Today, 4 years ago, Mark E. Smith, singer of legendary post-punk band The Fall died, aged 60
Mark E. Smith was born in the UK 1957 and founded The Fall in 1976 together with Tony Friel and Martin Bramah. Smith remained the only original member of the band to this day. During the 38 years of their existence, the group seemed to be more of a pigeon-loft than a coherent rock band as Smith hired and sacked musicians as if it was a sweet delight, so more than sixty musicians passed through The Fall.
It was already clear for a while now the singer had serious health problems since a number of planned shows were cancelled late 2017. Still, he didn’t seem willing to give up and even performed one of their latest shows in a wheelchair.
One of the hallmarks of The Fall was the unmistakable voice and manner of singing by Mark E. Smith. He rather mumbled his lyrics through the microphone than he was singing and therefore it was not always clear what he was singing.
The Fall was a very productive band, releasing nearly 80 albums in less than 39 years. Probably one of their most influential albums is the Hex Enduction Hour, released in 1982. To date, the band has been cited as a source of inspiration by musicians around the world.
A message on The Fall website was posted on January 24, 2018 …
RIP Chief - "The Only Band in the world"
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Mark E. Smith, zanger van de legendarische post-punk The Fall overleden op 60 jarige leeftijd
Mark E. Smith werd geboren in UK in 1957 en richtte The Fall op in 1976 samen met Tony Friel en Martin Bramah. Smith bleef het enige origineel lid van de band tot op vandaag. Gedurende de 38 jaar van hun bestaan leek de groep ook eerder op een duiventil dan op een coherente rock groep want Smith huurde en ontsloeg muzikanten alsof het een lieve lust was, meer dan zestig muzikanten passeerden zo de revue bij The Fall.
Het ging al een tijdje niet goed met de gezondheid van de zanger en mede daardoor werden een aantal geplande shows in het na jaar van 2017 afgelast. Toch wist hij van geen ophouden en werkte zelf een show af gezeten in een rolstoel.
Eén van de kenmerken van The Fall was het onmiskenbare stemgeluid en manier van zingen van Mark E. Smith. Hij mompelde zijn teksten eerder door de microfoon en daardoor was niet altijd duidelijk wat hij precies zong.
The Fall was een zeer productive groep en bracht bijna 80 albums uit op nog geen 39 jaar tijd. Waarschijnlijk één van hun meest invloedrijke albums is het in 1982 verschenen Hex Enduction Hour. Tot op heden wordt de band aangehaald als inspiratiebron door muzikanten over heel de wereld.
Op de The Fall website werd er op 24 Januari gepost - RIP Chief - “The Only Band in the world”
Today, exactly 31 years ago Front 242 released the album Tyranny ▶For You◀
Today it is exactly 31 years since one of the most succesful EBM bands and founders Front 242 released Tyranny ▶For You◀ (24-01-1991).
Tyranny ▶For You◀ is Front 242's fifth studio album and featured twelve tracks. Three of those tracks were released as separate CD/12" singles; Rhythm Of Time, Mixed By Fear and Tragedy ▶For You◀. Both music videos for Tragedy ▶For You◀ (Directed by Anthon Corbijn) and Rhythm Of Time (Directed by Peter Christopherson of Coil) got a frequent rotation on MTV. The video of Rhythm Of Time also appeared briefly on a TV-set in the background during a scene of the film Single White Female.
Enjoy the music videos of Tragedy ▶For You◀ and Rhythm Of Time below!
