School Of Seven Bells - SVIIB [12", LP]

It's been a few years since SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS released an album. Their previous one, Ghostory, is from 2012. It was the first that Benjamin Curtis and Alejandra Deheza did as a duo, after Alejandra's sister Claudia had left the band. A lot has happened since then. Benjamin was diagnosed with Lymphoma and died from that terrible disease in 2013. The songs you'll find on SVIIB were written not long before his death, and completed by Alejandra in the past few years. It's become a beautiful album. Heartfelt, honest lyrics. Sad at times, and with reason, but also joyful and uplifting. I think it's amazing that she found the strength to finish this chapter by completing the album. Musically it's one of their strongest albums as well. A worthy farewell of the band in this form. I sure hope we'll continue hearing of Alejandra though, because she's a great songwriter with a beautiful voice.

Label: Full Time Hobby
Year of release: 2016
Cat.nr.: FTH257LPA

SIDE A:
01. Ablaze
02. On My Heart
03. Open Your Eyes
04. A Thousand Times More

SIDE B:
01. Elias
02. Signals
03. Music Takes Me
04. Confusion
05. This Is Our Time

Secret Shine - Untouched [12", LP]

UNTOUCHED was the only full length album that SECRET SHINE released during their first period of existence (during the early nineties). It originally came out on Sarah Records, and original copies of this album go for high prices on Discogs and eBay. Saint Marie Records had the brilliant idea to get it reissued, and they started a Pledgemusic project to get it financed. Because i love this album to death, and wanted to be sure to have a copy on vinyl finally, i stepped into it and pledged for a coloured copy and a test press. There were only 500 LP's made, and 300 of them are coloured (purple/white). The rest are black. Even though black is more limited for that matter, i wanted the coloured version because it's so beautiful and fits extremely well with the artwork.

What can i say about the album... some people say it was the last of the original great shoegaze albums of the early nineties. That might indeed be true. It's definitely become a classic in the genre, over the years. Songs like Spellbound, Into The Ether and So Close I Come can definitely compete with the best songs of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine.

Label: Saint Marie Records

Cat.nr.: SMR079

Year of release: 2015 (originally released in 1993)

SIDE A:

01. Suck Me Down

02. Temporal

03. Spellbound

04. So Close I Come

SIDE B:

01. Into The Ether

02. Toward The Sky

03. Underworld

04. Sun Warmed Water

Swirlies - Didn't Understand [7"]

This DIDN'T UNDERSTAND 7" is the first release by SWIRLIES, from 1992. All 3 tracks appeared later that year on their What To Do About Them EP as well. Clearly influenced by My Bloody Valentine (especially Sarah Sitting sounds a bit like a mix between Soft As Snow and Slow) but definitely not in a bad way - totally the opposite! The purple vinyl edition that i have is the second pressing from the same year and it just sounds as lovely as it looks. Quite a gem.

Label: Slumberland Records
Cat.nr.: DRYL 015
Year of release: 1992

SIDE A:
01. Didn't Understand

SIDE B:
01. Sarah Sitting
02. Chris R.

The Stargazer Lilies - We Are The Dreamers [12", LP]

I didn't know THE STARGAZER LILIES until a few months ago, when some teaser songs of their debut album WE ARE THE DREAMERS showed up online. The moment i heard those, i just knew i had to get this album. It's dreampop in its purest form. Loads of reverb, fuzzy guitars, soothing vocals, slow-paced tunes, and mostly in minor keys so in general it sounds pretty sad and melancholic. When songs like that are over-produced, they all start to sound the same and can get pretty boring; that's definitely not the case here. The songs usually keep a raw edge, especially when it comes to the guitar work (check Undone and Light Of Day for example).
At this moment, the songs Del Rey Mar, Sad Colored Tears and Endless Days are my favourites, but i keep on discovering new things when i listen to this album. At the moment i'm writing this, i'm listening to How We Lost and suddenly i start to think that parts of this song sound a little bit like a slow version of Radiohead's Creep. Ha!
This album is one of the best dreampop albums i've heard in years. Besides that, the artwork and the coloured vinyl really suit to the music and make it a true gem for vinyl collectors who dig shoegaze and dreampop.

Label: Graveface Records
Cat.nr.: Grave096
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. We Are The Dreamers
02. Del Rey Mar
03. Undone
04. How We Lost

SIDE B:
01. Endless Days
02. Well Versed To Verb Doubt
03. Light Of Day
04. Sad Colored Tears
05. Don't Waste My Time
06. Because

Field Mouse - How Do You Know [7"]

Never heard of the band FIELD MOUSE before, and i actually bought this 7" just because of the B-side. Stumbled upon their cover of Julee Cruise's Falling on Youtube and then found out it came from this single, so i ordered it. It's a great dreampop version of the Twin Peaks tune. But the song HOW DO YOU KNOW on the A-side is pretty cool as well. The single's pressed on some kind of purple/black/grey swirl mix. Until now, they released only this 7" and one other 7", plus a few download-only tracks. Really a band to watch and let's hope they'll release a full album sometime.

