Hot Water Music - Live in Chicago

It’s now been so long since I went to a concert that live albums are starting to take on new meanings. I bought this Hot Water Music triple live LP because at the time there was no best-of compilation and I quite liked the idea of having all their best songs in one place. And this record ticks that box and then some; just look at those first four songs – A Flight and a Crash into Remedy into Wayfarer (one of their greatest songs full stop) into Trusty Chords. What a way to start a show. That is a truly amazing run of songs, the sort you end a show with not start with. It'd be fair to say that the rest of the album doesn't hit such heights again, but how could it?

And pre-pandemic, this album was just a good way to hear all my favourite HWM songs in one place (although three discs is stretching the definition of "one place" – I could equally play Fuel for the Hate Game, A Flight and A Crash and Caution in their entireties, hear 90% of my favourite HWM songs and have got out of my seat the same number of times). But it's now been 16 months since I last went to a concert, an otherwise unfathomable gap between shows, and it's only going to get longer. So when I put the needle on this record, my mind is thrown back to the first time I saw HWM play, in a sweaty dodgy venue in Newport, South Wales surrounded by every punk I'd made acquaintances in the two years I'd lived in Cardiff - it was 9 months after I'd left for London but there was no doubt in my mind that if I was going to see HWM it'd be in South Wales. It was horrifically hot, beer-soaked and chaotic. We'd been drinking in beer gardens in the afternoon and the show was perfect. More than 10 years have passed since, but this record puts me right back there, struggling to sing along to any of the choruses (partly because I still know less than a third of the words being sung at any given point). I saw HWM twice more after that show - to a disappointingly small crowd at Reading Festival and to a raucous hometown crowd on the first night of my first Fest, but that Newport show will always be my favourite memory. And it's nice that I can take myself right back there with this record.

I've only mentioned the first four songs here so far, but there are some other great moments - "God Deciding" and Kill the Night are two of my favourite non-album songs and both get played, which is great (they'd both be missing from the alternative choice of three records I mentioned above). Moonpies for Misfits is a great slower one that I often forget about. Side 5 has the opening duo from Fuel (in reverse order) which is another huge moment on the album, and The Sense from Caution sounds amazing - it's not a song I'd ever have listed as being amongst my favourites but it's definitely up there.

This copy, as with most variants, is from the second run which featured different colour sleeves to match the records and Discogs tells me that there were 550 of each colour. I bought it one day in Banquet - I don't remember them having any other colours, but I was perfectly happy with blue. I was aware of the record before seeing it there that day, and without the tracklisting printed anywhere on the sleeve I had to trust that it'd be huge, but it was just after Christmas and I guess I just fancied spending some money. Of course £17 for a triple LP is now a bargain regardless what's actually on it.

Two years later an actual best-of compilation did come out, but I've not bought it - mostly because I have this record, which is more interesting owing to it being a live recording, but also because it doesn't have "God Deciding" and Kill the Night on (however does have Poison and Drag My Body, two of the best songs they wrote in their more recent eras). To be honest, if I saw it in a shop, I probably would buy it, but that says more about my compulsive record buying than it does the relative merits of these two albums.

Format: Triple 12", insert
Tracks: 30
Cost: £17 new
Bought: Banquet Record, Kingston
When: 04/01/13
Colour: Blue
Etching: Side A: "I love these chords" Side B: "From voice to ear" Side C: "Scarred but here" Side D: "You are not alone" Side E: "I must always remember" Side F: "This makes me whole"
mp3s: Download code

Various Artists - Behind the Counter with Max Richter

I've fallen into something of trap - I buy Max Richter records without really considering if I really need to. His output is prolific and it is impossible to keep up. His albums themselves are consistently excellent and I'll keep up with them for sure. His soundtrack work is, however, probably where I need to hold back. By the nature of the work, they vary in how exciting they are and I should probably take the film/series into consideration before buying them. But there was a period in which I was trying to keep on top of what he was releasing, and this record came out in that time. It was the first step in the realisation that I should take a more considered approach to his output, solidified by a couple of soundtracks that did little for me. I think I'm now out of the trap, but time will tell.

This record is, undoubtably, a strange one. The first in series that I'm not sure has continued, Max picked a bunch of songs for a compilation. In theory, they were all from records in Rough Trade, but I've never paid enough attention to their classical section to know if it's as deep as this record suggests that it is. The majority of the songs here are what I (a layperson) would call classical, with a spattering of post-rock and electronica thrown in. Based on Max Richter's style of music, this feels like it's probably pretty representative of his record collection.

It's important to remember that I know next to nothing about classical music. Are the classical songs here that Max has picked "good" classical songs? I don't know. If I showed this to my in-laws (big classical music fans) would they find it to be an interesting mix, or look down their noses at it (is it the equivalent of them showing me a Now That's What I Call Music comp and asking my opinion)? Again, I don't know. I suspect Max has reasonable taste in classical music, but there are probably countless sub-genres that I know nothing about. Strip away the classical songs, and you've certainly got a perfectly reasonable ATP line-up, so I can only imagine the classical songs are equally highly-respected. Maybe I will ask my in-laws next time they're here.

Anyway, there were a few reasons I bought this album. One was that it had a Max Richter song that I wasn't familiar with (Mercy); secondly, it came with a bonus 7" of more unreleased Max Richter songs; thirdly, based on the songs I knew, I figured there'd be some interesting discoveries; and finally, I was just buying too many Max Richter records. On the first point, Mercy is an excellent song - powerful violins over a sombre piano. It grabs your attention the best possible way. On the second point, The Young Mariner is a really nice piano-led piece with gently swelling strings but Whale Window Hotel / Farewell Threshold Laudanum is disappointingly unremarkable. These two songs aren't included on the cd or in the download, sadly.

