The Night 2LP (Purple)

Modern Classic Recordings, an imprint of Light in the Attic Records, proudly announces the deluxe vinyl reissues of Morphine’s final two studio albums: Like Swimming (1997) and The Night (2000), marking the very first availability of both titles on wax.

Each album has been lovingly remastered by Pete Weiss at Boston’s Jade Cow Music, with lacquers cut by John Golden. Both titles were pressed at Austin, TX’s Gold Rush Vinyl and are each available in two colorways. The 1xLP Like Swimming (which features such favorites as “Early to Bed,” “French Fries with Pepper,” and “Eleven O’Clock”) can be found on opaque blue or translucent red wax, while the 2xLP, 45-RPM edition of The Night (featuring “Rope on Fire,” “Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer,” and “The Night,”) is available on orange translucent or purplish hue vinyl.

Rounding out each package is a 20-page booklet, featuring rare and never-before-seen images from the band’s archives, including photos by Lana Z. Caplan and Danny Clinch, artifacts from Morphine’s career, and unseen art by the band’s late frontman, Mark Sandman. A major highlight of both packages are the insightful new liner notes by Ryan H. Walsh—a Boston-based journalist, musician, visual artist, and author of the acclaimed 2018 book Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968. Walsh’s notes include a handful of new interviews detailing the band’s career, including one of the final interviews with Morphine drummer Billy Conway, who played drums in Sandman’s previous band, Treat Her Right. Both albums are housed in deluxe gatefold jackets, featuring gorgeous art direction and design by Darryl Norsen at D. Norsen Design, also of Boston.

Dedicated to the memories of Sandman and late drummer Billy Conway, both albums were produced with the full support of Morphine’s surviving members (drummer Jerome Deupree and saxophonist Dana Colley), as well as the band’s friends, family members, and collaborators—many of whom shared their memories with Walsh.