Galaxie 500 - This Is Our Music - VINYL LP

When Galaxie 500's Today was released in 1988, it set off a chain reaction of quiet explosions still being felt. Never before had a record so emphasized the calming elements of rock music, transforming what at first seems like a collection of bridges into fully realized songs. And one can draw a straight line from here to the many groups they influenced, like Low, Belle & Sebastian, and Bon Iver. Today is full of idiosyncrasies. The trio of Damon Krukowski, Dean Wareham, and Naomi Yang were recent Harvard grads who intuitively eliminated any histrionic tradition to rock songs, leaving core emotion (not for nothing did they include a cover of InchDon't Let Our Youth Go to Waste,Inch by the kings of feeling, the Modern Lovers). It was produced by Mark Kramer, who was best known for his work with cataclysmic slop rock pioneers such as Bongwater, Ween, and King Missle. The band's hometown of Boston was just coming out of it's love affair with Mission of Burma and pouncing upon the spasmodic electricity of the Pixies. Despite, or perhaps because of, all these elements, Today thrived. More than 20 years after it's initial , it's title is still no misnomer. The music, recorded with what many thought at the time was too much reverb, sounds present, alive, and indeed a product of today. Songs like InchFlowers,Inch InchTemperature's Rising,Inch and of course InchTugboatInch (the band's debut single) stand the test of time and exist in an eternal now. For the first time since it's original pressing, Today is available again on vinyl. Cut by vinyl ace Kevin Gray from a remaster by Kramer and Alan Douches, the album sounds more vibrant than ever, and Galaxie 500 exists again as one of the most enrapturing and glorious bands to emerge from the underground in the past 25 years.Inch Album Tracks 1. Flowers 2. Pictures 3. Parking Lot 4. Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste 5.

'On Fire' is widely recognized as the canonic pinnacle of Galaxie 500's career. The artwork conveys this, with a low-angle shot of the band, looking up towards an amber sky. This record marked the realization of their signature sound. Nowhere is it clearer than on the album opener, InchBlue Thunder,Inch the closest a song can come to waves crashing on a beach in song form. Lyrically inconsequential, with a chorus composed entirely of Inchla'Inchs, the track's power lies in a systematic build and break of intensity that reaches a Spector-like climax. It is the quintessential Galaxie 500 song, encapsulating all that was great about the band. With the Boston trio once again utilizing the bizarre genius of producer Mark Kramer, 'On Fire' sounds like anything but. The guitars are warm blankets enwrapping Dean Wareham's vocals, percolated by the open percussion of Damon Krukowski and anchored by the emotion-laden bass of Naomi Yang. Songs like InchSnowstorm,Inch InchStrange,Inch and InchDecomposing TreesInch have an endless quality, without beginnings or ends, but rather frozen somewhere on a spectrum of melancholy. For the first time since it's original pressing, 'On Fire' is available again on vinyl. Cut by vinyl ace Kevin Gray from a remaster by Kramer and Alan Douches, the album sounds more vibrant than ever, and Galaxie 500 exists again as one of the most enrapturing and glorious bands to emerge from the underground in the past 25 years.Inch Album Tracks 1. Blue Thunder 2. Tell Me 3. Snowstorm 4. Strange 5. When Will You Come Home 6. Decomposing Trees 7. Another Day 8. Leave the Planet 9. Plastic Bird 10. Isn't It a Pity

After a storied first year as a band releasing and touring behind their critically acclaimed debut album Today, Galaxie 500 closed out 1988 with a quintessential performance at New York City's famed CBGB with every bit of their signature intimacy and autumnal bombast on display. The unusual bill which also included Sonic Youth, B.A.L.L. and Unsane was a benefit show for the zine shop See Hear.Captured here in a raw but inspired board mix by Kramer and restored and mastered from the analog source by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, CBGB 12.13.88 is a live snapshot of a Galaxie fully formed, punctuating the end of their first chapter while poised to step into their next with On Fire the following year. Album Tracks 1. A1 Tugboat 2. A2 Oblivious 3. A3 Parking Lot 4. A4 Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste 5. B5 Pictures 6. B6 Flowers 7. B7 It's Getting Late 8. B8 Temperature's Rising