Kevin Devine - Bulldozer

With the exception of Brother's Blood (which I'll come to another time), every Kevin Devine album has been a grower. I'm not sure what it is about his music that takes me a few listens to get into, but I'm always glad I pushed onwards with it.

Bulldozer and Bubblegum came out at the same time, which makes for a lot of new music to get into. Bulldozer is the solo record and Bubblegum is with The Goddamn Band, which in theory should leave the two as very different records, but there is a backing band on most songs here; it makes for a much fuller sounding "solo" record than you'd expect. On top of that, the opener Now: Navigate! rocks harder than some of the songs on Bubblegum. All in all, the distinction between the two albums is less obvious to the listener than it seems on paper. I have memories of listening to Bulldozer first, thinking the solo album would be more akin to the times I'd seen Kevin Devine (actually) solo, but then wondering if I'd misremembered which was which and played the full-band record instead.

My expectations aside, Bulldozer is a great record. The sounds vary dramatically across the ten songs; Now: Navigate!, Little Bulldozer, You Brushed Her Breath Aside and Matter of Time all hit up very different styles but all work as Kevin Devine songs. It also manages to feel cohesive as an album despite that. One song, She Can See Me, made it onto both albums, but I think I prefer this version.

I ordered these records as soon as they came out - the offer of glittered vinyl was too good to refuse. Possibly as a side effect of this, the gaps between songs and run-off grooves have a lot of surface noise. The fact that glittered vinyl is more style over substance shouldn't be a surprise, but it definitely does look good.

Format: 12", picture sleeve, insert
Tracks: 10
Cost: £13.50 new
Bought: Big Scary Monsters website
When: 23/10/13
Colour: Purple / glitter
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Songs: Ohia - Journey On: Collected Singles

Journey On is one of my most prized possessions; it's the highlight of my Jason Molina collection and one of the nicest - and now rarest - boxsets I own. Nearly a year after Jason died, it was announced that there would be a Songs: Ohia boxset as one of the Record Store Day 2014 releases; I got very excited. Details emerged that it was a nine 7" boxset containing songs from all of his 7" releases as Songs: Ohia. I still hadn't (and still haven't) heard all of the albums, but I knew I had to get this album. I'd been listening to so much of his music prior to his death, and even more following it that I couldn't resist the opportunity to hear even more of his music, especially given that the originals are so hard to come by.

On RSD itself, I set off to Truck Store very early (5-ish) with my friend Hugh. I'd just moved to Oxford (a few days total) but I was very happy to have a store within walking distance. The queue was blissfully short (we were numbers 6 and 7 I believe) but most important was that I felt Truck had a good chance of having got some the boxsets in - the guy who runs the shop is a huge Jason Molina fan too and has sold me many of his other albums. Banquet, my old RSD go-to, was less likely given that I'd never known them to stock any of his records (also the queues, for various reasons, are notoriously long). Luckily Truck had precisely one copy and I snatched it up. At £65 I think it may have put the five people in front of me off from picking it up on the off-chance. I don't know how many people who came in after me were disappointed that there were no more - I can't have been the only person after it. I'm not sure what I would have done had I not been able to get a copy that morning. It quickly sold out and sells for quite a lot now (possibly helped by the high starting price).

The boxset is lovely - the cloth-lined box contains the nine 7" records with sleeves and labels that match the cd sleeves from the Sojourner boxset, a 24-page booklet with details about all the original releases and a cd of all the songs. Most enjoyably, there is a special adapter for playing 45s (although all of these play at 33rpm) made from wood and has the Songs: Ohia logo carved into the top. It's a great thing to be included and sits very proudly through the stack of records. Unusually, here is a track-by-track:

The compilation starts with a bang on Boys, which has the sparse style of a lot of the songs on the self-titled "black" album, but with a huge chorus that allows Jason's voice to soar. Trans Am, from another early split release is fuller-sounding but dominated by Jason's cry of "Life" at the end. In comparison to those first two, Freedom Pt. 2 and Soul (from the first Songs: Ohia 7" release on Will Oldham's Palace Records, called Nor Cease Thou Never Now) are more traditional folk songs - there is no screaming, possibly a sign of Jason moving further away from his metal past. In fact, there is something quite Bonnie "Prince" Billy-esque to Soul and I think it is the stronger of the two.

