Venera 4 - Deaf Hearts EP [12"]

As i've mentioned a few weeks ago when i wrote about their Seabed Terror single, i only learned about VENERA 4 earlier this year. A great band from Paris with a sound that's rooted in the early nineties. I wrote that Curve was one of the bands that came to mind when i heard their song Sun, and with Home on this DEAF HEARTS EP that's the case once again. It's the howling guitars that are causing this, i'm sure. Deaf Heartbeats vaguely reminds me of the band Crocodiles, and just like on the 7", it's the B-side here that has the best song on it. Haunted Summer is a brilliant slow-paced tune that preferably should be listened to at high volume to hear its full magnificence. Definitely one of the best shoegaze songs of the past years, as far as i'm concerned. The EP is limited to 300 copies, hand-numbered on a paper insert.

Label: Requiem Pour Un Twister
Cat.nr.: RPUT5
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Deaf Heartbeats
02. Home
03. Blood
04. Ash & Gray

SIDE B:
01. Haunted Summer

Red Sparowes - At The Soundless Dawn [12", 2LP]

AT THE SOUNDLESS DAWN is the debut album by RED SPAROWES. Instrumental post-metal at its best; slow-paced and epic. Their second, Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun is still my favourite, but this one's great too. The underlying theme to this album is the so-called sixth extinction: the extinction of species caused by humans. Heavy stuff. The version i have of this album is the third pressing (500 made) on white/blue "cloudy sky" vinyl. Looks gorgeous.

Label: Robotic Empire
Cat.nr.: ROBO-043
Year of release: 2005

SIDE A:
01. Alone And Unaware, The Landscape Was Transformed In Front Of Our Eyes
02. Buildings Began To Stretch Wide Across The Sky, And The Air Filled With A Reddish Glow

SIDE B:
01. The Soundless Dawn Came Alive As Cities Began To Mark The Horizon
02. Mechanical Sounds Cascaded Through The City Walls And Everyone Reveled In Their Ignorance

SIDE C:
01. A Brief Moment Of Clarity Broke Through The Deafening Hum, But It Was Too Late
02. Our Happiest Days Slowly Began To Turn Into Dust

SIDE D:
01. The Sixth Extinction Crept Up Slowly, Like Sunlight Through The Shutters, As We Looked Back In Regret   

Be Forest - Earthbeat [12", LP]

For some reason i completely missed this great album last year when it came out, and only discovered it last January. BE FOREST is a band from Italy and they play a seductive, rhythmic type of music. Kind of a mix between the XX, Esben And The Witch and Warpaint. It's also got some post-punk (Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen) influences. While the percussive rhythms seem to derive from world music, the ethereal vocals definitely make this band fit into the dreampop category. Be Forest creates a very distinctive sound for that matter and EARTHBEAT is a very pleasant album from start to finish. The day i'm writing this, they embark on a European tour for the next two and half weeks, and they'll be playing Amsterdam so i'll make sure i'm gonna see them. Stoked for that!

Label: We Were Never Being Boring
Cat.nr.: WWNBB#51
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Totem
02. Captured Heart
03. Lost Boy
04. Ghost Dance
05. Airwaves

SIDE B:
01. Totem II
02. Colours
03. Sparkle
04. Hideway

The Belltower - Popdropper [12", LP, Bonus 7", Limited Edition]

A couple of weeks ago i stumbled upon a song on Youtube by THE BELLTOWER. I must admit in the past i only vaguely had heard about this band, probably had seen some videos by them on MTV's "120 Minutes" back in the days, but that's about it. But now it got me curious and i started to check out more music by them, which resulted a few hours later in buying the only full length album they ever made: POPDROPPER. I was lucky because not only was there someone selling a still originally sealed copy (from 1992, mind you!) on Discogs, but also was it the limited edition with a bonus 7". So i've got an old yet brand new copy of the album now, in mint condition. Extremely happy with that, as you can imagine. There were 2000 numbered copies made.
The Belltower might not be very wellknown, at least not over here on mainland Europe, but their history is pretty interesting. The band was originally from New York, but they moved to London in 1990. Over there they recorded their debut EP Exploration Day, produced by Terry Bickers of House Of Love. After two more singles, Popdropper was released. Not long after that, the band moved back to the USA. When they split up in 1996, Jody Porter joined Fountains Of Wayne. Britta Phillips first joined Ultrababyfat and later the band Luna. After that last band broke up in 2005, she formed a duo with her former Luna bandmate and later husband Dean Wareham (who used to play in Galaxie 500 before starting Luna): Dean & Britta.
The music that The Belltower made was catchy indie rock. Not strictly shoegaze, but definitely with some shoegaze influences. Think of some mix between The Sundays and Swervedriver. I'm particularly happy to have that bonus 7" as well, because both Sea Of Smiles and Overseer are pretty cool songs, in the same vein as the rest of the material on this excellent album. Actually Overseer might be my favourite The Belltower song. I just love "discoveries" like this :)

