Sadly, I have to agree. I'd been looking forward to these reissues so I could fill some holes, but as stated earlier, I'll go back to looking for originals. I only need two of these five as it is.
The tracklist is up on iTunes with times. 3 songs under a minute and I think 4 under 2 minutes... Also, it's up on Amazon as a preorder but only as digital. I hope they get the LP eventually. I really should have ordered it with all the Felt stuff but kind of forgot. I really should have waited on the LPs too to see if they show up over here as they are not listed as limited. I did kind of get excited and bought them all because FELT!
I can't afford to order everything I want, but it's a long wait until release date, and we don't know how limited the CD boxed sets are. I'm going to have to gamble that they aren't going to run out before I can order a few. The site says "This Limited Edition initial run of these box sets are stickered and hand-signed by Lawrence.", which is worded as if there will be a second, unlimited run of boxes, which I sort of doubt, or maybe he just signed a few (he's had a long time to do it!) and they will sell unsigned boxes after the first few have been pre-ordered? It's all not very clear tbh. I think I might buy one of the CDs for the autograph and pick up a few of the records at my leisure if they're not limited. Felt used prices have always been really high. I am really looking forward to the GKM album. It has got to be available on CD eventually - I know Lawrence loves vinyl, but they're making a big thing about the Felt cd boxes. We need more info. There are obviously a few fans in the States, but probably more for Felt reissues than GKM. Do you think there's any likelihood of a few gigs in February? Also, there is bound to be a compilation - there's always a Felt compilation on the shelves!
It is a weird way of doing things I agree, but I'm just relieved things are happening. Felt reissues are always strange - there was the twofer CDs, then the plain packaging, missing track etc, now we get boxed CDs with 7" singles and badges. The word is eccentric!
He does like a tinker, does Lawrence. We get The Strange Idols Pattern... restored with original artwork and tracklisting, but now lose the original Ignite The Seven Cannons mix. I understand that the Robin Guthrie production might be somewhat overbearing, but that's the mix we've became accustomed to listening to these past 30+ years. I'd much rather the album was presented with both original and restored mixes. I'm also disappointed to see what looks like generic 7" artwork in place of the original artwork for singles such as Penelope Tree, which was a striking sleeve. The Lawrence giveth, and the Lawrence taketh away.
Really not sure what if I'm going for these, super expensive for one CD and a 7", the revisionist stuff sort of annoys me slightly. Don't know why they wouldn't cover all the bases with fully loaded reissues with bonus tracks, etc. Had been looking forward to these as I have nothing but Absolute Classic Masterpieces and wanted to pick up the albums, but wanted the chance to hear them as originally released... Plus extras should that have been an option.
Is anyone really that surprised that Lawrence (apparently) stubbornly refuses to give fans (and potential newcomers) exact replicas of the original albums? Or even a reissue campaign that makes sense? It's frustrating, but I think it's to be expected. I agree that including the 7"s with the CDs rather than the LPs makes NO sense. There are still CD folks out there who are CD only and would have no use for a 7", and vinyl people, like me, who are really only interested in buying these releases on LP, who'd probably dig the 7". But I'm just glad this is even happening at all! Felt vinyl has always been elusive, and prices online have gotten even more cuckoo over the years, so the mere fact that they're putting these out on vinyl is exciting. That said, I'd be pissed off if I didn't already have a nice, clean copy of Canons, since Lawrence evidently couldn't resist messing with that one. In the end, all I've really been wanting (for years now) are nice, near mint copies of Splendour and Strange Idols on vinyl to replace the less than stellar copies I've been living with, and I'm just happy this reissue campaign will allow me to do that (assuming these LPs will be decently pressed, of course). All the stuff in the CD boxes that I'll likely be missing out on is like gravy; nice, but I can probably live without it.
Especially these two keep getting more and more expensive. I mean.... not really but I just can't justify spending 50+€ on an album I didn't buy - multiple times - for 10 when I had the chance. Still think this reissue concept is strange. I mean.... these cd/ vinyl combos are so passé. A cd box with a bonus 7", wow! What is a vinyl 7" doing in a cd box anyway? But what the hell, if these are done well I might get the two above albums. Or continue to wait for originals.
this is good news as I don't have any of their music and have been looking since I first heard them in a record shop in Glasgow many years ago. If I can afford to order two right now, any suggestions?! I was thinking Strange Idols and Splendour of Fear but if you're a Felt fan, I welcome suggestions!
Exactly my problem. Do I want reissues sitting next to Creation originals? Well... if they were done nicely, I'd even consider it. Once an original comes along, it shouldn't be too hard to resell the reissues. It's Felt after all.
