To Live Vicariously’, the sixth album by Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat, is Stef Heeren’sdefinitive goodbye to the drone folk of before. From now on, industrial synths and mechanical drums will spark in his music; as if The Soft Moon, Virgin Prunes and Throbbing Gristle jointly put together a Fad Gadget song.‘To Live Vicariously’ is a love triangle between post-punk, industrial and darkwave.
It’s an album, halfway between heaven and hell; that mesmerizes and is catchy, sounds warm and cold at the same time. ‘All tracks originated in the dark caverns of my mind’, Heeren smiles. ‘The result is dark, but Kwinten (Mordijck, synths) and Koen(Gisen, producer) made sure that the music would not sound too obscure. The end result should still be accessible for the listener.’
K.T.A.O.A.B.C is no longer a solo project; it’s a full-blown band. ‘I still decide on the final sound of the music, but the other band members can now provide input and influence my choices as well. And surrounded by these excellent musicians, I can just see the band growing.’ Stef Heeren and Kwinten Mordijck drew the first sketches of ‘To Live Vicariously’, Matthias Debusschere (bass, synth) and Jonathan Callens (drums) assisted in bringing colour to the tracks. ‘What’s more, it’s because of the band that the songs sound contemporary and not like a bad 80s copy.’ says Heeren. When Heeren unleashes his demons, cold sweat will spontaneously run across your back. ‘To Live Vicariously’ changes gear every ten seconds, it’s full of treacherous explosions and is by far the most punky album K.T.A.O.A.B.C. has ever made. He smirks: ‘My roots are in the punk scene. This album feels like coming home.’ ‘The fact that legendary anarchist punk band Crass is one of my major influences, reveals a lot about the content of these songs. When Koen, our producer, heard the title track for the first time, he yelled: ‘It’s like a revolution!’ That’s exactly the feeling we want to bring about in our listeners. ‘To Live Vicariously’ is an uprising in sound, but the music is both critical of society and hopeful in equal measure.’
Synths as sharp they could cut glass, drums that go for your head, your heart and your legs: ‘To Live Vicariously’ is an album that stays with you for hours. ‘The more people appreciate the music, the better. But I realise that it will never become mainstream.’ Stef concludes. And that’s OK. Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat has been a part of the underground scene for ten years now, and it’s still thriving.
Columbia Records will release Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ on December 4th. A comprehensive look at ‘The River’ era, the set contains 52 tracks on 4 CDs with a wealth of unreleased material, and 4 hours of never-before-seen video on 3 DVDs. It is comprised of the original ‘The River’ double album; the first official release of 'The River: Single Album;' a CD of 1979/80 studio outtakes; a two-DVD film of never-released, newly edited multi-camera footage from Springsteen’s famed 1980 show in Tempe, AZ, long rumored but never-before-seen; rare tour rehearsal footage; a brand new documentary “The Ties That Bind" about 'The River;' and a coffee table book of 200 rare or previously unseen photos and memorabilia with a new essay by Mikal Gilmore.
Springsteen’s fifth album, was released on October 17, 1980 as a double album and reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. In his notes, Gilmore calls ‘The River’ Springsteen’s “pivotal album—[the] hinge between the ambitious commotions that had preceded it and the more succinct musical riots, and sometimes terrifying storytelling, that followed.” (Two CDs, recently re-mastered).
‘The River: Single Album’ is the 10-track album that Springsteen recorded in 1979 as a follow up to 1978’s ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ but never released. “The songs lacked the kind of unity and conceptual intensity I liked my music to have. So we went back in the studio,” he wrote in the lyrics/photo book “Songs.” The early sessions marked the beginning of a prolific 18-month long journey of writing and recording. Seven of the 10 titles on ‘The River: Single Album’ eventually appeared on ‘The River,’ some with alternate lyrics and arrangements, with outtakes like “Cindy" and a rockabilly version of "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)" never released. Now for the first time ‘The River: Single Album’ will be officially available.
The fourth CD on the box set is ‘The River: Outtakes,’ which spans the entire ‘The River’ sessions in 1979 and 1980 and illustrate the depth and variety of Springsteen’s work during this period. Eleven songs are rarities that have never been released before, and for the most part are completely unheard and unknown even to fans, who have long considered Springsteen’s outtakes to be treasured secrets. The eleven unheard outtakes (“Record One”) were mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig. Eleven additional outtakes (“Record Two”) are collected from the ’Tracks’ box and ‘Essentials' so as to put them in one place.