Label: Lefse Records
Cat.nr.: LEFSE044
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. How Do You Know

SIDE B:
01. Falling  (Twin Peaks Theme)

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

Mother Love Bone - Mother Love Bone [12", 2LP, Limited Edition]

Ever since the Music On Vinyl label started, they have been re-releasing some great grunge albums that were previously extremely hard to get on vinyl. There were some magnificent Alice In Chains, Screaming Trees and Pearl Jam releases, and of course earlier this year for Record Store Day the Mad Season album. But this self-titled compilation album by MOTHER LOVE BONE, i must admit, is my favourite grunge record ever. Or actually this one together with the Temple Of The Dog album, and perhaps also the Singles soundtrack (two records of which i really hope that Music On Vinyl will release them some day). This beautifully coloured first edition of 1500 numbered copies (my copy being # 0223) was sold out in no time, and that's not very surprising of course. And this release was actually not just hard to get on vinyl, but even impossible - because it had never been given a vinyl release at all in the first place! The band, with Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, had only their original releases like the Apple album and the Shine EP out on vinyl - not this compilation, which came out after singer Andrew Wood died. So here it finally is, in all its purple glory. Yummy.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP800
Year of release: 2013 (originally: 1992)

SIDE A:
01. This Is Shangrila
02. Stardog Champion
03. Holy Roller
04. Bone China
05. Come Bite The Apple

SIDE B:
01. Stargazer
02. Heartshine
03. Captain Hi-Top
04. Man Of Golden Words
05. Capricorn Sister

SIDE C:
01. Gentle Groove
02. Mr. Danny Boy
03. Crown Of Thorns
04. Thru Fade Away
05. Mindshaker Meltdown

SIDE D:
01. Half Ass Monkey Boy
02. Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns
03. Capricorn Sister (Shine Version)
04. Lady Godiva Blues

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Acid Reflex [12"]

Last year on Record Store Day i tried really hard to find this 12" at the participating stores, but for some reason none had it. So i kinda gave up and expected i'd never get my hands on a copy anymore, but a few weeks ago at Pet Sounds in Stockholm i saw one standing in the racks to my big surprise. On this ACID REFLEX EP there are 4 different songs, all from the Belong album, in a remixed version. One thing about remixes is that it either hits exactly the right spot, or it goes terribly wrong. It doesn't happen very often that i actually like all the remixes on a 12", but in this case i do. THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART definitely chose the right artists to remix their songs, and they're not the least names either: Twin Shadow, Saint Etienne, Violens and Washed Out. Pretty cool stuff!

Label: Play It Again Sam/Slumberland Records
Cat.nr.: PIASR532T
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Heart In Your Heartbreak (Twin Shadow remix)
02. Too Tough (Saint Etienne remix)

SIDE B:
01. The Body (Violens remix)
02. My Terrible Friend (Washed Out remix)

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Fist Full Of Bees EP [12"]

Haven't been writing for this blog during the past two weeks and now there's this whole pile of crate digging finds from the Utrecht record fair, Record Store Day releases, my regular new purchases and the old stuff from way back - each release waiting for its own entry in this project. Aaarghhh! Where to begin? Well anyway, here's one of the Record Store Day releases: a brand new BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE EP called FIST FULL OF BEES. It's a handnumbered (limited to 2000 copies) EP on burgundy/purple vinyl. Really cool songs that are more or less in the same vein as their latest full length Aufheben. Especially the oriental sounding Everything Fades To White.

Label: A Records
Cat.nr.: auk025
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Fist Full Of Bees
02. Food For Clouds

SIDE B:
01. Everything Fades To White

Ringo Deathstarr - Mauve [12", LP]

Having become a massive RINGO DEATHSTARR fan by now, their new album MAUVE was an instant buy for me. Nothing new here, but that's not what we'd expected anyway. Just a damn good noisy indie rock / shoegaze album, heavily distorted and with seductive vocals, inspired by any band that's cool like Sonic Youth, Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. Can't wait to see them live in two months when they're coming over to play at Le Guess Who fest in Utrecht.

Label: Club AC30
Cat.nr.: AC309121
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Rip
02. Burn
03. Drain
04. Slack
05. Brightest Star
06. Drag
07 Fifteen

SIDE B:
01. Girls We Know
02. Nap Time
03. Waste
04. Do You Wanna?
05. Please Don't Kill Yourself
06. Wave

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Heart In Your Heartbreak [7"]

HEART IN YOUR HEARTBREAK is a single taken from the Belong album by THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART. A nice powerpop anthem on transparent purple vinyl.

Label: Slumberland Records / Fortuna Pop
Cat.nr.: SLR 134 / FPOP 109
Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:
01. Heart Of Your Heartbreak

SIDE B:
01. The One

Sleepy Sun - New Age [10", EP]

The first time i saw SLEEPY SUN was at the ATP vs. The Fans pt. II: The Fans Strike Back festival. Me and my mates were blown away by them.
Both tracks on this EP are from their first album Embrace. Nice clear/purple splattered vinyl.

Label: ATP Recordings
Cat.nr.: ATPRSP06
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. New Age

SIDE B:
01. Lord