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
[374] Luna - The Days of Our Nights (Beggars Banquet CD)
This is the CD version of Luna’s The Days of Our Nights that was released in the UK when it was supposed to be by Beggars Banquet and bought by me on the day of release from, very possibly Beggars Banquet in Kingston.
The album’s release and reception has been well covered in the previous posts in this series - particularly in the one for the vinyl reissue from three years ago, so I’m not sure I have much to add.
Dean and Sean were in the UK around the time of release for the Bowlie Weekender that they played at as a duo. I didn’t go to this - I did ponder going and even rang up about it - specifically about bringing a two-year-old along - but decided the cost, and the two-year-old made it inconvenient. The NME reviewed it…
Dean Wareham, looking a bit like he'd been recently exhumed, could be said the be the American Stuart Murdoch; unashamed preppie types, his songs combine beautiful melodies with arch not-quite-funny observations.
Beset by feedback problems, they're playing to a hardcore of devotees who will forgive anything, even the terrible drum machine that sounds as though it was rescued from a Bontempi organ.
They are metaphorically naked and endearing; Dean's strange falsetto vocals which make up for the lack of a keyboard or stringed instrument are simultaneously endearing and scary, which can also be said of the songs. Sadly, they didn't do their wonderful version of 'Sweet Child O' Mine'.
Postcard from Bowlie - NME (26th April 1999) (via Wayback Machine)
They also recorded a couple of songs for London station XFM that I remember listening to, but don’t have a recording of sadly:
I listened to Luna on (London station) XFM a couple of nights back and they sounded pretty good for stripped down versions Math Wiz is potentially the best track on the album and the "live" version was pretty cool it came complete with a "Hi I'm Dean..." "...and I'm Sean" intro made me smile. Moon Palace was a surprise firstly I expected them to be relentlesly pushing the new album, and secondly it was blessed with an organ (that's as technical as I get!) and a drum machine very nice too.
Galaxie 500 Mailing List - Andy Aldridge · Fri 30 Apr 1999 23:25
If anyone has a recording of that I’d love to hear it.
I also remember seeing fly-posters for the album around London, I think there was one on the derelict building at the top of our road. I regret not taking a picture but in those pre-digital days you didn’t waste a frame on a picture of a poster.
My long-standing Days coolness gets less cool with each passing year. Maybe because as well as the music I also have a growing Mailing List nostalgia. I know I say it every time but damn I miss those days, that community, and those friends - some I still have but many I have lost touch with - who were so important to me back then.
- Catalogue Number: AHFOW 10/054
- Artist: Luna
- Title: The Days of Our Nights
- Notes: Beggars Banquet
- Packaging: Jewel case
- Format: CD
- Bought from a record shop the week of release
- Buy ‘The Days of Our Nights’ on Bandcamp
Previously in my record collection: