They’ve been available from some outlets since early summer, but we thought we ought to flag up the latest pair of limited edition, 70th anniversary 10″s from Alan Vega before they disappear for good.

Blast First Petite – the superb boutique label run by Mute’s Paul Smith – launched the 10″ series back in 2008, and has to date brought us six editions showcasing contemporary artists’ reinterpretations of songs by Vega and his still extant band, Suicide (a duo with Martin Rev). Several Vega and Suicide originals have also featured.

Those who have been following the series will probably have already heard Bruce Springsteen’s remarkable cover of Suicide’s ‘Dream Baby Dream’, Klaxons take on ‘Sweetheart’, and Sunn O)) and Pan Sonic’s version of ‘Che’. Primal Scream, Lydia Lunch, Stephen Burroughs, Conrad Standish, No Bra and The Horrors have also contributed to the project over the past two years.

The latest 10″, featuring brilliant cover art by Vega (detail pictured above), is limited to 1000 copies and led by a cover of ‘Ghostrider’ by Gavin Friday. Recording a version of this iconic track – the opener of Suicide’s self-titled debut album of 1977 – is not a task we would envy anyone, but Friday, best known for his collaborations with Dave Ball (Soft Cell, The Grid) of The Virgin Prunes [EDIT – Friday is not, as was previously asserted, a member of the ‘Prunes – thanks to Stevo for the correction], acquits himself very well indeed, respectfully aping the vocal mannerisms of the original, upping the pace slightly, and rendering it all in a stripped-down synth-pop idiom that will appeal to fans of all that 80s cold wave stuff that’s slipped back into focus of late.

Cologne’s Thomas Brinkmann – whose most recent solo album, When Horses Die, unexpectedly found him exploring gothic songcraft – here reconnects with the micro-house and techno sound that made his name, turning out a loping dancefloor edit of ‘Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne’ (from Suicide’s Second Album, 1980). The highlight of the package, though, is Vega’s own brilliantly titled ‘Puss On Tha Time Warp’. Taken from his 1999 album 2007, it’s a riveting, bare-bones affair, the fearless New Yorker foregrounding his incredible, unnerving rock’n’roll intonation against a backdrop of scuffed drum machine patters and gelatinous bleeps and bloops.

Also out now is a 10″ – with throbbing, spurting penis cover art by Robyn Mitchell – featuring a surprisingly sensitive, sensuous Peaches cover of ‘Jonny’, together with a fairly tawdry Effi Briest interpretation of ‘Universe’. The Vega original that rounds out the package – ‘No Tomorrow’, from 1996’s Deuce Avenue LP – is predictably brilliant, coming over like a studio clash between Johnny Cash and Mika Vainio.

The EPs are available as a download as well as 10″. More information and samples here.

Tracklist:
1. Gavin Friday – Ghostrider
2. Thomas Brinkmann – Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne
3. Alan Vega – Puss On Tha Time Warp