The songs from One Proclamation of Glory are nice - I'm not too keen on the slide guitar on Waltham but Napoleon is a pretty heavy song, as folk songs go. Vanguisher, from a 1998 split 7", is a re-working of Crabwaylingo from the first album. Across my Jason Molina collection there are a number of instances of re-worked songs, or different versions; it's nice to hear these songs in different states, but I also like the idea that they continued to change after they were recorded a little. This version is a little more haunting, which is appropriate given the lyrics about "former ghosts". Nay Tis Not Death, from another split 7", is a beautifully simple song, slow and comprising just vocals, guitar and a very sparsely played drum-kit. There's a sadness in the way Jason sings it and it is one of the highlights.

7th Street Wonderland is a brooding number with more fuzz than anything that proceeded it but it's b-side, Darling You Are..., is less exciting. How To Be Perfect Men, from a split with Rex on Temporary Residence, somehow reminds me of Boys, both musically but also thematically; it's a great song. The b-side to that is the title-track, Journey On, from a split with Oneida. At nearly 7 minutes, it's one of the longer Songs: Ohia songs and plays at an appropriately slow pace for the sad lyrics. Fade Street, from a split with Glen Hansard, follows on in a similar vain - slow and moody but there's an angry way to how Jason plays guitar and a lovely "oooh-ooh" outro that could easily go on for twice as long.

All this brings us to The Lioness, which I fell in love with the instant I heard it. I'd not heard the album The Lioness at this point, so the song came out of nowhere and blew me away. The version here is the "Didn't It Rain Translation" (so I assume recorded sometime around the recording of Didn't It Rain) and appeared on another split. The addition of Jennie Benford's vocals on the chorus add so much to the song and somehow make it feel more frail. Given the nature of the song, the male and female vocals together work so well. The song instantly stuck in my head and I remember taking a moment after playing it for the first time before putting on the next record - I just wanted to let it sit for a moment to fully enjoy it. The lyrics are beautiful and the songs matches it perfectly. There have been many treats in Jason's music, but The Lioness is the finest and my favourite of his songs. I can't say enough good things about it.

The rest of the album always struggles to compare to The Lioness but The Gray Tower makes for a good way to follow (and also benefits from Jennie Benford's vocals). Black Link to Fire Link is one of Jason's heavier songs but still fits with the other material from that time. Keep It Steady and United or Lost Alone then finish the collection much as it began - sparse, solo, sad and raw.

Journey On is a real treat to own and play; I think the fact that I never bemoan the fact I have to get up 17 times to turn the records over shows what a wonder it is.

Format: Nine 7", boxset, 24-page book, wooden carved adaptor

Tracks: 18

Cost: £65 new

Bought: Truck Store, Oxford

When: 19/04/14

Colour: Black

Etching: none

mp3s: cd included

Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life

The Chemistry of Common Life was the first Fucked Up record I heard. The band's live reputation had long preceded them and for a fairly long time they were one of those bands everyone raved about. I eventually saw them supporting Gallows in Cardiff University; one housemate was a huge Gallows fan, another a huge Fucked Up fan and Alex and I went along because we knew at very least we'd enjoy the show and it was just around the corner from our house. I was very impressed by Fucked Up and now try to see them each time I can - they're a reliably incredible live band and, in the right venue (The Peel in Kingston, for example), they can be unbelievable.

A few months after that first show, The Chemistry of Common Life came out. Someone in the house had a copy and it was proving a divisive album - Black Albino Bones being one of the most hotly discussed topics. Personally I quite enjoyed the addition of Dallas Green's vocals and the way the band were inventing and experimenting on top of traditional hardcore really appealed to me. I picked up this copy in Spillers (as my Tuesday record for that week) a few weeks later.

For me, The Chemistry of Common Life is the beginning of the Fucked Up I know. I'd never really listened to their earlier material, so this was all I knew and I liked it (of course, David Comes to Life came out and blew me away even further). There are songs that have gone on to be live favourites of mine - I get so excited when they start playing Son the Father, No Epiphany, Black Albino Bones or Twice Born. The album has some huge choruses, which is good because it's near impossible to sing along with Damian to the verses; they make for some great moments of crowd participation during shows. The final side of the record makes for interesting listening on it's own - the slow build-up of Looking For God and the whispered and explosive start to the 8-minute long title-track where the guitars practically sing the chorus. It's quite the way to close an album.

