Luna - A Sentimental Education Album

I don't understand this cover LP. Even "Fire in Cairo" is worthless compared to the original song. I mean, if it wasn't for Dean's Wareham's voice, you wouldn't pay attention. I'm after all Luna's LP's except this one !

The record is beautiful, and the pressing is really nice. The music is excellent throughout

As of now, sets of these (LP + EP) are still available from Pledge Music for $200: https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/luna2?referrer=project_launched&utm_campaign=project16542&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pledgemusic

To all sellers selling a sealed “unknown colour” LP, here’s a trick: take a bright flashlight/torch and shine it through the sleeve and look on the other side. The light will be the hue of the vinyl. This works with thin single sleeve LPs. For this LP, there is a diecut black inner sleeve for the record, so you have to shine it around the center cutout of the inner sleeve. You’ll see the color appear around the rim of the inner sleeve- yellow or green.

Extremely Limited Edition on green vinyl.There've always been pros and cons when it comes to coloured vinyl, in this case I've gotta say that it sounds as good as the original beer coloured release, though with Dean Wareham saying that he slightly prefers the standard beer coloured issue. Regardless, this release is translucent bright green, and is just a joy to behold on a variety levels. If you're looking for this one, you're going to have to spend some serious time searching it out.*** I am in possession of the stampers/stompers that were used to press these albums.Review by Jenell Kesler

There is also an emerald green variant vinyl pressing. Could someone add it, please?

Just asked Dean about the 'Green Vinyl' and he said, "Glad you like the yellow vinyl. . . some were done in green too but the yellow is better methinks." So, if you're looking for better sound quality, go with the yellow/beer coloured vinyl over the green, 'less of course you're a completist.

These were not Test Pressing in the honest sense ... there were 25 of these so-called Test Pressing, not the 4 or 5 that usually accompany a production. These were done after the fact with generic Gotta Groove Labels, without Test Pressing flaws, to be signed and sold by the artists as premiums on the Pledge Music site. The actual Test Pressing did have flaws, and were sent back for further work before the release of the official beer coloured vinyl, or these black [so-called] Test Pressings.Jenell Kesler

With Luna’s splendid final release Rendezvous coming out in 2004, the band subsequently went on a world tour and then disappeared into a haze of blinding snow after their final show at the Bowery, breaking the hearts of fans for whom Luna’s music has meant so much … and that was all over a decade ago.Within the last two years Luna have slowly slipped back together, feeling their way toward each other with a new sense of connection as the years and their solo work have lessened those internal rivalries, making the disfunction less important, and if you’ve been lucky enough to see them live, where they’ve often been preforming entire albums, then you know that the kinship, friendship, deeper understanding and respect for what each member brings to this band has blossomed again, with their ability to work together effortlessly is bringing mile wide smiles to the faces of fans across the world, and I’m sure a sense of satisfaction for the group as a whole.Luna has always been known for their original take on cover material, and to that end, on A Sentimental Education, they’re now handing us a grouping of songs that ride close to their hearts, an entire album of covers, songs that have inspired them, sweetened their lives, and allowed them to seemingly own material that wholly belongs to others. Several of the tracks such as the cover of Mercury Rev’s “Car Wash Hair” have showed up before as singles or B-Sides, and Dylan material was part of Dean & Britta’s 13 Most Beautiful tributes to Andy Warhol’s films, though here Luna covers perhaps my all time favorite Bob Dylan song “Most of the Time,” and then there’s Britta’s infatuation with Fleetwood Mac, where she covered their material on her solo project Luck or Magic as well.Not one of these songs, and the variety crisscrosses the spectrum of rock n' roll, from The Velvet Underground to Yes to Bowie, the Cure, The Rolling Stones, and Mink DeVille, is taken lightly, all sound fresh and have been developed for the sheer pleasure these songs inspire. All of the numbers have those enchanting jingle jangle guitar chords where Dean Wareham and Sean Eden play off of and nearly to each other, and it’s all spurred on by Britta’s bouncy bass-line, and the sheer drumming perfection of Lee Walls. And as if this were not enough, the release is accompanied by A Greater Place of Safety, an EP composed of six instrumentals that comes out at the same time, designed to accompany this release and draw you deeper into the intoxicating world of Luna.And with that, all I can say is “Welcome Home, my world has just gotten a bit brighter.”*** The Fun Facts: All of this, including a poster and other choice items are part of the big package, though all can be purchase separately, on 150 vinyl or CD.The album title has a double meaning. Of course the first regards that the album is composed of entirely cover songs that were important to the band and its members, hence the sentiment for beloved music, and educating younger fans who may not have been around during those times. The second regards the book "Sentimental Education", a novel by Gustave Flaubert, that is considered one of the most influential novels of the 19th century, being praised by contemporaries George Sand and Émile Zola, but criticised by Henry James. The story focuses on the romantic life of a young man at the time of the French Revolution of 1848, and his love for an older woman based on the wife of the music publisher Maurice Schlesinger, who is portrayed in the book as Jacques Arnoux. Flaubert based many of the protagonist's experiences, including the romantic passion on his own life. When I asked Dean about the title he said, "Well yeah, I stole his title, since it’s an album of old songs that I like, it seemed to fit."Regarding The Cure song "Fire In Cairo": The song itself nowhere directly describes the tumultuous events of the Cairo fire of 1952 known to Egyptians as Black Saturday, but the reference to it in the chorus adds a certain degree of hyperbolic sombreness to verses describing a fleeting escape from isolation through connecting with another person. Likening this passionate interpersonal experience is perhaps a little metaphorically extreme, if Smith’s intended reference was the actual catastrophic inferno. Part of a carefully executed series of riots and arson that took place in Cairo one day after a tragic incident that precipitated it, Black Saturday is but one of many historical moments of shame for the British military, but perhaps the one with the most severe direct consequences. Fifty Egyptian auxiliary policemen were killed by British soldiers in a one-sided battle / slaughter, which sparked spontaneous anti-British protests all across the city. These fragmentary riots were quickly exacerbated by organised elements in the crowd and vast sectors of Cairo were looted, ransacked and burned. The unexplained absence of security forces or military intervention caused the riots to spread like wildfire, while the actual fire burned like only a well-planned man-made arson can.Regarding the David Bowie song "Letter To Hermione": The song is a diary entry of sorts, addressed to an actual ex-girlfriend by name, detailing what his biographers have described as a devastating break-up. Hermione Farthingale wasn’t her real name, and for years no one knew, or was willing to disclose the fact. Hermione Dennis is now known as Hermione Frankel. Bowie met her through Lindsay Kemp, danced with her for the film The Pistol Shot and the two were a couple by the summer of 1968, living together in South Kensington, forming a folk trio. By the time the two filmed Love You Till Tuesday in early 1969 it was over, with Farthingale apparently having dumped Bowie for another dancer. Bowie and Farthingale’s last day together was on a soundstage, miming Sell Me a Coat and Ching-a-Ling for the cameras. She was the muse for the songs "Life On Mars" [with the lines It's a god-awful affair to the girl with the mousy hair] and "An Occasional Dream."And as to what a Farthingale is: The Spanish verdugado, from which "farthingale" derives, was a hoop skirt originally stiffened with the subtropical Giant Cane, later designs in the temperate climate zone were stiffened with osiers (willow cuttings), rope, or (from about 1580) whalebone.Review by Jenell Kesler