The Fine Vinyl's Finest Of 2012

The last day of the year, so time for a round-up of 2012's best albums.

I think that 2012 has been a good year in music. Some really great albums were released this year. Both albums by bands that've been around for a while, and debut full lengths by new bands. So it wasn't too hard for me to come up with a shortlist for the 10 best albums of the year. Before i knew it, i had written down about 20 albums. Some of the albums on that list that didn't end up in my Top 10 are for example, in no particular order: The Laughing Stalk by Woven Hand, People Now People by Wooden Constructions, True by Violens, Spine Hits by Sleepy Sun, Oceania by Smashing Pumpkins and Worship by A Place To Bury Strangers. All very good albums that i still enjoy giving a spin on my record player.

But which 10 albums are my personal favourites of 2012? The Fine Vinyl's Finest of 2012, so to say? Here's the vinyl countdown:

10. PIPE DREAMS by WHIRR

09. GLITTER by DEAD MELLOTRON

08. OBSERVATOR by THE RAVEONETTES

07. MAUVE by RINGO DEATHSTARR

06. MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER by MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER

05. GHOSTORY by SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS

04. COEXIST by THE XX

03. TOY by TOY

02. LONERISM by TAME IMPALA

01. OSHIN by DIIV

It was a pretty hard choice what was going to be number 1 and 2 on my list, but i made up my mind: DIIV made the best album of the year. An album that i can hear over and over, without getting bored of it. On the other hand, that counts for all other albums in this Top 10. Like said, 2012 was a great year in music :)

Bossk - .1 & .2 [12", 2LP]

This release on Garden Of Exile is actually a reissue, in that it combines two EP's (.1 and .2) that had previously been released on CD only. I've seen BOSSK live once (supporting Textures) and was pretty impressed at the time, so that's why i decided to buy this album when it came out. It's pretty good stuff. While .1 is more strictly post-metal throughout, .2 has some sludge/stoner elements. Especially the song Define has some riffs that you don't hear very often from post-metal bands. The artwork for this "compilation" album was done by Seldon Hunt, as you already might have guessed if you're only somewhat familiar with his work. Amazing how he always manages to deliver such signature photographs. They pressed 600 copies of this album: 100 on yellow/black, 200 on yellow and 300 on black. As you can see i have a yellow edition.
I thought that Bossk had split up for good some years ago, but apparently they have reformed earlier this year and are recording and playing shows again. Good news of course!

Label: Garden Of Exile Records
Cat.nr.: GOE16
Year of release: 2008

SIDE A:
01. I

SIDE B:
01. II

SIDE C:
01. Define

SIDE D:
01. Truth

Toy - Toy [12", 2LP]

One of the best albums of 2012 to my opinion, this self-titled debut album by TOY. A really cool blend of psychedelic rock, krautrock and shoegaze. It comes pretty close to what The Horrors did with their second album Primary Colours, although i like this album better. Hopefully i'll get to see them live in 2013 - that's definitely high on my wishlist.


Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVNLP94
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Colours Running Out
02. The Reasons Why
03. Dead & Gone

SIDE B:
01. Lose My Way
02. Drifting Deeper
03. Motoring

SIDE C:
01. Heart Skips A Beat
02. Strange
03. Make It Mine
04. Omni

SIDE D:
01. Walk Up To Me
02. Kopter

Tomahawk - Stone Letter [7"]

It has been a bit quiet around TOMAHAWK, the band that features Mike Patton (Faith No More, Fantômas, Mr. Bungle), John Stanier (Helmet, Battles), Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard) and Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle). Their last album was from 2007 so that's 5 years already. But here's a sign of life: for Black Friday 2012 they've released this one-sided 7" single of the song STONE LETTER, which will be featured on their upcoming album Oddfellows (scheduled for January 2013). Curious to hear that album, as this single is pretty darn good. Like said it's one-sided; the B-side is etched.

Label: Ipecac
Cat.nr.: IPC 141
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Stone Letter

SIDE B:
etching

Toy - Lose My Way [7"]

LOSE MY WAY is a song taken from the awesome debut album by TOY, one of the best debut albums of 2012 as far as i'm concerned. The b-side was the actual reason for me to buy this 7" as it can't be found on the album. A nice krautrock-influenced tune and definitely worth the purchase. I hope we'll be hearing more from this band soon, now that they've released such a great album.


Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVN247
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Lose My Way

SIDE B:
01. Bright Light Shimmering Sun

Chapterhouse - Whirlpool [12", LP]

WHIRLPOOL by CHAPTERHOUSE is an album that's relatively unknown, yet a true shoegaze classic. It's got the fantastic song Pearl on it (probably their biggest hit, with Rachel Goswell of Slowdive on backing vocals) plus some other great songs such as Autosleeper and Something More (both produced by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins). There are more connections to Rachel Goswell in this band: guitar player Simon Rowe teamed up with her in Mojave 3, and Rachel's (now ex-) husband Christopher Andrews formed a duo called Cuba together with Chapterhouse drummer Ashley Bates.
I found this record for a good price at the recent record fair in Utrecht. Couldn't let it stand in the crate obviously!

Label: Dedicated
Cat.nr.: DEDLP 001
Year of release: 1991

SIDE A:
01. Breather
02. Pearl
03. Autosleeper
04. Treasure

SIDE B:
01. Falling Down
02. April
03. Guilt
04. If You Want Me
05. Something More

Boris - Attention Please [12", LP]

One of the best concerts i've seen this year was BORIS' performance at the State X New Forms Festival last weekend. They really blew me away. Pictures here.
This is quite a non-typical Boris album. ATTENTION PLEASE was released in 2011 simultaneously with the album Heavy Rocks, and whereas Heavy Rocks is pretty heavy indeed (like we're used from them), this album is electronic, danceable and very quiet at times. Also it's the first album on which guitar player Wata does all the vocals. Spoon is definitely my favourite track on this album, as it sounds like a cover a long lost My Bloody Valentine song. A nice poster, lyrics sheet and download card finish it off. Great stuff.

Label: Sargent House
Cat.nr.: SH-056
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Attention Please
02. Hope
03. Party Boy
04. See You Next Week
05. Tokyo Wonder Land

SIDE B:
01. You
02. Aileron
03. Les Paul Custom '86
04. Spoon
05. Hand In Hand

Melody's Echo Chamber - Melody's Echo Chamber [12", LP]

One of my favourite albums of this year. Melody Prochet and Kevin Parker from Tame Impala (who produced the album and played bass and drums on it) did a mighty fine job. MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER is the perfect mix of (French) seventies pop music and fuzzy retro rock of the kind that Kevin's band plays. Especially the song Crystallized could've been on Tame Impala's new Lonerism album without any problem. What's really cool is that besides a free download and a poster, the LP also includes a t-shirt transfer so you can make your own band shirt. First time i've seen that.

Label: Weird World Record Co.
Cat.nr.: WEIRD019LP
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. I Follow You
02. Crystallized
03. You Won't Be Missing That Part Of Me
04. Some Time Alone, Alone
05. Bisou Magique

SIDE B:
01. Endless Shore
02. Quand Tu Vas Rentrer?
03. Mount Hopeless
04. Snowcapped Andes Crash
05. Be Proud Of Your Kids

Sleepy Sun - Embrace [12", LP]

SLEEPY SUN's debut album EMBRACE is one of my favourite albums from 2009 (and my favourite Sleepy Sun album in general). It has a lot to do with the fact that i saw the band live at an ATP Festival that year and they were really, really good. I think White Dove is the best song on this album, with a very strong riff. Too bad that nowadays they don't have a female singer in the band, because Rachel Fannan really added something back then. Although i must say i was happily surprised when i heard this year's Spine Hits album (the first one without her), as i wrote earlier.

Label: ATP Recordings
Cat.nr.: ATPRLP33           
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. New Age
02. Lord
03. Red/Black
04. Sleepy Son

SIDE B:
01. Golden Artifact
02. White Dove
03. Snow Goddess
04. Duet With The Northern Sky

The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania [12", 2LP]

An album that's been overlooked/ignored by many people this year is OCEANIA by THE SMASHING PUMPKINS. Be it because whatever they do these days is always compared to hit albums like Siamese Dream or Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness, be it because people think that the Pumpkins aren't the Pumpkins without Iha/Chamberlin/Wretzky (as if the band's name hasn't always been a synonym for Billy Corgan, and as if the bunch of people he's gathered around him these days aren't just as talented - if not more talented), or be it because people simply didn't give it a fair chance after having tried to sit their way through the Zeitgeist album a few years earlier, and failed hopelessly doing so. I must admit, that previous album was a bit of a disappointment to me as well. This one however is certainly not!