I had completely forgotten that the LP contains a vinyl-only bonus track in the middle of the album, The Peaceable Kingdom. It's a rare treat to get vinyl-only bonus tracks, but I know the band are fans of the format (particularly 7"s) so I can see why it's there. It's a good song too - reminds me of I Hate Summer in its style. On top of that, it's a very nice double vinyl package. In fact, the Fucked Up section of my record collection looks great due to their wide, white spines and bold font.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, 12x24" poster

Tracks: 12

Cost: £13 new

Bought: Spillers

When: 19/11/08

Colour: Black

Etching: none

mp3s: no

Daniel Johnston - Hi, How Are You

Many years ago I had a very shit job in a call centre - it was a way to make some money in the holidays and it was questionnaires rather then selling stuff, so I didn't feel too bad about doing it. It definitely was very shit though. I made sure to take my full allocation of breaks, even if it just meant sitting in the tea room reading whatever magazines and papers had been left in there. One day there was a glossy magazine from one of the broadsheet papers with an article in it about Daniel Johnston; until that point I'd never heard of him.

The article was about the release of the film The Devil and Daniel Johnston, but gave a very long history and really played up the "genius who you've never heard of angle". It, of course, mentioned that Kurt Cobain was a huge fan (which I think is compulsory for any article about Johnston). Throughout I felt shocked that I'd never heard of him and shortly afterwards bought a best-of online, still having never heard his music. I don't think I'm alone in listening to Daniel Johnston for the first time having heard so much about him but without a clue what his music was actually like. The article did a good job of describing it, so I wasn't too surprised by the style. I guess, however, I was expecting to like it more.

On both this record and the best-of I have, there are moments of pure genius; they're rarely entire songs but parts of songs, or ideas that songs are based around. Some Things Last a Long Time is a great song. On this record, Despair Came Knocking, Running Water and Desperate Man Blues all contain little moments of excellence. The problem for me is that those moments are too few and far between. I know that these songs and albums aren't songs and albums in the traditional sense - they're whatever Daniel felt like recording to keep himself happy, and the "view into his world" angle is certainly fascinating. I feel like a Daniel Johnston album is to any other album what a documentary is to a film; interesting but not something I need to revisit very often at all.

I have no idea when I last listened to this record. I played the best-of a few times when I first got it (in the hope that perhaps eventually I'd get more out of it) and a year or so later I bought Hi, How Are You in Spillers during my Tuesday-record-from-Spillers year. Probably mostly because of Kurt Cobain's t-shirt, this album is Johnston's most well-known (at least by title and cover). The sticker on the sleeve calls it "legendary", which probably helped convince me to buy it. In truth, I get much more enjoyment out of the best-of and had a slight feeling of buyer's regret after picking this one up. 

At some point later I finally saw the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, and it does offer a brilliant insight into his world. If you haven't seen it, it's certainly worth a watch but I don't think I'd actively be recommending his music to very many people.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 15
Cost: £11 new
Bought: Spillers Records, Cardiff
When: 09/09/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

The Blood Brothers - Crimes

After ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn came out, there was a lot of noise about The Blood Brothers. That album was pretty unlike anything I'd ever heard and a breath of fresh air as far as I was concerned; it was 2003 and everyone I knew was into Poison The Well (I was too) and that particular style of screamo/post-hardcore was the new cool. The Blood Brothers were heavy and loud, but with this camp edge that made them more enjoyable. The dual vocalists played off each other brilliantly in a way I wouldn't hear bettered until I finally heard Black Eyes.

(Going off on a brief tangent, I'd been introduced to Black Eyes by a friend at university - or rather told I should listen to them- something I wouldn't get round to for two years. Upon on arriving in Sydney (nearly exactly 10 years ago) I went on a slightly jet-lagged hunt for record shops. On the first day I found one of the branches or Redeye Records and bought one of the greatest finds of my life, You'd Prefer An Astronaut by Hum on vinyl for a mere £6.45, as well as a copy of The Wall on LaserDisc. A few doors up the road I found a small second-hand place where I got a copy of Black Eyes' incredible self-titled album (one of my all-time favourite Dischord releases). I listened to Black Eyes that afternoon at my friend's house and was instantly blown away. The next day I sought out the other, bigger branch of Redeye Records (which I'd learnt about from the bag my first purchase came in). In there I bought this record; it was a very good two days.)

