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

Venera 4 - Seabed Terror [7"]

This SEABED TERROR 7" is the debut release by VENERA 4, a band from Paris. It came out in 2013, a few months before they released their Deaf Hearts EP. Only 250 numbered copies were made. I must confess i only discovered this band a few weeks ago when i saw a video of a song of their upcoming album Eidôlon, which immediately got me hooked.
The A-side of this single is an uptempo catchy song which reminds me a bit of bands like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Crocodiles, while Sun on the B-side is a slow one that comes closer to My Bloody Valentine, but also especially Curve. It's been ages since i heard a new band sounding (slightly) like the great stuff that Dean Garcia and Toni Halliday made in the early nineties, so i've got a weak spot now for this French quartet. I can't wait until Eidôlon gets released.
The video of that new album that got me hooked, in case you wonder, was Black Paws. Check it out if you've got some time. Not only is it an amazing tune, but also the video itself is great. Morgane and Annabelle are as charming as Miki and Emma were in the Lush videos back in the days. Hope they'll do some international touring to promote the album, because i'd love to see them on stage some day over here in the Netherlands.

Label: Requiem Pour Un Twister
Cat.nr.: RPUT4
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Seabed Terror

SIDE B:
01. Sun

Toy - Heart Skips A Beat [12"]

HEART SKIPS A BEAT is a song lifted off the self-titled debut album by TOY. Besides the album version of that song, there are two non-album tracks on this 12" EP and a pretty decent BBC session of the song Kopter. She's Over My Head is a nice song that would not have been misplaced on the album, while Layered Electronics is almost as redundant as Live Electronics was on the Make It Mine EP.

Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVN255
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Heart Skips A Beat (Album Version)
02. She's Over My Head

SIDE B:
01. Layered Electronics
02. Kopter (BBC Session)

The Raveonettes - Pretty In Black [12", LP]

PRETTY IN BLACK is the second album by THE RAVEONETTES, released in 2005. Heavily influenced by 50's rock 'n roll and with some really great tunes on it, such as Love In A Trashcan and Sleepwalking. Also Twilight is a personal favourite, perhaps because it's the odd track of the album with a very danceable (almost disco) beat. It shouldn't be left unmentioned that The Velvet Underground's Moe Tucker plays drums on a few tracks, and Ronnie Spector joins in on Ode To L.A.
All in all a great album, and never released on vinyl until Music On Vinyl did that in 2013. The first pressing consisted of 1000 numbered copies on pink/black marbled vinyl, and my copy is one of those as you can see.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOVLP 721
Year of release: 2013 (originally 2005)

SIDE A:
01. The Heavens
02. Seductress Of Bums
03. Love In A Trashcan
04. Sleepwalking
05. Uncertain Times
06. My Boyfriend's Back
07. Here Comes Mary

SIDE B:
01. Red Tan
02. Twilight
03. Somewhere In Texas
04. You Say You Lie
05. Ode To L.A.
06. If I Was Wrong

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - What's Holding You? [7"]

This fine 7" is one of the things i bought last year when i was in London at the 10th anniversary party of Sonic Cathedral, one of the best and most sympathetic indie labels of our time. WHAT'S HOLDING YOU? is a single off the Chambers album by LORELLE MEETS THE OBSOLETE, a psych band from Mexico. The A-side has a groovy and furiously pounding riff that really sticks to your head after only a few seconds, while the non-album track on the B-side is a bit more of a raw but gentle psychedelic tune. Definitely a nice little blue coloured gem, this single! And for me personally a treasured souvenir from an amazing weekend in the UK last year.

Label: Sonic Cathedral
Cat.nr.: SCR063
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A: 
01. What's Holding You?