As for discovering music I didn't really know about, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Rachel's were both winners. I'd heard of Rachel's some years ago when one of them played at All Tomorrow's Parties, but never listened to any. Last Things Last is haunting and brilliant and I really need to spend more time with them as a band. As for the songs I know, I like that he picked a Mogwai song from their excellent Atomic soundtrack and Low are a welcome inclusion to literally anything. I love Godspeed as much as the next person, but dedicating an entire side of vinyl to Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls feels a bit lazy (or perhaps a sign of fatigue after curating five sides on vinyl). I imagine most people buying this record are like me - noobs to classical music, and knowledgable of post-rock, etc - but I do like the idea that somewhere there's a classical music fan hearing GYBE for the first time on this album and being blown away by it.

In terms of the classical music itself, I don't feel I'm any more knowledgable or into it than I was before I played this record. Starry Sky Cycle by Urmas Sisask is pretty nice, and the sleeve notes tell me that must be a fairly modern piece. Kronos Quartet provide an interesting and very maximal piece, but they're an easy one for people like me after their work on the incredible soundtrack to Requiem For a Dream with Clint Mansell. I think the biggest realisation is that what I enjoy about "neo-classical" music isn't so much the "classical" part as much as the "neo" part - it's the way it straddles post-rock and electronica that excites me, the fact it's usual classical instruments and ideas to get there is only a part of it. (As a separate side note, I feel that the genre name "neo-classical" is probably going to age as badly as "nu-metal" did). There's a strange vocal harmony piece on the first side of vinyl which really isn't my thing.

As well as three LPs and a 7", there's a download for two continuous mixes (following the tracklisting of the double cd version and featuring a much edited version of the Godspeed song) and a bonus cd of ten songs from the compilation, mostly featuring the newer songs/artists. Every now and again, I play one of these on my computer at work, but all of them feel a bit too sprawling and I never play more than one of the three hours they cover. Overall, it's a fairly lavish release for something that is ultimately the sort of cd you might get free as a sampler or on a magazine. It's nice, but I don't think it was the best way to spend the £31 I spent on it. I couldn't put a number on how much value I've gotten from it, but it's certainly less than £31; the remainder can be chalked up the cost of trying to keep up a collection of an artist who is releasing more records than I can try to remain on top of. I've learnt my lesson now though.

Format: triple 12", 7", cd, gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 45
Cost: £31 new
Bought: Rough Trade website
When: 08/06/17
Colour: Transparent green (LPs) and black (7")
Etching: none
mp3s: download code

Manic Street Preachers - Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers

When the Manics released Lipstick Traces in 2003 I rushed out to buy a copy. I remember chatting to the guy in HMV that Monday morning about it - the staff had been listening to it before the store opened. He thought the cover of Last Christmas was unnecessary, but I was too much of a fan to question any of their choices. I quickly changed the topic to how excited I was to hear them take on Nirvana, one of the few bands they covered that I was also a fan of. In reality I was, of course, just desperate to hear all of it. I had a reasonable MSP collection by that point (70 or so releases) but still more gaps than gaps-filled, and hearing old Manics b-sides had become a passion of mine.

I won't bore you with the details again, but that all grew from finding a 7" of Motorcycle Emptiness and hearing Bored Out of My Mind on the b-side. I can't emphasise enough what a significant event in my life finding that record was. I can still remember vividly the amazement of hearing this other side of a band whose albums I'd already played to death - to think of Bored Out of My Mind being written around the same time as Generation Terrorists never fails to confuse and amaze me. They did have a secret history, and I wanted to hear all of it. I still do. (Every now and again I wonder where my life would be had I heard Suicide Alley on the b-side to Little Baby Nothing or the New Art Riot EP first and heard their scrappy beginnings instead of that strange little ballad. Best not to think too much about it).

I my teens I'd read Mick Middles' biography of the band, which dwelled on a particular b-side for so long I knew I had to hear it. I bought a copy of the If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next single a short while before this compilation came out and agreed that Prologue to History was a fascinating song. It opens this compilation in excellent style - racing out of the gate with keyboards blaring and lyrics firmly wedged in the 90's, along with not-so-subtle references to Richey. It dominates your attention so much so I had to stop typing this whilst it was playing. Over the years, it has proven such a hit that "opening the b-sides album" is no longer praise enough - the forthcoming reissue of This is My Truth Tell Me Yours has controversially promoted it to album-track, bumping off Nobody Loved You, a song that was a single in Japan. I'll talk more about this revisionist approach to reissues at a later date, I'm sure, but I'm certainly unsure about it; not just because I'm not sure that's what it means to reissue an album, but because if you're putting Prologue to History on an album you can't just squeeze it in near the end, it practically defines the album and need to be considered amongst those huge singles.

I'm pretty sure every Manics fan would have a different ideal track-listing for this album in terms of what was included and excluded. Had they left off Bored Out of My Mind, I'd have been terrified (which sounds so much nicer on deep 12" grooves than the flimsy 7" I've over-played for years). I think Montana/Autumn/78, the other b-side from If You Tolerate This... could easily have made the album. Black Garden and Black Holes for the Young would have been quite nice too (This is My Truth was quite an era for b-sides). Sculpture of Man was always a favourite and one I'm glad they included - one of their most traditional punk songs, and a style I'd love to have seen them try more (I used to put it on mixtapes as if to say "the Manics aren't the band you think they are"). The closing trio of Close My Eyes, Valley Boy and We Her Majesty's Prisoners is a strong way to close out the album.

