Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place

 

I think we're all totally in agreement by now that this album is perfect. It's not a term I use lightly, but surely this is the time to use it, if ever. Explosions have released a bunch of other great albums - some that sound a bit like this, others that sound a bit further away - and countless other instrumental bands have released albums that sound broadly similar, but none have done so as wonderfully as Explosions did here. Five songs, each fascinating and emotive and majestic; no messing around, no filler. Perfect.

I suspect it wasn't always that way, but somehow nearly two decades have passed and this album has become even more of a gem. I got into the band just after they'd released All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone and had heard that this album was worth seeking out, so bought a cheap cd copy a few months before going to see them at the All Tomorrow's Parties they curated. I loved it from the outset and seeing the songs thrashed out on the main stage in Minehead that spring was amazing. 

I gradually bought their other albums, but ended up waiting until the pandemic hit to upgrade my cd copy for the vinyl. Record Shops had been shut for only a short period at the time (compared to how long this thing would stretch on for), but it'd been a hard time, so I figured I'd buy some records I was after from a few of my favourite shops (that had a reasonable online presence) and fill some holes in my collection (plus, being at home meant I wasn't really spending any money). Resident Records had this one in, so I was pleased to get a copy. I distinctly remember gasping at the stunning etching on side D - the simplicity of it makes it stand out from most other etched records. Every record collection should have a copy of this masterpiece.

Format: double 12", picture sleeves
Tracks: 5
Cost: £18.49 new
Bought: Resident Records website
When: 30/04/20
Colour: Black
Etching: Etching of birds on side D
mp3s: Download card

Various Artists - Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit's The Midnight Organ Fight

 

I was gutted when I heard the news of Scott Hutchison's disappearance and subsequent death. I'd drifted away from Frightened Rabbit's music at the time, but The Midnight Organ Fight remained a firm favourite. I'd bought it at the very start of my PhD having read a review in the university newspaper (which dates the time I read it, as I'm pretty sure no one reads the university newspaper beyond their first few weeks), and the line "While I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to earth" became something of a mantra for the next three-and-a-half years - the only way to motivate yourself through a PhD is remembering that the very minor thing you're studying is entirely new, and the whole purpose is to say something no one has ever said before; there are mathematical theorems that I discovered and they're mine and forever will be - I was the first one to discover those things and those "tiny changes" are mine (and, trust me, they are tiny). It got me through that period of my life.

But I ended up loving The Winter of Mixed Drinks less, and I somehow missed out on Pedestrian Verse entirely. I picked up a copy of Painting of a Panic Attack in 2017 and really found little in it for me. I'd lost track of Scott's side-projects and didn't discover the excellent Mastersystem album until after his death (more on that another time). I vividly remember scrolling through Twitter one morning at work and seeing the final tweet Scott posted and the ensuing panic from friends and family. It was a (thankfully, so far) unique feeling and one I hope not experience again. Whilst I'd never even met Scott, his music on The Midnight Organ Fight had meant so much to me I was really thrown; I felt particularly helpless, wishing there was something I could but almost certainly being hundreds of miles away from anywhere useful. 

As a big Manics fan, my mind soon drifted onto thoughts of Richey Edwards. When I first heard the Manics, Richey had already been missing for years, but seeing the panic and fear in real time from Scott's loved ones made me think about different it must have been in 1995 without the internet. Two days later, there was a sad ending to Scott's story but it felt like longer - in my mind there was a week between the two events, but maybe that's how time feels like it passes in situations like that. I can't begin to imagine what it was like for Richey's friends and family.

Three paragraphs in and I've not even mentioned this record yet. Before Scott's death, this tribute album was in the works - it's status as a classic album was already established. I wasn't aware how well-loved it was by people other than me, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was universally adored. Perhaps "surprised" is the wrong word - there's no reason to be surprised; it's a huge album. I didn't (and still don't) know most of the names of the artists covering the songs here, but Biffy Clyro, The Twilight Sad and Craig Finn were enough to give me an idea and also draw me in. I remember watching a heart-wrenching video of The Twilight Sad covering Keep Yourself Warm at Primavera Sound shortly after Scott's death (although they cover Floating the Forth here, a song I can only imagine was even harder to manage).

When we first moved into this house, my daughter's room was the only one that we'd decorated and spent much time in, so I kept a record player up there with a small handful of records. This one was up there for a long time and I played it a lot with her, particularly while my wife was in hospital after our second was born. It's not the most appropriate record to play in front of a young child, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't listening to the words. As a result, I have bittersweet memories of these versions of the songs - playing Duplo with my two-year-old, but also thinking about the sad end of Scott's life. The memories felt a world apart from my memories of the original album - academia and going to as many gigs as I could manage in London. A critical but very true statement is that these songs aren't as good as the originals - few add anything to the excellent song-writing of the originals (Craig Finn's cover is one of the better ones, and Biffy's take on The Modern Leper is unusual, but comes together in the end). But I love that I had a chance to reconnect with these songs in a thoroughly different phase of my life and create new memories of them.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, booklet

Tracks: 17

Cost: £25.50 new

Bought: Resident Records website

When: 05/08/19

Colour: Black

Etching: none

mp3s: none

Nirvana - Nevermind

Like basically everyone on the planet, I own a copy of Nevermind by Nirvana. The only slightly remarkable thing about that is I didn't until April last year. As a grown man of 35-years, I bought a copy of Nevermind.