It would be stupid if Billy would have come up with a "Siamese Dream Part 2". That's not going to happen anymore; get over it. He's nearly 20 years older than the 26 year old bloke he was when he was blowing people's brains out at summer festivals in 1993, mind you. And that's something you hear back in the music. It's more mature, if you like it or not. But it still has the magic, when you listen to songs such as Quasar and My Love Is Winter - to name but a few.

The musicians around him are good. Simple as that. Mike Byrne is an extremely talented drummer who's been playing with Billy for more than 3 years now. Nicole Fiorentino was the bass player for one of my favourite indie rock bands Veruca Salt for the past 7 years. And last but not least, Jeff Schroeder is a very talented guitar player which i heard of ever since i bought the amazingly good s/t CD by The Violet Burning in 1996. He's been playing with Billy already since 2007 so you can't really speak about the band's "new guitarist" anymore.
Funny anecdote: Jeff's been playing for years with Wayne Everett and Eric Campuzano in The Lassie Foundation, and those guys are former members of a truly great band called The Prayer Chain (and of Starflyer 59, by the way). I've seen The Prayer Chain almost every time they played in this area around '92/'93, and i know by talking to them a few times that they were massive Pumpkins fans at the time, like myself. I remember that they even had a cover of I Am One in their live set. So for some reason it never really surprised me that someone from that scene would start playing for the Pumpkins eventually. It all comes together. Now hoping for a show over here sometime soon again.


Label: Martha's Music
Cat.nr.: MM002
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Quasar
02. Panopticon
03. The Celestials
04. Violet Rays

SIDE B:
01. My Love Is Winter
02. One Diamond, One Heart
03. Pinwheels

SIDE C:
01. Oceania
02. Pale Horse
03. The Chimera

SIDE D:
01. Glissandra
02. Inkless
03. Wildflower

Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull [12", 2LP]

The way this album is packed is just fabulous. It's a sturdy hardcover book-type package, with nice artwork inside that holds two LP's. And with this album, EARTH delivers a true masterpiece. THE BEES MADE HONEY IN THE LION'S SKULL is a slow-paced instrumental double album. Nothing distorted or crazy: because of the clarity of the sound there's a serene pastoral atmosphere throughout the album. While on the other hand it's as heavy as an approaching thunderstorm. You just feel the threat of some extreme outburst being just around the corner. Love it. Great guest appearances by jazz guitar virtuoso Bill Frisell as well, by the way.
The album was pressed in three colors of which i own two. There were 3000 made of the black edition (pictured above), 1000 of the clear one (pictured below; these were for European distribution) and also 1000 on yellow/gold vinyl for mailorder only. The last song, Junkyard Priest, is a vinyl-only track.

Label: Southern Lord
Cat.nr.: SUNN90
Year of release: 2008

SIDE A:
01. Omens And Portens 1: The Driver
02. Rise To Glory

SIDE B:
01. Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine)
02. Engine Of Ruin

SIDE C:
01. Omens And Portents II: Carrion Crow
02. Hung From The Moon                                                   

SIDE D:
01. The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
02. Junkyard Priest

Asobi Seksu / Boris - Split EP [7"]

This limited split 7" by ASOBI SEKSU and fellow-Japanese BORIS was released for Black Friday 2012. Only 1000 copies were made, and the special thing about this release is that both bands cover eachother's song. Farewell (in its original form a great shoegaze/post-metal song on the Pink album by Boris) is turned into a really nice electronic dreampop tune by Asobi Seksu. But my favourite of the two is Neu Years (originally on the Citrus album by Asobi Seksu, where it was called New Years) performed by Boris. They stay pretty close to the original; maybe that's why i like it that much, as it's one of my favourite Asobi Seksu tunes.

