Swervedriver - Mezcal Head [12", LP]

Being a big SWERVEDRIVER fan, i've been looking for an affordable copy of MEZCAL HEAD for years, but never with any luck. Until recently, when Music On Vinyl reissued the album from 1993 and thus making it finally available again for fans who like their daily dose of shoegaze on vinyl. They've done so in the past with Slowdive (even before the band reunited), and will soon be releasing for example Ferment by Catherine Wheel! Excellent choices. More of that, please!
The first pressing of this reissue consists of 1500 copies on mezcal coloured (clear cloudy) vinyl, and it plays like a charm. Finally i can spin classic tunes like Duel, Blowin'Cool, Last Train To Satansville and You Find It Everywhere on my record player. Hope the albums Raise (although i own an original copy) and especially Ejector Seat Reservation will be reissued as well.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP1851
Year of release: 2017

SIDE A:
01. For Seeking Heat
02. Duel
03. Blowin' Cool
04. MM Abduction
05. Last Train To Satansville

SIDE B:
01. Harry & Maggie
02. A Change Is Gonna Come
03. Girl On A Motorbike
04. Duress
05. You Find It Everywhere

Slowdive - Blue Day [12", LP]

For me personally, the best Record Store Day release this year was the limited (numbered to 2000 copies, blue vinyl) version of BLUE DAY by SLOWDIVE. As returning visitors of this blog will know, i'm a huge fan of this great band and even though i already have the nowadays very rare original version from 1992, i'm extremely glad that Music On Vinyl made this compilation of songs from their earliest EP's available again on vinyl. Until now, vinyl aficionados had to do with not the best quality bootlegs if they didn't want to pay three-digit numbers for the original.
It's a pity that there was a slight controversy when the band only had to find out via social media that this RSD reissue would be released. As Rachel Goswell stated on Twitter: "Advice to young musicians signing record deals: do not agree to sign the recording rights away for life. And get a good manager."  Sadly they have no control over their back-catalogue anymore. The band was young and naive, and one can not revert time unfortunately.
But for what it's worth to them, they can be assured that Music On Vinyl did an extremely good job with this release. It sounds just as fabulous as their previous official reissues of Just For A Day, Souvlaki and Pygmalion, which were all three reissued well before there was even talk of a reunion and which reminded the people who prefer their music on vinyl what a great band Slowdive was (and now again is). And for that matter, it was only a logical step to also release this missing link in the Creation Records legacy of Slowdive LP's. It sounds ten times better than the aforementioned bootlegs, which use CD's or who knows even MP3's instead of the original masters as source. Also the artwork is fully restored, and edited with an eye for details. Bootlegs for example show "for further information,send a large s.a.e. to Slowdive, po box 1880 London N16 0DE" like it was on the original album, which is absolute bollocks these days of course. Here it's replaced with "for further information: www.slowdiveoffical.com".
Especially since the band is back together and always start their shows with the song Slowdive (from their first self-titled EP) which is the first song on this album, this release will please many fans who didn't have these early songs on vinyl yet. And now let's wait for what Slowdive has in store for us in 2015. They've been recording earlier this year and i can't wait to hear any new material by them. A release (or better still: many releases) that they'll finally make some proper money on. Would be totally well-deserved.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 1380
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Slowdive
02. Avalyn 1
03. Morningrise
04. She Calls

SIDE B:
01. Losing Today
02. Shine
03. Albatross

The Raveonettes - Pretty In Black [12", LP]

PRETTY IN BLACK is the second album by THE RAVEONETTES, released in 2005. Heavily influenced by 50's rock 'n roll and with some really great tunes on it, such as Love In A Trashcan and Sleepwalking. Also Twilight is a personal favourite, perhaps because it's the odd track of the album with a very danceable (almost disco) beat. It shouldn't be left unmentioned that The Velvet Underground's Moe Tucker plays drums on a few tracks, and Ronnie Spector joins in on Ode To L.A.
All in all a great album, and never released on vinyl until Music On Vinyl did that in 2013. The first pressing consisted of 1000 numbered copies on pink/black marbled vinyl, and my copy is one of those as you can see.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 721
Year of release: 2013 (originally 2005)