The album doesn't remotely hold together as an album, but that all the more emphasises the "secret history" part of it - the b-sides were so varied and showed so many different sides of their song-writing. Most of these wouldn't have worked on the albums they belonged to (in the broadest sense) but at the same time fit neatly into their distinct eras. How would Everything Must Go have felt with the instrument interlude of Horses Under Starlight included (and it would have been fully relegated to "interlude"-status had it been on the album)? Or can you imagine Too Cold Here on The Holy Bible? 4 Ever Delayed straddles eras as you might expect - the guitars sound straight off Know Your Enemy, but has the ferocity of their youth.

The last track of the second LP and the third LP are dedicated to the covers that made their way onto the second cd. They're a strange bunch of songs, some of which I still don't know the originals of - something much more easy to remedy these days than it was back in 2003. A review passed comment on the decision to include a disc of covers on the compilation (deeming it money-grabbing), but they fit the title of a "secret history" almost equally well; where Forever Delayed was the best-of for the masses (with a bonus disc of remixes to appeal to an even wider audience) it's a treat for the fans that the b-sides album goes even more obscure with the covers. If they'd tacked the b-sides onto the best-of, as is sometimes done, they'd have missed the mark entirely.

A lot of the covers I already knew as b-sides, although there were a handful of new ones. We Are All Bourgeois Now is a nice addition since I rarely had the patience to fast-forward to it at the end of Know Your Enemy and it's a great cover; I imagine a lot of people knew that one and Rock 'N' Roll Music as I'm sure every Manics fan had Know Your Enemy and The Masses Against the Classes. It's So Easy is a welcome blast back in time (I'd love to see them cover GNR these days). The Nirvana cover went in a different direction to what I was expecting, but it works (the juxtaposition between that and the spangly Out of Time, however, doesn't). Raindrops and Can't Take My Eyes Off You are another pair very familiar to most Manics fans and Last Christmas works much better than the guy in HMV that morning implied it would.

Around the time it was released, they also announced the album was also coming out on triple vinyl and I ordered one straight away. I think they made 1000 copies. The sleeve is a textured leopard print, made with those classic-era fans firmly in mind. I don't remember it selling out straight away, and I saw copies on eBay for around £45 not long afterwards. It's worth noting that £29 was an awful lot for a new record back then, and I nearly had second thoughts about buying it (something I'm very glad I didn't change my mind on). Of course, in 2018, the idea of getting a triple-LP for £29 (including postage!) is hilarious.

For years I didn't think a great deal about the vinyl other than how nice it looked next to my other Manics records - I had the cd copy I'd bought that morning in HMV so that got most of the plays (for reasons I can't remember, this record turned up about two months after the cd came out). Every now and again I'd see comments about how much people wanted a copy and eventually looked on Discogs where the only copy currently available would set you back £350 (although the highest sold price of £260 seems like a more reasonable benchmark)! This makes my Hum record look very cheap indeed. I've been looking at this record in a very different light ever since then; it is increasingly becoming the most valuable record in my collection.

I suspect for some people, part of that desire would be to hear Prologue to History on vinyl, which will soon be easily available. I imagine the vast majority though are, like me, trying in vain to have a reasonably complete Manics collection. There are gaps in my Manics collection of records I regret not buying, and records I'll almost certainly never have the chance to see let alone buy (unless I win the lottery), but I'm pleased this isn't one of them. Manics b-sides are a huge part of the reason I'm sat in a room surrounded by vinyl, so it's only natural that this LP is here with me.

Format: Triple 12", textured leopard print sleeve
Tracks: 35
Cost: £29 new
Bought: Website
When: 16/09/03
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: None

Hundred Reasons - Ideas Above Our Station [10 Year Anniversary]

Time has proved that Ideas Above Our Station is the classic album we all thought it was back in 2002. 15 years later, I still get excited when I hear those guitars at the start of I'll Find You and the whole album is great. The singles were huge - we knew that before the album even came out - but the other songs are all excellent too. In 2012, it seemed the world agreed that it was a classic album, so the band toured playing it in full, and Banquet put together this lovingly-extended 10-year anniversary edition. Needless to say, I ordered it as soon as it was announced.

Five years ago, I wrote a blog post about the album, having bought a copy on vinyl in 2005 for an ridiculously-cheap £1. At the time, I was looking forward to seeing them play the album that summer, and I was lucky enough to see them play it again that December with Hell Is For Heroes playing their equally-classic album, The Neon Handshake. I had a great time at both shows (and realised that despite listening to both albums excessively over the previous 10-years, I had no idea what any of the words really were).

Various delays hit this release, and it eventually showed up in December 2013. I was more than happy to forgive Banquet for the delay as I was just very pleased to have all the extra songs. The album itself takes up the first disc, but then we are treated to two more LPs of other songs from that era. It was billed as being all the early songs, but Different, the song we all fell in love with a demo of, was missing (as well as EP One and some others from compilations and splits early in their career, so maybe it was more strictly "all the songs from that era"). The lack of Different aside, it is an excellent set of additional material, featuring early b-sides and demos. I wasn't at all of aware of their "Singles Club" releases back in the day, so I'd thoroughly missed out on those.