Label: Polyvinyl / Sargent House
Cat.nr.: PRC SH 001
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. ASOBI SEKSU - Farewell

SIDE B:
01. BORIS - Neu Years

Lush - 500 (Shake Baby Shake) [7"]

The third and final single from Lovelife (and therefore the last single LUSH ever released) is 500 (SHAKE BABY SHAKE). The song has a somewhat sixties' (Beach Boys, Byrds) vibe to it and it's my favourite of the three singles. But the B-side is even better: a cover of a song originally by The Magnetic Fields called I Have The Moon. A great song and as far as i'm concerned this alone was worth buying the whole set of three singles (this one, Single Girl and Ladykillers) at the Utrecht record fair a while ago.


Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: AD 6009
Year of release: 1996

SIDE A:
01. 500 (Shake Baby Shake)

SIDE B:
01. I Have The Moon

Lush - Ladykillers [7"]

Like Single Girl and 500, LADYKILLERS is a coloured vinyl single in a clear pvc sleeve. It was released as the second single from the Lovelife album. The song is uptempo and very much britpop, and pretty different for that matter than LUSH in the early nineties (the Lush i love). But like already mentioned earlier when i wrote about the Single Girl single; a nice addition to my Lush collection. The B-side is a cover of The Rubinoos '70s powerpop classic I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (here changed into I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend, obviously).


Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: AD 6002
Year of release: 1996

SIDE A:
01. Ladykillers

SIDE B:
01. I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend

Lush - Single Girl [7"]

Not really high on my wishlist were the singles taken from the Lovelife album by LUSH (this one, Ladykillers and 500). But when i came across all three of them at the record fair in Utrecht some weeks ago - all still sealed, looking great with coloured vinyl in clear pvc sleeves, and for a price that you'd normally pay for a new 7" single anyway - i couldn't resist buying them of course.
The band's sound during the final album before they disbanded after Chris Acland's tragic death, is quite different from the shoegaze they made in the early nineties. SINGLE GIRL is pure indie rock; a catchy uptempo song that was released as the first single of the album in January 1996. Another reason for me to buy these singles was the B-sides; all three have non-album tracks that i hadn't heard before. Sweetie is a nice tune but nothing really special. So no surprises here. But cool to be able to getting closer to completing my Lush collection this way.


Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: AD 6001
Year of release: 1996

SIDE A:
01. Single Girl

SIDE B:
01. Sweetie

Lush - For Love [10"]

This is another gem i found at the Utrecht record fair a few weeks ago. The FOR LOVE EP by LUSH was one of the few i didn't have yet from their pre-Split period. It's a numbered release (my copy's #7504) and besides the title track it has 3 other tracks. Starlust appeared later on the Split album in a re-recorded version, Outdoor Miner is of course a Wire cover and Astronaut is a beautiful dreampop song.
This EP also exists as a 12" by the way, with the same tracks on it. Different cover art though.

Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: BAD D 2001
Year of release: 1991

SIDE A
01. For Love
02. Starlust

SIDE B:
01. Outdoor Miner
02. Astronaut

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

Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart [12"]

IF I HAD A HEART is one of the best tracks of FEVER RAY's debut (and only, so far) album. The 12" features two remixes. Fuck Buttons left their signature with a lengthy neurotic remix, and on the B-side there's the laidback remix by Familjen - an alias for Johan T Karlsson who did some remixes for the likes of Kent and Lykke Li.


Label: Rabid Records
Cat.nr.: RABID038T
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. If I Had A Heart (Fuck Buttons Remix)

SIDE B:
01. If I Had A Heart (Familjen Remix)

M83 - Reunion Remixes [12"]

Didn't buy many Black Friday releases this year but this was one of them: a remix EP for the REUNION track by M83. It contains four remixes; not all of them equally good, i'd have to say. Don't like the Mylo remix very much for example. Too uptempo and stressed for me. The Sei A remix is a decent tech house tune that will do great in clubs, but my favourite by far is the Naked And Famous remix. It slowly builds up to a climax with some distorted synths that make you wonder if your speakers are still OK. The Polly Scattergood remix starts off properly, before some oldschool hiphop bassline takes over and spoils the rest of the tune. As far as i'm concerned the weakest link here. But overall, a nice EP.


