Monday 28 December 2015

No. 31 Bettie Serveert - Brain-Tag

A second entry for Dutch post-grungers, Bettie Serveert, this was originally given away as a freebie with initial copies of their 1992 album, Palomine, when it was released on short-lived 4AD spin-off label Guernica. The A-side, Brain-Tag, is a bit of a slow burner. and has album out-take written all over it. On the reverse you get two tracks; Smile has already featured on this blog, as it was the b-side of Tom Boy. The other track, Get The Bird was also a b-side of the single version of Palomine. 

I was always rather fond of the bonus single given away with albums - it certainly seemed to be a better way of rewarding the loyal fan that the modern phenomenon of reissuing the album six months after its initial release with a slew of extra tracks (often of questionable worth, as the b-side seems to be a bit of a dying art) and forcing the same loyal fan to re-buy an album they already own at an inflated price. 

Next up, an all-time favourite.

                               

Saturday 5 December 2015

No. 30 Bettie Serveert - Tom Boy

OK, so this whole blog project is (partly) an exercise in nostalgia, despite my fairly frequently expressed distaste for the whole 'heritage' music scene. It's fair to say though, that if I were to look all wistful about a particular year, 1992 would be a strong contender. It has always seemed to me that this was a good time for music, with lots of good bands releasing their best work. However, on reflection I'm not convinced this is actually the case - my suspicion is that I have particular fondness for 1992, because it was a time of plentiful gigs, frequent festivals and a degree of underemployment that left me with enough money to buy music and enough time to peruse shops, both new and secondhand, and actually acquire the stuff.

So this was part of the rush of great music that, for me at least, made 1992 a vintage year.

Bettie Serveert were/are the most well known Dutch post-grunge rockers from this period. They toured with the likes of Buffalo Tom and Dinosaur Jr, produced a cracking debut album, Palomine, which came out in the UK, on Guernica, the short-lived 4AD off-shoot, then switched to (the also ill-fated) Beggars Banquet and are, it would seem, still active. Tom Boy was their first single, backed by a decent b-side, Smile. Well worth a listen if you don't know their stuff, well worth wallowing in the nostalgia for 4 minutes and 21 seconds if you do.