I’m not going to bore you with the details about how I came to know Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes AGAIN, because I’ve beaten that horse to death during my tenure as blogger here. For starters you can read this post from 2006 about my first experience recording at Breakglass Studios in Montreal. When I bumped into Jace at a Besnard Lakes/Unicorns show a few years after our initial meeting he was incredibly humble and friendly (I think he bought me a drink?), and has been each successive time we’ve crossed paths. I haven’t see him (or his band) in quite some time, but it wouldn’t surprise me after all these years if he still remembered intimate details of my band’s recording session. He’s the epitome of a professional in the studio and a super nice dude outside of work. So yeah, a lifelong fan here.
I’m a bit confused about the variations on the pressings of the first Besnard Lakes album. I know for a fact it was released in a very limited quantity on Jace’s personal label Breakglass back in 2003, right around the time I was recording that EP. In fact he might have showed us copies of the album during some downtime on my first day there. According to Discogs, first issue LPs with the catalog number BG-001-2 came packaged with a CD. I remember looking around for this album back in the day and hearing that the first 100 copies or so were hand-numbered, but I can’t find any evidence of this right now. For years there was a seller on GEMM from Europe who advertised a first issue numbered copy of Volume I for sale for some ridiculous sum ($200?). Ian’s copy, which I think he bought back when he was at school in Montreal, is a definite first issue but it didn’t come with a CD. It’s not numbered. The copy I have was procured during Ian’s bachelor party (in between absurd feasts and alcohol consumption) and is one of 600 copies that were reissued by Breakglass Records (now with the catalog number BG001-2. they dropped the first hyphen). It’s number 40 of 600, and was hand-signed on the inner sleeve by Jace and Olga. Would I rather have the original? Sure! I still remember looking at the cover and trying to commit it to memory back in 2002/2003, so it’d be nice to own one of THOSE, but I’m happy that I’ve got any copy at all, let alone one signed by Jace and Olga. I guess that’s cool in its own way.
Variations and signatures aside, it should be noted that the first Besnard Lakes album is absolutely brilliant. It’s easily one of my 10 favorite records of the early 2000s. “Thomasina” in particular is a song that I return to over and over again, I think it’s one of the best the band has ever written. “For Spy Turned Musician” and “Life Rarely Begins With The Tungsten Film #1” are killer tracks as well. As much as it pained me to give up turning people onto the band once The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse became a breakout success, they’ve consistently impressed me with each successive album. Last year’s In Excess, Imperceptible UFO was another excellent effort (#43 on my list of the 100 best albums of 2013). Still, neither of those two, nor The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night can touch that first album. It’s perfect.
Oh, and every time I see Ian’s record collection and his original pressing of Volume I, plus all the weird singles and EPs I’ve never seen anywhere else, it makes my blood boil. I need that first 7″ and the follow-up 10″! Help a brother out, somebody!
The Besnard Lakes
Volume I
(Breakglass – BG-001-2, 2003)
A1. Skyscraper Girls
A2. This Thing
A3. For Spy Turned Musician
A4. Thomasina
B1. You’ve Got To Want To Be A Star
B2. Deep, Desultory Dream
B3. Life Rarely Begins With Tungsten Film #1 [MP3]
