The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts

I'm a moderate fan of The Decemberists - I have all their albums either on cd or vinyl. Getting into them was a fun experience, starting with The Tain EP and the excellent Picaresque, bought on the same day in Cardiff based on a seemingly endless list of people telling me I should get into them (I bought The Tain on my first ever trip to Spillers Records, the same day I bought All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone by Explosions in the Sky - a good start to a long relationship with that shop).

A few months after moving to Cardiff I finally had enough disposable income to start buying records again (it had been tough few months) and decided to start the Tuesday-Record-From-Spillers year, a year where every Tuesday I'd go to Spillers and buy an LP. As mentioned many times before, it was a very good year. The very first record I bought was this one, The Decemberists' first album. It was a fitting start, since the shop had helped me get into the band in the first place.

Castaways and Cutouts is a very strong debut - it sets up everything we've come to expect from the band so well - deep, interesting characters (Leslie Anne Levine, A Cautionary Tale), slow melodic songs (Cocoon, Clementine) and huge indie-pop songs (July, July!, The Legionaire's Lament, California One / Youth and Beauty Brigade). A lot of people would argue that The Crane Wife was the high-point, but for me it was always Picaresque - of course Castaways and Cutouts has long had to live in its shadow, but it does a good job. These days I play it rarely, but enjoy it more than I remember each time I do (although I rank July, July! amongst the band's best songs, so I look forward to that appropriately).

I've found I get less out of the band as I've aged - I've often wished for them to be more serious, but some of the moments I love the most are the exact opposite - but I still think highly of them. Maybe it's not an age thing and one day they'll be a favourite again, you never can tell. They certainly have potential and I'll continue to buy every album until I have a strong desire to stop.

Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 10
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Spillers Records, Cardiff
When: 08/01/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Mars Volta - Amputechture

I've long been of the belief that the first two Mars Volta albums are the finest the band have released - De-Loused in the Comatorium was the daring debut and Frances the Mute was the epic follow-up, the pinnacle of what everyone wanted from the band. I enjoyed the albums that followed, but none as much as the first two; when I want to listen to The Mars Volta, I go for those first two almost every time.

A few years ago I read a review saying that Amputechture was the first truly great Mars Volta album. I don't know whether the reviewer had a grudge against the first two, or genuinely believed that the third was better, but I found it surprising either way. Shortly thereafter, the vinyl reissue on morally-dubious Music on Vinyl came out and despite Cedric and Omar's best wishes, I bought a copy. It was very shortly after De-Loused had been re-issued too, so I guess I had in my mind that I'd aim to have a complete collection of Mars Volta LPs (two-and-a-half years later, and I've not bought anymore, so maybe not). That review definitely stuck in my mind - if this guy believed this to be the best maybe I should spend more time with it.

I bought the cd as soon as it came out back in 2006 but struggled with it pretty much from the off - Tetragrammaton jumps all over the place and has too much going on for my liking (or perhaps it just won't stay in one place for long enough for me to enjoy it). Vicarious Atonement was a nice gentle opener, so it's early in the album to have such a song. It's the longest on the album, but in reality there are probably just four 4-minute songs cut up and spread across it. Meccamputechture on the other hand is fine example of the band creating a long song with movements that flow. On top of that, the chorus is huge and is probably the highlight of the album, followed by Day of the Baphomets. Viscera Eyes was the single and you can see why (despite the Spanish lyrics) - it has a huge riff and a chorus and is only 9 minutes long. The end is slightly anti-climatic, but that might be because the end of Frances the Mute was so great.