The larger branch of Redeye Records had a huge supply of new records by loads of cool bands and I would have ordinarily bought huge amounts. I hope it is still there and that I get to return one day. However, back then term was just beginning back in Canberra and I only had so much student loan (and a lot of travelling to do). I only bought one record in the end - this one - I was excited to hear some new Blood Brothers. I'd also brought a record player with me to Australia so I could finally play the records I'd been buying over there. The fact that it was on pink vinyl probably helped too. Crimes was released on at least 13 different colours but pink definitely seems the most appropriate, especially given the colours on the sleeve. Discogs tells me that this is from the 2nd pressing and one of 510, one of the more numerous colours overall.

The album is somehow less abrasive than Piano Island, but still hits as hard. The highlight for me is the title track, which is one of the band's smoothest but also best songs - the I immediately think of the chorus when I think of this album. There are some other great songs too, like Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck (the closest they got to a hit single), Peacock Skeleton With Crooked Feathers, Live at the Apocalypse Cabaret and the closing duo of Celebrator and Devastator.

With Piano Island, Rumours Laid Waste and Crimes in my collection, I spent a while thinking I should get their whole back-catalogue on vinyl. March On Electric Children was readily available on picture-disc on eBay but I just never got round to buying it. A couple of years later I found a copy of their final album, Young Machettes, on cd very cheaply in a record shop in Boulder (on the first national Record Store Day). I bought it (along with a copy of Rise Above by The Dirty Projectors - the guy at the counter commented on it being a strange combination, but I see them being fairly similar in certain ways). I realised that I'd kind of forgotten about my plans to buy all The Blood Brothers albums. I can't remember why I'd let that band slip, but I had somehow.

Now, many years later, they're a band I listen to often but I still haven't bought the first two albums. I wonder how they'd sound now? Maybe I'll pick them and tell you. I hope I enjoy them as much as I do their last three.

Format: 12", cd-sized booklet, 12x24" poster
Tracks: 13
Cost: £10.75 new
Bought: Redeye Records, Sydney
When: 03/02/06
Colour: Pink
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust was the first time I paid for digital music. It was released as a sort-of experiment of pay-what-you-like - similar to how Radiohead released In Rainbows. I think there were two options: free or $5. I'd been a fan of Saul Williams for a few years at this point so felt it was important to support him. I was also incredibly excited at the collaboration with Trent Reznor. 

At this point, Radiohead still hadn't released a physical version of In Rainbows and Saul Williams wasn't planning any physical either. It was quite an exciting but strange time; would musicians really start moving away from physical media? Would these albums really never be pressed into vinyl? My own guesses to those questions formed my paying-decisions - Radiohead I downloaded for free, figuring they'd probably release a cd/record fairly soon (they did, and I bought a copy) but I was less sure about Saul Williams. A year later I found this double 12" in Spillers and was proved wrong. $5 is less than a pint, so I don't feel cheated. If I met Saul Williams, I'd definitely buy him a pint, so it's fine.

I suspect there's quite a few people for whom the same is true, but it was Trent Reznor that introduced me to Saul Williams. In July 2005 I went to see Nine Inch Nails in Brixton with Saul Williams supporting. Slightly off-topic, but it was the first I'd ever seen NIN and I was very excited. I'd just come back from Roskilde and there were only 3 days between returning from Denmark and moving to Australia for a year, but I decided to spend one of the few nights I had remaining seeing NIN. They'd played a very sold-out show a few months ago but other than that, these shows were the first NIN concerts in the UK in many years. I had tickets to the night before too, but our flights from Roskilde meant we couldn't go that night. Anyway, Trent had picked Saul Williams as the support act and, judging by the crowd, most of the people weren't that fussed. Hugh and I (and a handful of people down the front) were hugely impressed by Saul's show that night; the mix of hip hop and industrial music was really exciting and he had some mind-blowing raps. One of the things I've enjoyed most about Saul every time I've seen him since has been the intense spoken word/rap/poem moments. It always takes my breath away.

So from that day on, I was a Saul Williams fan and picked up his two albums that were out at the time. Niggy Tardust was then quite a different record to both of those. Maybe it's because my background isn't so heavily based in hip-hop, but the title of Producer on a hip-hop record means a lot more than it does in other genres. In this case, Trent is credited with writing the music on most of the songs. In a lot of cases these could basically be NIN songs with Saul rapping (and, in the case of Skin of a Drum, it apparently is). Trent Reznor has a very particular sound - when watching The Social Network I kept thinking that someone was playing NIN in the other room (less so with Gone Girl). That sound is very evident here, but that's both the albums charm and its problem.

