Slowdive - Slowdive [12", LP]

Wow. They did it.
Three years ago, when SLOWDIVE reunited and i flew to London to see their first ever show since 1994 (read more about that here), i didn't even dare to wish for some brand new recordings. But over the past year or so, you could see updates on social media of the band members being in the studio, jamming and having fun. And this amazing self-titled fourth studio album, the first one in 22 years, is the result of that. It totally captures where the band is now. The album breathes the ambiance of their live shows of the past years. Of course there are songs on this album that will remind you of Just For A Day and Souvlaki, but if you saw/heard for example how they revamped Crazy For You into a danceable tune in their set, you'll understand a song like Star Roving.
Also - funnily enough the album exactly demonstrates how the band has influenced other acts over the past decades. Don't Know Why is the Slowdive that inspired Pinkshinyultrablast; Everyone Knows is the Slowdive that inspired M83. And i could go on and on.
Closing song Falling Ashes deserves some special attention. It is simply the most beautiful song i've heard in many years, in all its vulnerability, that balances between David Sylvian's Forbidden Colours and Nils Frahm.

Today the band announced a club tour in autumn. So after two London shows in May 2014, a festival show at Best Kept Secret in June the same year, and an amazing show at Rewire Fest in Den Haag earlier this year, i can't wait to see them for the fifth time - this time at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. Save the date; October 6th!

Label: Dead Oceans
Cat.nr.: DOC132
Year of release: 2017

SIDE A:
01. Slomo
02. Star Roving
03. Don't Know Why
04. Sugar For The Pill

SIDE B:
01. Everyone Knows
02. No Longer Making Time
03. Go Get It
04. Falling Ashes

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

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

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

School Of Seven Bells - SVIIB [12", LP]

It's been a few years since SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS released an album. Their previous one, Ghostory, is from 2012. It was the first that Benjamin Curtis and Alejandra Deheza did as a duo, after Alejandra's sister Claudia had left the band. A lot has happened since then. Benjamin was diagnosed with Lymphoma and died from that terrible disease in 2013. The songs you'll find on SVIIB were written not long before his death, and completed by Alejandra in the past few years. It's become a beautiful album. Heartfelt, honest lyrics. Sad at times, and with reason, but also joyful and uplifting. I think it's amazing that she found the strength to finish this chapter by completing the album. Musically it's one of their strongest albums as well. A worthy farewell of the band in this form. I sure hope we'll continue hearing of Alejandra though, because she's a great songwriter with a beautiful voice.

Label: Full Time Hobby
Year of release: 2016
Cat.nr.: FTH257LPA

SIDE A:
01. Ablaze
02. On My Heart
03. Open Your Eyes
04. A Thousand Times More

SIDE B:
01. Elias
02. Signals
03. Music Takes Me
04. Confusion
05. This Is Our Time

Slowdive - Outside Your Room EP [12", Promo]

My SLOWDIVE vinyl collection is pretty big, but not complete yet. For example the OUTSIDE YOUR ROOM EP was missing until now. But I got my hands on the promo edition recently, so that's at least another step in the right direction. The EP has two songs from Souvlaki: the single Alison (the Outside Your Room title of this EP comes from the lyrics of this song) and the dubby track Souvlaki Space Station. Plus there are two songs that only appear on this 12": So Tired and Moussaka Chaos. The last one being more or less a remix, or alternate take, of Souvlaki Space Station. And So Tired is a beautiful dreampop song that definitely wouldn't have been out of place on the album. I did have these songs on vinyl already, on the bootleg 2LP edition of Souvlaki, but to finally own a copy of the original version of this EP is 10 times better of course. Now still looking for the regular edition with the picture sleeve. The quest continues! ;)

Label: Creation Records

Cat.nr.: CRE 119TP

Year of release: 1993

SIDE A:

01. Alison

02. So Tired

SIDE B:

01. Souvlaki Space Station

02. Moussaka Chaos

Lush - Ciao! Best Of Lush [12", 2LP]

