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