegaze, Nothing leans more towards nineties alternative rock on this release. For example Chloroform has a great Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream-era) vibe to it, which i like a lot. I saw Nothing last week in Amsterdam and they really rocked. Now let's hope Whirr will do a European tour as well soon. The EP is single-sided and there's a nice etched B-side that shows both bands' logos as eyes of the well-known "Nirvana smiley". It was hard to make a photo, but at least you'll get the idea:

There were several pressings made of this EP. Mine is the cream/green marbled one (1000 made) and there's supposed to be a DVD included as well, but that didn't come with my copy unfortunately.

Label: Run For Cover Records
Cat.nr.: RFC 109
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. WHIRR - Ease
02. WHIRR - Lean
03. NOTHING: Chloroform
04. NOTHING: July The Fourth

SIDE B:
etching

Chvrches - Under The Tide [12"]

This year's Black Friday saw many special limited releases again, but i only bothered to buy this 12" by CHVRCHES. It's on beautiful light orange vinyl (although the sticker says it's yellow) and besides the single version of UNDER THE TIDE, it has an unreleased song called Strong Hand on it, plus two nice re-recorded versions of The Mother We Share and Gun. And a remix for Recover, which i don't like that much to be honest. As far as i understood most of these tunes were released digitally earlier this year.

Label: Glassnote
Cat.nr.: GLS-0163-12
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Under The Tide (single version)
02. Recover (KDA Remix)

SIDE B:
01. Strong Hand
02. The Mother We Share (Alucard Session)
03. Gun (Alucard Session)

Dead Horse One - Without Love We Perish [12", LP]

Finally time to write something about this fantastic album WITHOUT LOVE WE PERISH by the French band DEAD HORSE ONE. The reason it caught my attention was that i'd heard that it was produced and mixed by Mark Gardener. Mark is an artist i truly admire for what he did with his band Ride back in the early nineties, and also more recently when i saw him at the Sonic Cathedral anniversary party earlier this year in London he still impressed me a lot with his performance. So i was really curious what he had done with this band from France that i'd never heard of before.
Well... the sound is absolutely brilliant! It's a perfect mix of shoegaze and neo-psych music, with a very lush and summery vibe to it. Maybe it's because they're from the deep south-west coast of France; surfers' paradise. If i'd have to name 3 bands that come to mind when listening to this album, i'd say Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dandy Warhols and Ride. It simply is really good stuff. It's hard to choose a favourite track, but when i look at my ipod, i see that i've have been playing both Raven and I Love My Man the most. Nothing beats a vinyl though, and after quite some hassle to get my hands on a copy i finally found it from a distro on Discogs! A shame though that the sleeve of this limited release (only 300 copies) is of such thin quality cardboard. Nothing the band can be blamed for of course, but you'd almost think that's why the label's called A Quick One. Music-wise however, i think it might just end up in my top 10 list of this year!

Label: A Quick One Records
Cat.nr.: AQO LP86
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A: 
01. Hopper
02. I Love My Man
03. Raven
04. By My Side

SIDE B:
01. Never Be Your Lover
02. Undone
03. Blackwood
04. Teen
05. Wicker

Various Artists - A Psych Tribute To The Doors [12", LP]

Normally i'm not a really big fan of tribute albums, because for every good cover song on such a compilation there's usally at least five really bad ones, but every now and then there's one that's just too good to not to buy. Besides for example The Bridge (Neil Young), Psychedelic Sounds Of The Sonic Cathedral (Roky Erickson) and I'm Your Fan (Leonard Cohen), A PSYCH TRIBUTE to THE DOORS is one of those. When i heard about this release early this year and saw that there would be covers featured by The Black Angels, Dead Meadow and The Raveonettes to name but a few, i really had to check out online how their versions of classic Doors songs sounded and i liked it so much that i had to find this album. The artwork is pretty cool and the album is pressed on nice marbled green vinyl. Besides the three bands i already mentioned, i really like what Elephant Stone, Dark Horses, Dead Skeletons and Wall Of Death made out of it. But The End by The Raveonettes is my favourite track on this album, that's for sure. They really gave it their own sound and i just love it.