SIDE A:
01. The Heavens
02. Seductress Of Bums
03. Love In A Trashcan
04. Sleepwalking
05. Uncertain Times
06. My Boyfriend's Back
07. Here Comes Mary

SIDE B:
01. Red Tan
02. Twilight
03. Somewhere In Texas
04. You Say You Lie
05. Ode To L.A.
06. If I Was Wrong

The Raveonettes - Whip It On [10", Limited Edition]

The debut release by THE RAVEONETTES, this WHIP IT ON EP, only had a very limited release on vinyl back in 2002 on the small Crunchy Frog label. But last year, 11 years after its original release, Music On Vinyl had the brilliant idea to reissue it as a beautiful 10" record of which the first 1000 copies were on red vinyl in a numbered sleeve. I've got #668.
Some really cool garage rock tunes can be found on this EP, such as Veronica Fever, Cops On Our Tail and my favourite one: Beat City. Funny detail: as stated on the cover, nearly the whole EP is recorded in B-flat minor. I've still never seen The Raveonettes live, by the way. Hopefully that will change some day. Must be a real blast.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOV10008
Year of release: 2013 (originally 2002)

SIDE A:
01. Attack Of The Ghost Riders
02. Veronica Fever
03. Do You Believe Her
04. Chains

SIDE B:
01. Cops On Our Tail
02. My Tornado
03. Bowels Of The Beast
04. Beat City

Lou Reed - Rock 'N' Roll Animal [12", LP]

Today is a sad day. News just broke that LOU REED died, at the age of 71.

Having become a massive David Bowie fan when i was a teenager, i first got to know Reed from the stuff that Bowie did for him (producing Transformer together with Mick Ronson, for example) and the songs that Bowie covered (most notably White Light/White Heat during his Ziggy Stardust period). So out of curiosity i started to listen to the man's work. First Transformer, then i discovered Berlin, and then the whole Velvet Underground catalogue. Amazing stuff! I still rank many Velvet Undergound songs as some of the best pop/rock songs ever written, and Lou Reed was the writer of nearly all of them. His solo work rarely reaches the same level as the Velvets did, to my opinion at least, but still i love albums like Berlin and New York. Also Transformer, The Blue Mask, Magic And Loss and the phenomenal Songs For Drella (with John Cale) are albums that mean a lot to me. So does this particular album, ROCK 'N' ROLL ANIMAL. It's a live album from 1974 and the songs are mostly from his Velvet Underground period. It only has five songs on it, but these are definitely the best live versions i've ever heard of every single one of them, and the total length of the album is still over 40 minutes. Especially the guitar work is excellent. Some live albums are true classics. This is one of those.
Funny detail: the musicians on this album would later join Alice Cooper when he had parted ways with his old band members and went on to release Welcome To My Nightmare. Producer Bob Ezrin introduced them.
As for myself, i've seen Lou Reed perform live twice. First during his Magic And Loss tour in 1992, and a year later with the Velvet Underground during their MCMXCIII reunion tour. And as of today, it's clear that there will definitely be no further chance. Truly sad.

I own two different editions of this great album. The picture above is from an original pressing from 1974. Below, it's a reissue from 2012, when Music On Vinyl released it as a special Record Store Day release, remastered and on 180 grams vinyl. Even sounds better than it ever did before.

 

Label: RCA / Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: APL1-0472 / MOVLP 529
Year of release: 1974 / 2012

SIDE A:
01. Intro/Sweet Jane
02. Heroin

SIDE B:
01. White Light/White Heat
02. Lady Day
03. Rock 'n' Roll

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

Mad Season - Above [12", 2LP]

The Music On Vinyl label released more than a dozen very nice Record Store Day releases this year, but their reissue of ABOVE by MAD SEASON was definitely the must-buy for any grunge-appreciating vinyl freak this time around. A one-off pressing of only 5000 copies, and good timing because only a little earlier, the Deluxe CD reissue had seen the light of day. The previously unreleased bonus tracks on that edition are also featured on this double LP. Three of them would have originally appeared on the band's second album, which never got off the ground because of Layne Staley's condition that got worse and worse. So these finished versions on this album are now sung by Mark Lanegan. Totally fits with the band's status as grunge supergroup, of course. And like we're used from MOV, everything sounds just fantastic. A true classic!
Funny detail: while other current MOV releases have catalogue numbers in the 800's, this one has the low number 169. That's because a reissue of this album was already scheduled years ago, but it got postponed and postponed, and eventually withdrawn. The catalogue number however was never used. Now it's here after all, and even in an expanded edition. So definitely worth the wait, looking back at it.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 169
Year of release: 2013 (originally: 1995)