The release is nice - double red vinyl, a gatefold sleeve and a poster. All are stamped with a number (mine is #386). The placement of the barcode is deeply unsatisfying - the artwork is inexplicably mirrored, so that the legs of the creature are on the front and the head on the back. Then the barcode, number stamp and sticker are placed on the front. I have no idea why they've done that. The barcode isn't a sticker that can be removed either, sadly. Also missing are the locked grooves on each side that the original LP pressing had.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, poster
Tracks: 8
Cost: £28 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 17/06/14
Colour: Red/gold
Etching: none
mp3s: no

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

Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists

Like all good collectors, I have many copies of Generation Terrorists - the regular cd, the Japanese cd, the Japanese cd version of the single-LP US version, the double picture disc, the 20th anniversary boxset and the cassette. However, there's always room for more, so here is the original double LP.

I went to Truck Store on it's sixth birthday, which also happened to be the 25th anniversary of the release of Generation Terrorists. I rarely browse the second-hand records there as I tend to prefer new albums and because whenever I do there's nothing I really want. However, on that Friday I thought I'd have a browse and, by some strange coincidence, the rack on the left was open such the only record not leaning forwards was a copy of Generation Terrorists. It was £35 and in reasonable condition - the sleeve has had some wear over the 25 years, but the vinyl is perfect. A previous owner had very greasy fingers, as there are fingerprints all over the cover, but the picture sleeves are still like new despite their age and how thin they are. I thought about it for a little bit, then decided I was ridiculous to even consider not buying it (new LPs are nearly £30 these days, so it was a good price) and took it to the counter.

A while ago, I read about the first pressings of Generation Terrorists, which had a sample from A Streetcar Named Desire at the start of Little Baby Nothing so I quickly checked all my copies, with no luck. I made a mental note to track down a copy one day, but figured it would be difficult without actually listening to older looking copies. When I bought this LP, I hoped it might be from the first pressing, but didn't hold out much hope - the sticker on the cover suggested that a lot of the songs had been released as singles, so I figured it was from later in time.

You can then only imagine my amazement when Love's Sweet Exile finished and these voices I'd never heard before appeared. It's funny to finally hear the song as was originally intended so many years later, after so many listens. I know it's only a sample, but can you imagine hearing The Holy Bible without all the samples and quotes? They become a huge part of the album, so it was great to hear this version. Looking at the grooves on the record, you can see where the sample plays, so I think I'd have a good chance of spotting it again in the future. Of course, I need to hunt down a cd version too, which might be harder.

I've written about Generation Terrorists twice before (see the links above), so there's little to add here. I knew it was the 25th anniversary when I bought the album, because I'd seen something about it on Twitter that morning. I'd had a craving to listen to it all day, so it was rather fitting that I'd buy another copy at lunchtime. I love how much enjoyment the Manics have given me from their albums.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, picture sleeves
Tracks: 18
Cost: £35 second hand
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 10/02/17
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Failures' Union - Sinker

I started this blog over four years ago and the very first record I wrote about was In What Way by Failures' Union. In the four years between now and then I've written about over 400 records I own, which on one hand is very pleasing, but on the other quite daunting, as I know I have many more to go and increasingly less time in my day. Still, it's about time I wrote about Failures' Union's first album, Sinker.

About a year after I saw Failures' Union in Kingston I bought Sinker in Banquet. The sticker that's still on the plastic sleeve says £8 but I actually paid even less than that as I had a voucher to use as the result of a full-stamped loyalty card.

These days I enjoy both In What Way and Sinker quite equally. It doesn't help that I have mp3s for neither, so they don't get as much play as I'd like. The result is that when I have a craving for Failures' Union I pick one of these two quite arbitrarily and get a very similar enjoyment. There are certainly moments on Sinker I look forward to - like the pairing of Watch the Sky and Independence Blues. Useless Facts, Classic Car Wreck and the slow Carry It Well are great too.

I hadn't realised that Failures' Union had since released a third album; I should pick a copy up.

Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 16
Cost: £5 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 17/01/11
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Night Marchers - Allez! Allez!

John Reis being in a band is a pretty strong stamp of approval. In fact, there's a wide network of bands that are all interconnected by the bands he's been in, who are all noteworthy. Whilst RFTC was certainly my introduction to his many bands and music, it was Drive Like Jehu that I first fell in love with.