Tracklist:
Sacrifice
Rhythm Of Time
Moldavia
Trigger 2 (Anatomy Of A Shot)
Gripped By Fear
Tragedy >For You<
The Untold
Neurobashing
Leitmotiv 136
Soul Manager
On this day 46 ago, on 23 January 1976, David Bowie released his 10th studio album, Station to Station. The album is regarded as one of his most significant works and introduced one of Bowie's best known alter egos, ‘The Thin White Duke’, which was based on character David played in ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’, a movie by Thomas Jerome Newton. The album cover art features a still from the film. During the sessions, Bowie was mostly drugs, especially cocaine, and stated in later interviews that he recalled barely anything of the recording and production sessions. Due to the success of his previous album, Young Americans, released the year before, Bowie gained more financial and thus artistic freedom. While the previous album featured mainly Funk and Soul elements, Station To Station introduced Bowie’s German electronic and Krautrock influences from the likes as for instance Kraftwerk and Neu!. Also lyrically he wandered off from the mainstream ‘pop’ path and was inspired by mythology, religion and figures like Friedrich Nietzsche & Aleister Crowley. Preceded by the single `Golden Years`, Station to Station was a commercial success, reaching the top five on the UK and US charts.
During the Isolar Tour, supporting the release of this album, he attracted controversy with statements suggesting support for fascism. Things became even worst when 'The Victoria Station Incident' happened. When NME photographer Chalkie Davies, shot a picture of David Bowie standing upright in a convertible Mercedes, seemingly bringing a nazi salute while waving to his fans. But in fact it just was, what we would call it these days, a hasty, improvident and bad photoshop job by an NME employee. Because of the fact the photographer used a flash light and bright sky backlight, David’s waving hand was not visible due to the light over exposure. So the editors decided to quickly fix it by drawing a fake hand on top of the picture … Of course the badly chosen headline “Heil and farewell” didn’t help either. No need to say the press picked up on this and put it together with some quotes on fascism he had made in Europe and behold David was vilified as a Nazi.
“That didn’t happen. THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. I waved. I just WAVED. Believe me. On the life of my child, I waved. And the bastard caught me. In MID-WAVE, man. And, God, did that photo get some coverage… As if I’d be foolish enough to pull a stunt like that. I died when I saw the photo. And even the people who were with me said, ‘David! How could you?’ The bastards. I didn’t… GOD, I just don’t believe in all that. (David Bowie, Melody Maker, 29 October 1977)
At the end of the tour, he moved to Europe, mainly to escape from the L.A. drug culture. Bowie lived in West Berlin for almost two years, during which time he moved on both musically and personally with his "Berlin Trilogy" albums; Low, Heroes and Lodger.
Positively received by music critics on its release, Station to Station has appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time.
David Bowie - Station To Station (LP)
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A1 |
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Station To Station |
10:18 |
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A2 |
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Golden Years |
4:03 |
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A3 |
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Word On A Wing |
6:05 |
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B1 |
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TVC 15 |
5:35 |
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B2 |
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Stay |
6:17 |
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B3 |
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Wild Is The Wind |
6:06 |
On this day, 12 years ago, Nitzer Ebb released their sixth studio album Industrial Complex!
Industrial Complex is the sixth and latest up to date studio album from British Industrial-electro-EBM band Nitzer Ebb. It was initially intended and released as a limited tour edition (2009) only but was soon after picked up by the German Major Records who released the album in Europe on 22 January 2010, fifteen years after the band's last studio album Big Hit. This is the band's first release after leaving Mute Records following its 2006 retrospective, Body of Work. The Major Records version also came with a bonus CD containing remixes by Terence Fixmer and Depeche Mode's Alan Wilder amongst others.
Martin Gore of Depeche Mode—himself a fellow Essex boy—has contributed backing vocals on both 'Once You Say' and 'Payroll'. While the track 'Never Known' was featured on the soundtrack of Saw IV. The album was produced by the renown English producer Flood.
Although this comeback album could not please all their old school fans it generally received positive critics by the music press. NME gave the album a 4/5 star rating stating Nitzer Ebb "proves to be far from obsolete". Other magazines wrote critics like "Industrial Complex is a real stormer" or "Industrial Complex sounded like nothing I've ever expected, it's sure one great album."
