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