A few of these songs I already have on 7"s, most notably the incredible Remmus from EP Two and No. 5, a b-side to If I Could, and a song I've loved since seeing them play it in Southampton Guildhall many, many years ago. Because I only had those early singles on 7", I'd missed out on the extra b-sides in nearly every case (the exception being If I Could which I ended up with a copy of cd1 of through a strangely bad deal with Hugh - I'd bought a copy of Pitchshifter's newest single, Eight Days, for a surprisingly expensive £5 - he really wanted it, and I thought the b-side was a bit rubbish, so agreed to swap it for the If I Could cd single, effectively paying £5 for it. Neither were really worth £5, but I do love No. 5).

Remmus was such a huge song and such a success (at least in the circles I moved in) that it always seemed like a shame it wasn't on the album - they could easily have included it and no one would have complained (sometimes relying too heavily on early EPs is sign of a weak album, but that clearly isn't the case - in a lot of ways, it's a ballsy move to not include it). I played that 7" a lot back in the day, so those guitars at the start almost mean as much to me as the ones at the start of If I Could. The chorus was such good fun to throw yourself around to at their shows. Soap Box Rally was a huge song too. The original recording of Shine isn't hugely different to the version that ended up on the album, at least to my ears.

Check Before Leaving and Lamps Collapsing are from the Singles Club series and both are good - the first is strong with interesting guitars, and the second at the heavier end of HR, like EP One or some of the songs that would appear later on. Sunny and Slow Motion are from EP Three, the first of which I know well from the 7". Slow Motion would have made a fine album track.

If I Could had four b-sides across its three formats, and make up the rest of Side D. I've raved about No. 5 before; I still think it's a great song, and the most experimental thing they did. I love Hundred Reasons as a rock band, but I'd to have heard more of what they could have done if they'd experimented in more things like this. Given the situation they were in, I can see why it never happened, at least not on the albums. I didn't buy any of the versions of the Silver single, so all four of those b-sides were new to me here, although Aerogramme strikes me as familiar for some reason, and Rush In is possibly the closest to No. 5 in how it differs from a usual Hundred Reasons song; I like it.

Safe Distance was the only b-side from the Falter single I knew, as it was on the 7", however I was very familiar with Introduction to Pop from the electric version, re-titled Pop on Shatterproof Is Not A Challenge. I like this version a lot. Little Toys and Your Day are heavier songs, but in different ways to each other. The demos at the end are nice to hear. Usually reissues are littered with demos rather than actually different songs, but in this case I could have happily gone for some more demos too.

Anyway, that's a lot of words, but on a deserving album. The reissue is great, and the first run sold out, so I doubt I'm the only person who thinks that. The extra songs are all included on a cd too (assuming that anyone who bought the reissue already has the original album on cd, which I'm sure is the case, because I swear everyone owned a copy of this album).

Format: Triple 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 30
Cost: £33 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 01/12/13
Colour: Silver, dark blue and blue
Etching: none
mp3s: cd included

Oneida - Rated O

I'd never listened to Oneida before buying this album. Even when I was buying it, I was aware it was a strange and unnecessary purchase, yet I still wanted to buy it. Sometimes it's important to feel adventurous, even if all you're doing is buying an album by a band you've not heard (but heard of, of course).

I was in Sister Ray in London (which is far less exciting now they're in their much smaller location across the road) and found this second hand copy of Rated O. Except it was sealed, so kinda new, but had taken some serious wear over its years of not being played - each of the corners was a bit dented and the seal had taken some wear (also, two of the sides have labels saying "Side D", so it's perhaps faulty stock from the label). At £15 it wasn't exactly a bargain either. But I'd never actually seen a Oneida record in a shop before and that alone made me think it was worth picking up - I strongly suspected the opportunity wouldn't present itself again. The sticker on the sleeve helpfully told me that this was the second of three releases in the "Thank Your Parents" albums.

I think I was keen to hear what the band sounded like - I'd heard the name many times and was aware of the drummer Kid Millions collaborating with J Spaceman and Boredoms. That should have given me some warning about what to expect. I've come to quite enjoy Rated O and think there are some gems amongst its six sides on vinyl but, Christ, it was hard work at first - Brownout in Lagos is not easy listening. If you're thinking about listening to Oneida for the first time, don't start there. What's Up, Jackyl is much more my cup of tea and great, but then 10:30 at the Oasis drones on for nearly quarter of an hour and makes me wonder what I'm doing with my life. In a strange move, they use a locked groove at the end of Side A to make the song go on for as long as you can stand it; I often assume I've reached the start of the locked groove far earlier than I have. It took me a few listens to make any progress with Rated O, and it turned out the trick was not starting at the beginning. I know the band probably went to some effort curating the listening experience that I decided to ignore, but sometimes it's got to be done.

There are highlights (and some lows) spread throughout the rest of the album - The Human Factor is uneasy listening but great at the same time; it sounds a bit like a nightmare. Side C is pretty strong with The River, I Will Haunt You and The Life You Preferred (all "songs" in a normal sense of the word). It Was a Wall is another great song. Side E is a bit of a lull, but the lengthy Folk Wisdom that takes up all of Side F makes for a good end.

All in all, I'm not Oneida's new biggest fan, but I enjoy them, which was certainly not a guaranteed result when I bought this album. It could have easily gone far, far worse.

Format: Triple 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 15
Cost: £15 second hand
Bought: Sister Ray
When: 04/03/16
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Atmosphere - Godlovesugly

The first time I heard Atmosphere was in my friend Jon's car as we drove across the Severn Bridge. I can't remember where we were going mind you but it was definitely on the bridge as we crossed from Wales into England. I didn't know Jon very well at the time, but he was in a band with a friend and had an interesting taste in music - a mix of punk, 90's rock and hip-hop. I have no idea what Atmosphere songs we listened to, but I enjoyed the strange beats and intense rapping.