SIDE B:
01. Medicine To Cure Medicine Sickness

Girls Names - The Next Life EP [12"]

GIRLS NAMES are working on a follow-up to their album The New Life from 2013 at the moment. Really looking forward to hear some new stuff by this awesome band from Belfast/Dublin. It will be the first on which my buddy Gib plays the drums, since he officially joined the band after their summer tour last year.
I bought THE NEXT LIFE EP about a year ago. It features a darn fine Brian Eno cover (Third Uncle) that ends with an endless groove on side A. Or better said: it doesn't end at all ;) The David Holmes remix of the album's title track is really good. It's a mellow version with French spoken words and pitched down vocals. Projektions (with an S at the end indeed) was remixed by Gabe Gurnsey of Factory Floor and has become an unrecognisable, yet very danceable tune. What i also really like about this EP is the witty artwork. They did with The New Life, what David Bowie did with Heroes for his album The Next Day. Pretty funny.

Label: Tough Love Records / Slumberland Records
Cat.nr.: TLV067 / SLR198
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Third Uncle

SIDE B:
01. The New Life (David Holmes remix)
02. Projektions (Gabe Gurnsey Factory Floor remix)

Toilet - Two Fathers [7"]

To be honest i don't know much about this Swedish band called TOILET. I got their TWO FATHERS 7" as a gift from Dennis at record shop Rundgång in Malmö some time ago. It was released on his record label Rundgång Rekords by the end of last year, and is limited to 300 copies. But i like it a lot! Hard to compare, but i think they sound a bit like a mixture of Dinosaur Jr. and The Cure. Pretty good stuff. And i just love the witty logo on the centre label of this 7": a Slayer rip-off logo with toilet brushes and plungers. Would love to see these guys on stage some day.

Label: Rundgång
Cat.nr.: RR006
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Two Fathers

SIDE B:
02. Black Oil

Neil Halstead - Alison [7"] - and some thoughts on two amazing SLOWDIVE concerts in London

 

This is a vinyl blog; not one with concert reviews and live pictures or videos. Nevertheless i'd like to share something about one of the best things that happened to me when it comes to live music: the first concerts in 20 years of Slowdive in London, last Sunday and Monday.

But first let's quickly say a few things about the 7" pictured above - because after all, this is a vinyl blog, right? So i needed some excuse to create this post. Sorry Neil and Nat for "abusing" this excellent piece of vinyl for this.
I bought it at the Sonic Cathedral 10th anniversary party last Sunday. It's a solo release by NEIL HALSTEAD and contains two acoustic versions of songs of bands that he was in: Yer Feet (a Mojave 3 song) and ALISON which of course is a Slowdive song. Excellent versions, although i am a sucker for loud guitars and therefore obviously like the version of Alison on Souvlaki  better. But in this stripped-down beautiful rendition you clearly hear what a great song it is.

Label: Sonic Cathedral
Cat.nr.: SCR 053
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Alison

SIDE B:
01. Yer Feet

Alright, enough about the vinyl now, let's get on with what i really wanted to say. First of all you'd need some background info about my previous experiences at a Slowdive show, all the way back in 1992. I wrote something about it a few years ago on my old blog, of which not much is left these days since i removed most of the entries. I could have chosen to use the blog once more to write my story on there, but thought it would be better to leave it for what it is and do it this way.

So yeah, the background info. You can read it here. And if you just want a very short  summary of the events: i was once at a Slowdive show in 1992 but had to leave before they even went on stage. So i was so close, but never saw them. The two times they came back to the Netherlands after that, i couldn't make it (Eindhoven '93) or was unaware they had played (London Calling Festival, Amsterdam '94). That last one was exactly a month - 5 shows - before they called it quits, in May 1994.
I won't go as far as to say it caused me sleepless nights, but the more years passed, the more i realised i would never have the chance to see them again and the bigger the hurt became about missing a concert of a band that's so dear to me. Because that's what they are.