There are some incredible songs across the 15 that make up the main album - Black History Month is a huge opener, Tr(n)igger and Niggy Tardust are two of the most notable songs on the album. There are some slower moments that lose the pace a bit too, like Raw and No One Ever Does. Generally, Saul does a lot more singing on this record than previously, which I think might be a product of Trent's involvement. In itself, that's not an issue, but I do really like the raps on the other albums, which is probably why in the years since the first two albums have had a lot more play than this one. Sometimes the collaboration does come together in great ways, like WTF!, Skin of a Drum and Raised to Be Lowered. Interestingly, Scared Money, the only song that Trent isn't credited on, has both one of the best raps and is the only song that feels it would fit on any other Saul Williams album. 

Of course, no piece of writing about The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust would be complete without mentioning the cover of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday (which has the fairly-prime position of track 4). It's just strange. I get the idea behind the song itself, but I still see it as an odd choice. There's also the fact that it's unusual to put a cover at the start of an album at the best of times, let alone when it's an album that, either by association or release method, is going to see your music reach far bigger audiences than ever before. It's a little jarring on the first few listens, mostly because it's such a well-known song, but it doesn't really hurt the flow of the album; there are quite a few ups and downs so the notion of flow doesn't really apply here.

Anyway, less than a year after the album came out, I stumbled across this copy in Spillers.I was excited to finally have a physical copy of the album - owning mp3s on their own really does nothing for me. As a nice gesture, the fourth side has some bonus tracks, mostly from the same sessions, and a version of List of Demands. Gunshots By Computer is the highlight, but it's mostly just nice that they added something extra - feels like a treat for everyone who paid to download the album. Looking at Discogs, it seems that there weren't too many of these pressed and they sell for a lot more than I paid for it, which is always nice.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 20
Cost: £16.50 new
Bought: Spillers Records
When: 22/07/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Siamese Dream is a huge album. I think everyone knows that, but sometimes it's worth restating these important facts. Each Pumpkins album hit up a slightly different niche, but Siamese Dream is the one that everyone agrees is one of the most important albums of the 90's. I've always had a strange relationship with it, because I came to the Pumpkins as a Mellon Collie fan and I couldn't understand how people could consider Siamese Dream better - how could they possibly not love the epic that was Mellon Collie? But, in a lot of ways, Mellon Collie was an album you had to love as a teenager to really love, but Siamese Dream was for everyone. That's how I've always seen it anyway.

Very nearly half of my life has passed since I first heard Mellon Collie and Siamese Dream. I still love them both, but they've changed over the years; MCIS remains one of my all-time favourite albums, but Siamese Dream is the one I play more often. Maybe it's because it's shorter, or perhaps it's more instant - can you think of an album with a stronger opening three songs than Cherub Rock, Quiet and Today? Those first two alone are quite something then Today appears. Genius. And it just stays strong - Hummer, Rocket, Disarm, Soma and that's just the first record.

I can't really remember the first time I listened to Siamese Dream (I remember the first time I listened to MCIS vividly). I do remember getting less out of it on those first few listens. I knew the singles and a lot of the rest wasn't quite what I hoped. I was 16 and wanted excess and drama like on Mellon Collie. Of course, I wouldn't change a moment on it; it's the Pumpkins album no one can judge you for liking in your thirties.

I found this copy in FM Music in Southampton, a small independent record shop in a fairly shitty shopping centre at the far end of town. It was a year and a half since I'd bought the cd and knew it would be a great album to have on vinyl. The fact it was on double orange, slightly marbled vinyl only drew me in further. At the time, £14 was a lot for an album, but I was a huge Pumpkins fan and knew I'd always feel pleased to have it in the collection, which I do.

I've probably not listened to the vinyl itself very many times. I've played the cd to death (and since bought the reissue boxset) so I rarely needed to. It does sound nice and it's kinda strange having the three natural breaks that you don't get on cd. It's quite nice sometimes to take that pause and reflect on how brilliant the three or four songs you just heard were for a moment.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 13
Cost: £14 new
Bought: FM Music, Southampton
When: 03/05/03
Colour: Orange
Etching: none
mp3s: no