SIDE A:
01. Wake Up
02. X-Ray Mind
03. River Of Deceit

SIDE B:
01. I'm Above
02. Artificial Red
03. Lifeless Dead
04. I Don't Know Anything

SIDE C:
01. Long Gone Day
02. November Hotel
03. All Alone
04. Interlude
05. Locomotive

SIDE D:
01. Black Book Of Fear
02.Slip Away
03. I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier (remix)

Slowdive - Pygmalion [12", LP]

Only a few months ago i wrote about the original pressing on Creation of this album, and that it was the only one of the three SLOWDIVE albums that had not been reissued yet by Music On Vinyl. They did a mighty fine job with Just For A Day and Souvlaki earlier. But the time has come now: they are completing the trilogy and here we have the reissue of PYGMALION. It's an exact replica of the original edition from 1995 when it comes to the sleeve (plain grey paperboard). A small difference in detail i noticed, however: on the original, the tracklisting on the back of the sleeve simply runs from 1 to 9 without specifying the tracks per side. On this reissue the sides are specified. No idea why that was done, but it must have had a reason.
But of course the biggest difference is that these are numbered to 1000 copies (with stylish embossed golden digits at the bottom left corner of the back side) and that they're on coloured vinyl. It's white, with a slight touch of green mixed through it. Looks really nice.


Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 604
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Rutti
02. Crazy For You
03. Miranda
04. Trellisaze

SIDE B:
01. Cello
02. J's Heaven
03. Visions Of LA
04. Blue Skied An' Clear
05. All Of Us

Japan - Quiet Life [12", 3LP]

QUIET LIFE by JAPAN is really a great album. It was released in 1979 and it captures the sound of their transition period, from being a somewhat punky glam rock band to an arty and experimental atmospheric New Romantic outfit. The album has danceable new wave synth tracks (like the title track, produced by Giorgio Moroder) but also tracks like Despair that would not be misplaced if they'd have appeared on Gentlemen Take Polaroids, the album's successor. Plus it has this great cover version of All Tomorrow's Parties of course (originally by the Velvet Underground). The picture above is my copy of the original 1979 pressing on Hansa.

The album has been re-pressed until 1983. Since the introduction of the CD, there was no vinyl reissue. But finally, almost 30 years after the last reissue of the album on vinyl, Music On Vinyl released a version that has not only the album but also 2 extra discs, 15 tracks, of bonus material. B-sides of singles, remixes and special extended versions. Plus a replica of the Japanese insert with liner notes is included. All of this on audiophile heavy vinyl; and to top it off, the first 1000 copies were on red vinyl and numbered.  It's one of my favourite reissues on Music On Vinyl, i can say.

Quiet Life is also the album where you'll hear the distinctive sound of Mick Karn's fretless bass at first. I got to learn them from their later (and last studio-) album Tin Drum, and this pretty unique sound, at least in pop music, was a big part of what appealed to me in their sound. Sadly a few weeks before this vinyl reissue came out, he died from cancer. Both on the original as on the reissue, he is featured on the back cover of the album. Music On Vinyl did a great job in honouring him by putting this text "In memory of Mick Karn (July 24 1958 - January 4 2011)" right underneath his portrait. It was a last-minute adaption in the artwork because the album was already scheduled for February 2011 and the sleeves had nearly been printed, when the news of his death reached the world.

original album:

Label: Hansa
Cat.nr.: 201.261
Year of release: 1979

SIDE A:
01. Quiet Life
02. Fall In Love With Me
03. Despair
04. In-Vogue

SIDE B:
01. Halloween
02. All Tomorrow's Parties
03. Alien
04. The Other Side Of Life


reissue:

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP176
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Quiet Life
02. Fall In Love With Me
03. Despair
04. In-Vogue