A short while later I found this second-hand triple-LP copy of Godlovesugly in Reckless Records in London and figured it was worth picking up - I hadn't seen any of their albums about and it was in pretty good condition and well-priced at £10.

My feelings about Atmosphere have been fairly consistent over the 8 years since I bought this album - I enjoy them but find them hard work. I bought a couple of other albums and found the same thing time and time again - each album has some incredible songs - here you have really great songs like The Bass and the Movement, Fuck You Lucy and One of a Kind which really stand out. On the other hand, there are some really cringe-worthy moments, especially around Slug's rather low opinion of himself (or, at least, his assumption of others' low opinion of him). And then there are just loads of other songs - this album has 18 songs, which is crazy long. I'm very familiar with the start of this album, but find I often can't make it through all six sides.

The highlights really are great - Fuck You Lucy is exactly what I want from these guys - the rapping is aggressive and interesting and they do that really well. If there was a best-of that contained just those songs I'd probably be all over that. As it is, I don't have the patience for the majority of their output a lot of the time.

Format: Triple 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 10
Cost: £10 second hand
Bought: Reckless Records, London
When: 15/09/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is, in my opinion, one of the greatest albums ever written. As a teenager and into my early 20's it was my favourite album of all time; it's still firmly in the top 10 and would probably be even without the nostalgia and years of idolising this album. A vinyl copy was for a long time my holy grail of record collecting and four years after hearing the album for this first time, I bought this copy. This is from the first run of triple vinyl - exact numbers seem to vary, but this one is #635, which is fairly low. Let's rewind a bit.

When I was 15 I was introduced to the music of the Smashing Pumpkins in the form of the video for Tonight, Tonight; what a way to start. That song is so beautiful and the video that accompanies it is perfect. I can't imagine a world where I wouldn't have been bowled over by that at any age. 15, however, was the perfect age to discover Mellon Collie. As a teenager I convinced myself that the album was about this huge and eventful night out, the sort you only have when you're a teenager but always seem to have when you're a teenager - the structure of the album reinforces that idea - "dawn to dusk" and "twilight to starlight" and songs like Tonight, Tonight (looking forward as the day begins), In the Arms of Sleep (a perfect song for a love-struck teen) and rounding it off with Farewell and Goodnight. The video for 1979 surely was the visual version of such a night. What an incredible concept album to have and hold as a teenager.

The vinyl pressing takes that idea and really hammers it home in my opinion. The running order here is almost entirely different and takes the ideas above and lays them out for the story to evolve in such a better way. It was a large part in wanting to own the vinyl - to experience an album I already loved in a different way. The sides of the records are named after the parts of the day they represent:

Dawn is a very gentle affair, still starting with the brilliant opening duo of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Tonight, Tonight (as an aside, I remember looking at the cd in my local MVC before buying a copy and wondering what song could possibly precede Tonight, Tonight; how do you go from anything to Tonight, Tonight? It all made sense once I discovered that it was an instrumental intro song). It then goes straight into Thirty-Three, a song that doesn't appear until the second disc on the cd. I like Thirty Three but it was always the weakest single in my mind; there were so many other songs that I would have thought a better fifth single. In the Arms of Sleep (a song I played endlessly as a teenager) is also moved far further forward - it works so much better in this position. To round it off, we also get the cd1 closer Take Me Down sung by James Iha. It's a great combination of five songs and all work perfectly as a dawn to the day of the record.

Tea Time blows away that gentle opening with Jellybelly and Bodies. This chapter is surely about the excitement building up. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans always sat strangely with me on the cd, but here, closing out the tea time section, it works. It's the album's longest song, but sounds heavier surrounded by the other songs here.

When you looks at the songs on Dusk you know you're in for a treat. I'll just get this out of the way first, and it's something of a controversial statement: Muzzle might just be my all-time favourite Smashing Pumpkins song. The first time I saw them live (in Shepherd's Bush Empire 2007) they played a 3-hour set and finished with Muzzle. There's something comforting in a band finishing with your favourite song (it's like you all agree it's the best) but when it's not one of the "big singles" it's a bit unexpected. I wasn't even sure they'd play it and it ended up getting the prime spot on the setlist. I was surprised and amazed. I've not seen them play it since, but I hold that memory close to my heart. (As another aside, a similar thing happened the first time I saw Faith No More and they finished with Just a Man.) I remember on the very first time I listened to Mellon Collie being caught by this song - the lyrics "Have you ever heard the words I'm singing in these songs / it's for the girl I loved all along" grabbing my ears by being so self-referential. I hadn't been paying enough attention. It was the perfect way to get me listening to the end and all things Billy "knew" and all the things the "world is". On later listens I was also taken by the start "I fear that I am ordinary, just like everyone", something that I really took to heart; for a long time that was my worst fear. When I die, I want Muzzle played at my funeral - it's a rather morbid thing to think about but I decided that as a teenager and I feel that changing my mind one day would be like betraying my younger self, and I liked that guy too much to do that.

But this side isn't just about Muzzle, because you also have the "other" big single from Mellon Collie, Bullet With Butterfly Wings. I'd also been treated to the excellent video to this song before getting the album - it's hard to imagine an album that can contain both the delicate Tonight, Tonight and the crazed-rock of Bullet With Butterfly Wings. There's also the long Thru the Eyes of Ruby (which has two truly incredible moments - just before the line "Your strength is my weakness, your weakness my hate" and the climax of "The night has come to hold us young" - and over 70 guitar tracks contributing to the fuzz), Galapogos (the odd-one-out until it reaches it's peak with "Too late to turn back now" - so many of the songs here have changes in the music that match perfectly to certain lyrics) and the blistering fuzzy grunge of Tales of a Scorched Earth. If tea time was the build up, dusk is the expected explosion; the planned highlights of a night that's only just begun.

