slowdive: classic or dud?

i can't wait to just tell people to go and buy pygmalion!

AH WHEN!?

Will check.

Answer is actually pretty soon, November it seems!

It's about time for the shoegazing revival, isn't it?

you betcha!!

i've got some pygmallion studio outtakes. they're like rough versions of the songs that are quite fun to listen to. are these in common circulation?

btw, so classic.

Release date for the reissues is Nov. 14, 2005.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/026-8440101-3609249

link doesn't work but is up on Amazon UK.

i note the first two are double discs

these are the tracks on JFAD disc 2

1.Slowdive
2.Avalyn 1
3.Avalyn 2
4.Morning Rise
5.Morning Rise
6.She Calls
7.Losing Today
8.Holding Our Breath
9.Golden Hair
10.Shine
11.Albatross
12.Catch The Breeze (Peel Session)
13.Song 1 (Peel Session)
14.Golden Hair (Peel Session).

hmm i think there's an error in that list (probably one of the morningrises should be catch the breeze)

So that's Blue Day basically

Oh good. I no longer have to track down those early eps.

yay!

is pygmalion getting reissued too?

Better sell my copy of Pygmalion on eBay pronto.

I got those 3 original EPs on vinyl in Montreal many moons ago for 3 bucks each! Think they're even semi-valuable?

Yay! I wish they'd just sell that second disc by itself!

they were until now (xpost)

Do I still have time to sell my Souvlaki + Blue Day combo?

THEY'RE WORSE THAN HITLER!

Urgh - according to Pfork the Souvlaki reissue will just have the bonus tracks of the old US version, while Pygmalion will have none... I was hoping that all those 'I saw the Sun' boot demos would finally get a proper release...

actually, some slowdive fansite i was reading last week has the souvlaki reissue with add'l bonus tracks - the b-sides from the Outside Your Room EP, the In Mind remixes, and the one additional track they left off the US release from the 5EP

but so far i've yet to see this confirmed.

does anyone know if these are remastered? that would be a good thing, especially for JFAD

Can someone confirm or deny the story I read that Oasis refused to sign to Creation until they fired Slowdive from the roster?

Actually the Pfork article lists more than the bonus tracks on my US version of Souvlaki. My old US version just has Some Velvet Morning, Good Day Sunshine, Missing You, and Country Rain added. Following are the track lists from Pfork for those interested:

Just For A Day:

Disc 1:
01 Spanish Air
02 Celia's Dream
03 Catch the Breeze
04 Ballad of Sister Sue
05 Erik's Song
06 Waves
07 Brighter
08 The Sadman
09 Primal

Disc 2:
01 Slowdive
02 Avalyn 1
03 Avalyn 2
04 Morningrise
05 She Calls
06 Losing Today
07 Golden Hair
08 Shine
09 Albatross
10 Catch the Breeze (Peel Session)
11 Song 1 (Peel Session)
12 Golden Hair (Peel Session)

Souvlaki:

Disc 1:
01 Alison
02 Machine Gun
03 40 Days
04 Sing
05 Here She Comes
06 Souvlaki Space Station
07 When the Sun Hits
08 Altogether
09 Melon Yellow
10 Dagger

Disc 2:
01 Some Velvet Morning
02 So Tired
03 Moussaka Chaos
04 In Mind
05 Good Day Sunshine
06 Missing You
07 Country Rain
08 In Mind (Bandulu Mix)
09 In Mind (Reload Mix)

Pygmalion:

01 Rutti
02 Crazy gor You
03 Miranda
04 Trellisaze
05 Cello
07 Visions of La
08 Blue Skied An' Clear
09 All of Us

So, assuming these are accurate, what's missing?

oh muhfckinhaleyes! i love slowdive.

"Alison" is a classic song, and I love it dearly, but I honestly can't remember one note from anything else. It just never stuck in my brain, but I feel like I should love them. They're the only prominent shoegaze group that I don't adore.

all the best stuff is on the JFAD bonus disc

i think ill just keep my US Souvlaki version

they didn't put the Sunday flexi songs on any of them? slowdive rocking out!

i love Avalyn I

Yes, one of my favorite songs ever and it always conjures such a very specific time of my life (ie. May 1994)

no bonus junk for pygmalion?

Anyone know if there are there plans to release the new CDs with bonus tracks in the US? Amazon only has the remastered ones as imports:

here's one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000BJRJAO/

all the CDs they have by slowdive:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=music-artist&field-artist=Slowdive

So has anyone heard any of the re-issues? I have all the stuff on the bonus discs, so I'm wondering if the remastering job makes them worth my money.