The compilation album CIAO! BEST OF LUSH was not released on vinyl originally when it came out in 2001. But when LUSH announced this year they were getting back together, 4AD decided it would be a good idea to do so after all, and for the occasion of Black Friday they made a limited coloured edition. I really hope that in the near future they'll do reissues of the regular albums as well, or at least of Split, since that's pretty hard these days to get in good condition for a good price. Same for Lovelife, but musically that's not as appealing as the first two albums - not only to my opinion, but to many others' as well. The label also released a great 5CD box called Chorus, by the way. It contains Lush's complete studio recordings and is definitely recommended if you're not only buying stuff on vinyl. Anyway, it's great that this compilation got the vinyl treatment. In reversed chronological order you hear the best tracks (or at least, sort of) that they ever released, and both the artwork and the red vinyl itself look great. The only thing that could've been done slightly better to my opinion are the sleeve notes, by either adding something about the band getting back together by the same author, or by someone else. Now everything's written in the past tense, about a band that sadly ended when Chris Acland committed suicide. Of course, this is in a way a reissue even though it's the first time it's out on vinyl, so a straight copy of the original release including the original sleeve notes is perfectly understandable. However the reason why it came out now, and the fact that the band is seemingly not planning to let it be a bunch of one-off reunion shows, might as well have been left noticed somewhere on this release. Fact is that 2016 promises to become a great year for Lush fans. A tour, an EP, and who knows what else they'll have in store. I really hope they'll play in Holland, just like Slowdive and Ride did over the past 2 years. Possibly at the Best Kept Secret Festival, like those bands? Fingers crossed!

Label: 4AD

Cat.nr.: CAD2K22

Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:

01. Ladykillers

02. Single Girl

03. Ciao!

04. 500 (Shake Baby Shake)

05. Light From A Dead Star

SIDE B:

01. Love At First Sight

02. Hypocrite

03. Desire Lines

04. Lovelife

SIDE C:

01. When I Die

02. Nothing Natural

03. Untogether

04. For Love

SIDE D:

01. Monochrome

02. De-Luxe

03. Sweetness And Light

04. Thoughtforms

05. Etheriel

Secret Shine - Untouched [12", LP, Test Press]

There were 5 test press copies made of Saint Marie Records' reissue of UNTOUCHED, the classic SECRET SHINE album that originally came out on Sarah Records in 1993. Thought it would be cool to own one, so i pledged for the bundle of the test press and the coloured version earlier this year. You don't get your favourite shoegaze albums much more limited than this ;)

Label: Saint Marie Records
Cat.nr.: SMR079
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Suck Me Down
02. Temporal
03. Spellbound
04. So Close I Come

SIDE B:
01. Into The Ether
02. Toward The Sky
03. Underworld
04. Sun Warmed Water

Secret Shine - Untouched [12", LP]

UNTOUCHED was the only full length album that SECRET SHINE released during their first period of existence (during the early nineties). It originally came out on Sarah Records, and original copies of this album go for high prices on Discogs and eBay. Saint Marie Records had the brilliant idea to get it reissued, and they started a Pledgemusic project to get it financed. Because i love this album to death, and wanted to be sure to have a copy on vinyl finally, i stepped into it and pledged for a coloured copy and a test press. There were only 500 LP's made, and 300 of them are coloured (purple/white). The rest are black. Even though black is more limited for that matter, i wanted the coloured version because it's so beautiful and fits extremely well with the artwork.

What can i say about the album... some people say it was the last of the original great shoegaze albums of the early nineties. That might indeed be true. It's definitely become a classic in the genre, over the years. Songs like Spellbound, Into The Ether and So Close I Come can definitely compete with the best songs of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine.

Label: Saint Marie Records

Cat.nr.: SMR079

Year of release: 2015 (originally released in 1993)

SIDE A:

01. Suck Me Down

02. Temporal

03. Spellbound

04. So Close I Come

SIDE B:

01. Into The Ether

02. Toward The Sky

03. Underworld

04. Sun Warmed Water

Snow In Mexico - Juno Beach [12"]

The moment i heard a song online of this one-sided JUNO BEACH 12" by Italian duo SNOW IN MEXICO, i knew i had to buy it. It's a great electronic EP that finds a good balance between dreampop and 80's synth pop. It's kinda like a mix between M83, Pet Shop Boys, Vangelis and Giorgio Moroder. The phone conversation in The Call even reminded me a bit of Clouds Across The Moon by Rah Band ;) My favourite track is definitely Sunshine. Nice 'n hazy, and very danceable.