Label: Mute
Cat.nr.: 9548-0
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Reunion (Mylo Remix)
02. Reunion (Sei A Remix)

SIDE B:
01. Reunion (The Naked And Famous Remix)
02. Reunion (Polly Scatterhood Remix)

This Mortal Coil - It'll End In Tears [12", LP]

I ran into this LP at the record fair in Utrecht last weekend. It wasn't really on my wishlist or anything, but when i realised that i didn't have THIS MORTAL COIL's awesome version of Song To The Siren on either CD or vinyl, i decided to buy this album. IT'LL END IN TEARS is the first album by 4AD-supergroup This Mortal Coil. The band, or project i should say, consisted of members of mostly 4AD bands like Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Xmal Deutschland, Colourbox, Modern English and The Wolfgang Press. They all contribute to songs in various combinations. The album doesn't have a very consistent sound for that matter, but i really like the songs that are the product of mainly the Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins members. With the aforementioned Song To The Siren as an absolute highlight, sung by Elizabeth Fraser and accompanied by Robin Guthrie on guitar - both of Cocteau Twins fame. It is of course a cover of the Tim Buckley song, and there are more covers on the album, like Big Star and Roy Harper songs. I'm really happy i picked this album up i must say.


Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: 206 692-620
Year of release: 1984

SIDE A:
01. Kangaroo
02. Song To The Siren
03. Holocaust
04. Fyt
05. Fond Affections
06. The Last Ray

SIDE B:
01. Another Day
02. Waves Become Wings
03. Barramundi
04. Dreams Made Flesh
05. Not Me
06. A Simple Wish

My Bloody Valentine - Instrumental [7"]

As if my crate-digging best find (the You Made Me Realise EP) wasn't enough last weekend, i also ran into this 7" by MY BLOODY VALENTINE. It was a freebie with the first 5000 copies of Isn't Anything back in 1988, and has two instrumental tracks on it. The one on side A is pretty noisy, while the one on side B is pretty laidback - with a sample of Public Enemy's Security Of The First World. Two songs that can't be found on any other releases (except for bootlegs obviously, and on the recent EP's 1988-1991 CD), so you can imagine i was pretty excited when i came across this little gem.


Label: Creation Records
Cat.nr.: CREFRE 4
Year of release: 1988

SIDE A:
01. Instrumental

SIDE B:
01. Instrumental

Slowdive / Ride - She Calls / Leave Them All Behind [7"]

Another gem that was high on my wishlist and that i found in Utrecht last weekend: the split 7" single by SLOWDIVE and RIDE. It was released to promote the US tour by these bands back in 1992 (it says "limited edition - tour collectors item" in small letters on the Slowdive side of the cover) and contains SHE CALLS by Slowdive on the A-side, and LEAVE THEM ALL BEHIND (a shortened version of 4:36) by Ride on the B-side. There's cover artwork for both bands, each on one side. The Slowdive side is pictured above, and the Ride side is identical to the 12" EP for the same song:

The single comes on nice clear blue vinyl, and is marked as "promotion / not for sale" on the center label.

Label: Creation Records / EMI / Sire
Cat.nr.: PB 05468
Year of release: 1992

SIDE A:
01. SLOWDIVE - She Calls

SIDE B:
01. RIDE - Leave Them All Behind

My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise [12"]

Finally! After years of searching for this EP, i finally found it at the Utrecht recordfair last weekend. YOU MADE ME REALISE is my favourite EP by MY BLOODY VALENTINE and so far i only had these songs on CD and a bootleg LP. My best find last weekend for sure, but it was an extremely good fair overall as far as i'm concerned. Because i found 5 other releases that were on my wishlist (and some other stuff); so more about that on this blog in the next few days. Anyway, my My Bloody Valentine and Creation Records vinyl collection is steadily growing, and this is one of the crown jewels, as of now.