When i wrote that piece about them back in 2010 i could not imagine that in January this year, the band announced they would reform. Not only would they play at Primavera in Spain, which was the first gig they announced, but also they would do a gig in London at the Village Underground on Monday May 19th. I just knew i needed to go there, no matter what. I never travelled abroad just to see a band, but Slowdive was definitely the band i would do this for. This was the way to get rid of that awful feeling of having missed them 22 years ago. It would literally be a healing experience. So when the tickets went on sale i was one of the lucky 1000 people who were fortunate enough to secure a ticket. It was sold out within 90 seconds. Only shows how special they are and how many people still care about this band. Booked a reasonably cheap flight and luckily one of my friends lives in London and i could sleep at her place. All was sorted; it would finally happen. I'd see Slowdive!

A few weeks after i bought the ticket, the Sonic Cathedral label announced they'd throw a 10th Anniversary Party in London on the Sunday night before the Slowdive gig. I'd be in town anyway and it's one of my favourite indie labels so i didn't need much time to think about it, and bought a ticket for that as well. There'd be surprise acts and dj's, and they would only reveal on the day of the event which artists would be performing. I was secretly hoping to see Younghusband which is one of my current favourite bands on the label. A few weeks before the event they were announced as the support act for the Slowdive gig so whatever would happen, i was going to see them anyway. Of course i also hoped that Neil Halstead would be doing some songs and perhaps even would ask other Slowdive members -if they'd be there- to do some songs with him, acoustically or so.

Then, last Sunday, the day had finally arrived. I arrived in the city around noon and after dropping off my bags at my friend's place i headed for the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen where the Sonic Cathedral party would be. On my way, i checked Facebook updates. And then i noticed that the label had announced the line-up for the evening. I could not believe my eyes. I wasn't going to see Slowdive just once, but even twice! This is what it said:

And besides Slowdive, also Ulrich Schnauss and Mark Gardener (of Ride) would perform while no one less than Andrew Weatherall was going to spin records! Just like Emma Anderson (of Lush)and Stewart Nash (who does the current Creation Records website) for example. This was going to be some night!

When i arrived at the bar's terrace, the first person i ran into was Daniel Land. Great to see him again after so many years. He played in my hometown in 2009, when we met, and we have some mutual friends. Then i met some people who until then i only knew from Facebook and/or Twitter. Dean Bromley who does the excellent Shoegaze & Dreampop News Daily, David Sánchez who runs the Slowdive Database archive and had the great idea of organizing a pre-show meeting on Monday (more about that later), and last but not least Nathaniel Cramp who was the host of the evening, being the man behind the Sonic Cathedral label. Always great to put a face to a name and find out that they're very nice people in real life as well.

Then the moment arrived that the doors opened and the artists would go on stage. Like i wrote before, this is not a concert review blog so i won't be going too much into setlists and other details about the concerts. There are blogs that do it way better, and have already done so over the past few days. For example this one by Joe Clay of The Quietus who was also one of the DJ's this evening.
Mark Gardener was great. Hearing a song like Polar Bear acoustically only makes me long more and more for a reunion of another band that i'd probably also make a trip to London for, if that's what would be necessary: the mighty Ride. Ulrich Schnauss i didn't see much of, unfortunately, as i was too busy standing outside talking with newly met people. But the ten minutes or so that i saw of him were pretty good. The legendary Andrew Weatherall played some mighty fine eclectic tunes between the sets but then the moment was finally there: the first ever concert of Slowdive since May 21st, 1994 in Toronto. One day earlier than i'd expected.

It's hard to describe what i felt. Let's put it this way: it was pretty emotional. And i know i wasn't the only one who shed a few tears. I have not felt like this since 1987 when i was 16 and saw David Bowie descending from a giant spider at my first ever rock concert. I was a huge Bowie fan (still am) and heck did i care or realise that the Glass Spider Tour was not his best creative period... i saw David Bowie, man! First time in my life! Had been waiting for that since i was 12 and was too young to go to the Serious Moonlight Tour on my own. So four years later it finally happened. Those four years had felt like a decade at the time. Goosebumps all over when the moment was there.
But this; this was not just four years later. This was over twenty-two years later!

