The history of the film Charlie's Family is long and painful. It was delayed endlessly and suffered from lack of funding for nearly 20 years. It was finally released with the name The Manson Family in 2004 to mixed reviews. Most of the music in the film was written and recorded by Phil Anselmo (Pantera) and Ross Karpelman, but it wasn't Anselmo who was charged with writing the film's soundtrack.
The soundtrack to the film was actually completed in the summer of 1995 by Download, the post-Skinny Puppy project which, in its initial lineup featured Cevin Key, Phil Western, and Dwayne Goettel. The soundtrack was released first as a limited to 2,000 copies CD and was available for sale at Download shows in 1996. It sold out quickly and was re-issued in 1997 by a new label at the time, Metropolis Records. The Metropolis release featured slightly different cover art and was presented in a digipak. Both editions are out of print.
Artoffact Records is pleased to announce an exclusive licensing arrangement with Cevin Key's Subconscious Communications to release Charlie's Family for the first time on vinyl. The edition will be available in early 2015 on black vinyl and on two separate collector's colours, pale grey, and a special edition black and bone-yellow half-and-half.
The music on Charlie's Family is dark and haunting ("strange" said the initial press release). From the opening sample-ladened and cinematic Beautiful to Gristle Dog Corr (featuring Genesis P-Orridge), to the long, digital echoiness of Catblower, the album is as unsettling as you would want for the soundtrack to Charlie Manson's life. While the masters for both audio and art are no longer available, everything possible is being done to restore the original aesthetic and provide a dynamic and engaging listening experience.
Includes an MP3 download code.
