At our heart, we’re a community record store. Our community isn’t constrained to Glasgow – if you’re reading this, you’re part of it, wherever you are. We are, though, very proud to be from Glasgow and are proud of the music heritage we’re part of.

Camera Obscura and the narratives that populate their records are woven into the city’s tapestry. They’re also our friends and customers as well as talented storytellers and musicians. The band’s earlier discography has been out of print for some time so it’s with a great deal of pride that we were able to partner with the group’s Spanish label Elefant to present these two earlier records that propelled them into the affection of people worldwide. 

Underachievers Please Try Harder and Let’s Get Out Of This Country have been repressed by Elefant and we are delighted to have both albums on Monorail Exclusive colours. Both titles are limited to 500 each.

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The eyes of the international pop scene are set on “Let’s get out of this country”: a collection of ten perfect pop songs, absolutely no filler, where the band from Glasgow looks at classic pop through country and soul tinted lenses, influenced by a wide variety of heroes – from Jimmy Webb to Lloyd Cole, from Connie Francis to Skeeter Davis, from the SUPREMES to David Lynch.

In Autumn 2005, Camera Obscura travelled from Glasgow to Stockholm to begin work on their third album with acclaimed producer Jari Haapalainen (Ed Harcourt, THE CONCRETES, INTERNATIONAL (NOISE) CONSPIRACY), and some of the string musicians they used have recently toured with Brian Wilson or Arthur Lee & LOVE; the album was recorded in the same studios where Neneh Cherry or Robyn have previously recorded, and it was mixed at the same place used by THE MAGIC NUMBERS or Per Gessle from ROXETTE fame. Among the contributors to this album we find Victoria Bergsman from THE CONCRETES, singer-songwriter Brita Persson or members of Swedish pop bands such as THE TOURETTES, LAAKSO or SPEEDMARKET AVENUE.

A timeless album, delicately orchestrated, with which we’re sure CAMERA OBSCURA will confirm the importance of their song legacy. These are songs that last forever, that will go with you forever. ”

Original Elefant Promo Text, 2006