Label: Saint Marie Records
Cat.nr.: SMR077
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. The Call
02. Juno Beach

SIDE B:
01. Sunshine
02. Gentle Rain

Slowdive - Holding Our Breath [12"]

It took me quite some time, but last week i finally came across a copy of the regular edition of the HOLDING OUR BREATH EP by SLOWDIVE. I had the promo version for some time already, but not the regular one. So now i'm closing in on completion ;)
This EP contains some excellent tracks: Catch The Breeze, which was my introduction to the band back in the days, the amazing Syd Barrett cover Golden Hair (a live favourite with which they close their shows), the dreamy Shine which is one of my absolute favourite Slowdive songs, and the beautiful yet somewhat unsettling Albatross. Extremely happy that i finally found this!

Label: Creation Records
Cat.nr.: CRE 112T
Year of release: 1991

SIDE A:
01. Catch The Breeze
02. Golden Hair

SIDE B:
01. Shine
02. Albatross

Tamaryn - Cranekiss [12", LP]

Out of the blue, or at least for me, came this new album by TAMARYN, called CRANEKISS. I love her previous albums The Waves and Tender New Signs so much that i bought this one without any hesitation. However to my surprise Cranekiss sounds much different: less guitar (actually almost no guitar), more electronics, samples and her voice is clearly present everywhere. So that's not quite what i expected - but i simply love it! The whole sound is clearly influenced by Cocteau Twins: ethereal and very well-produced. Even the artwork looks like it's a 4AD release with a 23 Envelope/Vaughan Oliver-style sleeve (Pixies - Velouria era, especially the back). However it's done by Shaun Durkan (of the band Weekend) with whom she worked on this album. Also Jorge Elbrecht (of Violens) participated, and did the production as well. Standout tracks as far as i'm concerned are the title track, Softcore, I Won't Be Found and the delicious Sugarfix. One of the most surprising releases of 2015 so far for sure, and only in a good way.

Label: Mexican Summer
Cat.nr.: MEX202
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Cranekiss
02. Hands All Over Me
03. Last
04. Collection
05. Keep Calling

SIDE B:
01. Softcore
02. Fade Away Slow
03. I Won't Be Found
04. Sugarfix
05. Intruder (Waking You Up)

Pinkshinyultrablast - Everything Else Matters [12", LP]

I've been waiting quite long for this album to arrive, but it's been definitely well worth the wait. The debut full length by PINKSHINYULTRABLAST (a shoegaze band from Russia that named themselves after an Astrobrite album) is not only a delicious album, but also pure joy to look at, as you can see on the picture. Vocally, EVERYTHING ELSE MATTERS reminds me of bands like Lush, Cocteau Twins and School Of Seven Bells. Musically for a great deal as well, but a song like Metamorphosis for example has breaks that come very close to the sound of post-hardcore bands like Fugazi and At The Drive-In. I'd be very surprised if this album won't end up in my top 10 of 2015. We're not even halfway the year yet, but this album is simply too good. From Russia with love.

Label: Shelflife / Club AC30
Cat.nr.: LIFE118
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Wish We Were
02. Holy Forest
03. Glitter
04. Metamorphosis

SIDE B:
01. Umi
02. Land's End
03. Ravestar Supreme
04. Marigold

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

Sway - The Millia Pink And Green [12"]

SWAY is a band i'd only vaguely heard about before, but it wasn't until the end of last year when Saint Marie Records posted about doing a reissue of "shoegaze renaissance classic" THE MILLIA PINK AND GREEN, that the band caught my attention. This EP truly is an amazing piece of work. Originally released only on CD in 2003, this could indeed be called a shoegaze (or better: dreampop) renaissance classic. Very few modern dreampop releases reach this level. In recent years, only We Are The Dreamers comes close, in my opinion. These kinds of bands were the torchbearers that kept the shoegaze underground scene going during the years of absence of godfathers like MBV, Slowdive and Ride. Sadly the band Sway doesn't exist anymore since a few years, but founding member Andrew Saks still makes ambient electronic music under the name ASAKS.