Twilight is where the night starts to change from being just a regular night to one worthy of a concept album. 1979 is so entwined with the video that's hard to imagine it without picturing some kids driving around having a good time. The Pumpkins released some good songs after Mellon Collie, but I always wished more of them were about people rather than whatever strange ideas they were about. There is something much more relatable to a band singing about people and I like the idea of being able to relate to the Pumpkins. I always thought ending was very abrupt, but I've come to enjoy how unexpected it is. The love songs begin to come out in a way they hadn't before in the form of Beautiful, Cupid de Locke and By Starlight and the album begins to get a bit more surreal.

The night turns a bit more aggressive on Midnight with Where Boys Fear to Tread (which serves as the opener to the second half on the cd tracklisting), Zero, Fuck You (An Ode to No One), Love and X.Y.U - all some of the heaviest songs on the album. The lovey scenes from twilight are knocked away in an instant by fuzz and distortion and Jimmy Chamberlin smashing the drums in his usual way. The transition between Where Boys Fear to Tread and Zero is slightly off and the only time in the album where you feel like you're not listening to it in the way it was produced - the two are a great pair, but the moment it goes from one to the other is just wrong. It's one of those things I spent a lot of time thinking about when making mixtapes, so maybe it's just my over-critical ear. Zero is a huge song and probably better than Bullet in a lot of ways but was somehow over-shadowed by it as the "heavy single". The riff on Fuck You (An Ode to No One) is so fast it reminds you just how incredible these guys were. I love watching old live performances (and they've done a good job of supplying live dvds with the recent reissues) and when they're on form they're just mind-blowing. The moment when X.Y.U. explodes with the line "And into the eyes of the jackyl I say ka-boom" is so, so good (how can an album have so many great moments like that - the sort that make you stop and pay full attention? Just incredible).

Finally, we turn to Starlight to wrap things up. Farewell and Goodnight has to be the closer in the same way that Tonight, Tonight has to be the (proper) opener, but on the vinyl edition we're treated to an acoustic reprise of Tonight, Tonight called Tonite Reprise and a matching instrumental closer (matching to the actual first song) called Infinite Sadness creating a perfect book-ending to the album. Tonite Reprise appeared as a b-side to Tonight, Tonight and in the Aeroplane Flies High boxset but I'd never heard Infinite Sadness until I got to the end of the vinyl - the acoustic guitar and drums lift it above the pomp and grandeur of the opener. It's such a great way to close off a incredible album. Stumbleine and Lilly (My One and Only) also fit perfectly in this chapter, as the night wraps up and concludes. Farewell and Goodnight has a sound throughout that sounds like waves breaking on a beach, so it's easy to picture this incredible night ending on a beach somewhere with just the sound of the waves. The two extra songs provide that reflection to the start that we're missing on the cd and makes the whole experience even more enjoyable.

As I mentioned earlier, Mellon Collie was something of a holy grail for me. I'd seen it come up on eBay from time to time and watched it sell for anywhere between £75 and £125, depending on the condition. At this point I was a student living on £30-£40 a week after bills and rent, so it felt far away. Towards the end of my first year of university, I decided I'd start saving to buy a copy. It's a strange thing to say, but I'd been amazed by the idea that five small £2 coins were the same as a £10 note - I think I've always considered coins to be useless money and notes to be real money (and have always been very begrudging of the idea of breaking a note) - so the idea that a small stack of coins could be real money really struck me. I decided that I'd save every £2 coin that I got given in change and build up the pile until I had enough to afford Mellon Collie on vinyl. A part of it was also that as an adult the idea of saving is very different to how it was as a child. As a child I'd save whatever money I got to buy Lego and it was always really exciting to finally be able to buy it; I wanted that feeling again (and it was appropriate that it was for an album that defined my teenage years so much).

So I saved every £2 coin I received for about nine months. It wasn't too difficult and was quite an easy way to save - if I was on a night out and got £2 in change after buying drinks, then it wasn't too bad to not spend it. I don't remember finding I didn't have enough money for another drink, but it was a good incentive to not buy a dirty takeaway with my change on the way home. After that time I had 41 £2 coins. I'd been watching a few auctions on eBay of copies of Mellon Collie over a few weeks. I'd put in some bids on other copies but got outbid beyond my £2 coin collection. The selling prices were varying dramatically, but I got quite lucky with this one. A strategic last minute bid secured it as mine for £82 (including postage it was a bit more, but that's fine). I think the seller was in Ireland. I can't remember why it went for a more reasonable price than some others but I was very happy. The seller could have packaged it much better all considering, but it survived the journey and only has very minimal damage in general. The records themselves are in mint condition, as is the booklet (photographed below). I've only listened to the vinyl a few times in the 11 years I've owned it (I'm slightly scared to touch it) but they sound incredible, especially considering how thin the vinyl itself is.

To this day, this remains one of my most prized possessions. It's always nice to have albums you love on vinyl, but it's even better when that format gives you a better way of enjoying the album. It is still the most expensive record I've ever bought (by an increasingly small margin) but worth every penny.

