The Telescopes / A Place To Bury Strangers - Split [10"]

A nice 10" on white coloured vinyl, this split release by THE TELESCOPES and A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS. It's number 6 in a series of splits on Fuzz Club. 1000 copies were made of this; 200 on orange and 800 on white, all numbered on the inlay. The Telescopes came up with a cover of the Iggy & The Stooges classic, I Wanna Be Your Dog. It's a lengthy version, and certainly a solid and noisy one, but still i'd prefer the original. Nothing beats Iggy, you know. APTBS provided a furious skull-crushing ice cold tune, called Down The Stairs. It's one of the best new songs i heard in years by them, actually. Their recent Transfixiation album wasn't bad at all, but this track is representing the APTBS sound i really like.

Label: Fuzz Club
Cat.nr.: none
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. THE TELESCOPES - I Wanna Be Your Dog

SIDE B:
01. A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS - Down The Stairs

A Place To Bury Strangers - Transfixiation [12", LP]

After a few spins i've come to the conclusion that TRANSFIXIATION, the new album by A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS is a "grower". First time i heard it, i was slightly disappointed to be honest. Secretly i was hoping for a return to the sound of the first two albums (their 3rd, Worship, already having a cleaner sound) but instead they've taken it to a next level. There's loads of noise and distortion still, but it's crystal clear. I'm slowly getting into it though. The sound comes closest to 80's post-punk, goth and noise. The album was recorded in Norway with Emil Nikolaisen of Serena-Maneesh, who also co-produced it. Having read that in the liner notes, the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together. If there's one man who knows how to create an organic brew of sounds and noise, it's him. Job well done. I think i need a few more spins to be really convinced, but i already know for a fact now that i'm liking it better than the previous album. The version i have is the limited coloured edition (apparently of 2000 worldwide) and as you can see it looks really good.

Label: Dead Oceans
Cat.nr.: DOC099
Year of release: 2105

SIDE A:
01. Supermaster
02. Straight
03. Love High
04. What We Don't See
05. Deeper
06. Lower Zone

SIDE B:
01. We've Come So Far
02. Now It's Over
03. I'm So Clean
04. Fill The Void
05. I Will Die

A Place To Bury Strangers - Worship [12", LP]

Last month i saw A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS in Amsterdam; it was the show where i bought the Ego Death 2010 tour EP. They were playing some songs of their new album WORSHIP as well, which was not released yet at the time. Great songs so i was sure to buy this album when it came out two weeks ago. Compared to their previous two full lengths (A Place To Bury Strangers and Exploding Head), this new album sounds a little more polished. Not necessarily a bad thing in my eyes. One of my friends said he misses that "vacuum cleaner sound" of the other albums a bit; and maybe that describes it best. Don't expect an easy-listening album though. A really nice piece of noise/shoegaze, even when the guitar wall-of-sound isn't as thick as it used to be.


Label: Dead Oceans
Cat.nr.: DOC 066
Year of release: 2012


SIDE A:
01. Alone
02. You Are The One
03. Mind Control
04. Worship
05. Fear
06. Why Can't I Cry Anymore

SIDE B:
01. Dissolved
02. Revenge
03. And I'm Up
04. Slide
05. Leaving Tomorrow

A Place To Bury Strangers - Ego Death 2010 Tour EP [12"]

This EGO DEATH 2010 TOUR EP by A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS is a pretty much sought after release. I was fortunate enough to buy one recently (2012) at an APTBS show, so i don't know if there has been a re-press or if this is a copy they still had lying around. Anyway, a nice EP with besides Ego Death in 3 versions (one of them by Baroness' Allan Blickle), some non-album tracks and a remix of the title track of the album where the single's taken from: Exploding Head.

It does not really show on the picture above, but the vinyl colour is olive green. Pretty dark, but if you hold it against the light it looks like this:

Label: Mute

Cat.nr.: -

Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:

01. Ego Death (Radio Edit)

02. It's A Fast Drivin' Rave-Up With A Place To Bury Strangers

03. Alive

04. You Still Love Me

SIDE B:

01. Ego Death (Allen Blickle Remix)

02. Exploding Head (RX Remix)

03. Ego Death (Figo Remix)

A Place To Bury Strangers - A Place To Bury Strangers [12", LP]

Last weekend i went to see A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS in Amsterdam. It was the third time i saw them, so the surprise was a bit gone, but boy is this a good live band. A total in-your-face assault of noise and shoegaze while it's only three guys on stage.
This self-titled debut LP i bought shortly after i saw them live the first time and was completely blown away by them. It's been pressed in various colours; mine is white as you can see on the picture and apparently it's the third pressing of which 300 copies were made.

Label: Important Records
Cat.nr.: IMPREC170
Year of release: 2007

SIDE A:
01. Missing You
02. Don't Think Lover
03. To Fix The Gash In My Head
04. The Falling Sun
05. Another Step Away

SIDE B:
01. Breathe
02. I Know I'll See You
03. She Dies
04. My Weakness
05. Ocean

Ceremony - Someday [7"]

The song SOMEDAY reminds me a bit of The Cure's In Between Days, sung in a New Order kind of way by A Place To Bury Strangers. The funny thing is that both band members of CEREMONY used to be in a band called Skywave, together with another guy who later formed A Place To Bury Strangers. So the connection's certainly there.

There were only 500 made of this limited 7" which came in a generic paper sleeve.

Label: Killer Pimp
Cat.nr.: PIMPK013
Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:
01. Someday

SIDE B:
01. Cracked Sun

Various Artists - The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Sonic Cathedral [12", LP]

This limited awesome compilation album on yellow vinyl has the subtitle: A Tribute To Roky Erickson And The 13th Floor Elevators. And that's what it is. Thirteen songs in total; the first one being a live recording from 2008 by The Black Angels and the master himself. Furthermore some real good covers like the ones by A Place To Bury Strangers, Dead Meadow, Black Acid (Richard "Death In Vegas" Fearless' other band), I Break Horses (this was the first time i heard of this great band) and Le Volume Courbe (with Kevin Shields).

Label: Sonic Cathedral
Cat.nr.: SCR 013
Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:
01. ROKY ERICKSON & THE BLACK ANGELS - Roller Coaster
02. THE STRANGE ATTRACTORS - Reverberation (Doubt)
03. ALL THE SAINTS - Don't Fall Down
04. A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS - Tried To Hide
05. DEAD MEADOW - Kingdom Of Heaven
06. DARKER MY LOVE - She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own)
07. SARABETH TUCEK - Splash (Now I'm Home)

SIDE B:
01. FIRE ENGINE - Lower Heaven
02. HUSH ARBORS - Dr Doom
03. CHEVAL SOMBRE - You Don't Love Me Yet
04. LE VOLUME COURBE (w/ KEVIN SHIELDS) - I Love The Living You
05. BLACK ACID - Unforced Peace
06. I BREAK HORSES - Goodbye Sweet Dreams