Queens Of The Stone Age - Feel Good Hit Of The Summer [10", Picture Disc]

A few hours before i'm writing this, the titles for Record Store Day 2013 have been announced. Many great releases coming up in a month from now! This picture disc by QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE was one of the highlights for me at Record Store Day 2010. Besides the party anthem FEEL GOOD HIT OF THE SUMMER it has 3 other songs, including 2 covers (songs originally by Romeo Void and The Kinks) and You're So Vague, based on Carly Simon's You're So Vain. The disc itself shows the subject of the title track. It's numbered on the inlay. My copy's # 0436, but no idea how many were made. And speaking of summer.... i could use some. But first Record Store Day 2013!

Label: Interscope
Cat.nr.: B0014119-11
Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:
01. Feel Good Hit Of The Summer
02. Never Say Never

SIDE B:
01. You're So Vague
02. Who'll Be The Next In Line

DIIV - Geist [7"]

GEIST was the third single by DIIV (then still written as Dive) before they released their awesome debut full length Oshin. The Sometime and Human singles were basically just demos put to vinyl, but this song isn't. Sounds great and could've been featured on Oshin without any problem. B-side Bambi Slaughter is a cover from an old Nirvana demo track. Not surprisingly, because the band named themselves Dive - after a Nirvana song as well.

Label: Captured Tracks
Cat.nr.: CT-154
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Geist

SIDE B:
01. Bambi Slaughter

Echo & The Bunnymen - Bring On The Dancing Horses [7"]

Recently i came across this 7" in the 1-euro crate at a secondhand shop, and i just couldn't let it lie there. Such a great dreamy and catchy tune. I've never particularly been an ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN fan but i still remember that when BRING ON THE DANCING HORSES was on the radio back in the days, i already loved it. It's not taken from any of their regular albums, but was recorded specifically for the Pretty In Pink soundtrack. It's also featured on their compilation album Songs To Learn & Sing.

Label: Korova
Cat.nr.: 248933-7
Year of release: 1985

SIDE A:
01. Bring On The Dancing Horses

SIDE B:
01. Over Your Shoulder

Fever Ray - Triangle Walks [12"]

I really hope that Karin Dreijer Andersson decides to make another album as FEVER RAY. Not that i don't like The Knife (on the contrary!), but what she did as Fever Ray was just fabulous. It won't be soon obviously, as The Knife are about to release a new album and will go on tour as well. Anyway, the Fever Ray album is so full of cool songs that almost any track would've made a great single. Only four did, and TRIANGLE WALKS is one of them. This 12" features remixes by Rex The Dog, James Rutledge and Tora Vinter. The last one is my favourite version. A great danceable club tune that could go on and on and on.

Label: Rabid Records
Cat.nr.: RABID041T
Year of release: 2009

SIDE A:
01. Triangle Walks [Rex The Dog Remix]

SIDE B:
01. Triangle Walks [James Rutledge Remix]
02. Triangle Walks [Tora Vinter Remix]

The Black Angels - Another Nice Pair [12", LP]

ANOTHER NICE PAIR is a compilation album of THE BLACK ANGELS' first two EP's (The Black Angels and the Exit EP), issued for Record Store Day 2011 in a limited run of 2500 copies on red vinyl. I didn't have those EP's so i was very happy that they re-released these songs. The band has a new album coming out soon now, so who knows they might release something for RSD13 as well. Since 2011 they've always done so: together with this compilation they also released the Phosgene Nightmare 10" EP in 2011, and in 2012 there was the Watch Out Boy 7". So fingers crossed for both a good new album and something interesting for RSD13, 'cause i can't get enough of this band.

Label: Light In The Attic
Cat.nr.: LITA 066
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Black Grease
02. The First Vietnamese War
03. Winter '68
04. Manipulation

SIDE B:
01. Surf City (Revisited)
02. Paladin's Last Stand
03. No Satisfaction
04. Black Angel Exit / Shine

Girls Names - The New Life [12", LP]

While their previous album Dead To Me has more of a surf/garage sound, THE NEW LIFE by GIRLS NAMES from Belfast is a damn fine mix of new wave, post-punk and krautrock. I must admit i hadn't heard about this band until recently, when a friend of mine from Dublin (who plays in Logikparty) said he'd be filling in on drums for them during their live shows for a while. So I've seen them live in Utrecht a couple of weeks ago for the first time -before this album had come out-, and tonight they'll be playing in Amsterdam so that's gonna be the second time. It's the last day of their European tour and tomorrow they'll be flying to NYC, playing a gig the same evening at the Cameo in Brooklyn and then 4 days SXSW. Respect for that! They're a really good live band as well, i can tell you.
The album has some great songs on it, like Hypnotic Regression, Drawing Lines and the closing song of the album; its title track. The songs remind me of The Cure, Bauhaus, Neu! and Joy Division, for example. But still very much 2013. And the artwork looks great as well. Has a bit of a Factory Records feel to it, and suits it very well for that matter. Clear transparent vinyl to top it off.

