Catherine Wheel - Ferment [12", LP, Limited Edition, Bonus EP]

Been looking for this album on vinyl for quite a while already. It's become pretty rare (and expensive, for that matter), but recently i finally got my hands on a copy of FERMENT by CATHERINE WHEEL. It's even the limited edition with a bonus Live EP. This is such a magnificent debut album. It features quite a few re-recorded versions of songs that had already been out on various EP's during the years before this was released, like I Want To Touch You, Black Metallic, She's My Friend and Shallow. All of them absolutely great songs. But my favourite song on the album is definitely Flower To Hide. It's also the one that comes closest to shoegaze; the band never liked to be labeled as a shoegaze band, and i must say i never really considered them as such either. But they sure knew how to use the pedals and create some proper feedback noise. Funny trivia that i only found out recently: singer Rob Dickinson is a cousin of Bruce Dickinson, the frontman of Iron Maiden. That was documented on both Wikipedia and Discogs when i did some research, but what it didn't say is that both bands' names derive from torture devices. Coincidence? I think not.

Label: Fontana
Cat.nr.: 510903-1
Year of release: 1992

SIDE A:
01. Texture
02. I Want To Touch You
03. Black Metallic
04. Indigo Is Blue
05. She's My Friend

SIDE B:
01. Shallow
02. Ferment
03. Flower To Hide
04. Tumbledown
05. Bill And Ben
06. Salt

I already mentioned the Live EP: it features live recordings of 3 songs that also appear on the album, recorded at Bath Moles, November 6th 1991. Pretty cool versions as well.

Label: Fontana
Cat.nr.: 866535-1
Year of release: 1992

SIDE A:
01. Shallow
02. I Want To Touch You

SIDE B:
01. Salt

Toy - BBC Sessions [12"]

No idea if these six songs were recorded over various BBC SESSIONS, as the title suggests, or only one - however the band was in pretty good shape. It features songs from the first few singles (+ B-sides) and the debut album by TOY. Supposedly only 300 copies were made of this, and i was lucky enough to come across a copy at the Utrecht record fair recently. Their last album Join The Dots is already two years old now, so hopefully they'll release something new this year.

Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVN248
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Left Myself Behind
02. Clock Chime
03. Bright White Shimmering Sun

SIDE B:
01. Motoring
02. Colours Running Out
03. When I Went Back

David Bowie - Heroes / Helden / Héros [12"]

This 12" is a nice score from the recent Utrecht record fair. I was already on my way out, when i spotted this DAVID BOWIE maxi in the crates of a stand that was selling everything for half-price. And since it was very reasonably priced already in the first place, i now got it for a real bargain. The only reason i was actually interested in it, was that it contains the French version of the song HEROES: HÉROS. HELDEN, the German version is much more common. I already had that on a compilation album called Rare, for example. And while the German version is already quite horrible when it comes to David's foreign language skills, the French one is even worse :) Nevertheless a great find and a very welcome addition to my Bowie collection.

Label: RCA
Cat.nr.: PC 9821
Year of release: 1977

SIDE A:
01. Heroes/Helden

SIDE B:
01. Heroes/Héros

Venera 4 - Eidôlon [12", LP]

The EIDÔLON album by VENERA 4 is definitely one of the best shoegaze albums of 2015. Very danceable for most parts as well. It's got wailing guitars, sexy rhythms and ditto whispering vocals. Think of a mixture of Curve and Charlotte Gainsbourg. You only have to listen to songs like Red Blooms and Black Paws as an example, and you'll understand what i mean. Brilliant stuff. I was already stoked about their Seabed Terror 7" and Deaf Hearts EP, but this full length meets all expectations. Also the artwork (front, back, insert) by singer Morgane Caux is classy. This limited edition on white vinyl was pressed in 500 copies. Hopefully they'll do some touring this year because i'd love to see them over here in the Netherlands. It's not that far from Paris, guys - hint, hint ;)

Label: Requiem Pour Un Twister
Cat.nr.: RPUT 15
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Pygmalion
02. Red Blooms
03. Black Paws
04. Eidôlon
05. 3 Studies For A Portrait

SIDE B:
01. Aimer Ann
02. Orange
03. Some Girls
04. Colored Fields
05. Metal Shells

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

Catherine Wheel - Crank [12", Promo]

There's still a pile of stuff that i bought at the Utrecht record fair recently, that needs some attention on this blog. This CRANK promo 12" by CATHERINE WHEEL for example is part of that. On vinyl, the only regular release was a picture disc with different B-sides: Black Metallic and Painful Thing. Something Strange and Pleasure were otherwise only available on two different CD-maxi formats. Especially Pleasure is a cool song, and well worth the purchase. It wasn't very pricy anyway.

Label: Fontana
Cat.nr.: CWDJX5
Year of release: 1993

SIDE A:
01. Crank

SIDE B:
01. Something Strange
02. Pleasure

The Lilac Time - Astronauts [12", LP, Promo]

Another interesting find at the Utrecht record fair recently: a white label promo edition of the ASTRONAUTS album by THE LILAC TIME. It was the band's only album they released on Creation Records. A gentle album with definitely some nice songs on it, but absolutely nothing like what their labelmates came up with in that year 1991 (Loveless, Just For A Day, Raise and Today Forever, to name but a few). I had no idea until today that the band's main man Stephen Duffy was one of the original founders of Duran Duran (together with John Taylor and Nick Rhodes), was the same Stephen ("Tin Tin") Duffy who had the hit Kiss Me in 1984, and wrote songs for Robbie Williams and co-produced his Intensive Care album. All in all, this promo version with the original insert is a nice little nugget in my ever expanding Creation Records collection. I especially like the song The Darkness Of Her Eyes. Really beautiful.

Label: Creation Records
Cat.nr.: CRELP 098
Year of release: 1991

SIDE A:
01. In Iverna Gardens
02. Hats Off, Here Comes The Girl
03. Fortunes
04. A Taste For Honey
05. Grey Skies And Work Things
06. Finistere

SIDE B:
01. Dreaming
02. The Whisper Of Your Mind
03. The Darkness Of Her Eyes
04. Sunshine's Daughter
05. North Kensington
06. Madresfield