The Finest Vinyl of 2016

Even though i'm not writing that much on this blog anymore lately (due to a writer's block and lack of time), i haven't stopped buying vinyl records. On the contrary! So compared to previous years this year's The Finest Vinyl might have a few more albums listed  that i haven't posted anything about during the year. Might still do that in the future of course.

That David Bowie's ★ would end up on #1 might come as no surprise. And the fact that neo-shoegazers like Flyying Colours and Nothing are high on my list, probably neither. The rest of the list is not that predictable though.
Here they are, the 20 best albums of 2016 according to yours truly:

01. David Bowie - ★ (Blackstar) (Sony)

02. Flyying Colours - Mindfullness (Club AC30)

03. Nothing - Tired Of Tomorrow (Relapse)

04. DIIV - Is The Is Are (Captured Tracks)

05. Brian Jonestown Massacre - Third World Pyramid (A Recordings)

06. Wolf People - Ruins (Jagjaguwar)

07. The Early Years - II (Sonic Cathedral)

08. Mogwai - Atomic (Rock Action)

09. Minor Victories - Minor Victories (PIAS)

10. Amber Arcades - Fading Lines (Heavenly Recordings)

11. School Of Seven Bells - SVIIB (Full Time Hobby)

12. The Stargazer Lilies - Door To The Sun (Graveface Records)

13. Death In Vegas - Transmission (Drone)

14. Primal Scream - Chaosmosis (First International)

15. Toy - Clear Shot (Heavenly Recordings)

16. Esben And The Witch - Older Terrors (Seasons Of Mist)

17. Pinkshinyultrablast - Grandfeathered (Club AC30)

18. Aiming For Enrike - Segway Nation (Name Music)

19. The Avalanches - Wildflower (Modular/XL)

20. The Dandy Warhols - Distortland (Dine Alone)



Besides brand new albums, 2016 was also a good year for reissues.
These 5 were the best, in my eyes:

01. Lush - Origami (4AD)
Brilliant boxset with all their albums and outtakes/b-sides on vinyl. Released for RSD 2016.

02. David Bowie - Who Can I Be Now? 1974-1976 (Parlophone)
Superb boxset; includes a.o. the long lost The Gouster album. There were more great Bowie reissues in 2016, like the The Man Who Sold The World picture disc for RSD and the A Reality Tour boxset, but this was definitely the best.

03. Original Soundtrack - Lost Highway (Music On Vinyl/At The Movies)
Music of the David Lynch movie, with a.o. Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie and Smashing Pumpkins.

04. Porno For Pyros - Good God's Urge (ORG/Warner)
Long overdue, finally on vinyl! Black Friday release.

05. Life Of Agony - Soul Searching Sun (Music On Vinyl)
Also this title for the first time on vinyl. My favourite L.o.A. album.


2017 is around the corner. Who knows what that year has in store for us? There has been a lot of recent action by bands that i love. Slowdive should have an album recorded by now. Ride has been in the studio too. More studio reports have come through, from Girls Names for example. The new Dead Horse One album is ready and will be released early February. Hopefully there will be My Bloody Valentine remasters; pics of the remastering have been posted on social media. The Jesus And Mary Chain have one new song out already; album Damage And Joy comes out in March. And chronologically, the next David Bowie boxset would contain his Berlin albums. I simply can't wait!
So there's a lot to look forward to. Will it be able to top 2016?

 

Catherine Wheel - She's My Friend [12"]

Another fine EP by the amazing CATHERINE WHEEL. Besides the title track and the song Salt, which both ended up on the Ferment album the year after, this SHE'S MY FRIEND EP contains a song called Wish (of which a demo version was featured on the I Want To Touch You 12") and an otherwise unavailable song Upside Down. That one is actually now my favourite of the four tracks on this EP, and in general one of the best Catherine Wheel songs that i know. In fact that song alone was well worth the purchase.

