Sugar - Changes [12"]

CHANGES is of course a track from SUGAR's excellent Copper Blue album. Came across this 12" at the Utrecht record fair last weekend. It was a bargain; the three non-album tracks were the reason i decided to buy it and i wasn't disappointed. The acoustic version of If I Can't Change Your Mind is great, and also the other two songs are pretty good. Especially Needle Hits E wouldn't have been misplaced on the album.

Label: Creation Records
Cat.nr.: CRE126T
Year of release: 1992

SIDE A:
01. Changes
02. Needle Hits E

SIDE B:
01. If I Can't Change Your Mind (Solo Mix)
02. Try Again

The House Of Love - The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes [12", Promo]

This particular promo version of THE GIRL WITH THE LONELIEST EYES by THE HOUSE OF LOVE is not listed at Discogs at this point. I guess i'll fix that in the near future ;) Anyway it must be a rather rare edition, since the press sheet was still included and it says that only "200 special DJ's" received this promo. The single was the first one of their album Babe Rainbow, released the next year. The band didn't release their strongest material around that time (to my humble opinion), but i do really like the gentle track Tea In The Sun on this EP. A nice crate digging find from Utrecht, a few days ago.

Label: Fontana
Cat.nr.: HOLDJ 512
Year of release: 1991

SIDE A:
01. The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes
02. Purple Killer Rose

SIDE B:
01. Tea In The Sun
02. Pink Frost

Bowery Electric - Bowery Electric [12", LP]

Last weekend there was the April edition of the Utrecht recordfair, so the next few weeks there'll be plenty of blog entries about items i've bought there. Even though my wantlist is still quite substantial, i rarely come home with anything from that list lately. The stuff i'm looking for is just too rare, i guess. Nevertheless i always bump into loads of things that are not on that list, but simply too irresistible to let them stand in the crates :)
Anyhow, this particular self-titled LP by BOWERY ELECTRIC was actually on the list and i'm extremely happy i found it. I would've settled for the black version, but it's even the blue vinyl edition that i found. Just like for Beat, the second album, i've been looking for this self-titled debut for ages. Mid-nineties slow paced shoegaze of the highest quality, with just as many drone, post-rock and ambient elements. Excellent album!

Label: Kranky
Cat.nr.: KRANK 007
Year of release: 1995

SIDE A:
01. Sounds In Motion
02. Next To Nothing
03. Long Way Down
04. Another Road
05. Over And Over

SIDE B:
01. Slow Thrills
02. Out Of Phase
03. Drift Away

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

The Black Angels - Phosgene Nightmare [10", Limited Edition]

Another Record Store Day release from previous years. This one's from 2011. PHOSGENE NIGHTMARE is a B-sides collection according to the sticker, although i couldn't find out to which songs these tracks would have been the B-sides. I saw they had been digital bonus tracks in iTunes so maybe that's what they meant with that. Anyway, it's a mighty fine set of tunes by THE BLACK ANGELS. Ronettes is one of my favourites, and also the hypnotic "Rain Dance Version" of Entrance Song is pretty awesome. The original appears of course on Phosphene Dream, the album they had released half a year before this special 10" saw the light of day.

Label: Blue Horizon Ventures
Cat.nr.: BHV-16782-1
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Melanie's Melody
02. Ronettes
03. The Boat Song

SIDE B:
01. At Night
02. Choose To Choose
03. Entrance Song (Rain Dance Version)

Tame Impala - Live Versions [12", LP, Limited Edition]

Less than two weeks until it's Record Store Day again! For me, this LIVE VERSIONS LP by TAME IMPALA was one of the highlights of last year's edition. I don't buy a lot of live albums on vinyl, but since these versions are pretty different from the studio versions, i thought i'd make an exception. Besides, Tame Impala is simply a great band. They recently announced that there'll be a new album soon so i'm pretty stoked for that. I don't know exactly how many were made of the green vinyl edition like the one i have, because there are also black copies floating around, and the album also shortly has been available as regular release a few months later. But it sure looks and sounds good.

Label: Modular
Cat.nr.: MODVL 184
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Endors Toi
02. Why Don't You Make Up Your Mind?
03. Sestri Levante
04. Mind Mischief
05. Desire Be, Desire Go

SIDE B:
01. Half Full Glass Of Wine
02. Be Above It
03. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
04. Apocalypse Dreams