Blindness - Wrapped In Plastic [12", LP]

Apparently BLINDNESS was already formed way back in 2008, but it wasn't until last year when their debut album WRAPPED IN PLASTIC came out. These three ladies are indeed from London, as you might have suspected from the London Eye picture on the sleeve, and their best known member is Debbie Smith who played in Curve, Echobelly and Snowpony. Musically, their sound comes pretty close to what Curve did back in the days. It's dark and seductive electro rock, with mechanical beats and distorted guitars. But most importantly it's LOUD. Mighty fine stuff. I bought this album right after it came out late summer last year, and it says on the label's website that the initial run was limited to 250 copies - so my copy must be a part of that. Not even sure if they did a repress since then.

Label: Saint Marie Records
Cat.nr.: SMR066
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Serves Me Right
02. Deserving
03. Last One Dies
04. No One Counts
05. Sunday Morning

SIDE B:
01. Humming Song
02. Broken
03. All In One
04. Confessions

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

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)

We Need Secrets - Melancholy And The Archive [12", LP]

By coincidence i came across some songs by WE NEED SECRETS on the internet recently, and i liked them so much that i decided to order the MELANCHOLY AND THE ARCHIVE album. I wasn't familiar with this band from Canada at all; or actually it's not really a band but rather a one-man project by Chad Peck who plays in a band called Kestrels. Fuzzy guitars dominate the album (in a good way), reminding me of My Bloody Valentine, Swirlies, Fleeting Joys and Ringo Deathstarr. Talking about Ringo Deathstarr... Elliott Frazier of that band plays guitar on the song The Archive and has also mixed the album. It's only been pressed in a very small quantity: 50 copies on clear/glitter and 300 copies on black, of which i have one, as you can see. Always nice to discover new acts like this. And Saint Marie Records is definitely a label to watch closely, since they are putting out a lot of great stuff recently.

Label: Saint Marie Records
Cat.nr.: SMR039
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. How You Remember
02. Months Like Years
03. I Would Take You Over Me
04. Melancholy
05. Uncommitted Crimes
06. The Archive

SIDE B:
01. Pain Lines
02. Auster
03. Sleeper
04. Interiors
05. Cycles