Label: Tough Love Records
Cat.nr.: TLV062
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Portrait
02. Pittura Infamante
03. Drawing Lines
04. Hypnotic Regression
05. Occultation

SIDE B:
01. A Second Skin
02. The Olympia
03. Notion
04. Projektion
05. The New Life

My Bloody Valentine - m b v [12", LP]

Saturday February 2nd was quite a memorable day. Although Kevin Shields announced a few times during the past months that the album was around the corner, nobody really knew anymore what to expect, and more important: when to expect it. But then suddenly there it was, 22 years after Loveless: the new album by MY BLOODY VALENTINE. And what an album m b v is...
You can find many reviews of this amazing album on the internet, so i won't go into too much details about the songs, other than that i absolutely love the first 3 songs which could've been on Loveless without any problem. The next 3 are excellent songs that perfectly would've fit on an album a few years after Loveless if they would've released that (showing a slightly progressed sound), and the last 3 are (as far as i'm concerned) MBV anno 2013. Track #7, the euphoric In Another Way, is probably my favorite song of the album. I can't help but hearing bagpipes when i close my eyes and listen to this song through my headphones. Awesome. Anyway, i leave the analysis of the songs to others, and will concentrate on the vinyl now. The disc itself is of great quality (180 grams!) and the album is packed in a gatefold sleeve (bonus points!) with a CD included (more bonus points!). A little disappointing is the quality of the cardboard that was used. It's really thin. I own records with inner sleeves that are thicker than this. But hey, you can't have it all. What counts for now is that MBV is back with a blast; with an album that is better than any fan would've dreamed of. The critics all agree on that, so it's not just me saying that. I can only hope this is the start of a new period in which they'll release some more great music within reasonable time, because before you know it you'll not hear from them for another 2 decades. Next mission: seeing them play live this year. Here's hoping for a show in the Netherlands anytime soon, for that matter.

Label: none
Cat.nr.: mbv lp 01
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. She Found Now
02. Only Tomorrow
03. Who Sees You
04. Is This And yes

SIDE B:
01. If I Am
02. New You
03. In Another Way
04. Nothing Is
05. Wonder 2

Night Beats - H-Bomb [7"]

On this 7", the fantastic tune H-BOMB and 3 other cool songs can be found . NIGHT BEATS is a psychedelic/garage band band from Seattle and this single is their first release, originally from 2010 (on Trouble In Mind). My copy however is a reissue on the Spanish Ayo Silver label, from 2012. There's some great stuff on this piece of vinyl. It sounds a bit like a mixture of Iggy And The Stooges and The Black Angels. And the band is a mighty fine live act as well. I've seen them a couple of months ago at the Le Guess Who festival (pics here) and i was really impressed with their energetic show.

Label: Ayo Silver
Cat.nr.: AS EP-01
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. H-Bomb
02. Shadows In The Night

SIDE B:
01. They Came In Through The Window
02. Stampede

Tame Impala - Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind? [12"]

Sometimes, remixes can be very cool and really add something to a song. Sometimes, remixes could've better not been made at all. I'm sorry to say that as far as i'm concerned that's pretty much the case with the remixes on this TAME IMPALA 12". Erol Alkan made a boring club version of the otherwise great tune WHY WON'T YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND? from the Innerspeaker album. What Pilooski did to Lucidity is slightly better, but the annoying squeaks in the beginning of the song really get on my nerves after some time. Luckily after a while they're gone and what's left is decent enough to be called a remix. Still not really my cup of tea though. Don't get me wrong: the band released some other remixes of their songs that are really cool. For example the versions on the Solitude Is Bliss EP, or of course the magnificent Rodd Rundgren remix of Elephant. But these? Nah.

Label: Modular
Cat.nr.: MODVL 139
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind? [Errol Alkan Rework]
02. Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind? [Errol Alkan Instrumental]

SIDE B:
01. Lucidity [Pilooski Remix]

The Telescopes - Precious Little [7"]

This PRECIOUS LITTLE 7" by THE TELESCOPES was the first release of the band on Creation Records, and just like the Everso EP from the same year it's not purely shoegaze that can be found on this single. B-side Never Hurt You is definitley shoegaze, but title track Precious Little is more like a psychedelic (Brit-)pop song. Cool stuff.

Label: Creation Records
Cat.nr.: CRE 081
Year of release: 1990

SIDE A:
01. Precious Little

SIDE B:
01. Never Hurt You