Label: Creation Records
Cat.nr.: CRE 055T
Year of release: 1988

SIDE A:
01. You Made Me Realise
02. Slow

SIDE B:
01. Thorn
02. Cigarette In Your Bed
03. Drive It All Over Me

TOY - Left Myself Behind [7"]

A plain generic white sleeve holds the debut single of one of the most exciting new bands of this year: TOY. The song LEFT MYSELF BEHIND is a lengthy track of nearly 8 minutes, split on this 7" over two sides (making it a Part One and a Part Two).
I rarely link to Youtube from this blog, but in this case i gladly make an exception so you can check out their cool blend of psychedelic indie rock, krautrock and shoegaze in case you don't know them yet. After all, the picture shown here is a little boring to look at as well. So here ya go.


Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVN233
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Left Myself Behind -Part One-

SIDE B:
01. Left Myself Behind -Part Two-

Iggy Pop & Zig Zags / Betty Davis - If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up [7"]

Light In The Attic Records celebrates their 10-year anniversary with a series of limited coloured 7"es, and this is one of the first of them. ZIG ZAGS have teamed up with IGGY POP for a cover of IF I'M IN LUCK I MIGHT GET PICKED UP on the A-side of this 7", while the original version by BETTY DAVIS (once Mrs. Miles Davis, for one year in the late sixties) is on the B-side. Iggy and his buddies created a great sludgy version of it, with riffs that Black Sabbath would be jealous of. But the original raw and punky funk song definitely ain't bad either, i must say.


Label: Light In The Attic
Cat.nr.: LITA 45 020
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Iggy Pop & Zig Zags - If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up

SIDE B:
01. Betty Davis - If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up

Tame Impala - Lonerism [12", 2LP]

The long-awaited follow-up to Innerspeaker, and i must say that TAME IMPALA totally lives up to the high expectations. Killer tracks like Why Won't They Talk To Me?, Feels Like We Only Go Backwards and of course the smashing Elephant make LONERISM one of the best albums of this year as far as i'm concerned.


Label: Modular
Cat.nr.: MODVL 161
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Be Above It
02. Endors Toi
03. Apocalypse Dreams

SIDE B:
01. Mind Mischief
02. Music To Walk Home By
03. Why Won't They Talk To Me?

SIDE C:
01. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
02. Keep On Lying
03. Elephant

SIDE D:
01. She Just Won't Believe Me
02. Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has BeenAnything We Could Control
03. Sun's Coming Up

John Essing ‎– Mörka Ljuset [12", LP]

OK...well, to be honest, this is not really my kind of music. Way too experimental for me. BUT... (very) late at night, after some nice glasses of whisky i must confess, this stuff gets under your skin. It's got a really spooky atmosphere every now and then, and it's just one big soundscape with no beginning and no end. JOHN ESSING is a member of Swedish band Bob Hund, and MÖRKA LJUSET is his debut solo release. I won't put this album on very often, but sometimes the time's just right for this. Metal Machine Music the jazzy/avant garde way, more or less. The soundtrack to a movie that has yet to be made.

Label: Deleted Art / Psychic Malmö
Cat.nr.: DLT040 / PSYKE010
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Skälet
02. Sista Chansen 
03. Vissa Utsikter
04. Leendet 
05. Jag Är Där

SIDE B:
01. Göm Livet
02. Den Lyssande Byn
03. Skedansiktet
04. Handen På Din Hand
05. Tvingade Nycklar
06. Vi Går Ut

Fantômas‎ – Delìrium Còrdia [12", 2LP, Picture Disc]

A pretty freaky and spooky release, this DELÌRIUM CÒRDIA by FANTÔMAS (the side-project of Faith No More's Mike Patton, Slayer's Dave Lombardo, Melvins' Buzz Osborne and Mr. Bungle/Tomahawk's Trevor Dunn). It consists of one long track of nearly 75 minutes. The album is like a horror movie soundtrack, with soundscapes, ambient, drone, metal and eerie noise outbursts. The central theme is "surgery without anesthesia" apparently; hence the bloody artwork (consisting of real surgery pictures). Both the music and the artwork are not really for the faint-hearted.

Label: Ipecac
Cat.nr.: IPC45
Year of release: 2004


SIDE A:
01. Untitled

SIDE B:
01. Untiled

SIDE C:
01. Untitled

SIDE D:
-

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

Noticed that i hadn't written about SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS' debut album ALPINISMS yet, while at least 10 other releases by this band have been in the spotlight on this blog already. I could write a lengthy review here - but anyone who's only just slightly familiar with this band knows that this is, simply put, a great album. The beautiful Half Asleep is the first ever song i heard of them, and ever since i saw them at an ATP Festival back in 2009 i'm a big fan.