One of the few things i will say about the show was that it struck me how groovy the songs were performed. Many people think of Slowdive as Rachel and Neil and some others whose name they forgot, but Simon and Nick are an extremely tight rhythm section and give so much power to the songs. And Christian mostly stands at the side, often a bit hidden behind Rachel, but is such an important factor for the sound with his subtle guitar playing. The show was majestic. It was a glorious return of a band that experienced so much shit written about them from one day to another back in the days, by the same magazines that hyped them the year before.

Here's a complete set on Youtube of the concert. I made a few short recordings myself as well, but the sound is terrible and most clips are only lasting a minute. But, I did make some pics and some of them came out OK enough to post them here.

After the show i met some more nice people and we hang out a bit at the bar. And walking back to where i was staying i couldn't believe it had actually happened.

The next day i went to the pre-show meeting that David of the Slowdive Database site had organized. A very cool idea, since there were so many other foreigners like myself who didn't really know anybody but had some hours to spend before the show would start. Christophe from France was there, who i'd met the evening before at the Sonic Cathedral party, but also my friend Pontus from Sweden, Stéphane (aka Neige from the band Alcest), the guys from Switzerland who play in Last Leaf Down, Tullia from Italy, James from Southampton and some more i might have forgotten. Awesome people, every single one of them, and it was good times hanging out with them.

Then we went to the venue, stood in the rather long queue for about 45 minutes, and finally went inside. Since i already bought some merch the night before i didn't have to worry about that anymore. Donated some money to Sense instead (the Deafblind charity that supports Rachel whose son Jesse is deaf and has a visual impairment) and found a good spot together with some of the new found friends. Yet still small, the Village Underground is considerably bigger than Hoxton Bar & Kitchen.

Younghusband were absolutely great, and a perfect opening act for this evening. Then Slowdive came on stage. It was another amazing experience; this was the concert i had actually come over for of course. Goosebumps all over once again. When i thanked Neil for the concert after the show and explained why it was so important for me to be there, he gave me a hug. Told him i was 21 at the time when i missed that show and he said "then we're the same age man". Looked it up on Wikipedia; it's true. We only differ 3 weeks.

The concert at Village Underground can be found on Youtube as well from the same user as the Hoxton Bar one. Also from this show i made some pictures:

So, to sum it all up, i had some really great times in London. And that's still a complete understatement. Met some very nice people, made new friends, saw old friends once again, but foremost i can finally say i've seen one of my favourite bands ever: Slowdive. I will be seeing them next month once more at Best Kept Secret when they've started their festival summer tour. And i'm pretty certain those goosebumps will be back then once again.

Elliott - Songs In A Transit Wind [12", LP]

This Saturday it's Record Store Day again, and this compilation by ELLIOTT was one of last year's special RSD releases. SONGS IN A TRANSIT WIND is a compilation of 3 long out of print 7" singles (In Transit and If They Do on Initial Records, and Will You on Revelation Records) and two tracks that were never released on vinyl before. Orphalese was never before released at all, actually. This RSD pressing is on clear vinyl. RSD pressings are supposed to be very limited and if you look at the small quantity of 700 copies it's of course not a huge number, but the mailorder version on black vinyl (300 made) that came out around the same time, and the grey marbled second pressing (500 made) that came out 2 months later, are still rarer. And that's a bit strange, to say the least.

Label: Simba Recordings
Cat.nr.: Simba 23
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Waiting While Under Paralysis
02. As Arson
03. The Watermark High
04. Halfway Pretty

SIDE B:
01. Calvary Song
02. Fan And The Bellows
03. Orphalese
04. Lost Instrumental

The Raveonettes - Whip It On [10", Limited Edition]

The debut release by THE RAVEONETTES, this WHIP IT ON EP, only had a very limited release on vinyl back in 2002 on the small Crunchy Frog label. But last year, 11 years after its original release, Music On Vinyl had the brilliant idea to reissue it as a beautiful 10" record of which the first 1000 copies were on red vinyl in a numbered sleeve. I've got #668.
Some really cool garage rock tunes can be found on this EP, such as Veronica Fever, Cops On Our Tail and my favourite one: Beat City. Funny detail: as stated on the cover, nearly the whole EP is recorded in B-flat minor. I've still never seen The Raveonettes live, by the way. Hopefully that will change some day. Must be a real blast.