Label: Cleopatra Records
Cat.nr.: CLP1557
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. ELEPHANT STONE - L.A. Woman
02. THE BLACK ANGELS - Soul Kitchen
03. PSYCHIC ILLS - Love You Two Times
04. DARK HORSES - Hello, I Love You
05. CAMERA - People Are Strange
06. DEAD MEADOW - The Crystal Ship

SIDE B:
01. SONS OF HIPPIES - The Soft Parade
02. DEAD SKELETONS - Riders On The Storm
03. WALL OF DEATH - Light My Fire
04. CLINIC - Touch Me
05. VIETNAM - Roadhouse Blues
06. THE RAVEONETTES - The End

Whirr - Sway [12", LP]

When i read somewhere that WHIRR was releasing a new album i was pretty psyched, because they're one of my favourite current shoegaze bands. And once again they deliver a great album with SWAY, that comes on coloured vinyl in a nice gatefold sleeve. I've got a copy that's described as "brown/bone/yellow" on the label's site, but as you can see on the picture it's closer to orange than yellow. Great colour though! There are four songs on each side which makes it a rather short album, but then again Pipe Dreams and Distressor both had more songs yet a similar or even shorter total playing time. Lines is my favourite track, at this point at least.
Some time ago a friend of mine asked me to describe how Whirr sounds like, and i thought it was hard to do so, but i told him what would come closest is a mix between Starflyer 59 and the laidback yet heavy songs by Deftones. Now that i listen to this new album these two bands come to mind again. Funny, because i normally never had associations with other bands while listening to them. This week it got announced that they'll be releasing a split EP with Nothing, so that's another piece of wax i need to score soon :)

Label: Graveface Records
Cat.nr.: GRAVE118
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Press
02. Mumble
03. Dry
04. Clear

SIDE B:
01. Heavy
02. Sway
03. Lines
04. Feel

Newmoon - Invitation To Hold [7"]

A couple of weeks ago i came across this band called NEWMOON. I can't remember where exactly but it was at some blog or online zine. There was a link to the song 'Aria' on Youtube and it just blew me away. So i did some further research, found their Bandcamp page where i saw that they had an EP out called INVITATION TO HOLD, and then i found out that it was released on 7" vinyl as well. Needless to say i had to have that! So i ordered it and today it arrived for me. By now i know the three songs by heart, but still i've been playing them over and over this evening. So good! Especially 'Dwell' on side B is a favourite. It's shoegaze-influenced post-punk, somewhat comparable with bands like Whirr or Nothing. And the good thing is: they're from Belgium! Means i'll hopefully have a chance to see them live on stage somewhere in the near future here in Holland. The artwork of this little gem is really cool by the way, and is done by Nick Steinhardt who also did Deafheaven's 'Sunbather'. As you can see on the picture, my copy is pink. There were 1000 copies made of that colour, and another 1000 on yellow.

Label: Secret Voice
Cat.nr.: SV08
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Mask
02. Aria

SIDE B:
01. Dwell

Esben And The Witch - A New Nature [12", 2LP]

Rarely have i been looking out more for an album to appear than for A NEW NATURE by ESBEN AND THE WITCH, a band which i've been following since their 33 demo EP came out. Literally looking out for it, because ever since i made my pledge early February at Pledgemusic for this album to be realised, i've been counting down the days to receive it at my doorstep. The band chose to release an album on their own brand new Nostromo Records label, and even wanted to record it with no other than Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio studios. The funds were raised and the result is absolutely gorgeous. The band's sound developed from rather claustrophobic yet beautiful "nightmare pop" on their debut Violet Cries to a more accessible sound on Wash The Sins Not Only The Face early 2013, but this is yet another step further. Steve Albini's raw signature sound is very present, and captures exactly how their live sound is: energetic and free. The bass-driven 10+ minute opening track Press Heavenwards! is unlike anything we've heard from them before. And there's even a longer track on this double LP: The Jungle, which is over 14 minutes long and to my opinion one of the album's best tracks and actually even one of the best tracks they ever made. Just like No Dog, with its energetic outbursts. However Dig Your Fingers In is my favourite. A pure gem. It's also the first single of the album (check the video here).
The vinyl itself is beautiful as well. I really like the yellow colour (one could choose between this limited coloured version and the regular black one during the pledge process) and also the artwork is outstanding with a very atmospheric picture and a reverse board printed gatefold sleeve.
Besides the LP i also received a signed copy of the limited CD EP And New Life Blossoms From The Ruins, with drones and jams and alternate versions of songs on the album.