Label: Full Time Hobby
Cat.nr.: FTH068LP
Year of release: 2008

SIDE A:
01. Iamundernodisguise
02. Face To Face On High Places
03. Half Asleep
04. Wired For Light
05. For Kalaja Mari
06. White Elephant Coat

SIDE B:
01. Connjur
02. Sempiternal/Amaranth
03. Chain
04. Prince Of Peace
05. My Cabal

The Jesus And Mary Chain - April Skies [12"]

APRIL SKIES is a single that's taken from the Darklands album by THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN. Not really one of my favourite tracks of this band, and i like the B-sides better for that matter. Kill Surf City is a cool song based on the Jan & Dean classic Surf City, but my favourite is Who Do You Love -  a pretty rad version of the Bo Diddley song.


Label: Blanco Y Negro
Cat.nr.: NEG 24T
Year of release: 1987

SIDE A:
01. April Skies (Long Version)

SIDE B:
01. Kill Surf City
02. Who Do You Love

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

Various Artists - Animal Liberation [12", LP]

Came across this compilation LP a few months ago dirt cheap; i think i paid just one Euro or so. Purely bought it for the Smiths live song. The rest of the artists ain't really my cup of tea. But hey, the royalties for this ANIMAL LIBERATION album went to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) so all for the good cause, back in the days. Al Jourgensen from Ministry did the spoken word segments by the way.


Label: Wax Trax! Records
Cat.nr.: WAX 025
Year of release: 1987

SIDE A:
01. International Intro
02. NINA HAGEN / LENE LOVICH - Don't Kill The Animals
03. Civil Disobedience Is Defense
04. ATTRITION - Monkey In A Bin
05. SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES - Skin
06. CHRIS & COSEY - Silent Cry
07. Lab Dialogue
08. LENE LOVICH - Supernature

SIDE B:
01. Life Community
02. COLOURFIELD - Cruel Circus
03. LUC VAN ACKER - Hunter
04. SHRIEKBACK - Hanging Fire
05. Meat Farmer
06. HOWARD JONES - Assault & Battery
07. THE SMITHS - Meat Is Murder (live)

Nadja - Radiance Of Shadows [12", 2LP]

I mentioned this LP earlier when i wrote about the Truth Becomes Death album by NADJA. RADIANCE OF SHADOWS, originally released on CD in 2007, is a great album as well. It features three lengthy tracks and each one takes one side of this double-LP. The last side shows a beautiful etching of a landscape.
Dark, heavy, atmospheric, noisy... just a few words that come to mind when you'd have to describe Nadja's music. It's not something i'm playing every day, but every now and then it's just a brilliant record to put on. Same as with the other album in this series: 750 made in total. I've got a copy on black of the 550 they made of that color, while also 200 copies on white exist.

Label: Conspiracy Records
Cat.nr.: CORE 064
Year of release: 2008

SIDE A:
01. Now I Am Become Death The Destroyer Of Worlds

SIDE B:
01. I Have Tasted The Fire Inside Your Mouth

SIDE C:
01. Radiance Of Shadows

SIDE D:
etching

The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream [12", LP]

PHOSPHENE DREAM is another masterpiece by THE BLACK ANGELS. It's their last full length album to date (time for a new one soon?). And once again not only great music-wise, but also when it comes to the artwork. They really know how to make excellent quality albums. A sturdy cardboard gatefold cover -although it's a 1LP- with an attached booklet in the middle, containing lyrics and psychedelic artwork. The combination of blue/red works out really well for that matter.

Label: Blue Horizon Ventures
Cat.nr.: BHV-16780-1
Year of release: 2010           

SIDE A:
01. Bad Vibrations
02. Haunting At 1300 McKinley
03. Yellow Elevator #2
04. Sunday Afternoon
05. River Of Blood

SIDE B:
01. Entrance Song
02. Phosphene Dream
03. True Believers
04. Telephone
05. The Sniper

Tame Impala - Solitude Is Bliss [12"]

One of the best tracks of TAME IMPALA's Innerspeaker, SOLITUDE IS BLISS, got released on a 12" maxi single at the time. It features 3 spaced out remixes of which the Midnight Juggernauts Remix is one that i still put on quite regularly.