Label: Music On Vinyl
Cat.nr.: MOV10008
Year of release: 2013 (originally 2002)

SIDE A:
01. Attack Of The Ghost Riders
02. Veronica Fever
03. Do You Believe Her
04. Chains

SIDE B:
01. Cops On Our Tail
02. My Tornado
03. Bowels Of The Beast
04. Beat City

Hum - You'd Prefer An Astronaut [12", LP]

When i found out that Shop Radio Cast had done a reissue of YOU'D PREFER AN ASTRONAUT by HUM, i just needed to get myself a copy. If only for the absolutely brilliant track "Stars", which i had been looking for on vinyl for ages. But also the rest of the album is definitely worth the purchase. Some great post-hardcore tunes, leaning a bit towards grunge and indie rock à la early Smashing Pumpkins. Hum was never big over here in Europe but i don't think they were very big in the States either actually. "Stars" was a modest radio hit over there, but that's as far as it goes. The reissue was done in 3 colours (green, clear and white) and on black vinyl. As you can see on the picture, i have a copy of the white one.

Label: Shop Radio Cast
Cat.nr.: SRC016
Year of release: 2013 (originally: 1995)

SIDE A:
01. Little Dipper
02. The Pod
03. Stars
04. Suicide Machine
05. The Very Old Man

SIDE B:
01. Why I Like The Robins
02. I'd Like Your Hair Long
03. I Hate It Too
04. Songs Of Farewell And Departure

Brian Jonestown Massacre - Revolution Number Zero [2x7"]

This limited double 7" by BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE was released late last year. It's a numbered gatefold edition on grey vinyl; my copy's #1457/2000. The EP is called after the song REVOLUTION NUMBER ZERO, which can be found on side B. I hear a lot of Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" in that song by the way, but not in a way that it gets annoying. Just like that title track, Don't Say A Thing on side C is unique to this EP. Viholliseni Maalla on side A is the same version as can be found on the great Aufheben album, while the version on side C is in English instead of Finnish, and also musically a bit different. Small typo on the artwork and the labels: it's spelled "Maala" here, so with only one L. All in all a pleasant release to keep the fans happy until a new album is coming out. Hopefully that won't take too long.

Label: A Records
Cat.nr.: AUK024-7
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Viholliseni Maalla

SIDE B:
01. Revolution Number Zero

SIDE C:
01. Viholliseni Maalla (In The Land Of My Enemy)

SIDE D:
01. Don't Say A Thing

The Fauns - Fragile (Clint Mansell Remix) [12"]

This special 12" was released (in the UK only) for Record Store Day 2013. Been trying to get my hands on one, but without any success. Until recently when THE FAUNS launched a Kickstarter fundraiser for their tour with Alcest, which is currently taking place. They were selling a few of these 12" remix singles and also signed them, for this occasion. So i ordered one to help them out a bit and got this long-desired piece of vinyl in return. That's what i call a win-win situation ;)
The song FRAGILE is my favourite of their debut album, and this remix by film music composer (and former lead singer for Pop Will Eat Itself) Clint Mansell is a really good one. So is actually the re-worked version of The Sun Is Cruising by Invada label manager Redg Weeks.

Label: Invada
Cat.nr.: INV 121 LP
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Fragile (Clint Mansell Remix)

SIDE B:
01. The Sun Is Cruising (Redg Weeks Re-work)

The Fauns - Lights [12", 2LP]

They've been working on this album for quite some time. Around the time when i wrote about THE FAUNS' self-titled debut, the band already mentioned that they had started working on a new album. Nearly two years later LIGHTS is finally here, and it certainly has been worth the wait! It only came out last weekend over here, but it was actually released in the UK somewhere in December and should have been in my Finest Vinyl Of 2013 list for that matter. Ah well.
The single Seven Hours that preceded the release is to my opinion one of the best tracks of this album, but also Nothing Ever (MBV-esque drum fill, ♥) and especially With You have become personal favourites of mine. The uptempo In Flames could've been a Pains Of Being Pure At Heart song (which is meant as a compliment, because i really like that band and it is just a damn good indie rock tune). Ease Down and closing song Give Me Your Love still remind me the most of their debut album.
I really look forward to finally be able to see them perform live in one and half week when their tour with Alcest and Hexvessel hits Arnhem. And i don't mind driving to the other side of the country for that; been waiting for an opportunity to see them since their planned tour with Ringo Deathstarr at the end of 2012 was sadly cancelled. In the meantime i'll be giving this double white vinyl gem a few more spins.

Label: Invada
Cat.nr.: INV 129 LP
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Point Zero
02. Seven Hours

SIDE B:
01. Ease Down
02. In Flames
03. Nothing Ever

SIDE C:
01. Lights
02. Rise
03. 4AM

SIDE D:
01. With You
02. Let's Go
03. Give Me Your Love

Toy - Join The Dots [12", 2LP]

One of the last albums i bought in 2013 was the new album by TOY, called JOIN THE DOTS. I was quite excited about this release, because i liked their self-titled debut album a lot. It even became third in my yearlist of 2012. This one came in too late for my 2013 yearlist, but it wouldn't have ended up in the top 10 anyway: somewhere inbetween number 11-20, i recon. It is certainly not a bad album though. It's just that there were so many good albums coming out in 2013. It's once again an excellent mix of krautrock, psychedelic rock and a little bit of shoegaze.I guess that the title track is my favourite song of the album; a hypnotizing uptempo tune. Didn't manage to catch them live during last year, so that's on my to-do-list for 2014 then.

Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVNLP102
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Conductor
02. You Won't Be The Same
03. As We Turn

SIDE B:
01. Join The Dots
02. To A Death Unknown
03. Endlessly

SIDE C:
01. It's Been So Long
02. Left To Wander
03. Too Far Gone To Know

SIDE D:
01. Frozen Atmosphere
02. Fall Out Of Love

The Charlottes - Things Come Apart [12", LP]

THE CHARLOTTES were a band from the Cambridge area in the UK. A favourite band of BBC's John Peel (they did a Peel Session in 1989 as well) and their drummer was Simon Scott who later joined Slowdive. Awesome music, loud and distorted, with female vocals. A bit like early My Bloody Valentine. This album, THINGS COME APART, was originally released in 1991 on Cherry Red. Optic Nerve Recordings decided to do a limited reissue on green vinyl this year, with two bonus tracks which were B-sides to their "Liar" EP in 1990. "Venus" is of course the Shocking Blue song, and a way better version than Bananarama did (duh!). Inside the gatefold sleeve are some pics of old concert tickets of shows where they supported Ride. Those were the days! There were 500 numbered copies made of this reissue; I've got # 070.

Label: Optic Nerve Recordings
Cat.nr.: OPT4.004
Year of release: 2013 (originally released in 1991 on Cherry Red)

SIDE A:
01. Liar
02. Prayer Song
03. See Me Feel
04. By My Side
05. Mad Girl's Love Song

SIDE B:
01. Beautify
02. Love In The Emptiness
03. We're Going Wrong
04. Blue
05. Venus

Younghusband - Dromes [12", LP]

DROMES is the debut full length by YOUNGHUSBAND from the UK. A great mix of 60’s psychedelica, shoegaze and krautrock. I really like the artwork as well; totally fits with the music. The title track and "Silver Sisters" are my favourite songs of the album, but the rest is also really good. Some bands that come to mind when you listen to this album are for example the Byrds, Spacemen 3, Ride - and more recent bands like Deerhunter and TOY. The Sonic Cathedral label usually stands for quality releases and this is no exception.
For Younghusband it’s a shame that so many other good albums got released in 2013: it was a close call, but otherwise they surely would have had the honour to end up in my Finest Vinyl list ;)

Label: Sonic Cathedral
Cat.nr.: SCR060LP
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Running Water
02. Comets Crossed
03. Left Of The Rocks
04. Sunstroke
05. *
06. Silver Sisters

SIDE B:
01. Reunion Message
02. **
03. Wavelength
04. Divisions
05. Constantly In Love
06. Dromes

Tropical Popsicle - Dawn Of Delight [12", LP]

This album by TROPICAL POPSICLE was released earlier this year. I bought it shortly after it came out, but didn't write something about it so far, i noticed while compiling my Finest Vinyl list for 2013. It didn't make it to the list but was definitely a runner-up. DAWN OF DELIGHT is a cool mix of garage and psychedelic music (and some post-punk, like the song Ghost Beacons - my favourite song of the album). Think Velvet Underground meets Wire, or Jesus And Mary Chain meets Echo And The Bunnymen; or something like that. Like said they didn't make it to my top 10, but if i would've made one for silliest band name or weirdest album cover of the year, they would have had a fair chance to win it. Seriously. But having said that, the music is really good and i look forward to hear more from them in the near future.

Label: Talitres
Cat.nr.: TAL070LP
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Always Awake In Shadows
02. The Age Of Attraction
03. Ghost Beacons
04. The Beach With Now Footprints
05. Tethers
06. View From The Dihedral Wall

SIDE B:
01. Canyons
02. Cathedral City
03. Havana
04. The Omnipresent Heart Shield
05. Queen Of New York
06. Universe Of God Shadow

David Bowie - Love Is Lost [12"]

In this year's Finest Vinyl list, DAVID BOWIE's album The Next Day came second after My Bloody Valentine. Only just, though. While i had a lot of trouble making up my mind what would be 2013's best album, it would be an easy victory for Bowie if i would make a list of the year's best remixes. Because as far as i'm concerned, the version that James "LCD Soundstystem" Murphy did of the song LOVE IS LOST is definitely the best remix of the year. The mix is called "Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The DFA" and it combines Clapping Music, a minimalist piece by composer Steve Reich, and Love Is Lost from Bowie's latest album. But where it gets really interesting is in the middle of the song, where the distinctive piano intro from Bowie's Ashes To Ashes suddenly kicks in. I'm not very often putting audio or video links on this blog, but for this one i'll gladly make an exception. Check Clapping Music, Ashes To Ashes and then this great remix of Love Is Lost.
Besides the 10+ minute version there's also an edited version of around 4 minutes on side B, plus a somewhat baroque sounding remix of I'd Rather Be High.

Label: Columbia
Cat.nr.: 88843016561
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The DFA)

SIDE B:
01. I'd Rather Be High (Venetian Mix)
02. Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The DFA - edit)

The Flaming Lips - The Terror [12", 2LP, Bonus 7"]

After releasing The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends last year, THE FLAMING LIPS decided that this year the time was right to release a new album completely on their own. The result is just great. Weird and psychedelic as ever. It's even so that THE TERROR has become one of my favourite Flaming Lips albums ever. It took a while to grow on me, but songs like Try To Explain and Be Free... A Way are among the best the band has ever done. The vinyl edition has one track extra compared to the CD (We Don't Control The Controls, which fills the whole D-side) and there's a bonus 7" as well, with an extra track and a Beatles cover. Together with the beautiful shiny cover artwork it makes a really nice package.

Label: Bella Union
Cat.nr.: LP388
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Look The Sun Is Rising
02. Be Free... A Way
03. Try To Explain

SIDE B:
01. You Lust
02. The Terrror

SIDE C:
01. You Are Alone
02. Butterfly, How Long It Takes To Die
03. Turning Violent
04. Always There In Our Hearts

SIDE D:
01. We Don't Control The Controls
mashed-the-fuck-up-remix
Dan Deacon and Electric Worms insight violence

Label: Bella Union
Cat.nr.: BU7666
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Sun Blows Up Today

SIDE B:
01. All You Need Is Love