Label: Saint Marie Records
Cat.nr.: SMR057
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Fall
02. Sounds Like Everyone

SIDE B:
01. Sullust
02. Ever And Ever
03. Opentillate
04. Channel (bonus track;not on original CD)

Slowdive - 5EP [12"]

While i had the remix edition of this SLOWDIVE 12" in my possession for some years already, i only recently got my hands on the original version of the 5EP. Even though released in the same year as the Souvlaki album, it's pretty different, and paving a way for the band to release the more experimental Pygmalion album. There are drum computers involved and it's overall very electronic; one could say it's the missing link between dreampop and ambient techno. And even though i'm a sucker for loud guitars and therefore like their older work better than this, i must emphasize that i consider the sad Country Rain, with the slide guitar and Rachel's soothing vocals, as one of the best Slowdive songs ever made. Extremely glad i finally have this EP on vinyl now.

Label: Creation Records
Cat.nr.: CRE157T
Year of release: 1993

SIDE A:
01. In Mind
02. Good Day Sunshine

SIDE B:
01. Missing You
02. Country Rain

Be Forest - Earthbeat [12", LP]

For some reason i completely missed this great album last year when it came out, and only discovered it last January. BE FOREST is a band from Italy and they play a seductive, rhythmic type of music. Kind of a mix between the XX, Esben And The Witch and Warpaint. It's also got some post-punk (Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen) influences. While the percussive rhythms seem to derive from world music, the ethereal vocals definitely make this band fit into the dreampop category. Be Forest creates a very distinctive sound for that matter and EARTHBEAT is a very pleasant album from start to finish. The day i'm writing this, they embark on a European tour for the next two and half weeks, and they'll be playing Amsterdam so i'll make sure i'm gonna see them. Stoked for that!

Label: We Were Never Being Boring
Cat.nr.: WWNBB#51
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Totem
02. Captured Heart
03. Lost Boy
04. Ghost Dance
05. Airwaves

SIDE B:
01. Totem II
02. Colours
03. Sparkle
04. Hideway

Lovesliescrushing - Shiny Tiny Stars [12", LP]

LOVESLIESCRUSHING is a project by Scott Cortez and Melissa Arpin-Duimstra. Scott's other band is Astrobrite. I'm not too familiar with this band, but as far as i could see on Discogs, this SHINY TINY STARS album is their only vinyl release, except for a 7" single released in 1994; the rest they ever released is all CD or digital. The recordings for this album were done way back, between 1991 and 1997. No idea why they waited another 15 years before releasing this album, but i'm happy they did because it's an amazing piece of work. The album contains 7 tracks of pure ethereal ambient dreampop bliss. Soft layered guitars, loops and patterns with distant vocals, sounding like unrecognisable lullabies. If it needs to be compared to a better known band, i'd say it comes closest to the more ambient sounding songs by Slowdive like Erik's Song, Losing Today and Albatross. Great stuff.

Label: Handmade Birds
Cat.nr.: HB-DIS028
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Shiny Tiny Stars
02. Blurbrightblued
03. Gloxina
04. Luminareal

SIDE B:
01. Snowfell Husher
02. A Color Gone
03. Overdose

Cocteau Twins - Love's Easy Tears [7"]

This LOVE'S EASY TEARS single by COCTEAU TWINS has been released a few months after the Victorialand album, in 1986. The A-side is really good, but the B-side is simply gorgeous Those Eyes, That Mouth is probably one of my favourite Cocteau Twins songs ever. Although like usually i don't understand a word of what Liz is singing here, i just love it. Heavenly.

Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: AD 610
Year of release: 1986

SIDE A:
01. Love's Easy Tears

SIDE B:
01. Those Eyes, That Mouth