It's important to note that this wasn't my first copy of Nevermind. That album shares an interesting honour of being one of two albums I've bought and then sold (along with Back in Black by AC/DC). I think I'd bought a second hand copy from someone (but I can't remember who - I certainly hadn't bought it in a shop), but then ended up swapping it with a guy I sat next to at school called Johnny in exchange for A Perfect Circle's Mer de Noms - a good album, but let's not pretend it has anywhere near the significance of Nevermind. My spreadsheet has Mer de Noms as costing £6 (in November 2000), so I must have paid £6 for my copy of Nevermind. 

Of course, I didn't get rid of Nevermind because I didn't like it (the same can't be said for Back in Black - for some reason they never struck as a band I should really give two shits about), but somehow, at the age of 16, I already knew Nevermind well enough that I didn't need to listen to it. In the short time between getting into music and giving my copy of Nevermind to Johnny, I'd heard Nevermind for the first time and then played it to death. 

In the nearly-20 years between copies of this in my collection I'd listened to and seen live countless covers of the songs, and demos of most of them on the With the Lights Out boxset (and Kevin Devine's remarkably faithful cover of the whole album - I was definitely expecting it to not sound exactly like the Nirvana version), so it wasn't like the songs hadn't graced my ears. Plus, I've heard Smells Like Teen Spirit at basically every rock club night I've ever been to (plus as part of the seemingly essential "rock trio" of songs at the middle-of-the-road club nights at uni - Lancaster's speciality was this, The Day We Caught the Train and Seven Nation Army).

All that said, I have since found myself playing this quite a lot. It's album so closely linked to being a teenager that it's quite nostalgic, probably more-so for the fact I couldn't play it over the years. I hope Nirvana are still considered an important band when my daughters are teenagers - I like that these songs were such a staple of the life of every teenager-getting-into-rock for at least a few years around when it was for me. No matter what people say about Smells Like Teen Spirit, or how over-played it might be, it is just a very exciting song; it still makes me want to throw myself around in a mosh pit like I'm not a slightly-tired man in his mid-thirties with a perpetually sore back. I like music that reminds me I used to be youthful.

There's really not much else to say about the album itself. It's an incredible record in isolation, let alone in the bigger picture. It's not the greatest album of all time, but I can understand why it gets considered one of them (again, in isolation, but as well as the bigger picture). The only people I've ever met who have said otherwise have always found themselves endlessly singing the praises of Bleach or (more often) In Utero instead; I always felt they were being unnecessarily obtuse - even if you think In Utero is the better record, it doesn't make Nevermind a bad one. If anything, the fact that the only criticism I've ever really heard of it is that the album either side of it was better speaks to what a solid record it is.

Format: 12", picture sleeves

Tracks: 12

Cost: £11.98 new

Bought: Resident Records website

When: 04/04/20

Colour: Black

Etching: none

mp3s: download code

Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial

The story of how I got into Car Seat Headrest is such a classic story that I'm sure everybody who has ever set foot in a record shop has at least one similar story. In July 2016, I was in Brighton for the annual Develop Conference and was nursing a fairly heavy hangover from a party on the first night (a hangover that would pale in comparison to the one I had the next day). I was working out of the Brighton office and decided to go to Resident Records in my lunch break. It was a few minutes walk from the office and I'd formed a habit of going regularly when I was visiting there.

It was a sunny day and for the whole time I was in there they were playing this Car Seat Headrest album - I must have heard most of it because I was in there for nearly the whole hour. I'd heard the band name before but never heard the music, or even knew what sort of music they played. My first memory is thinking that it sounded like Pavement (and I'm a strong believer that Pavement is sunny day music). I remember also getting hints of Jeffrey Lewis, which worked well with the Pavement themes. The third thing I noticed was a steady stream of people going up to the counter to ask what was playing - it was like that Belle & Sebastian scene in High Fidelity. I loved that everybody was equally bowled over by the music. I'm capable of seeing the "now playing" sign from a distance, so didn't need to ask myself, but did add this copy of the album to my pile and went to the counter to pay up. The person who served me commented on how many people were getting into Car Seat Headrest just from them playing them over the stereo. It's such a great way to discover a band.

I knew I was going to enjoy the album because I'd heard most of it in Resident that lunchtime, but I still played it first when I got home and loved it even more. I then text a bunch of friends who were into Pavement to tell them to give it a play. They mostly fell in love too. It was a big album that summer and ended the year as my #2 album of the year (behind Radiohead, which is a pretty good place to be). There was a lot of hype around Will and the band, but I'd say it was totally justified. This is an excellent album.

