Galaxie 500 have announced their first release of new archival material in nearly 30 years. Due September 20 via Silver Current Records and the band’s own imprint 20/20/20, Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90 spans 24 tracks comprising the complete Noise New York studio recordings, featuring previously unreleased outtakes, B-sides, and non-album output. It was compiled by the band and traces their career from their earliest recordings in the studio to their last. Listen to two never-before-heard tracks, ‘Shout You Down’ from the Today album sessions and ‘I Wanna Live’ from the On Fire album sessions, and check out the full tracklist below.
Galaxie 500 recorded three classic LPs in three years over the span of five studio sessions with producer and Shimmy Disc label boss Kramer at his studio Noise New York in Manhattan. Along with those original albums — Today, On Fire, and This Is Our Music — Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90 brings together all Galaxie 500 recordings at Noise New York during that period. This includes the restoration of no less than eight never-before-heard studio tracks, chronologically sequenced along with previously released but rare material. The set will be available on 2xLP, 2xCD, and 2xTape.
”Opening up these tape boxes was like looking into an old journal or databook,” drummer Damon Krukowski said in a statement. “I had forgotten most of this happened at all, but it only took a few quick details to put me right back in the drum seat. There are songs from all the Galaxie 500 recording sessions included here.”
”There is a sweetness in hearing the progression of us finding our own sound, our own collective voice,” bassist Naomi Yang reflected. The Proustian power of music. Listening to these early recordings I can hear myself figuring out how I wanted to play bass – finding my way up the neck to where the notes would cut through, where there could be a counter-melody to the singing. Making the bass my singing voice.”
Singer and guitarist Dean Wareham said: “I can see why we left some of these songs in the vaults, but there is pleasure in hearing them today; they sound very alive, like Galaxie 500 playing in the brick-walled room that was Noise New York.”
Talking about the scope of the set, Silver Current label owner Ethan Miller explained: “It isn’t just an ‘odds and sods’ collection, it is a secret history of the band told in music. It tells an untold story of the band in full as they move steadily across the arc of their growth and creative expansion. It reveals not so much an alternate history of the band, as a different perspective of their actual history, viewed from the other side of the mirror from beginning to end.”
Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90 Cover Artwork:
Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90 Tracklist:
(February 1988 session)
1. Shout You Down (previously unreleased)
2. See Through Glasses (previously unreleased)
3. On the Floor (Noise NY version) (previously unreleased)
4. Can’t Believe It’s Me (Ryko Box Set bonus CD, otherwise unreleased)
5. Oblivious (Ryko Box Set bonus CD, Chemical Imbalance fanzine 7-inch)
6. King of Spain (Today CD bonus track, Aurora Records 7-inch B-side)
(July 1988 session)
7. Jerome (Ryko Box Set bonus CD, otherwise unreleased)
8. Song in 3 (Ryko Box Set bonus CD, otherwise unreleased)
9. Crazy (Ryko Box Set bonus CD, European Today CD bonus track)
(February 1989 session)
10. I Wanna Live (previously unreleased)
11. I Will Walk (previously unreleased)
12. Cold Night (On Fire CD bonus track, Rough Trade BlueThunder EP)
13. Ceremony (On Fire CD bonus track, Rough Trade BlueThunder EP)
(August 1989 session)
14. Never Get to Heaven (previously unreleased)
15. Maracas Song (Ryko Box Set bonus CD, otherwise unreleased)
16. Victory Garden (On Fire CD bonus track, Rough Trade BlueThunder EP)
17. Blue Thunder (w/sax) (Ryko Box Set bonus CD, Rough Trade EP)
(June1990 session)
18. Cheese and Onions (Ryko BoxSet bonus CD, Rutles Highway Revisited Shimmy Disc LP)
19. Fourth of July (video mix)
20. Cactus (previously unreleased)
21. Moonshot (previously unreleased)
22. Them (Ryko Box Set bonus CD, otherwise unreleased)
23.Final Day (Ryko Box Set bonus CD, otherwise unreleased)
24. Here She Comes Now (This Is Our Music CD bonus track, Rough Trade Fourth of July 12-inch B-side)