Label: Modular
Cat.nr.: MODVL 127
Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:
01. Solitude Is Bliss
02. Solitude Is Bliss - Canyons 'Dow Jones' Mix

SIDE B:
01. Solitude Is Bliss - Midnight Juggernauts Remix
02. Solitude Is Bliss - Mickey Moonlight T.A.M. Remix

The Flaming Lips - The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends [12", 2LP]

Originally released on vinyl for Record Store Day 2012, THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS got a regular vinyl release later this year in the autumn. Although not looking really regular, as it is a fine piece of art, both the artwork and the vinyls themselves. The album contains collaborations between The Flaming Lips and various artists such as Bon Iver, Neon Indian, Nick Cave, Tame Impala and even Erykah Badu. Every side of this 2LP ends with an "eternal groove", that goes on and on and on if you don't turn it off yourself. Have never seen the original RSD version so i wouldn't know for the artwork, but there's at least one difference when it comes to the music on the album: the song I Don't Want You To Die, with Chris Martin, is replaced by Tasered And Maced with Aaron Behrens. That song had also been replacing it on the CD and digital version already, which came out in June. Not a fan of mr. Martin so i couldn't care less to be honest.


Label: Bella Union
Cat.nr.: BELLAV351
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. 2012 (You Must Be Upgraded) (featuring Ke$ha, Biz Markie & Hour Of The Time Majesty 12)
02. Ashes In The Air (featuring Bon Iver)
03. Helping The Retarded To Know God (featuring Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros)

SIDE B:
01. Supermoon Made Me Want To Pee (featuring Prefuse 73)
02. Children Of The Moon (featuring Tame Impala)
03. That Ain't My Trip (featuring Jim James of My Morning Jacket)
04. You, Man? Human??? (featuring Nick Cave)

SIDE C:
01. I'm Working At NASA On Acid (featuring Lightning Bolt)
02. Do It! (featuring Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band)
03. Is David Bowie Dying? (featuring Neon Indian)

SIDE D:
01. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (featuring Erykah Badu)
02. Girl, You're So Weird (featurning New Fumes)
03. Tasered And Maced (featuring Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory)
                                                  

Slowdive - 5 EP (In Mind Remixes) [12"]

This 5 EP (IN MIND REMIXES) was released late 1993 when the Souvlaki album was out already, and gives a perfect indication that their next album Pygmalion would not just be simply more of the same. The original version of this track, electronic ambient shoegaze with a pulsating beat, was released on a 12" that came out a week before this one. These two remixes by Bandulu and Reload are probably the most off from their other work and the most extreme that SLOWDIVE ever released.


Label: Creation Records
Cat.nr.: CRE 157TR
Year of release: 1993

SIDE A:
01 In Mind - Bandulu Remix (Out Mind)

SIDE B:
01. In Mind - Reload Remix (The 147 Take)

Serena-Maneesh - Montrose Cadaveric [7"]

The tracks on this 7" (33 rpm) never made it to any of their LP's. Oxygen Please is my favourite of the two, being more shoegaze, while the A-side MONTROSE CADAVERIC leans more towards garage rock. SERENA-MANEESH is a band i really would like to see perform live some day, although it's been awfully quiet from their side for the past few years - so i actually hope they do still exist.

Label: Bad Afro Records
Cat.nr.: FRO048
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. Montrose Cadaveric (Revivise)

SIDE B:
01. Oxygen Please (Revisited)

Jesu - Opiate Sun [12"]

OPIATE SUN is another fine release by JESU, Justin Broadrick's metal-shoegaze outfit. The 4 tracks on this EP could've been on any other Jesu release, as their music doesn't vary much from release to release, but yet this band always manages to capture me with their massive sound. I've seen them play live twice, and it was pretty impressive. This EP was pressed only once in a quantity of 2000 copies, of which 500 were black. That's the version i have.


Label: Aural Exploits
Cat.nr.: AELP3002
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. Losing Streak
02. Opiate Sun

SIDE B:
01. Deflated
02. Morning Light