There's a run of songs - Vincent, Destroyed By Hippie Powers, Drugs With Friends, Not What I Needed and Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales - that could all be the best song on the album. I remember making a mixtape and shortlisting all of them, before eventually settling on Drugs With Friends - Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales was a close second - both having huge outros that you just want to sing along to. That makes for a pretty strong first half of the album. The Ballad of Costa Concordia is incredible too, its charm partly coming from its ridiculous length (which is also why it didn't get shortlisted for the mixtape), partly from the way it drifts between stupid teenage choices and the responsibility of making sure a giant cruise ship doesn't run aground off the coast of Italy - an unusual pairing by anyone's standards.

Format: Double 12", gatefold, picture sleeves
Tracks: 12
Cost: £20 new
Bought: Resident Records, Brighton
When: 13/07/16
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

I got into Mogwai kinda late, but I've been making up for lost time. A couple of years after I started listening to them they released Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will and a year later I picked up a cheap cd copy in Fopp in London. It has, by far, one of my favourite album titles of all time.

I'd been enjoying what Mogwai I'd heard up to that point (Hawk is Howling, Young Team, Come On Die Young, in that order) but Hardcore struck me the most and I still consider it one of my favourite Mogwai albums. I think it's more urgent in its sound; the songs don't mess around and are a perfect mixture of punishing and listenable. The band are constantly evolving and this album is just the Mogwai I want to hear; I struggled with Rave Tapes as it drifted a bit further away from the sound here. On the other hand, my subsequent Mogwai purchase was the soundtrack to Les Revenants which has more in common with Hardcore.

White Noise is a huge opener and Rano Pano and San Pedro are great songs. There are moments of rest too in the form of Letters to the Metro and How to be a Warewolf. The number of songs with vocals is pretty much perfect and the ones on George Square Thatcher Death Party are distorted to perfection. Too Raging to Cheers and You're Lionel Richie are a perfect pair at the end and make an incredible D-side.

I was in Brighton for work a couple of times last summer and spent one lunchtime in Resident Records, a shop I hadn't been in for a few years. I'm pretty sure it's bigger than the last time I was in there, but it would have been a while ago. Anyway, the selection was incredible so I spent a lot of money. It was a hard choice what to buy and what to leave behind - there were a lot of records on my "I really should pick that up one day" list. This copy of Hardcore was only £14, which is a relative bargain these days. It's not a hard record to come across at all, but I rarely see it in the shops I regularly visit and I can imagine it being nearer £20 most of the time. I'm still working on my Mogwai vinyl collection - and will be for a good while I think - but I'm pleased to have this one now. It's a great album

Format: 12", gatefold sleeve, picture sleeves
Tracks: 10
Cost: £14 new
Bought: Resident Records, Brighton
When: 13/07/16
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

I was very pleased to finally get a copy of Dopethrone on vinyl recently. It's not hard to come by online (I'd never seen it in real life before), but for a long time the only one regularly available was on black vinyl - there had been so many represses on different colours it seemed a shame to settle on black. On a trip to Brighton I was very excited to see this pink vinyl copy in Resident records and quickly added it to the small pile of records I was buying. I'm guessing this is from the 2015 repress but I can't find any detail on how many are of this colour.

Dopethrone was my introduction to Electric Wizard. I'd known about the band for a while and think I'd just read that Dopethrone was their finest album. They were playing in Bristol soon and I figured I should actually listen to one of their albums first, so went into HMV and bought Dopethrone. That was 7 years ago and remains one of the best choices I ever made. At £13 it was expensive for a cd but the second I pressed play I knew I was in for a treat.

I'm quite picky when it comes to metal, but Electric Wizard are my perfect idea of metal - huge riffs, distortion, sludge, doom, listenable vocals (a lot of metal fails this one) and punishing drums. But they also have this blues edge that takes you right back to Black Sabbath. The intro to Funeralopolis has this incredible blues guitar played over fuzz and drums that never fails to put a smile on my face (nor, for that matter, does the huge outro or "Nuclear warheads ready to strike / The world is so fucked, let's end it tonight"). I'm a fan of the whole album, but side-A here is just perfect - Vinum Sabbathi and Funeralopolis are two of my favourite Electric Wizard songs. Barbarian follows the slow Weird Tales perfectly; after the drawn out outro Barabrian almost sounds like a punk song in it's speed and delivery. I, the Witchfinder and We Hate You on side-C also deserve a mention for being mind-blowingly good songs.

I gave a copy of the cd to my friend Hugh who was also coming to the show who described the band in a brilliantly succinct text message when he first listened to the album: "the second song is 2 weeks long. I feel like I'm stoned". I think the band would be happy with summary.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 9
Cost: £23 new
Bought: Resident Records, Brighton
When: 13/07/16
Colour: Pink marle
Etching: none
mp3s: no