How much do you really care about sonic profile? They sound a little more full and more dynamic, as usual, but it's not as if there's much keeping the originals from the way they were presumably meant to sound -- not a whole lot that was asking to be "fixed."

I NEED MORE GAUZE DAMMIT

My overall sense is that these remasters are less about provoking re-buying from Slowdive fans, and more about just packaging this stuff neatly into someone's back-catalog: now everything's in print and available, and all the singles and EPs you won't see anymore in used shops are collected up on the bonus discs. Sort of archival more than exciting! new! expanded! Which is reasonable, because I'd expect some small level of interest in these records to continue indefinitely; I don't they "date" or get surpassed by new things.

So Pitchfork reviewed these today and gave them very high ratings: Just for a Day 7.0, Souvlaki 9.3, and Pygmalion 8.7. I love this band so have no problem with the ratings but do these seem a little high? I just think Slowdive were about the fifth best band out of this era. My favorite era for music so I have no problem but just really surprised is all.

I'm not too concerned about the exact rating, but the albums are ranked properly, which is more important.

The early EP's absolutely obliterate "Pygmalion" though, while not quite reaching the heights of "Souvlaki", so maybe that 8.7 is too high after all.

i've never heard pygmalion but neither of the other albums is what i would call a "great" album. 9.3 is surely way too high for Souvlaki, even by a hardcore fan's standards

xpost

I think Souvlaki is damn near perfect, but could take or leave the other two.

i'm excited to get the just for a day reissue because i only have the early singles on vinyl and haven't heard them in a while. pygmalion is probably my favorite of the three, it's the one i certainly listen to the most.

Speaking not just for Pitchfork, but generally, I don't think 7.0 is an outstandingly high rating. 8.7s are given out frequently to (imo) all sorts of average flotsam, and 9.3 is perhaps a touch excessive, but for an album that (allegedly) stands up as a shining example of the genre a decade on it's perfectly understandable. And lets face it, the majority of broadly guitar-based music in this particular section of the marketplace has taken a collosal dive downwards in creativity levels since that time. I'd expect "Loveless" would be a straight 9.9 these days if up for reissue?

I think you have to use your own sense of adjustment with these things. I'm in aggreement with that scaruffi person frankly (http://www.scaruffi.com/music.html) ratings are over-inflated right across the board. They could sorely do with bringing in line with reality, but it's never going to happen whilst commercial pressures exist. Ratings kinda suck anyway but they're still useful (as the most limited gauge of quality possible).

I think 9.3 is actually pretty low for 'Souvlaki', while, granted, 'Pygmalion' is pretty high.

Souvlaki and Pygmalion are rated about right, although Slowdive have always been one of my favourite bands.

I'd of given JFAD less than 7.0, even though i still enjoy it. The bonus stuff on JFAD is great though, alot of their best non-Souvlaki work was on those early singles.

They could have put bonus tracks on the Pygmalion release though, all the demos are avaliable on your favourite p2p (as well as the Souvlaki demos) and are pretty good as far as demos go.

Yeah, I know, I'm gutted that all these unreleased songs (from the Souvlaki era I imagine) have not been added to the bonus discs..

If it's really as good as it's meant to be (I only heard Souvlaki Space Station, the track a few weeks ago & I'm inclined to believe it may well be so) a 9.0 is still a huge mark of approval.

I'm not sure quibbling about decimals matters that much (retract what I said above ok?). I'd only consider it 'low' in an environment where everything else is absurdly exaggerated. 9 to me = exceptional, close to essential, a clearly influential & groundbreaking release (for reissues).

Didn't Clap Your Hands Say Yeah get a 9? =)

But then, that fits with what Nabisco's saying, how these reissues aren't meant for the obsessive fans. A box set full of goodies would be nice for them/us.

xpost

My take:

I saw Slowdive around ten times in and around Los Angeles for those first two albums. That drummer brought Just for a Day to life and was a madman on the kit. Some of my favorite B-sides are on those early EPs and are the extra traks for the first release. So I actually think JFAD is underrated because of the bonus disc. Souvlaki is right because it really is that good. I have owned Pygmalion since 2001 when I bought it at Amoeba San Francisco for cheep and never got into it. People love that album and I should find out why but that is around a 7.0 for me at the moment. Slowdive live blew me away because of their amazing drummer that you can’t really experience that aspect on record but live he made you pay attention.

Were you at that Roxy show on the Souvlaki tour?