SIDE B:
01. Halloween
02. All Tomorrow's Parties
03. Alien
04. The Other Side Of Life

SIDE C:
01. Quiet Life (Extended Version)
02. Quiet Life (Original UK 7" Version)
03. European Son (12" Version)
04. I Second That Emotion (7" Version)

SIDE D:
01. Life In Tokyo (Remix)
02. Life In Tokyo (Extended Remix)
03. Life In Tokyo (Special Remix)
04. Life In Tokyo (Part 2)

SIDE E:
01. A Foreign Place
02. Quiet Life (UK 1981 7" Version)
03. All Tomorrow's Parties (7" Version)
04. Life In Tokyo Theme

SIDE F:
01. All Tomorrow's Parties (Steve Nye Extended Remix)
02. I Second That Emotion (Steve Nye Extended Remix)
03. European Son (Steve Nye Extended Remix)

Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque [12", LP]

Arguably the most sympathetic Scottish band and arguably their best album. Music On Vinyl did a great job re-releasing the long out-of-press BANDWAGONESQUE album by TEENAGE FANCLUB last year. It's one of those gems that Creation originally released in the early nineties. A pleasant change from all those shoegaze masterpieces the label put out, Bandwagonesque is right up there with the best things bands like Big Star and Dinosaur Jr. ever released.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP336
Year of release: 2011 (originally 1991)

SIDE A:
01. The Concept
02. Satan
03. December
04. What You Do To Me
05. I Don't KNow
06. Star Sign

SIDE B:
01. Metal Baby
02. Pet Rock
03. Sidewinder
04. Alcoholiday
05. Guiding Star
06. Is This Music?

Slowdive - Souvlaki [12", LP]

Shortly after Just For A Day, Music On Vinyl reissued SLOWDIVE's SOUVLAKI album as well in 2011. And just like the originals of its predecessor, the original Creation releases of this album go for a lot of money.
Probably because of that, a while before before the Music On Vinyl edition was released in Europe, an inferior quality bootleg was released in the USA. That version might have a few bonus tracks, but this straight copy from the original album is of superb audiophile quality. Very happy that Music On Vinyl released this album.

This is how the insert looks like:



Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 202
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Alison
02. Machine Gun
03. 40 Days
04. Sing
05. Here She Comes

SIDE B:
01. Souvlaki Space Station
02. When The Sun Hits
03. Altogether
04. Melon Yellow
05. Dagger

Slowdive - Just For A Day [12", LP]

JUST FOR A DAY was SLOWDIVE's first full length album. The original release on Creation Records from 1991 is pretty expensive these days. Luckily, the Music On Vinyl label decided to reissue this great dreampop classic in 2011.
Brilliant quality, 180gram audiophile vinyl. One of my favourite albums from the nineties for sure; i fell in love with this band when i first saw their video of Catch The Breeze (from this album) on MTV's 120 Minutes.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 354
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Spanish Air
02. Celia's Dream
03. Catch The Breeze
04. Ballad Of Sister Sue
05. Erik's Song

SIDE B:
01. Waves
02. Brighter
03. The Sandman
04. Primal

Alice In Chains - Jar Of Flies/Sap [12", 2LP, Limited Edition]

ALICE IN CHAINS' vinyl double album JAR OF FLIES/SAP was originally released in 1994 on Columbia. The Sap EP had been out in 1992 on CD and simultaneously with the CD release of the Jar Of Flies EP in 1994, this 2LP was released.
Just like that limited pressing, the reissue by Music On Vinyl from 2010 has an orange side A/B and a blue side C/D, while side CD is etched. The biggest difference is that the original pressing had used the band's name logo for the etching, while this re-press has a tribal sun logo.
There were 2000 copies coloured vinyl made by Music On Vinyl; later re-pressings are on black vinyl.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 086
Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:
01. Rotten Apple
02. Nutshell
03. I Stay Away
04. No Excuses
05. Whale & Wasp

SIDE B:
01. Don't Follow
02. Swing On This

SIDE C:
01. Brother
02. Got Me Wrong
03. Right Turn
04. Am I Inside
05. (Untitled Bonus Track)

SIDE D:
etching