Bruce Springsteen - American Beauty

Everyone eventually becomes a Bruce Springsteen fan. I didn't see it happening, but here I am writing about a Springsteen RSD 12". When I wrote about Born to Run on here a few years ago, I didn't see myself as the sort of guy who'd buy a record like this, but even throughout that one blog post I could see myself becoming more of a fan. I did buy a Best-Of and I have since bought more LPs too. I've been thinking for a while "wouldn't it be great to have all of his back-catalogue on vinyl". The Springsteen-fan ship has sailed, and it seems that I'm on it.

Record Store Day 2014 and I'd just moved to Oxford. My friend Hugh was visiting and we went to Truck together at an ungodly hour. I spent a lot, he spent a lot; I bought an incredible Songs:Ohia boxset, he bought a Cave In record he was very excited about and we both bought a copy of this EP. It was only a tenner, which is a bargain as far as RSD goes. I didn't need the record but kinda wanted it anyway. It didn't take much convincing.

The title track is pretty strong, as is Hurry Up Sundown. Mary Mary didn't do much for me but Hey Blue Eyes makes up for it (it feels like the song that Mary Mary should have been). It's not a record I've played very regularly over the last year, but it is nice.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 4
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Truck Store
When: 19/04/14
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Deer Leap & The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Are Here to Help You

After I saw TWIABP at Fest in 2013 I decided to buy all the records I could from their merch stand. I'd been amazed by their debut full-length, Whenever, If Ever, for months by that point and it was never going to be quite so easy (or so cheap) so stock up on their music. One of those records was this split with Deer Leap.

I'd never heard of Deer Leap at this point, and I imagine they're in a lot of people's record collections because of this record. They're an interesting sounding band; there's that floaty Explosions in the Sky-style post-rock sound to their guitars but with some low-fi emo vocals going on too. It works, but I can't say it's blown me away; a year and a half later and I've not checked out anything else by them.

The TWIABP side is pretty much exactly what I expected and excellent for it. I Will Be Okay. Everything is a perfect example of a great TWIABP song - sing-alongs, crazy song structures with drops that come out of nowhere, shouty vocals layered on singing and a strange midi-solo. In fact, all four songs are pretty strong TWIABP songs; on other records they have a tendency at times to meander through some awesome moments without ever really forming "songs" in the usual sense, but here they all work as individual tracks as well as a whole. The ending to Wait... What? finishes the record in a suitably unexpected but excellent way.

Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 8
Cost: £6.30 new
Bought: gig
When: 31/10/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Computers - Live & Inconsolable

The Computers aren't very similar to the band they were when I started listening to them. The change felt quite gradual from live show to live show; Al became an increasingly charismatic front man and the rock 'n' roll vibe started seeping through. On record, however, there is a huge difference between how they sound on This Is The Computers and how they sound on the follow up, Love Triangles Hate Squares. Without the context of the live shows it would have been quite a shock.

This double live album was recorded in their home town of Exeter some months after their second album came out and it is The Computers in full-on rock 'n' roll mode. Captured is plenty of Al's on-stage (and often off-stage/in-the-crowd) rants and a lot of energy. Maybe it's because I've lost count of how many times I've seen The Computers, but I can picture this concert very easily. The setlist comprises almost every song on their second album, only Music is Dead from the first and nothing at from the EP that got me into them. I've come to terms with the fact that they'll probably never play those older songs live again - they fit less well with the rock 'n' roll version of the band. I enjoy the new songs too, so I'm not too annoyed.

Live & Inconsolable is a fun album and captures their strong live show well. I picked up my copy a few days after Record Store Day when passing through Banquet Records. Truck hadn't got any copies in but I knew Banquet would. At £24 it was quite pricey and, personally, I would have preferred a cover/sleeve to the transparent sleeve it came in. Sure, the records are both nice colours, but unless it's a picture disc I don't see the need for a clear sleeve. Judging by the pictures on the labels there clearly some great shots of the band that night. Each one is individually numbered and mine is 333 (Banquet had quite a few copies so I picked the best number available).

Format: Double 12", numbered (333/500)
Tracks: 14
Cost: £24 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 21/04/14
Colour: Light blue and burgundy
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Hark - Crystalline

I've mentioned a number of times that I started listening to Hark because I was a huge fan of the singer/guitarist's previous band Taint, so I'll try to avoid dwelling on that again. That said, every time I think of Taint I think of the first time I heard them play All Bees to Sea in Clwb Ifor Bach and driving through the snow to get to their final show in Swansea; I'm thinking these things now so I might as well write them.

I ordered Hark's debut album as soon as I heard it was coming out. I have memories of being sat in the drab, very corporate offices of my old job battling with a shitty wi-fi connection to get the record. I opted for the white with blue/brown splatter vinyl (/150) which looks lovely. It ended up being a fairly pricey purchase with the postage from France but definitely worth it. It should be no surprise that the artwork is excellent too.

As you'd hope, Crystalline is a pretty unrelenting album - the only time it really lets up is on the sludgier Black Hole South West, which is still pretty heavy. Other than that, you only really have the the moments between sides to catch your thoughts. Both of the songs from the Mythopoeia 7" reappear but are both incredible songs so no one is complaining; I still think the outro to Sins on Sleeves is huge. Other highlights are the opener, Palendromeda, Scarlet Extremities and Clear Light Of... (featuring Neil Fallon of Clutch).