Format: Triple 12", gatefold sleeve, 12-page booklet
Tracks: 30
Cost: £87.50 second hand
Bought: eBay
When: 12/03/05
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Tomahawk - Eponymous to Anonymous

I've been listening to bands that Mike Patton has been in for years - like most I started with some Faith No More and Mr Bungle, eventually adding some Lovage and Peeping Tom into the mix, as well as with his excellent album with John Kaada; at Roskilde Festival one year I saw him play in four different bands over the weekend; I even made it about half way through one of his solo albums (which is quite something, I can tell you). He's released a lot of music over the years and I doubt there's anyone out there who can enjoy all of it (possibly even including Mike himself). Personally, I've found his metal bands to be less rewarding - I saw Fantomas (at Roskilde) and quite enjoyed it, but I've never been able to get into their albums; similarly, I have a very hit-and-miss relationship with the Mr Bungle albums. Throughout all of this, Tomahawk remained the one band I never actually listened to.

That changed on Record Store Day in 2012. I'd seen that there was a boxset of Tomahawk's first three albums and thought it could be a good chance to finally get into them. As I stood in the queue that day, chatting to the guy behind me about what records we were hoping to get he pretty much convinced me that I'd enjoy Tomahawk and it'd be a great purchase. The key consideration was the price - RSD records tend to be obscenely expensive, but the Tomahawk boxset was a US release meaning that it stood a good chance of being reasonably priced (a very backwards system indeed. It was the same logic that meant I got the first three Piebald albums for £26). We also agreed that if there was only one copy left, he could have it. Luckily, there were still quite a few when we got into the shop and, even better, it was under £30 (even less with the Banquet vouchers I'd been saving from my loyalty cards).

It's a pretty nice package, but suffers from my usual RSD complaint - yes, it's nice to have these albums on vinyl and the box is a good addition, but otherwise it's a fairly basic reissue; no coloured vinyl, download codes, inserts, etc. None of these are vital, but they are nice and I always feel they go a long way.

Of the three albums, Mit Gas is my favourite. It feels like it works best as an album and has some genuinely catchy songs (Desatsre Natural is my favourite of the lot my a long way). In comparison, the other two albums have their faults along with their better moments. The first "eponymous" LP lacks those moments that make it stand out (whereas Mit Gas has plenty). Laredo is a pretty good song, but I usually find that the rest of the album has passed me by and that one catches my ears at the end. Anonymous on the other hand mostly suffers from its concept - traditional Native American songs fleshed out into rock songs. Despite that, Ghost Dance and Omaha Dance are highlights.

There are moments throughout the boxset that are really great, but it doesn't get as much play as I thought it would and, when I do think to play it, I generally find myself listening to Mit Gas. I enjoy it, but it's not my favourite Patton-related band by a long shot.

Format: Triple 12", boxset
Tracks: 38
Cost: £18.24 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 21/04/12
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead

Before April 2007 I'd never heard of El-P. I was in Cardiff visiting a friend and we spent the Saturday morning visiting the record shops in town. In Fopp he picked up a copy of El-P's new-at-the-time album I'll Sleep When You're Dead which got him into a conversation with the fairly attractive woman at the till. As first impressions of musicians go, "El-P makes woman impressed by your music taste" is a pretty good one. She was noticeably underwhelmed by my choices, which really reinforced that idea in my mind.

Anyway, later in the day we got back to my friends house and he played me a couple of songs from the album whilst he cooked and I thought it was great. He started with The Overly Dramatic Truth and Flyentology, knowing that the Glassjaw and Nine Inch Nails cameos would appeal to me. It certainly worked and a few months later I stumbled across this vinyl copy in the HMV in Basingstoke (which shouldn't be ignored as something that happens easily - I'd rarely even seen the cd about, let alone the LP. That HMV didn't have a particularly great selection of vinyl but did have this. I've never seen the vinyl in a shop since. Sadly I was served by a dude who barely even looked at what I was buying). As if finding this album on vinyl (for a mere £11.50) wasn't enough, when I got home I discovered it also contained a bonus red 7" with alternate mixes of Smithereens and The Overly Dramatic Truth on; a very pleasant surprise indeed.

In the seven years since I bought this album, it's been consistently on very regular rotation. The beats are brilliantly dark in places and compliment the rapping perfectly. Most of the songs subtlety build up, gradually adding instruments and beats, until there's so much going on it's hard to concentrate on anything else (the drums-and-vocals-only mix of The Overly Dramatic Truth on the 7" is perfect example - the drums start off quite peacefully but but end up riotous before dropping away completely just leaving El's rap). There are highlights throughout the album, but Tasmanian Pain Coaster, Up All Night, Poisenville Kids No Wins and the entirety of side C are all worth calling out.

There's not a great deal of hip-hop in my record collection, but the albums I do have generally have some relation to El-P. Not only is I'll Sleep When You're Dead a great record, it introduced me to a wealth of other great music too. What more can you ask for?

Format: Double 12", 7", insert
Tracks: 15
Cost: £11.50 new
Bought: HMV, Basingstoke
When: 01/07/07
Colour: Black, Red 7"
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Piebald - Volume I-III

There is a lot of music in here.

When I bought this record, a collection of Piebald's first three LPs, I'd never heard Piebald. We all have people whose musical opinions we trust and when they talk fondly of a band, you know you've got a decent chance of enjoying them too. When a whole bunch of these people all adore a particular band, it's almost rude not to give them a listen. That's basically what happened here; over a few years I became aware of more and more people talking about Piebald and they all got very excited when this record was announced for Record Store Day 2011. A triple LP for £26 is certainly a bargain on RSD, so I knew what I had to do.