Label: Nostromo Records
Cat.nr.: NSTRM001LPX
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Press Heavenwards!

SIDE B:
01. Those Dreadful Hammers
02. Dig Your Fingers In
03. No Dog

SIDE C:
01. The Jungle

SIDE D:
01. Wooden Star
02. Blood Teachings
03. Bathed In Light

Fujiya & Miyagi - Artificial Sweeteners [12", LP]

Before getting to the music of this album, i need to say that i've rarely seen any artwork and vinyl colours matching as well like they do on this LP. It looks like the dripping paint (or melted lollipops?) have reached the disc, which is clear vinyl with yellow, red and blue splatters. Pretty cool. FUJIYA & MIYAGI are not a Japanese duo as their name might suggest, but an English band from Brighton - however they started as a duo indeed. I like them a lot for already quite some years now, but somehow i've never bought anything of them on vinyl, until a few months ago when they released their new album ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS. And i just love it. Catchy electronic tunes with clear influences from krautrock acts such as Neu! and Can. I think i need to be hunting down their previous stuff on vinyl as well. Actually their Ankle Injuries 10" from 2006 is something that's high on my wishlist for quite some time already. Hopefully it will be appearing on this blog at some point ;)

Label: Yep Roc Records
Cat.nr.: YEP-2379
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Flaws
02. Acid To My Alkaline
03. Rayleigh Scattering
04. Artificial Sweeteners
05. Little Stabs At Happiness

SIDE B:
01. Tetrahydrofolic Acid
02. Daggers
03. Vagaries Of Fashion
04. A Sea Ringed With Visions

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Days Of Abandon [12", LP]

Their last album Belong was from 2011, so it was about time THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART released something new. While Belong was already very mellow and polished compared to the debut album, they have taken this another step further with DAYS OF ABANDON. Soothing and sweet indie pop tunes. Nothing wrong with that, but personally i would have liked some more songs like Until The Sun Explodes that are uptempo and at least just a little noisy. The sharp edges have gone completely and to be honest i'm not sure if i'll be buying a next album without listening first. I don't regret buying this album, but it certainly won't end up in my favourite albums 2014 - that's for sure.

Label: Fierce Panda Records
Cat.nr.: NONG88LP
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Art Smock
02. Simple And Sure
03. Kelly
04. Beautiful You
05. Coral And Gold

SIDE B:
01. Eurydice
02. Masokissed
03. Until The Sun Explodes
04. Life After Life
05. The Asp At My Chest

The Raveonettes - Pe'Ahi [12", LP]

Maybe i hadn't been really paying attention, but this new album by THE RAVEONETTES came a bit as a surprise to me a few weeks ago. A pleasant surprise i must say, because this band had steadily become one of my current favourites. And despite the fact that this new album is quite different than anything they ever did before, i really like it. Musically it's more diverse and complex, and they use a huge range of instruments. A song like Kill! could've easily been a Primal Scream song in its structure, with the beats and noise. Favourite tracks at this point: Sisters and Summer Ends. Oh, PE'AHI is named after a famous surf spot on Hawaii, in case you wonder where they'd get such a title from. By now i still have not been able to see them play live, and they are really high on my wishlist for bands to check out whenever they'd play near me.

Label: Beat Dies Records
Cat.nr.: RAV-00004-1
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Endless Sleeper
02. Sisters
03. Killer In The Streets
04. Wake Me Up
05. Z-Boys

SIDE B:
01. A Hell Below
02. The Rains Of May
03. Kill!
04. When Night Is Almost Done
05. Summer Ends

Flyying Colours - Flyying Colours EP [12"]

Every now and then i hear cool songs online by bands that are unknown to me, and then it turns out that they have a vinyl release out. Obviously i just have to score a copy then! Such was the case with FLYYING COLOURS who released this amazing self-titled EP earlier this year. Apparently these guys come from Melbourne, Australia, and they sound a bit like Ride or Swervedriver. Absolutely great stuff! It's hard to pick a favourite track, but if i'd have to choose i'd say Wavygravy. This EP is only their debut release, so I hope they'll be releasing much more like this. The EP was pressed in two colours: 250x "black grape" for the US and 250x "royal blue" for Europe.

