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

Tripping Daisy - Piranha [7"]

In the mid 90's i got to know TRIPPING DAISY through MTV's 120 Minutes and i was immediately hooked. They had a really good psychedelic vibe which reminded me a bit of Jane's Addiction. This song, PIRANHA, was one of my favourite songs of the album I Am An Elastic Firecracker. I even saw them live in Amsterdam in 1996; great show. I bought all of their stuff on CD at the time (including the CD-maxi version of this single) and didn't have anything on vinyl until recently, so i was pretty thrilled when i bumped into this 7" at the latest record fair in Utrecht. I just had to have it, if only for old times' sake.

Interesting detail about Tripping Daisy: i did know that the band continued (in a very different way, musically) as The Polyphonic Spree after the death of their guitar player Wes Berggren in 1999. But what i only recently found out, is that their drummer from 1997 until Tripping Daisy disbanded, was Ben Curtis who plays in School Of Seven Bells. I really didn't know that; they are very different types of bands, yet still i like them both a lot. Sometimes these kind of things go unexpectedly "full circle". I've had that a few times before. It's one of those similar things like seeing your (then) current heroes Billy Corgan, Thurston Moore and Frank Black being invited to join the stage with all-time hero David Bowie at his 50th birthday celebration gig, back in 1997. Or Jeff Schroeder, guitar player for the awesome (yet unknown) indie band Lassie Foundation that i liked a lot, becoming a member of Smashing Pumpkins a few years ago. Suddenly all pieces of the puzzle are put together! Anyway, this 7" is regularly found on my record player since i bought it a few months ago. Tripping Daisy ruled!

Label: Island Records
Cat.nr.: 854 572-2
Year of release: 1995

SIDE A:
01. Piranha

SIDE B:
01. Creature

Catherine Wheel - I Want To Touch You [12"]

This was a pretty good find at the record fair in Utrecht last month. A 12" by CATHERINE WHEEL, still originally sealed and therefore in completely mint condition . It's a limited edition (part one of a two record set, it says) which comes in a screen printed gatefold pvc sleeve. The cardboard sleeve itself is plain white; all the info plus the cover photo of the dog is printed on the pvc. It was sealed with a sticker. The 12" contains 3 demo songs. Two of them ended up on their Ferment album while Wish's final version appeared on the She's My Friend EP. For demo recordings they sound very good, by the way. The other 12" that fits in the sleeve and was available separately, has a remix of the title song I WANT TO TOUCH YOU and some other songs on it. Would be cool if i'd bump into that one some day.

Label: Fontana
Cat.nr.: CWB 312
Year of release: 1992

SIDE A:
01. I Want To Touch You [Original Demo]

SIDE B:
01. Black Metallic [Original Demo]
02. Wish [Original Demo]

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

David Bowie / Iggy Pop / Roxy Music / Syd Barrett - The Photography Of Mick Rock [7", Book, Tin]

A few years ago, four MICK ROCK photograph books in 7" tins were released, each carrying a 7" vinyl single by the artist featured in the book. The man was mostly known (to me at least) for his pictures of DAVID BOWIE, but he also made some really nice ones of IGGY POP, SYD BARRETT and various glam rock bands like ROXY MUSIC. These tins were released as limited editions and were rather expensive, but lately they have been available on offer for a very reasonable price. The 7"es are each on a different colour vinyl and feature not necessarily the artist's biggest hits, yet pretty cool songs nevertheless. Each book has 128 pages which makes it a pretty heavy package, but definitely worth buying it if you're into high class rock photography. I decided to buy all four of them and this is what the 7"es are about:

David Bowie

Label: EMI
Cat.nr.: 5099964038070           
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Starman

SIDE B:
01. Suffragette City

Roxy Music

Label: EMI
Cat.nr.: 5099964038179          
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Virginia Plain

SIDE B:
01. The Numberer

Iggy Pop

Label: EMI
Cat.nr.: 5099964038278          
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Success

SIDE B:
01. The Passenger

Syd Barrett

Label: EMI
Cat.nr.: 5099964037974          
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Octopus

SIDE B:
01. Golden Hair

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)