In 2013 I first heard about The Night Marchers (although they'd long pre-dated that point) via Tim Pop-Kid's vinyl blog. They sounded like an interesting band that I'd probably enjoy. In a rare collection of well-timed events, I was also going to Fest that year, where The Night Marchers were playing and, even more hard-to-predict, Banquet happened to have a copy of their second (and new-at-the-time) LP, Allez! Allez!. I excitedly bought a copy, along with a bunch of other albums, but it was certainly near the top of the ones I wanted to listen to first.

Given the (relatively) wide variety of music Reis has been involved with (his is a much wider range than a lot of prolific musicians) I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but very much enjoyed what I heard when the needle hit the record. Given the rest of the line-up, it's easy to compare the band most to Hot Snakes, but there's a lighter edge that's more rhythmic and works really well. There are huge hooks and choruses, like on Loud, Dumb & Mean or Big in Germany. Pain always struck me as a funny song, because I can't hear it without hearing 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins. Whether intentionally or not, I swear there's something similar between the songs - a hint of melody or the beat. I like it, but it dominates the song for me.

Anyway, I saw the band at Fest that year and they were great - it was a really fun show and helped knowing the songs well. It was in the Florida Theatre in Gainesville, which is the biggest venue used for the Fest, but it was strangely empty and we were basically on the front barrier with a handful of other people going mad for the band. I couldn't tell how much the crowd behind were enjoying the show, but the front two rows had a great time.

Format: 12", a4 insert
Tracks: 12
Cost: £15 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 07/09/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Bangers - Mysterious Ways

In August 2014, Bangers spent a weekend in a barn in Cornwall writing and recording a new album. It was something of an experiment - they went in with no songs prepared and the resulting album would only be available to buy during that weekend when it was being made; if it was terrible, at least the damage would be limited and if it was great then everyone who bought it would have something special. The album was available as a cassette and sent out a few weeks later. 358 of us bought the cassette that weekend, mine is number 158.

A year later, they released their third "proper" album, Bird, and then re-released the cassette-only Mysterious Ways on vinyl - over time they'd realised they were quite proud of the recording and wanted it to be available to those who'd missed out on the recording weekend (and offered to reimburse anyone who had bought the cassette and was pissed that they'd changed their mind on how it was to be released). I'm not a big fan of cassettes - they're becoming a necessary evil whilst bands look for cheap (and fast) ways to get their music out - but I do have a few nice cassette-only releases that don't get the attention they deserve. I got this LP copy as part of my Specialist Subject Records subscription, but I would have bought it anyway; it's nice to have Mysterious Ways on vinyl. I've included pictures of the cassette in the pictures below, because why not.

As Bangers albums go, it's very recognisable as Bangers, although I'd say darker/doomier than they tend to be on their other albums. The thing I miss most on it is Roo's often strange lyrical content - here there tends to be a few words repeated a lot and a lot less of the dense lyrics that I look forward to. Where the album is weakest is in the lyrics, but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment overall. Dewey has one of the catchiest hooks and chorus of any Bangers song and I love how Thoughts/Second Thoughts sounds like Bangers if they were a sludge band. Nerves Ending, on the other hand, sounds like they're trying to be Caves, which is great. Mosquito is a strange addition and one I don't really care for. You get the impression they were just having a bit of fun with that one and included it because eight songs isn't really an album.

I enjoy Mysterious Ways, but that's partly in knowing that they recorded it in a weekend with their fingers crossed that people would actually but it; I like knowing I was a part of that. It's not their strongest album, but it's still great. I'd take the worst Bangers album any day over no Bangers albums, which is what we have now they're broken up.

Format: 12", folded sleeve
Tracks: 9
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Specialist Subject Records
When: 21/09/15
Colour: Yellow in clear
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code