It took a few listens to really get into Crystalline, but I think the nature of the music makes it pretty dense. I knew that it would be worth persevering because Jimbob's riff have never steered me wrong in the past.

Format: 12", gatefold sleeve, insert
Tracks: 10
Cost: £26 new
Bought: Season of Mist website
When: 13/04/14
Colour: White with blue/brown splatter
Etching: none
mp3s: no

EMA - The Future's Void

I bought EMA's first LP, Past Life Matyred Saints, just after The Future's Void came out. I'd seen the new one in record shops and remembered that I'd been meaning to check her solo stuff out after having greatly enjoyed Gowns. I really enjoyed Past Life Matryed Saints and decided to pick up The Future's Void when I was in Truck Records one day last summer. A year has now passed and I still don't feel that this album has clicked with me anywhere near as much as the first did.

On the whole, I'd say that The Future's Void is a poppier affair and draws more comparisons to alt-pop artists like PJ Harvey and Tori Amos than it does to industrial music. The opener, Satellites, is pretty strong but I was really hoping it would go somewhere like The Grey Ship did on the last LP. So Blonde is probably the most jarring moment on the album for me, which is ironic since it's also EMA at her poppiest - the acoustic guitar just sounds odd to me. All that said, Cthulu is an incredible song and justifies putting the album on alone; it's everything I want from an EMA song.

The Future's Void is by no means a bad album, just one I don't enjoy as much as I wanted to.

Format: 12", picture sleeve, 24x12" insert
Tracks: 10
Cost: £19 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 06/09/14
Colour: Blue
Etching: None
mp3s: Download

Above Them - Are We a Danger To Ourselves?

I had some trouble getting this album and, strictly speaking, this is the second copy of it I bought (although I never actually saw the first). I'm a big fan of Above Them and when I was living in South Wales we saw them play all the time. I try to go and see them play now whenever I can, but it's less often these days. I pre-ordered the LP as soon as it was announced from Yo-Yo records and waited eagerly. The album was released and people started getting their copies but mine was yet to arrive. I spoke to Jan at Yo-Yo who said some records got stuck at customs. The postman would often leave records on the doorstep, so there's the possibility it got stolen that way, or maybe the postman fancied it. Either way, I never received that record. 

I eventually gave up waiting and bought this copy from Banquet when they got it in. I passed comment on Twitter about my missing copy and the guys in the band said they'd sort me out with a copy (proving what excellent guys they are). I didn't take them up on the offer - I thought that of the four parties involved, Yo-Yo Records, Above Them, Banquet and me, it'd be better that I pay twice than an independent business/band take the hit (plus, two copies of this LP still costs less than most new records these days). Also, I was mostly just really keen to actually hear the record.

Are We a Danger To Ourselves? is as strong as Blueprint For a Better Time as far as I'm concerned; again are the huge hooks and great songs - there's nothing not to like. It starts off strong with A New Year and Concrete Forgiveness (two of my favourites), Feel Alive and Something to Keep You Positive are great too. In fact, the final trio are all really strong and "woah-ohs" are a brilliant note to finish on. I like it.

Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 12
Cost: £11 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 09/07/12
Colour: Brown
Etching: Side A: "Rainbow, riches and cider", Side B: "Regenbogen, Reichtum und Apfelwein"
mp3s: no

PJ Bond - You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical

I've put this record on for the first time in a very long time and I'm enjoying it far more than I remember thinking I did. I think when I bought it I was massively underwhelmed and probably never gave it the chance to grow on me. At least I'm realising it now.

I first heard PJ Bond when he played CMC at Fest 2011 and it was a pretty lovely set (CMC is one of the hidden treats at Fest as far as venues go). A few weeks later he was playing in Kingston along with Great Cynics and Into It. Over It (and Broadway Calls, who I don't particularly care for. For £2 more than buying the ticket you could buy the ticket plus a copy of the Broadway calls EP Banquet were putting out so I went for that option. The record isn't one I play often). I had a nice time watching PJ Bond again and picked up this LP at the end of the night.

Upon first listen it wasn't what I expected - on record PJ Bond comes across much more like a folk musician than he does live. Or maybe it's because I've only ever seen him on punk bills that I assumed there'd be stronger hints of punk than folk? Anyway, the songs are nice and it's definitely the sort of album I could put on in the background when people are round (I've realised recently that I have very little music that fits this situation). "Good background music" is hardly the highest praise for a record but there's a time and a place for it. There are some strong highlights though - Stop Being Bad (despite the slightly cringe-worthy lyrics), Grow Your Smile Wide, You Know the Drill and No Theme Summer (which is possibly my favourite).

It's been good listening to this record critically after a while of not hearing it - a lot of good has shone through and I suspect I'll be listening to it more often now. Who knows, in a few months it might be my new favourite record.

Format: 12", a4 insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £10 new
Bought: gig
When: 08/12/11
Colour: Blue
Etching: None
mp3s: Download