More than a year after Edsel expanded and reissued the Aztec Camera catalogue, the Scottish outfit’s first album for Rough Trade will be reissued once again by Domino Records for its 30th anniversary.
High Land, Hard Rain, originally released on the Rough Trade label in the U.K. and Sire Records in the U.S., is the first full-length to feature frontman Roddy Frame’s prodigious gift as a sophisticated, dramatic pop writer, with tracks like “Oblivious” and “Walk Out to Winter” rich with evocative lyrics and ringing guitars. (The album, already impressive on its own, was released when Frame was only 18 years old.)
Aztec Camera would essentially become another name for Frame as the ’80s and ’90s wore on, who worked with a host of notable players and producers in the studio, including Craig Gannon (future temporary second guitarist for The Smiths), Tony Mansfield, Mick Jones, Mark Knopfler and others. Frame retired the name after 1995’s Frestonia.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibKTlG5tbjo]
This double-disc reissue handily bests Edsel’s in terms of content; where that disc featured seven B-sides and remixes appended to the program, Domino’s set – newly remastered from the analog tapes – features a 16-track bonus disc with six of those seven tracks and more, including rare fan-club only remixes of “Oblivious” by Colin Fairley and Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley, an unreleased version of “Walk Out to Winter” recorded with producer John Brand for possible single release and five tracks from a BBC session with presenter Kid Jensen. A 180-gram vinyl version features the original album and the bonus material as a free digital download; the first 400 pre-orders of the set from Domino’s official store get an additional four-track 7″ of rarities.
This new version is available to pre-order now, with an expected street date of February 4. Full specs are after the jump!
High Land, Hard Rain: 30th Anniversary Edition (Domino Records REWIGCD092, 2014)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Disc 1: Original LP (released as Rough Trade 47 (U.K.) / Sire 23899 (U.S.), 1983)
- Oblivious
- The Boy Wonders
- Walk Out to Winter
- The Bugle Sounds Again
- We Could Send Letters
- Pillar to Post
- Release
- Lost Outside the Tunnel
- Back On Board
- Down the Dip
Disc 2: Bonus material
- Pillar to Post (Original Single Version) (single A-side – Rough Trade RT 112, 1982)
- Queen’s Tattoos (single B-side – Rough Trade RT 112, 1982)
- Orchid Girl (B-side to “Haywire” – Rough Trade RT 122, 1983)
- Haywire (12″ B-side to “Haywire” – Rough Trade RTT 122, 1983)
- Walk Out to Winter (Tony Mansfield 7” Version) (single A-side – Rough Trade RT 132, 1983)
- Set the Killing Free (single B-side – Rough Trade RT 132, 1983)
- Back on Board (Live @ The El Mocambo, Toronto – 7/11/1983 – on CFNY-FM) (B-side to “Oblivious” double 7″ – Rough Trade AZTEC 1F, 1983)
- We Could Send Letters (Live @ The El Mocambo, Toronto – 7/11/1983 – on CFNY-FM) (B-side to “Oblivious” double 7″ – Rough Trade AZTEC 1F, 1983)
- Walk Out to Winter (Kid Jensen Session – 1983) *
- Down the Dip (Kid Jensen Session – 1983) *
- Back on Board (Kid Jensen Session – 1983) *
- Release (Kid Jensen Session – 1983) *
- Walk Out to Winter (John Brand Unreleased Single Version) *
- Walk Out to Winter (Tony Mansfield 12” Version) (12″ A-side – Rough Trade RTT 132, 1983)
- Oblivious (Colin Fairley Remix) (fan club single A-side – Rainhill Records ACFC 1, 1984)
- Oblivious (Clive Langer/Alan Winstanley Remix) (fan club single B-side – Rainhill Records ACFC 1, 1984)
Bonus rarities 7″ for pre-orders
- The Boy Wonders (Capital Radio Session) *
- Release (Capital Radio Session) *
- We Could Send Letters (from C81 – NME/Rough Trade cassette COPY 001, 1981)
- The Bugle Sounds Again (Bedroom Demo) *
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Does the vinyl on the amazon link come with a DL code for the extra tracks that are only on the CD issue? Sure I read that somewhere.
Gary C
This is tremendous news, not just because it’s a wonderful album that deserves this treatment, but because:
1) Unlike the Edsel reissue, this is a Roddy Frame-approved release.
2) Unlike the Edsel reissue, this is not a copy of poor previous masters, but wholly remastered, and it sounds amazing – a million times better!
3) Unlike the Edsel reissue, the bonus tracks will not feature digital glitches that mar songs and – as the new remastering implies – its is not sourced from various compilation CDs and wonky sources.
4) Edwyn Collins and Grace Maxwell of AED Records, who released this on vinyl recently (and of course are long-term pals with Roddy from Postcard Records days) are doing the generous and right thing in ensuring that people who bought that vinyl get downloads with all the bonus tracks. People who care are involved in every aspect of this release.
5) The inclusion of the C81 cassette version of “We Could Send Letters” is a hint that Roddy may consider finally reissuing all the Postcard material, not seen since its original 7″ release back in 1981 (four songs in total; two never again recorded in the studio, plus embryonic versions of “We Could Send Letters” and “Lost Outside The Tunnel.”) Might we finally see the remnants of the never-released “Green Jacket Grey” album and other lost songs? BTW, the C81 version of “WCSL” is from the Postcard-era and similar to the 7″ version, but a different recording altogether.
Re: 5). Mr. Frame would have to reconsider earlier statement(s) indicating he did not want the Post card singles to be reissued (an UNCUT interview from 2007 or 2008?) I have read varying explanations as to to why.
I hope he does.
The 7 inch is only for vinyl pre-orders, right?
I’m very pleased that this is getting the reissue it deserves, after the Edsel release reportedly cut so many corners. I’m sure it will sound terrific, and most of the bonus material will be new to me.
The 7″ is only for the first 400 preorders direct from the label.