The Jesus And Mary Chain - Reverence [12"]

The first single taken from THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN's Honey's Dead album in 1992 was REVERENCE. Especially the heavily distorted Radio Mix is totally worth purchasing this maxi, if you'd ever come across it. A Place To Bury Strangers eat your heart out.

Label: Blanco Y Negro
Cat.nr.: NEG 55T
Year of release: 1992

SIDE A:
01. Reverence
02. Heat

SIDE B:
01. Reverence (Radio Mix)
02. Guitarman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Knife - Silent Shout [12"]

THE KNIFE will be touring again this spring/summer and in April their new album Shaking The Habitual will be out. Can't wait for that. The Knife is one of the most innovative electronic acts these days. SILENT SHOUT is of course the title track of their previous album, if i don't count the Tomorrow, In A Year release that they did with Mt.Sims and Planningtorock and which disappointed me quite a bit to be honest. There are 3 remixes plus the original version on this 12". The first remix is the best one, to my personal taste.

Label: Rabid Records
Cat.nr.: VVR5038146
Year of release: 2006

SIDE A:
01. Silent Shout (Williams Acidic Circuits Remix)
02. Silent Shout (Original Version)

SIDE B:
01. Silent Shout (Troy Pierce Barado En Locombia Mix)
02. Silent Shout (Shinedoe Remix)

Mogwai - Les Revenants EP [10"]

In little less than a month from now, MOGWAI will be releasing the full length soundtrack to LES REVENANTS, a French tv series about a mountain village that's visited by deceased inhabitants. This 4 track EP is a taste of what to come and i must say i'm pretty curious now to hear the whole album. Wizard Motor is a typical Mogwai song and at the same time the loudest of the 4:  Soup is an ambient piece, The Huts a spheric and spooky piano-based theme and This Messiah Needs Watching a quiet beauty. Apparently the band first created the score (based on script fragments) and the crew used that while shooting the film. Interesting!

Label: Rock Action
Cat.nr.: ROCKACT73
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Wizard Motor
02. Soup

SIDE B:
01. The Huts (Version)
02. This Messiah Needs Watching (Version)

Kraftwerk - The Man Machine [12", LP, Picture Disc]

Don't know really what to write about this classic KRAFTWERK album. Everything's been written about THE MAN MACHINE a thousand times already. An album way ahead of its time (like all Kraftwerk albums of course). The version i have is a picture disc, and not an official one as it turned out after doing some research. The label is apparently El Grande Oro Casa De Musica (although i couldn't find it mentioned anywhere on the album), a UK-based bootleg label specialized in picture discs.

Label: El Grande Oro Casa De Musica
Cat.nr.: CGO 164/1994
Year of release: ? (originally: 1978)

SIDE A:
01. The Robots
02. Spacelab
03. Metropolis

SIDE B:
01. The Model
02. Neon Lights
03. The Man Machine

School Of Seven Bells - My Cabal [12"]

MY CABAL is a 12" by SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS from a few years ago. Besides the title song that's taken from their debut album Alpinisms, there are some pretty good remixes (by Justin Broadrick a.k.a. Jesu and Mark Clifford of Seefeel fame) and an ambient instrumental track called My Camarilla on this EP.

Label: Ghostly International
Cat.nr.: GI-86
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. My Cabal
02. My Camarilla

SIDE B:
01. Chain (Seefeel Extraction)
02. Face To Face On High Places (Jesu Remix)
03. Face To Face On High Places (Jesu Remix - Instrumental Version)

Fever Ray - When I Grow Up [12"]

One of the singles taken from FEVER RAY's debut album. WHEN I GROW UP is presented here in a barely recognisable house version (A1), a laid back tropical remix (A2) and an ambient piece of over 16 minutes (B1). The D. Lissvik version is obviously my favourite one, but i had expected a little more to be honest of this maxi of my favourite track of the album.