Label: Wilde Club Records

Cat.nr.: WILDE 4

Year of release: 1991

SIDE A:

01. She's My Friend

02. Upside Down

SIDE B:

01. Wish

02. Salt

The Telescopes - To Kill A Slow Girl Walking EP [12"]

Just like The Perfect Needle EP, this TO KILL A SLOW GIRL WALKING EP is one of the earlier releases by THE TELESCOPES. It was recorded in 1989 and released in 1990, shortly before they signed to Creation Records. Just like on that other EP, this is noisy and psychedelic stuff; pretty different from their Creation period, yet pretty good!
Label: What Goes On Records
Cat.nr.: WHAT GOES 18T
Year of release: 1990

SIDE A:
01. To Kill A Slow Girl Walking
02. Treasure

SIDE B:
01. Forever Now
02. Pure Sweetest Ocean

Bleach - Killing Time [12", LP]

This KILLING TIME LP by the band BLEACH was a pleasant (and cheap) find at last year's spring record fair in Utrecht. Until then, i only had their Snag EP in my collection. And just like that 12", this LP was something i came across by coincidence. This time i was a bit more aware of course that Bleach was actually a pretty cool band, so i was curious how this LP would sound. And i must say i wasn't disappointed at all. Ten amazing songs, of which Trip & Slide and especially Surround have become my favourites. If you don't know Bleach, but do like bands such as Sugar, Adorable or Swervedriver and could imagine them with female vocals, you should definitely check them out. You won't be let down.

By the way, where the Snag EP had a side 3 and 4, this album has a side 7 and 8. Probably they continued counting the side numbers with every new release. Funny.

Label: Musidisc

Cat.nr.: 109011

Year of release: 1992

SIDE A:

01. First

02. Headless

03. Push

04. Paint My Face

05. Friends

SIDE B:

01. Fall

02. Trip & Slide

03. Shotgun

04. Surround

05. Tangle

Cocteau Twins - Love's Easy Tears [12"]

I already had the 7" version of this LOVE'S EASY TEARS single, but recently i came across the 12" as well. And since Those Eyes, That Mouth is still my favourite COCTEAU TWINS song i simply couldn't resist buying it. Loving that song to bits. There's one track extra on this 12" compared to the 7". Sigh's Smell Of Farewell is sweet tune, yet a typical B-side. Great to have this EP in my collection now.

Label: 4AD/Rough Trade

Cat.nr.: RTD 026T

Year of release: 1986

SIDE A:

01. Love's Easy Tears

02. Those Eyes, That Mouth

SIDE B:

01. Sigh's Smell Of Farewell

The Sundays - Reading, Writing And Arithmetic [12", LP]

Oh rejoice, my writer's block has ended! I completely didn't feel like writing anything for the past three months. Summer holiday, and being outside a lot because of the excellent weather, made me stay away from my pc for most of the time. I just couldn't be bothered. But tonight i was spinning READING, WRITING AND ARITHMETIC and suddenly i felt the strong urge to bring new life into this little blog of mine.

THE SUNDAYS were such a great band. I really love Harriet Wheeler's distinctive vocals. Some years ago, i bought the Can't Be Sure 12" somewhere in Ireland, but until this April i did'n't have a vinyl copy of the great album where that single came from - just the CD version. But i came across it at the Utrecht record fair for a very decent price (only 5 bucks!) so that was my chance. It's not been reissued for such a long time that secondhand copies are usually a lot more expensive.

There are so many great songs on this album. Here's Where The Story Ends, for example. Or a song that sounds like it could've been written by The Smiths: I Kicked A Boy. Also Skin & Bones and A Certain Someone are favourites. Really happy i have the LP in my collection nowadays.

