The sun is shinning and I'm listening to RVIVR. My girlfriend recently commented that I don't have very much "summery" music, but I reckon that associating a season to a record or a song has to be one of the more personal attachments you can make; sure, some music lends itself towards summer or winter more clearly, but on the most part it must be about a time and a place. I have really fond memories of listening to the self-titled album sat out in the garden of my house a couple of years ago, so RVIVR are definitely summer music for me. Of course, she is correct - I don't have very much "summery" music (even in my mind) - but I guess my record collection is more tailored to the seasons we regularly see. I'm yet to pick up RVIVR's newest album (or pretty much any other 2013 album) but that will hopefully change later this week when I head to Banquet (which, I imagine, will be one of my last week-day visits. I'm going to miss being a student).
So, The Joester Sessions are a collection of songs from various EPs and 7"s (including the Dirty Water EP, which comes on a very nice etched, one-sided 12" but I have no reason to buy as I have all the songs here). The 11 songs are all pretty excellent, particularly Seethin' (for the horns), Had Enough of This Hell and Life Moves. The only new song Elizabethan Collar always struck me as a strange song, but it's also one of the catchiest. Somehow, the collection plays more like full-length album than a lot of other similar LPs.
Included in the sleeve is an eight-page newspaper full of pictures, flyers and lyrics, which I've (badly) photographed below. After the "re-used" sleeve on the self-titled album, this is another nice little treat from Rumbletowne Records.
Format: 12", eight-page newspaper insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £11 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 14/09/11
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
