A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.
My record collection
[334] Luna - Inside Your Heart (lathe cut single)
Inside Your Heart was recorded by Luna in the sessions for A Sentimental Education and originally released as a bonus download with the Pledgemusic release of that album. This single was released a couple of years later by PIAPTK.
The single is a cover of a song by The Monochrome Set and is another example of Dean digging deep for his choice of covers - the song only really surfaced in 2010 on an LP of early recordings, and possibly dates from before they were actually called The Monochrome Set. Here’s a clip of them playing it in London last year:
Now, I love an artefact, particularly a beautiful artefact and it can’t be denied that this single is a beautiful artefact. It’s a single hand-cut into a plastic disc which, when spun in the correct lighting conditions, shows lovely and hypnotic patterns…
However… this is written on a PIATPK insert with the single:
Please note that this lathe cut record was made one-at-a-time, in real-time, by a real person, from plexiglass using an experimental process and 70 year old machines. It is NOT a pressed record and may have slightly more surface noise or an occasional light distortion in some frequencies, and will sound somewhat different than the original master. The volume will also be a little lower than a modern "post-loudness-war" record, so pump up the volume. It won't be audiophile, but it ought to be listenable and sound pretty good considering the circumstances of its' birth. It might also require tonearm and anti-skate adjustment in order to track correctly due to the hard plastic having slightly shallower grooves than a traditional record.
Which does raise the question of whether something that doesn’t perform its primary function well is really something that is sensible to produce? Unless of course its primary function is to look beautiful? They also obviously cost much more to produce and so they end up costing the fan a lot of money for a one track single that doesn’t sound that great.
To be honest I think my love of “the artefact” wins over the “primary function” argument - although it does help that Dean was kind enough to send me a copy for nothing!
It also helps that for a fiver you can buy a digital release of Inside Your Heart and five other post-reunuion rarities in high quality so, the artefact can be a visual treat while you listen to the song the way it should sound!
While Luna were making A Sentimental Education they released a number of videos as part of the “campaign” including a clip of them in the studio recording Inside Your Heart:
- Catalogue Number: AHFOW 11/074
- Artist: Luna
- Title: Inside Your Heart
- Notes: One-sided lathe-cut
- Format: 7” single
- Bought…
- Buy ‘Inside Your Heart’ as part of ‘Postscripts’ on Bandcamp