Label: Rough Trade

Cat. nr.: RTD133

Year of release: 1990

SIDE A:

01. Skin & Bones

02. Here's Where The Story Ends

03. Can't Be Sure

04. I Won

05. Hideous Towns

SIDE B:

01. You're Not The Only One I Know

02. A Certain Someone

03. I Kicked A Boy

04. My Finest Hour

05. Joy

Various Artists - A Means To An End - The Music Of Joy Division [12", 2LP]

There are only a few tribute albums out there that are really worthwhile having, to my opinion. This is definitely one of them. A MEANS TO AN END is a tribute to JOY DIVISION, with some really good bands on it, doing equally good cover versions. For example, the song that opens the album is a great version of She's Lost Control by Girls Against Boys. The next one (Day Of The Lords) is by an outfit called Honeymoon Stitch, which consists of Dave Navarro, Chad Smith and Michael Angelos ( of the band Plexi). Another peculiar band is Starchildren, with their version of Isolation. It's a project by Billy Corgan, that only released this particular cover and a song on a split 7" single with the band Catherine (which was fronted by the Pumpkins' bass player D'Arcy's then husband, Kerry Brown). My favourite cover on this album however is Transmission, in a beautiful version by the band Low. Atmosphere, done by Codeine here, is a true gem as well. And Moby's version of New Dawn Fades is really nice too. It fits perfectly with what he did on his Animal Rights album, the year after.

In general, i think the first record of this double LP is the most interesting one, but the second certainly isn't bad either. A notable tune on that one for example is the cover of Warsaw by an outfit called Desert Storm, which consisted of some members of the Drag City label. It's a ferocious punk rock song, produced by Steve Albini, with an intermezzo of David Bowie's song Warszawa.

I've had this compilation on CD for many years already, but never bumped into a vinyl edition - until a few months ago at the Utrecht record fair. Very reasonably priced as well. That probably had to do with the sleeve that is slightly damaged because of a removed sticker. But the discs are in perfect condition, and that's what counts most. Happy i finally have this in my vinyl collection now as well.

Label: Hut Recordings

Cat.nr.: HUTDLP29

Year of release: 1995

SIDE A:

01. GIRLS AGAINST BOYS - She's Lost Control

02. HONEYMOON STITCH - Day Of The Lords

03. MOBY - New Dawn Fades

SIDE B:

01. LOW - Transmission

02. CODEINE - Atmosphere

03. FURTHER - Insight

04. STANTON-MIRANDA - Love Will Tear Us Apart

SIDE C:

01. STARCHILDREN - Isolation

02. KENDRA SMITH - Heart And Soul

03. VERSUS - Twenty Four Hours

SIDE D:

01. DESERT STORM - Warsaw

02. GODHEADSILO - They Walked In Line

03. FACE TO FACE - Interzone

04. TORTOISE - As You Said

Amber Arcades - Fading Lines [12", LP]

AMBER ARCADES' debut album FADING LINES saw the light of day last week. Annelotte de Graaf, an artist with a dayjob at the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service, is the mastermind behind the project. She recorded the album in NYC with the help of producer Ben Greenberg (who'd worked with Beach Fossils, a.o.) in two weeks time, after years of savings to make it happen. Musicians on the album play in bands like Quilt and Real Estate. The result is absolutely great. Ten varied but perfectly written indie-pop songs, ranging from garage pop, beat and doo-wop to dreampop and krautrock. Mostly dreamy, gentle and quiet songs. Bands that come to mind are for example Stereolab, Bettie Serveert, DIIV, Mazzy Star, the Sundays, the House Of Love and Toy. The song Turning Light is my favourite at this moment, but that might just as well change over the coming days, since i just got the album. It's an upbeat krautrock song and a bit different than the others, for that matter.
With Fading Lines, she's established herself as one of the Netherlands' finest indie artists. I'll be seeing her live in two weeks, so i really look forward to that.

Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVNLP126
Year of release: 2016

SIDE A:
01. Come With Me
02. Constant's Dream
03. Fading Lines
04. I Will Follow
05. Perpetuum Mobile

SIDE B:
01. Right Now
02. Apophenia
03. This Time
04. Turning Light
05. White Fuzz

Minor Victories - Minor Victories [12", LP]

They've been called a "super-group", due to the fact that most of the band members play in wellknown other bands (Editors, Slowdive, Mogwai). MINOR VICTORIES just released their debut album and i love it. It's absolutely gorgeous. Even though all parts were recorded separately, it's barely noticeable. Besides Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai), Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Justin Lockey (Editors) and his brother James Lockey, there are also guest appearances. The song with James Graham (from The Twilight Sad), Scattered Ashes (Song For Richard), is one of my favourite songs on the album. For You Always, a duet between Rachel Goswell and Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon, Red House Painters) is musically perhaps not the most adventurous one, but the lyrics are very personal and therefore interesting. Folk Arp is a beauty as well, and so is Breaking My Light. I'd love to see these people play live together, and they will be playing some festivals this summer, but unfortunately i can't make it to any of their shows. Bummer! Hope there will be a second chance for some club shows eventually.

Label: PIAS

Cat.nr.: PIASR885LP

Year of release: 2016

SIDE A:

01. Give Up The Ghost

02. A Hundred Ropes

03. Breaking My Light

04. Scattered Ashes (Song For Richard)

05. Folk Arp

SIDE B:

01. Cogs

02. For You Always

03. Out To Sea

04. The Thief

05. Higher Ropes

Aiming For Enrike - Segway Nation [12", LP]

Earlier this week i was in Oslo for a few days, and i went to a Lee Ranaldo concert while i was there. One of the support acts was a local band called AIMING FOR ENRIKE. Never heard of them before, but i liked them so much that after the show i decided to buy their album SEGWAY NATION, that had just been released about a month ago. It's apparently their second album. The band consists of only two people: a drummer (who also plays in the Norwegian "blackjazz" band Shining) and a guitar player (who plays in indie pop band Acres Wild). The music they make is instrumental, progressive, very rhythmic, mathematic, funky and jazzy. Pretty crazy stuff. The most accessible parts remind me a bit of Battles. The drummer is fantastic and the guitar player is all over the place with his loops and effect pedals, which are controlled both by his feet and hands. Really impressive how they pulled this off on stage. One of my favourite songs on this album is Billion Year Contract. I rarely post YouTube links on this blog, but this is something you should check out.

Label: Name Music

Cat.nr.: NAME12LP

Year of release: 2016

SIDE A:

01. Newspeak

02. Riget

03. Mad Driver

04. Billion Year Contract

05. Minitrue

06. Ushikawa

SIDE B:

01. Now Watch This Drive

02. Necrocratic Republic

03. Phonephobia

04. Segway Nation

05. Almost All Of Them

06. Nakata Johnny Walker

David Bowie - Man Of Words/Man Of Music [12", LP]

Today it's been exactly five months since DAVID BOWIE passed away.

MAN OF WORDS/MAN OF MUSIC was how the 1969 solo debut album, that was released as s/t ("David Bowie") in Europe, was commonly called in the USA because it had these words written above his name on top of the sleeve on that version. The album would be called "Space Oddity" worldwide from its reissue in 1972 on, when it got another sleeve. This particular edition on blue coloured vinyl was released exclusively for  the Groninger Museum when the David Bowie Is exhibition was there a few months ago. Only 1500 copies were made, just like there were of the other exclusive release for that exhibition: the Amsterdam 7". It's a brilliant album, and of course this limited edition is pretty dear to me. I'm happy that a reissue of the 1969 version with the european artwork was included in the recent Five Years vinyl boxset, and not this one. So now i have all 3 versions of the sleeve, since i already had the 1972 one :)

Label: Parlophone

Cat.nr.: DBISHLP 2015

Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:

01. Space Oddity

02. Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed

03. Letter To Hermione

04. Cygnet Committee

SIDE B:

01. Janine

02. An Occasional Dream

03. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud

04. God Knows I'm Good

05. Memory Of A Free Festival

David Bowie - "Heroes" [12", LP]

Today it's been exactly four months since DAVID BOWIE passed away.