Industrial Complex
Basic/tour edition (Red background cover, single disc, Artists' Addiction Records)
1 "Promises" 3:48
2 "Once You Say" 3:41
3 "Never Known" 3:58
4 "Going Away" 4:10
5 "Hit You Back" 4:19
6 "Payroll" 2:57
7 "Down On Your Knees" 3:52
8 "I Don´t Know You" 3:12
9 "My Door Is Open" 3:15
10 "I Am Undone" 3:51
11 "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" 2:57
12 "Traveling" 3:13 (bonus track)
Belgian edition bonus tracks (White cover background with $ sign, Alfa Matrix)
13. "Once You Say" (Komor Kommando Mix)
14. "Once You Say" (Leæther Strip Mix)
15. "Once You Say" (Essence Of Mind Mix)
16. "Once You Say" (Implant Mix)
17. "Once You Say" (Pouppée Fabrikk Mix)
Limited edition (Double CD - Tracks CD2, Major Records)
1 "I Am Undone" (Alan Wilder Remix) 5:29
2 "I Am Undone" (Christopher Kah Remix) 5:17
3 "My Door Is Open" (Terence Fixmer Remix) 5:48
4 "Once You Say" (Tom Furse Remix) 6:07
5 "Once You Say" (Celluloide Mix) 4:46
6 "Once You Say" (Orphee-Eeproh Remix) 4:29
7 "Once You Say" (People Theatre Remix) 4:24
8 "Once You Say" (Collapsed System Mix) 4:44
9 "Once You Say" (Suessenborn Sinessence Remix) 4:10
USA edition tracks (White cover background with $ sign, single disc, Artists' Addiction Records, AAR 001)
Same as Basic/tour edition, then additional tracks:
13 "On The Road"
14 "I Am Undone" (Alan Wilder Remix) 5:29
15 "I Am Undone" (Christopher Kah Remix) 5:17
16 "My Door Is Open" (Terence Fixmer Remix) 5:48
17 "Once You Say" (Tom Furse Remix) 6:07
DISCOGS
The Jesus and Mary Chain have signed to London-based independent label Fuzz Club Records.
The Jesus and Mary Chain have signed to London-based independent label Fuzz Club Records. With new Mary Chain music currently in the works, Fuzz Club are marking the new partnership by revealing upcoming reissues of the band's 2017 studio album 'Damage and Joy' complete with three new bonus tracks as well as their 'Live at Barrowland' LP, on which they storm through their incendiary cult classic 'Psychocandy' in full.
On top of the reissues of 'Damage and Joy' and 'Live at Barrowland' the deal with Fuzz Club will encompass reissues of their earlier works, new live releases and highly-anticipated brand new studio material. As The Jesus and Mary Chain's Jim Reid recently told Clash Magazine: "We started recording an album just before COVID hit and then obviously we couldn't continue with it, but we were back in the studio [in October 2021] for the first time in two years."
On the signing, The Jesus and Mary Chain said: "Our recent legal bills reminded us that our big mistake in 1985 was to give our recordings to a major label. Fuzz Club and Cooking Vinyl are an entirely different species. Casper at Fuzz Club and Rob at Cooking Vinyl put huge effort and patience into making this deal happen. They're exactly the right kind of people for us."
Fuzz Club founder and managing director Casper Dee adds: "I'm not going to lie, it feels a bit like we've signed Messi! The importance of the Mary Chain can't be overstated. They have been an inspiration to pretty much every band we've ever worked with and our musical landscape would be very different had it not been for the Reid brothers. So for us, it's an honour to get the opportunity to work with a band of their stature. There aren't many bands like this around! So we have an important task in front of us, not only to deliver successful album campaigns but to help steer a musical and cultural legacy."
The Jesus and Mary Chain's signing to Fuzz Club is part of a global label services and distribution deal with Cooking Vinyl which both labels kick-started in 2021. Rob Collins, Cooking Vinyl managing director, said: "When we started working with Fuzz Club, they had a dream signing and that was the Jesus and Mary Chain, so I'm really proud that we have been able to help them achieve that. We hope to be partners with the band and the label for a long time."
