Galaxie 500 Dig Unreleased Songs out of their archives for new compilation

Favorite dream-pop trio Galaxie 500 have announced a new collection of never-before-seen recordings from the band's heyday.

Uncollected noise New York '88-'90, the group's first release of archival material since disbanding in more than 30 years, features two dozen Galaxie 500 recordings made at New York Noise during those titular years, some of which have released via B-sides and previous boxes. However, eight tracks from the new collection are completely unreleased.

“Opening these tape cans was like looking through an old calendar or date book. I had forgotten most of it happened, but it only took a few quick details to put me back in the drum seat,” drummer Damon Krukowski said of the collection in a statement. “There are songs from all the Galaxie 500 recordings included here.”

In front of Uncollected Noise New York '88-'90Released on September 20 via Silver Current Records and the band's 20/20/20 imprint, Galaxie 500 have shared a pair of never-before-heard tracks, “Shout You Down” — recorded during sessions for the debut 1988 LP Today — and “I Wanna Live,” from the sessions for 1989's landmark second album On fire.

“I can understand why we left some of these songs in the vaults, but it's a joy to hear them today. they sound very live, like the Galaxie 500 playing in the brick-walled room that was Noise New York,” singer and guitarist Dean Wareham added in a statement.

The 24-track compilation – presented chronologically from sessions spanning February 1988 to June 1990 – also features unreleased songs such as “Cactus”, “Moonshot”, “Never Get to Heaven”, “See Through Glasses ' and 'I Will Walk', as well as the band's now-hard-to-find B-sides, CD bonus tracks, EP tracks and 7″ fanzine singles from the era, some of which previously appeared on Uncollected disc from the Galaxie 500 box set released in 1996, just five years after the band broke up in 1991.

Other pieces in Uncollected Noise New York '88-'90 — album/uncollected-noise-new-york-88-90″ rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank”>available for pre-order now — include the trio's covers of songs by the Velvet Underground (“Here She Comes Now”), Joy Division (“Ceremony”), Red Crayola (“Victory Garden”) and the Rutles (“Cheese and Onions”).

“There is a sweetness in hearing the evolution of finding our own sound, our own collective voice. The Proustian power of music,” bassist Naomi Yang added in a statement. “Listening to those early recordings I can hear myself figuring out how I wanted to play the bass – finding my way up the neck to where the notes would cut, where there could be a counter-melody to the song. To make the bass my singing voice.”

Uncollected Noise New York '88-'90 Tracklist
(February 1988 meeting)
1. Shout You Down (Previously Unreleased)
2. See Through Glasses (previously unreleased)
3. On the Floor (Noise NY Edition) (previously unreleased)
4. I Can't Believe It's Me (Bonus CD Ryko Box Set, 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 meeting)
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 meeting)
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)
(June 1990 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)