Michael Gira - Songs for a Dog

This post is dedicated to Michael Gira's dog Nina, who passed away last week. 

Songs for a Dog is essentially the vinyl version of what would become The Milk of M. Gira on CD. Both act as compilation albums of Gira's self-released acoustic stuff, which is all out of print, limited edition and worth a fucking fortune. This was originally put together by a British label called Lumberton Trading Company back in 2006. It is a fairly simple affair comprising mainly of a plain cardboard sleeve with minimal art by Gira himself (co-incidentally the same front cover stamp that adorns The Milk...) and a lyrics sheet.  

All the Gira classics are here, be they solo tracks or borrowed ones from Swans or The Angels of Light. Stand out tracks are the ominous opener "Promise of Water", the personal homage that is "Rose of Los Angeles" and the self-destructive depress-o-classic "God Damn the Sun". "Purple Creek" is pretty good too, and closer "Mean Monster Mike" is just plain insane.

I'm not entirely sure if this record is still in print (I got it at a stall in Roadburn Festival 2012) but if you are looking to get some of Gira's acoustic stuff this is the cheapest you'll find anywhere, ever. The Milk of M. Gira is still in print but unless you can catch him / Swans on tour your never going to get it at a decent price when beret wearing hipster cunts are selling them on Discogs for over sixty quid each. All the other hand-made CDs are valuing at a hundred or more, so this simple 12" at an average of fifteen pounds is your best bet, I'd wager.   

I fucking love Gira but I fucking hate hipsters. What an endlessly painful situation, eh?

PS - This song isn't on this compilation, but it is an excellent example of Gira's acoustic show.