"HEROES" is of course a classic. While Low is actually my favourite album from his so-called Berlin trilogy, i chose "Heroes" for this month's Bowie album feature. Because i've just come back from a few days in Berlin, and with songs like Neuköln, V-2 Schneider and of course the title track with its references to the Berlin wall, it now seemed the most obvious Bowie vinyl release in my collection for me to put in the spotlight this month.
Unfortunately i didn't have the time to see if i could book a guided tour to be shown around inside, so i just walked past the Hansa Studios where this great album was recorded. Also Low was recorded here, but not Lodger however (the third album of the "Berlin trilogy" was recorded in France and NY). Here's how the entrance hall looks (picture taken through the window) and the doorbells of the various studio rooms.

Other classic albums that were recorded at Hansa, are for example Night Time by Killing Joke, Misplaced Childhood by Marillion, Bossanova by the Pixies, Achtung Baby by U2 and of course Lust For Life and The Idiot by Iggy Pop.

Bowie shared an appartment with Iggy at Hauptstrasse 155. Obviously i had to check that out as well while i was in the area anyway. 

A few doors away from where they lived, was one of their favourite hangouts: café Anderes Ufer. Nowadays it's called Neues Ufer. Unfortunately it was closed when i was there, but apparently it's still regulary visited by many Bowie fans from all over the world. There was a Blackstar in the window, as you can see on the picture below, and looking through the window i saw a Bowie poster from his 1974 TopPop appareance (with pirate's eye patch).

Even though my Berlin visit was by no means intended as a Bowie pilgrimage, it was interesting to see at least these places where he spent a lot of time during 1976-1978. And when i got back home, "Heroes" was the first album that made its way to my recordplayer.

Oh by the way: Neuköln is a district of Berlin, and should actually be spelled with two L's.

Label: RCA

Cat.nr.: NL-13857

Year of release: 1977 (this particular pressing is from 1980 however)

SIDE A:

01. Beauty And The Beast

02. Joe The Lion

03. "Heroes"

04. Sons Of The Silent Age

05. Blackout

SIDE B:

01. V-2 Schneider

02. Sense Of Doubt

03. Moss Garden

04. Neuköln

05. The Secret Life Of Arabia

Bowery Electric - Beat [12", 2LP]

BEAT by BOWERY ELECTRIC has been on the top of my wantlist for quite a long time. I never managed to find a copy in good condition for a decent price online, and in stores or at record fairs i never even came across a single copy for some strange reason. I already had the self-titled debut in my collection for some time, but Beat seemed impossible to find. Recently i got lucky on Discogs though: except for a seam split on top of the sleeve, the artwork is fine - and most importantly the discs themselves are in perfect condition. And all of that for a very fair price.

I just love this album. From the opening title track, with its loops of crispy vinyl ticks, to the ambient drone tunes that close the album, it's one big trip. Trip hop / hip hop beats and shoegaze guitars, with soothing vocals that say things like "Words are just noise, words are only noise", "Close your eyes, we're coming down" and "We all get used to dreams that used to please". The album was released in 1997, quite a few years after the heydays of shoegaze, but has been clearly influenced by some of the genre's biggest names. One of my favourite tracks is Black Light, that reminds me a lot of Slowdive. Empty Words and Fear Of Flying have borrowed more of My Bloody Valentine. Anyway i'm extremely happy i could add this gem to my collection recently. One less title on my vinyl bucket-list ;)

Label: Beggar's Banquet

Cat.nr.: BBQLP 188

Year of release: 1997

SIDE A:

01. Beat

02. Without Stopping

03. Under The Sun

04. Fear Of Flying

05. Looped

SIDE B:

01. Empty Words

02. Black Light

03. Inside Out

04. Coming Down

SIDE C:

01. Postscript

SIDE D:

01. Low Density

Lush - Origami [12", Boxset]

The best Record Store Day release this year was without doubt the ORIGAMI 5LP boxset by LUSH. It combines their 3 albums (Spooky, Split and Lovelife) with Gala, their early EP compilation, and Topolino, which was a Japan/Canada-only compilation that had only been released on CD so far. I've been waiting for reissues of their albums for a long time, so this is more or less a little dream come true :)

The artwork looks great. It's pretty similar to the artwork of Chorus, a 5CD box that came out some months ago and that features these same 5 releases with extra tracks on each disc.

