On a Tuesday in 2008, just over 7 years ago, I nearly crapped myself with excitement whilst in Spillers Records. I was flicking through the racks, as I did every Tuesday that year, and found copies of the first six Desert Sessions. I'd read about them before and Vol. 7 & 8 and Vol. 9 & 10 had been released on cd gathering a lot of attention (and had been on frequent rotation in my friends' cars). I knew the first six were originally all on 10" but I'd read somewhere about them being paired up on 12". Either way I was excited. I'd long been a Kyuss fan (but never that big on QOTSA) and was mostly just really keen to hear the music on there. A part of it was definitely the idea of hearing music that was considered quite rare.
I should have, of course, been suspicious. Why would Spillers, a shop that only stocks new music, be selling copies of long out-of-print Desert Sessions? Many years later, a few quick internet searches proved that these copies are from a series of bootleg reissues from around that time. A better question might be why were Spillers selling bootleg reissues? I even asked the girl in the shop if she knew much about the pressing, but she didn't. I assumed I'd stumbled across some unearthed old stock and excitedly bought Vol. 1 & 2. A week later I bought the remaining two 12"s, despite the idea of the year being one record a week. I skipped the following week knowing I'd basically stuck to my rules. It's worth noting that at £13 a pop, I don't feel too ripped off.
What about the music? Well, of Vol. 1 & 2 I was mildly underwhelmed initially. Now I can listen to it as what it is - some stoner jams from some excellent musicians, but at the time I was expecting more. Maybe it's because I was hoping for Kyuss but instead got Queens (quite literally on later records). As the title suggests, the music here is mostly instrumental (except for Cake (Who Shit on The?)). There are some pretty good moments and I wish a lot of them lasted longer; any of the proper songs on Vol. 1 could have been twice as long. The only exception is Screamin' Eagle, which goes on for too long (there's no pleasing some people).
Expect posts about the other two 12"s to follow sometime soon.
Format: 12", a4 insert
Tracks: 7
Cost: £13 new
Bought: Spillers Records
When: 28/10/08
Colour: Purple
Etching: none
mp3s: no
