The new CD reissues of Galaxie 500 on 20/20/20 are in stock and shipping now from our website. These are 2-CD editions, pairing each of the three original Galaxie 500 albums with a bonus disc of archival material –

Today, with second bonus disc Uncollected (rarities and outtakes)
On Fire, with second bonus disc Peel Sessions (recorded for BBC Radio 1’s John Peel Show)
This Is Our Music, with second bonus disc Copenhagen (recorded live by Danish National Radio)
Price is $15 each, plus shipping.

To anticipate a question some of you might have: the tracklists and mastering of these CDs are identical to those out later this month from Domino Records in the UK (and to the previous editions of these discs released by Rykodisc), but the packaging differs slightly — the 20/20/20 booklets feature a color reproduction of the complete original LP art for that album, plus liner notes by Byron Coley discussing all six discs in the collection, illustrated with black and white photos of the band. The discs are housed in thinline 2-CD jewel cases.

Domino’s packaging, also in jewel cases, will look the same from the outside, but they elected to omit the back of the original LP covers from the booklet, and instead added images taken from Rykodisc’s previous packaging of the bonus discs. They also added liner notes by UK music writers, which can be found on their website. Other aspects of the booklet design, including the images of the band, differ as well.

Damn looks like I’ll need to buy both sets!

Heard 20 years on, Today, On Fire and This Is Our Music prove not every aspect of that era’s indie rock as been stripmined in recent years. No one is currently offering Galaxie 500’s melange of trebly guitar, serpentine basslines, fragile vocals and oddly jazz-inflected drumming (This Is Our Music borrowed its title from Ornette Coleman). Certainly, no one currently sounds like singer Dean Wareham. Listening to his high voice floating wildly off-key in a way that simply wouldn’t be allowed these days for fear of upsetting daytime radio play, you’re reminded of a vanished age before Auto-Tune, when alt-rock’s aims and ambitions and audience were noticeably different.

On 22nd March Domino Records will be re-issuing the three Galaxie 500 studio albums on vinyl (with download voucher) and double CD packages. If you pre-order the albums from Domino by March 7th you will be able to download the tracks on March 8th (two weeks before release).

The CD issues are all released with bonus discs: Today comes with the Uncollected disc that was first made available as part of the Ryko box set and was subsequently released by Rykodisc as a single CD; On Fire comes with the Galaxie 500 Peel Sessions album (previously released in the US on 20|20|20 and This is Our Music comes with the Copenhagen live album previously released by Rykodisc. The vinyl editions don’t include the bonus discs but do include a download voucher for mp3s.

Even if you have already all of this it’s worth heading over to the Domino site to read the three essays written for the albums – in particular the lovely one written for Today by Stewart Lee…

I had a new life in a shared flat way out west, and a walkman primed with a tape of Today soundtracked a year of snowy winters, data input jobs in offices on industrial estates, and cigarettes smoked on night bus journeys back from unpaid open-mike stand-up gigs in far flung corners of the city. I saw Galaxie 500 three times in 1990, every gig a transcendental experience, and I clocked the back of my own head bobbing on live TV footage of a show in Ladbroke Grove.

• Pre-order Today from Domino records
• Pre-order On Fire from Domino records
• Pre-order This is Our Music from Domino records

]]> http://www.fullofwishes.co.uk/2010/02/24/pre-order-galaxie-500-deluxe-reissues-and-get-the-music-early/feed/ 1 http://www.fullofwishes.co.uk/2010/02/08/video-dean-britta-playing-galaxie-500/ http://www.fullofwishes.co.uk/2010/02/08/video-dean-britta-playing-galaxie-500/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:18:23 +0000 Andy http://www.fullofwishes.co.uk/?p=1808 I’ve come across a few videos of Dean & Britta’s recent show at Tanned Tin where they played a set of Galaxie 500 covers…

Ceremony:

Snowstorm:

Blue Thunder:

Also spotted this rather lovely picture on flickr by Nathan Wind

UPDATE:
Another video (thanks Nathan!)

Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 – Temperature’s Rising (Live at Tanned Tin 2010) from Nathan Wind on Vimeo.

From the liner notes have been written for the Domino reissue of Today comedian (and long-time fan) Stewart Lee writes…

I saw Galaxie 500 three times in 1990, every gig a transcendental experience, and I clocked the back of my own head bobbing on live TV footage of a show in Ladbroke Grove. Soon, previously hardcore strummers the world over had taken note, slowed down and blissed out, but Codeine, Low, Bedhead, Bay, and the rest of the slowcore scene never packed the punch implicit in the fuzzy felt-wrapped fist of Galaxie 500.

At the same time in the USA and Canada 20|20|20 will release the three albums in paper “mini LP” replica sleeves and the three bonus albums will be released for download through the Galaxie 500 store at fierybreeze.com.

In 1991 Galaxie 500 headed out on what was to be their last tour of the US supporting The Cocteau Twins. This recoding is from the second night at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and was probably a couple of nights after the accidental or pre-meditated use of a spotlight signalled the beginning of the end of Galaxie 500 (see BOTH Damon & Naomi’s Ptolemaic Terrascope interview and Dean’s Black Postcards for both sides of that story).

The recording is not too bad, and the seven song set is a gem. Within a couple of months it would all be over. I first read about the split in the Melody Maker at the beginning of May. I was sad.

Download Galaxie 500 at the Warfield Theatre – 21st March 1991 (via Mediafire 60MB zip)

The picture is (obviously) not from the show the recording is… I wonder if you still need to prop your amps on beer crates when you play in the big venues?

Mike Perry design for 10 Classic

Galaxie 500 have been selected to be a part of a collection of specially designed memorabilia celebrating “a visual narrative of 20 years (1977-1997) of punk, new wave and indie rock.” Artist Mike Perry has created a design for each of 10 bands which will be screenprinted onto T-shirts, bags and signed posters. These items are available to pre-order form Insound and will ship in mid-September. Other bands in the collection include The Feelies and Beat Happening.

Head over The Insound 10 Classic web page to check out the designs and place your orders.

We played the same stage as Melissa Etheridge, but missed her show. We also missed Lenny Kravitz and Midnight Oil and all kinds of other stupid shit. Rock festivals are celebrations of rock music, and everyone is happy and nice to one another, but the truth is that you hate most of the bands. Well, you hate their music, and isn’t that the same thing?

Galaxie 500 *

So just to prove how pointless and hateful festivals are here’s an excellent recording of Galaxie 500’s performance at the 1990 Roskilde Festival. Bah! Glad I wasn’t there.

Download Galaxie 500 at The Roskilde Festival – 1990 (68MB via Mediafire)

* OK – the picture was taken at The Bizarre Festival in Lorelei, Germany the week before Roskilde, but it’s the closest I can manage. Dean mentions this festival in the book as well and how despite the beautiful setting The Ramones chose to stay in their trailer and eat pizza rather than be outside enjoying “the mountain, the cliff, the sunshine, the barbecue [... because] punk is a celebration of ugly, how can punk rockers enjoy the beautiful Rhine Valley?”

If you haven’t already you really ought to buy a copy of Black Postcards – no self respecting Galaxie 500 (or Luna) fan should be without it – even if it will make you sad.

Winner #1 in the making imaginative use of the Internet section is Deanna…

Not bigger by surface area...

Winner #2 in the taking advantage of their location section is Ro…

also not bigger in height

And here’s my poem…

Dear doggie,
I know you’re likely to ignore this biscuit,
You’d probably prefer a rack-of-lamb or some brisket.

…

I’ll be in touch with the winners to offload some duplicate CDs – you’ll both get a Mahogany double CD because I have THREE of them! Thank you both for entering and by doing so making me not feel so much of an idiot… although the poem might have ruined your good work on that front.

If you can see some enjoy the fireworks.