The box is packed in a white cardboard protective box:

The first LP, Gala, is a compilation of their earliest EP's. From the 3 out of 5 of these LP's in the boxset that i have an original version of, this one comes closest to the original. The labels are identical and so is the outer artwork plus the inner sleeve. The only difference is that the 1990 version had two inner sleeves, and this reissue is on clear vinyl.

The second one, Spooky, i can't really compare with the original 12" edition since i don't own a copy of that version. I just have the 2x10" version (which i think is much cooler actually), and that looks quite different. But from what i know, the standard 12" edition looks pretty similar to this reissue. Except for that this one's on grey vinyl.

Split is an album i've had on my wantlist for years, but i never managed to score a vinyl copy. So i'm extremely happy to finally have it now, as a part of this boxset. It's on red vinyl.

Lovelife, the fourth LP in the box, was originally out on clear vinyl in a see-through sleeve. For this boxset they reproduced it on pink vinyl, and made a brand new white sleeve that has the original artwork centered on the front, and pictures from the CD booklet on the back. The original label was the same picture that's now on the back, while they used the picture from the label of the Single Girl single for this reissue. I didn't have a copy of the original until the very Sunday after RSD16, so in the same weekend i actually scored 2 versions of this album. Pretty cool.

The fifth and last LP in the box is Topolino, which never came out on vinyl before. It's on yellow vinyl, and the artwork of the sleeve is pretty similar to the boxset's version of Lovelife: a white sleeve and some pictures positioned in the same way. Which makes sense in a way, because it's of course mostly B-sides from the singles from that album. The label on the record comes from the cd-maxi version of the 500 (Shake Baby Shake) single.

The boxset is limited to 2000 copies worldwide, and i'm extremely happy i managed to score a copy.

Label: 4AD

Year of release: 2016

Cat.nr.: LUSH BOX 2

GALA: CAD 3606

SIDE A:

01. Sweetness And Light

02. Sunbathing

03. Breeze

04. De-Luxe

05. Leaves Me Cold

06. Downer

07. Thoughtforms

SIDE B:

01. Baby Talk

02. Thoughtforms

03. Scarlet

04. Bitter

05. Second Sight

06. Etheriel

07. Hey Hey Helen

08. Scarlet

SPOOKY: CAD 3607

SIDE A:

01. Stray

02. Nothing Natural

03. Tiny Smiles

04. Covert

05. Ocean

06. For Love

SIDE B:

01. Superblast

02. Untogether

03. Fantasy

04. Take

05. Laura

06. Monochrome

SPLIT: CAD 3608

SIDE A:

01. Light From A Dead Star

02. Kiss Chase

03. Blackout

04. Hypocrite

05. Lovelife

06. Desire Lines

07. The Invisible Man

SIDE B:

01. Undertow

02. Never-Never

03. Lit Up

04. Starlust

05. When I Die

LOVELIFE: CAD 3609

SIDE A:

01. Ladykillers

02. Heavenly Nobodies

03. 500

04. I've Been Here Before

05. Papasan

06. Single Girl

SIDE B:

01. Ciao!

02. Tralala

03. Last Night

04. Runaway

05. The Childcatcher

06. Olympia

TOPOLINO: CAD 3610

SIDE A:

01. 500 (Shake Baby Shake)

02. I Have The Moon

03. Ex

04. I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend

05. Matador

06. Outside World

SIDE B:

01. I'd Like To Walk Around In Your Mind

02. Carmen

03. Shut Up

04. Cul De Sac

05. Demystification

06. Tinkerbell