Those 7-inches included with the cd boxes would become pretty redundant if they would have released "Gold Mine Trash" instantly. I mean... these do include the regular singles, do they? And since these are only the first five albums, "GMT" is either included in the next batch or not at all. Are they doing "Train Above The City" as well? That's going to be the one for the dedicated chosen few
Strange Idols Pattern is my personal favorite Felt album, and in my view a good place for a newcomer to start. It's quite melodic and a bit poppier than previous work, though still brooding and quintessentially Felt. Splendour of Fear and Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty are both great, but they are less approachable, consisting of often lengthier songs steeped in reverb with looong instrumental passages and drums played with no cymbals. As such, those two albums might not be the best place to start, unless my description of them sounds up your alley. I'm not sure when the second half of Felt's output will be reissued, but Forever Breathes the Lonely Word is the album that picks up where this current batch of releases leaves off, and while somewhat different from their darker Cherry Red material, it's a great and extremely consistent album, and also a good starting point, IMO. Ignite the Seven Canons is closer in approach to Strange Idols, but was produced with a very heavy hand by Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, and some people aren't too keen on that (though I don't mind it). However, it does contain what was their most popular track, "Primitive Painters," which features backing vocals by Liz Fraser. It's also the first Felt album to feature Matin Duffy's rich Hammond organ, which from then on would be a prominent feature.
I just listened to this in my car yesterday. I do enjoy it as a Felt album! But yeah, forking over 20 pounds for that on vinyl or 25 for the cd/7" will be a tough one...
Some of the tracks on the 7" (My Face Is On Fire, Sunlight Strings and Something Sends Me To Sleep) were only available on original singles and on the 4th CD of the Felt box released in 1993. They are pretty hard to get.
Indeed. And given this release strategy, you'd think Cherry Red could at least offer a package deal of some sort.
I just saw that. Which makes it even stranger that they weren't included with the vinyl releases. And maybe... just maybe, and it’s only a maybe..... well, maybe the end of the reissue campaign will include an updated and complete "Gold Mine Trash" double vinyl set. Or a box containIng all.... errrrr..... eleven (right?) Felt 7-inches. After all this is called "A Decade In Music". I just wish Felt vinyl would come down in price again. The only album I'm occasionally still seeing for 10, 15€ is the German Rough Trade "Forever Breathes". But the rest... 40-75€. Except for "Me & A Monkey" on the moon. Somehow I've only ever seen two physical copies of it. The one I bought years ago. And another a friend and I found in Hamburg this spring. It was 50€ but he's been looking for it for ages. Because he said that Felt is one of the few acts he wants to find and purchase old school, out in the wild and not on thE bay or Discogs. Suits the music
Weird, original Felt vinyl are very elusive, but I found a couple in Köln. Was Felt bigger in Germany?
I’ll probably pick up The Splendour of Fear and Strange Idols... on vinyl, but will wait until February before ordering, as Cherry Red have a history of mispressings and qc issues. I foolishly replaced my Felt records during the first wave of reissues in the early 90s with those awful generic twofer CDs. I seem to recall a similar cynical strategy of releasing the CD box set with the exclusive disc, after the individual discs of Absolute Classic Masterpieces and the twofer CDs had already been released.
Well... there was a time - and I'm not exaggerating - when "Poem Of The River" and "Forever Breathes The Lonely Word" would show up frequently for 5-10 Gerrrrman Marrrks. I was surprised when I learnt what they went for online. Cologne - like Hamburg or Berlin - had a strong alternative scene and there was a time when professionals would frown upon people who bought what they perceived as "indie indie". So you could get most of these albums pretty easy. The frown may still be there. Unfortunately those prices are gone....
Yeah, when I lived in Germany during the '80s, Cologne was a treasure trove for vinyl. I don't think there was a time I visited that I didn't come home with at least a dozen albums.
Yeah, the state of used Felt vinyl is really sad. Honestly, here in San Francisco, there has NEVER been a time when Felt vinyl was inexpensive or easy to find. I did manage to find maybe a half dozen things for semi-decent prices in the shops back when I first got into Felt in the late 90s. But more often than not, even then I was having to track this stuff down online (on eBay or Gemm) and pay roughly $25 a piece for some of these albums. So, imagine my surprise when earlier this year I stumbled on a copy of that French 10" compilation EP for $20 in a local shop. The condition wasn't amazing, but that is definitely not something you come across every day, and obviously I snatched it up.
This thread made me check my Felt lps from the 80's in SF - Reckless was selling used Let The Snakes for this! I also noticed that no one's mentioned my fave - Poem Of The River - oh wait someone just did a few posts ago!