Label: Rabid Records
Cat.nr.: RABID040T
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. When I Grow Up (Van Rivers Dark Sails On The Horizon Mix)
02. When I Grow Up (D. Lissvik)

SIDE B:
01. Memories From When I Grow Up (Remembered By The Subliminal Kid)

Esben And The Witch - Wash The Sins Not Only The Face [12", LP, Bonus 7"]

Oh, i love this album. Been a fan of ESBEN AND THE WITCH ever since i came across a review of their demo and checked some songs online out of curiosity. Violet Cries was one of the best albums of 2011. Their "nightmare pop" has become less claustrophobic on this new album: it's more transparent, lighter, more accessible; better produced if you like. But all the time there's this haunting, dark and icy vibe that's so typical for this band. The track Despair is quite illustrating for that matter. This uptempo dreamy song starts off pretty gently, until dissonant synths kick in. It's one of my favourite songs on this album and i can now already tell that WASH THE SINS NOT ONLY THE FACE will definitely be in my album top 10 list of 2013. The album comes out this Monday, and the LP is available as limited edition. That version is the one i have; it has a bonus 7" and includes the album on CD as well. Better than a download to my opinion! The bonus 7" comes in a picture sleeve and features an excellent remix of Deathwaltz (produced by Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio), plus a non-album song called Trail.

Label: Matador
Cat.nr.: OLE9910
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Iceland Spar
02. Slow Wave
03. When That Head Splits
04. Shimmering
05. Deathwaltz

SIDE B:
01. Yellow Wood
02. Despair
03. Putting Down The Prey
04. The Fall Of Glorieta Mountain
05. Smashed To Pieces In The Still Of The Night


Bonus 7":

Label: Matador
Cat.nr.: OLE1013
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Trail

SIDE B:
01. Deathwaltz (Rework, Produced by David Andrew Sitek)

Belly - Seal My Fate [7"]

A completely see-through clear vinyl single by BELLY that i ran into at the latest record fair in Utrecht. Still originally sealed, so that was nice. SEAL MY FATE was taken from the King album, just as the original version of Judas My Heart which can be found here as a live version on the B-side. Broken is not featured on any album. A funny thing about this 7" is that it plays at 45RPM on the A-side, and 33RPM on the B-side. It's a limited numbered edition but i've no idea how many copies were made. At least 2057 because that's the number i have :)

Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: AD 5007
Year of release: 1995

SIDE A:
01. Seal My Fate (Album version)

SIDE B:
01. Broken (Previously Unreleased)
02. Judas My Heart (Live)

The Knife - You Take My Breath Away [12"]

Looking really forward to the new album Shaking The Habitual by THE KNIFE, scheduled for April this year. Definitely one of my favourite electronic acts these days. This 12" maxi of YOU TAKE MY BREATH AWAY -a song from their Deep Cuts album- i've bought at the latest Utrecht recordfair in November. The remixes are decent dancefloor tunes; the MHC one being my favourite.

Label: Rabid Records
Cat.nr.: RABIDT023
Year of release: 2005

SIDE A:
01. You Take My Breath Away (Mylo Mix)
02. You Take My Breath Away (Original)

SIDE B:
01. You Take My Breath Away (Puppetmasters Club Remix)
02. You Take My Breath Away (MHC Remix)

Mmoss - Only Children [12", LP]

This album by MMOSS would've ended up in my Finest of 2012 if i would've bought it earlier than last week. ONLY CHILDREN is such a great LP. A true psychedelic masterpiece with songs that sound like they could've been on a long lost krautrock, Syd Barrett or Byrds album.

Label: Trouble In Mind
Cat.nr.: TIM043
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Spoiled Sun
02. Okay
03. War Sux
04. Hands

SIDE B:
01. Marty Hills
02. Another Day
03. Another Dream
04. Wander
05. Spoiled Son

Toy - Make It Mine [12"]

This new MAKE IT MINE 12" by TOY has a really good cover version of Velvet Underground's What Goes On on it (a BBC6 Music Session recording). It was the reason why i bought this maxi.
The remix by Richard Fearless (of Death In Vegas fame) of the instrumental track Drifting Deeper is pretty cool as well, however the "song" Live Electronics is plain rubbish. Silly fooling around with electronic effects might be funny in the practice room but it's really not necessary to release this. Ah well, that cover alone is well worth the purchase.

Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVN252
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Make It Mine (Radio Mix)
02. Drifting Deeper (Richard Fearless Remix)

SIDE B:
01. Live Electronics
02. What Goes On (BBC6 Radio Session)