Label: Club AC30 / Shelflife
Cat.nr.: AC30  11022 / LIFE107
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Like You Said
02. Wavygravy
03. She Leaves

SIDE B:
01. Feathers
02. Bugs

Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas [12", LP]

It's been a while since my previous post, because i've been on a (well-deserved, if i may say so) holiday to the south of France. But now the batteries are loaded again and i'm going through my never shrinking pile of vinyls that i need to write something about. What about this one: HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS by the amazing COCTEAU TWINS. I love this album to death; my absolute favourite album by them and i has so happy that it got reissued not too long ago because until then i never managed to score a copy on vinyl. No need to go into many details about this classic i think, but the song Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires is of such beauty that i still can listen to it over and over and over...

Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: CAD3420
Year of release: 2014 (originally 1990)

SIDE A:
01. Cherry-Coloured Funk
02. Pitch The Baby
03. Iceblink Luck
04. Fifty-Fifty Clown
05. Heaven Or Las Vegas

SIDE B:
01. I Wear Your Ring
02. Fotzepolitic
03. Wolf In The Breast
04. Road, River And Rail
05. Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Revelation [12", 2LP]

The cover art of REVELATION looks familiar to those who know the split EP that THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE recently released for RSD 2014 with The Magic Castles, and the Fist Full Of Bees EP that they released for the same occasion a year earlier. Once again they've released a really strong album and this one will definitely end up in my personal top 10 albums of 2014, that's for sure. Anton Newcombe's record label A Records always has such great thick quality records and also the colours of this release look really fantastic: opaque light blue in the middle, and see-through dark blue on the outside. Gorgeous. The only sad thing is that i still haven't managed to see them live. They were in Amsterdam a while ago, but i couldn't make it that day. I'm sure one day it will happen though ;)

Label: A Records
Cat.nr.: auk030lp
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Vad Hände Med Dem?
02. What You Isn't
03. Unknown

SIDE B:
01. Memory Camp
02. Days, Weeks And Moths
03. Duck And Cover

SIDE C:
01. Food For Clouds
02. Second Sighting
03. Memorymix

SIDE D:
01. Fist Full Of Bees
02. Nightbird
03. Xibalbia
04. Goodbye (Butterfly)

Brave Black Sea - Fragments [12", LP]

BRAVE BLACK SEA is a new band formed by drummer Alfredo Hernandez (ex-Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age and Slo Burn), singer/guitar player Damon Garrison and lead guitar player Chris Hale (both ex-Slo Burn) and bassist Clint Cunningham. Or actually it's more like old friends, coming back together to finish something they started in the nineties. FRAGMENTS is the debut album by these sons of the desert, and pictured here is the limited edition first pressing on greenish blue (turquoise) coloured vinyl. Comes with a CD as well, which i always like better than a download coupon. It would definitely not do them justice to be labeled as a stoner band, just because of their musical background. Other than you'd expect perhaps, there are more elements of punk rock and grunge (Nirvana, Alice In Chains and Stone Temple Pilots are often just around the corner), than sludge or stoner. Ah heck, let's just call it in-your-face rock music, with a capital R. Very promising debut album! There are some European tour dates confirmed now for June and I'd love to see them live, so hopefully they'll plan a gig in Holland as well.

Label: V2
Cat.nr.: VVL24921
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Running Away
02. Abandon Ship
03. The Five Visitors
04. Bandana Republic
05. Silence Is Golden

SIDE B:
01. This Is This
02. Beginners Luck
03. Ghosts
04. The Road
05. Fragments

The Brian Jonestown Massacre & The Magic Castles - Split 12" [12"]

This split 12" by THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE and THE MAGIC CASTLES is one of the Record Store Day releases i bought this year. Both bands are featured with two songs and i must confess i didn't know The Magic Castles very well, but i like the songs on this 12" a lot. Mellow folky psychedelic tunes. Their previous album from 2012 was also on Anton Newcombe's A Records, just like this split, and actually all of BJM's releases. The first of the two BJM songs will be on their new album "Reveleation", while the instrumental Lions Ride Free is exclusive to this release. It's a numbered limited edition of 3000 copies, on beautiful clear/white/grey splattered vinyl.

Label: A Records
Cat.nr.: auk028-12
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE - Goodbye (Butterfly)
02. THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE - Lions Ride Free

SIDE B:
01. THE MAGIC CASTLES - Rebecca's World
02. THE MAGIC CASTLES - Trembling Hands