Turns out all those people were right - Piebald are a band I'm glad I got into. To me they sound like Hum as an late-90's emo band, which is a pretty cool sound. You Won't be Seeing Me Again, for example, has that excellent combination of a quiet build up and crunching guitars whereas a song like Long Time is far more Saves the Day. On paper it would be hard to take Piebald seriously, with their equally ridiculous album titles and song titles. Even some of the songs steer slightly towards the comical side, but musically it's pretty consistent and pretty brilliant. There are also countless huge choruses, Part II: The Noreaster, Grace Kelly With Wings or The Monkey Versus the Robot being prime examples. Finally, the outro to Sex Sells and (Unfortunately) I'm Buying also deserves a mention.

The package here is pretty lovely too. Each of the albums is on a different colour record and housed in a great triple-gatefold. Inside there are lengthy pieces by the band members about each record which, being the terrible person I am, I haven't read yet (it's a very small font and a triple-gatefold sleeve doesn't make for the easiest book to read). Everyone has gone to a great effort to make this a lovely collection.

Format: Triple 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 36
Cost: £26 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 16/04/11
Colour: Green, transparent blue and transparent yellow
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Iron & Wine - Around the Well

Back in January I wrote about The Woman King by Iron & Wine. It was the first Iron & Wine album I ever heard and remains to be my favourite. The second Iron & Wine album I heard was the b-sides and rarities compilation Around the Well, which remains to be my second favourite Iron & Wine album (the fact that neither of these are "proper" albums is probably of note).

About six months after I bought The Woman King I'd just moved to London and spent a Saturday afternoon browsing the record shops of Soho for bargain cds. In one of the second hand stores I found a copy of Around the Well on cd for £7 and, having enjoyed The Woman King so much, figured it was worth a shot. I also noticed that it contained the cover of Such Great Heights (a song I've already sung the praises of twice - in the post about The Woman king above, and in this post about Give Up by The Postal Service) so I knew it would contain at least one excellent song.

In amongst those 23 songs there were some other gems that stood out at various points over the years - The Postal Service-esque Sacred Vision, Hickory, The Flaming Lips' Waitin' for a Superman, Belated Promise Ring and Arms of a Theif. However, the highlight of the collection by far is the final, nearly 10-minute long song, The Trapeze Swinger. I've not listened to every Iron & Wine album, but The Trapeze Swinger must surely be one of his absolute finest. As the song rolls on the story unfolds and it never gets boring. The drums and gentle backing-vocals fill the track in a beautiful way and act as a bed for the guitar, floating lyrics and organ. If you have 10 minutes to check out a new song today, I can't recommend enough that it should be The Trapeze Swinger.

A couple of weeks ago I was record shopping in Manchester and found this second-hand, triple-LP version of Around the Well in very good condition for £12. The shop it was in wasn't the cheapest so I was quite surprised to find an album I wanted quite so reasonably. I've had the cd for nearly five years but £12 was a price I was willing to pay for The Trapeze Swinger alone. When I got home I was pleasantly surprised again to find that the F-side of the vinyl was etched (see below). A lot of record labels would have considered cutting a song to make it fit on two discs, so you've got to love Sub Pop for doing the opposite and dedicating a whole 12" to that incredible last song. 

Format: Triple 12", insert, etched F-side

Tracks: 23

Cost: £12 second hand

Bought: Vinyl Exchange, Manchester

When: 18/05/14

Colour: Black

Etching: Etched F-side

mp3s: Download code

Mono - Holy Ground: NYC Live With The Wordless Music Orchestra

Since I've been doing this PhD, instrumental music has really come into it's own. It used to be that the only post-rock bands in my collection were Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai, but since I discovered how nice it is to work whilst listening to epic, soaring music I've found so many more bands I love. Mono are certainly one of them, and this record is great.

I'm pretty sure that  they were the first band I ever saw at All Tomorrow's Parties, playing the EITS festival a few years back. They were certainly the first band I saw in the upstairs room at Minehead. I was very impressed, but somehow forgot to actually buy any of their records until a few years later. When this album was released there was a free download of Ashes in the Snow floating around that I downloaded and played to death. I've always been a sucker for classical instruments and rock music together (this might have something to do with Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve being a huge part of my life).

When I was in San Francisco a few months later I found the triple vinyl in Amoeba Records. I'd been wanting to buy it since the record came out but it was crazy expensive with postage from the states, so I jumped at the chance to get it then. It worked out to about £19, which is still a lot, but it's a pretty lovely package: limited to 3,000 copies, triple gatefold vinyl with individual picture sleeves and a DVD of the entire show. Musically, it's lovely. The orchestra adds so much warmth to the songs, and so much power to the whole thing. The DVD is a great watch too, seeing this rock band sat in front of a huge orchestra (also means I get to enjoy it without getting up to change the record five times). The whole thing is worth a listen, but Ashes in the Snow and Pure as Snow are certainly highlights and the outro to Everlasting Light is jaw-dropping.

I had tickets to see Mono playing with an orchestra in Koko last year, but I couldn't go in the end. Some friends and I were planning a fairly large trip around south-east Asia and the only time we could all make it involved me giving up my tickets to see Mono and Low. I was a bit gutted (especially since chances to see a performance as awesome as this record don't come around that often) but I'm very glad I went. I got to finally see Low at the Jeff Mangum ATP earlier in the year, and Mono are playing Shellac's one in December, admittedly not with an orchestra, but it should be good regardless.


Format: Triple 12", gatefold, picture sleeves, DVD
Tracks: 10
Cost: £19 new
Bought: Amoeba, San Francisco
When: 07/09/10
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no