Label: Ultimate
Cat.nr.: TOPP LP002s
Year of release: 1992

SIDE A: 
01. Grounded
02. In Hollow
03. One Dimensional
04. Slipstream
05. Too Late

SIDE B:
01. Outshine The Sun
02. Flight
03. Eyes On The Time
04. rawl
05. Everytime



Bonus single:

Label: Ultimate
Cat.nr.: free 001
Year of release: 1992

SIDE A:
01. Sea Of Smiles

SIDE B:
01. Overseer

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust [12", LP]

LUST LUST LUST is the third album by THE RAVEONETTES, and still one of my favourites by this Danish duo. Dead Sound is such a great tune for example; probably even #1 if i'd have to come up with a top 10 of Raveonettes songs. Also the sad but wonderful With My Eyes Closed and the noisy eruptions of opening song Aly, Walk With Me are some of the album's highlights. Overall, it's way less poppy than its predecessor Pretty In Black, and goes more back to their rawer sound on the Whip It On EP and the Chain Gang Of Love album (except for that it's not just written in only one key, like those two releases were). The version i have includes 3D glasses that can be used to look at the inner sleeve, so that the lyrics are floating over Sharin's and Sune's portraits. The album cover suggests 3D art as well, but that's not the case. Looking at it through those glasses only causes a headache;)

Label: Fierce Panda Records
Cat.nr.: NONG53LP
Year of release: 2008

SIDE A:
01. Aly, Walk With Me
02. Hallucinations
03. Lust
04. Dead Sound
05. Black Satin
06. Blush
07. Expelled From Love

SIDE B:
01. My Heartbeat's Dying
02. You Want The Candy
03. Blitzed [misspelled as "Blized" on the back of the sleeve]
04. Sad Transmission
05. With My Eyes Closed
06. The Beat Dies

Space Siren / Wolvon / Zea - Songs For A Dead Pilot [2x7"]

This SONGS FOR A DEAD PILOT double 7" contains the last two songs that SPACE SIREN, a noise/shoegaze band from Voorhout in the west of Holland, ever recorded. Late 2014 the band announced that founding member, guitarist and producer Corno Zwetsloot suffered from cancer: he sadly died only just over a month later. Song For A Dead Pilot (a furious noise tune) and Zachies (a gentle dissonant gem) were recorded during that last month of his life and now will remain a remembrance of Corno; a final farewell of a great musician who played an important role in the Dutch underground music scene. He recorded and produced many up and coming young bands in his Next To Jaap studios, and released some of them on his Katzwijm record label. With his death, Space Siren ended as well. It was decided to release these last two songs in a double 7" package, the second 7" being a split by WOLVON and ZEA, two acts that Corno worked with. They both cover a Space Siren song for this special occasion.

Wolvon covers the song (wrong), originally appearing on Space Sirens Double 7" released in 2010. A great version of the song, and in general Wolvon is a band you should check out in case they play a city near you. They put on a really intense live show and are one of Holland's best kept secrets when it comes to noise and indie rock.

Zea, which is a one-man project by Arnold de Boer (probably better known for his singing and guitar duties for The Ex), delivers a fabulous, rather electronic version of Who Makes Me Try?. The song originally appeared on Space Siren's first full length, Mr. Wagner, Please Give Us A Call from 2012.
This double 7" set is not only a worthy goodbye to Corno, but also a fine taste of Dutch underground noise rock.

Label: Katzwijm Records, Makkum Records, Subroutine Records
Cat.nr.: KZ013, MR14, SR063
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. SPACE SIREN - Song For A Dead Pilot

SIDE B:
01. SPACE SIREN - Zachies

SIDE C:
01. WOLVON - (wrong)

SIDE D:
01. ZEA - Who Makes Me Try?

Serena-Maneesh - #2: Abyss In B-Minor [12", LP]

Yesterday i was thinking it'd be about time that SERENA-MANEESH would release something new again. When i looked up when their last album, #2: ABYSS IN B-MINOR was released, i saw that it was 5 years ago already. How time flies! Their first album saw the light of day in 2005, so in case they are releasing an album every half decade, this year we'd see something new from Emil Nikolaisen & co. Let's hope so! This second album is overall a bit more experimental than the first one, but it's definitely in the same vein: a great mix of shoegaze, noise and psychedelic rock, creating a pretty unique and distinct sound. Definitely recommended if you're a fan of bands like My Bloody Valentine and Medicine.

Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: CAD3X07
Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:
01. Ayisha Abyss
02. I Just Want To See Your Face
02. Reprobate!
03. Melody For Jaana

SIDE B:
01. Blow Yr Brains In The Mourning Rain
02. Honeyjinx
03. D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D.
04. Magdalena (Symphony #8)