"The Ties That Bind” is a brand new 60-minute documentary produced and directed by Zimny that features an intimate interview with Springsteen as he reflects on the tumultuous, extended period writing and recording ‘The River.' The film transitions between Springsteen telling the stories behind the music — and illustrating them with solo acoustic guitar performances -- interspersed with period concert footage and rare photos of Bruce and the band in and out of the studio.
The final video component is "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: The River Tour, Tempe 1980," a new film produced from footage professionally filmed in 1980 using four cameras and recorded in multitrack audio. The film features 24 songs — 2 hours, 40 minutes — on 2 DVDs from Springsteen’s November 5, 1980 concert at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. Widely regarded as one of Springsteen’s finest performances, this intense show features early live versions of over half of 'The River' songs. Also included is 20 minutes of footage from the late September, 1980 River Tour rehearsals held in Lititz, PA, showing Springsteen and The E Street Band working through live arrangements of what was then unreleased material from the upcoming album. The film was recently edited by frequent Springsteen collaborator and Grammy and Emmy-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny, and the audio was mixed in Stereo & 5.1 surround by Bob Clearmountain from the original multitrack recordings and mastered by Bob Ludwig.
‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ is packaged in a 10” x 12” box with a hardcover 148-page coffee table book containing 200 studio and live photographs — most of which have never been seen before — plus pages from Springsteen’s notebooks, single covers, images and outtakes from the original album package, and other memorabilia documenting the album. Liner notes include a new essay from journalist Mikal Gilmore, the original Rolling Stone album review from 1980, and Springsteen’s updated comments about the album from the 1998 “Songs” book.
CD 1
The River - Record One
1 The Ties That Bind
2 Sherry Darling
3 Jackson Cage
4 Two Hearts
5 Independence Day
6 Hungry Heart
7 Out In The Street
8 Crush On You
9 You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
10 I Wanna Marry You
11 The River
CD 2
The River - Record Two
1 Point Blank
2 Cadillac Ranch
3 I'm A Rocker
4 Fade Away
5 Stolen Car
6 Ramrod
7 The Price You Pay
8 Drive All Night
9 Wreck On The Highway
CD 3
The River: Single Album
1 The Ties That Bind
2 Cindy
3 Hungry Heart
4 Stolen Car (Vs. 1)
5 Be True
6 The River
7 You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) (Vs. 1)
8 The Price You Pay
9 I Wanna Marry You
10 Loose End
CD 4
The River: Outtakes
Record One
1 Meet Me In The City
2 The Man Who Got Away
3 Little White Lies
4 The Time That Never Was
5 Night Fire
6 Whitetown
7 Chain Lightning
8 Party Lights
9 Paradise By The “C”
10 Stray Bullet
11 Mr. Outside
Record Two
12 Roulette
13 Restless Nights
14 Where The Bands Are
15 Dollhouse
16 Living On The Edge Of The World
17 Take 'em As They Come
18 Ricky Wants A Man Of Her Own
19 I Wanna Be With You
20 Mary Lou
21 Held Up Without A Gun
22 From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)
DVD 1
The Ties That Bind (Documentary)
DVD 2
The River Tour, Tempe 1980
Concert – Part 1
1 Born To Run
2 Prove It All Night
3 Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
4 Jackson Cage
5 Two Hearts
6 The Promised Land
7 Out In The Street
8 The River
9 Badlands
10 Thunder Road
11 No Money Down
12 Cadillac Ranch
13 Hungry Heart
14 Fire
15 Sherry Darling
16 I Wanna Marry You
17 Crush on You
18 Ramrod
19 You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
DVD 3
The River Tour, Tempe 1980
Concert – Part 2
1 Drive All Night
2 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
3 I'm A Rocker
4 Jungleland
5 Detroit Medley
6 Where The Bands Are (Credits)
BONUS: The River Tour Rehearsals
- Ramrod
- Cadillac Ranch
- Fire
- Crush On You
- Sherry Darling
In 1979 trok Springsteen de studio in met producer Jon Landau voor de opnames van zijn vijfde album als opvolger van Darkness On The Edge Of Town uit ’78. Landau leverde een tijdje later het originale The River (1lp !) album af bij Columbia met daarop 10 nummers. Het werd niet gereleased want Bruce was al teruggekeerd naar de studio om extra materiaal op te nemen. Toen ‘The River’ uiteindelijk uitkwam op 17 oktober 1980 (35 jaar geleden) was het een dubbelalbum geworden dat recht naar de nummer 1 van de U.S. Billboard 100 schoot. Het album is een mijlpaal in de carriere van The Boss gebleken, die met een totaal van 120 miljoen stuks op de teller een van de best verkopende rockers aller tijden is.
‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ (uit op 4 December) is een uitgebreide en verzorgde kijk op een zeer creative periode uit de carriere van Springsteen. De box bevat 52 tracks op 4 CDs waaronder een schat aan onuitgegeven audio materiaal... en voor 4 uur nooit eerder geziene beelden/video verspreid op 3 DVDs plus een fotoboek.
De set bevat de originale versie van ‘The River’ het dubbel album, het nooit eerder verschenen 10-track 'The River’ het oorspronkelijke 1LP album uit 79, een CD met studio outtakes uit 1979/80; een concertfilm op dubbel DVD met nooit eerder verschenen, pas ge-edit multi-camera beelden Springsteen’s notoire show op 5 november 1980 in Tempe, Arizona, iets waar al lang over gefluisterd werd maar nooit eerder te zien was ! Daarnaast ook zeldzame tour rehearsalbeelden, en last but not least: een geheel nieuwe en indringende *documentaire “The Ties That Bind" over het ontstaan van 'The River' (*afwisselend studio- en concertbeelden of Bruce die vertelt over de nummers en ze solo op gitaar vertolkt), en een mooi coffee table boek met 200 zeldzame en nooit geziene fotos van de River sessies met handgeschreven commentaren van Bruce, aangevuld met een essay door Mikal Gilmore.
Arca has today confirmed details of his second full-length album for Mute. Titled Mutant, the album will be released on 20 November It will be available on CD, download and as a double LP, and again features artwork from long-time collaborator and friend Jesse Kanda.
Where Arca’s previous release Xen (2014) was introspective, Mutant is outwardly emboldened. Dedicated to and coloured by the important people in Arca’s life, Mutant illustrates the continuing mutations catalysed by loved ones: friends, family, acquaintances. Arca morphs for them and because of them. Both releases are contortionist shape-shifters, but where Xen asked us to meet her in her world, Mutant comes out to meet us in the light. Mutant is suggestively agape, embracing multiple sensualities with refreshing softness. Jesse Kanda’s organic cover art, luminous where Xen’s was shrouded, is a reflection of this.
In the artist’s words: ‘Mutant is about sensuality and impulsiveness as escape routes out of rigidity. Softness as a weapon when the mind attacks itself.’ Mutations in the records’ textures parallel the malleability of identity; tension is harmonised by openness and the inclusiveness of transformation. Pride is taken in deformity, innocence, distortion and vulnerability: traits often ostracised as undesirable. Themes that have animated Arca’s work – tension, polarities, playfulness, eroticism, mutability – have been refracted into newer, more nuanced shades. Fluctuation, in-betweenness, intimacy and chaos are celebrated.
The title track softens the space between abrasion and enlightenment, morphing from snarling aggression to elusive vapour, the atmosphere shifting at unexpected moments. Its impulsive video consists of an unchoreographed first and single take of Arca dancing. The attached self-portraits of Arca are comparably raw. ‘Anger’ is celebratory and carnival-esque, while ‘Faggot’ concludes with rhythmic allusions to the title track from Xen. The dripping sounds of ‘Umbilical’, fused with the title’s connotations of birth, clash with digital static. ‘Enveloped’ is a label suggestive of overwhelming but comforting containment, yet the track itself feels liberated, with warped strings crawling from the uniform rhythm in the piece’s latter moments. ‘Vanity’, ‘Snakes’ and ‘Soichiro’ are personal and intimate sweltering rainforests of sound. Buds open as tracks unfold, petals of the darkest reds and most vivid blues bloom. Deep roots of bass crawl through the earth beneath the record, anchoring each organism. The only essential consistency between the tracks is a refusal to sit still.
The constant liminality of Mutant is hard to pin down; something seen out of the corner of one’s eye that has moved elsewhere in the time it takes to bring it into focus.
SKIP&DIE are back with a great new single from their exhilarating new album, entitled Cosmic Serpents - luring their audiences into a landscape somewhere between paradise, the apocalypse and beyond. With its re-imagining of global music, irresistible rhythms and beats, acoustic instruments, field recordings and spacey synths, SKIP&DIE’s latest album, Cosmic Serpents, reveals a poetic sonic collage that toys with ideas of transient life, looming death, and the notion that our collective DNA coils throughout eternity like a cosmic serpent.
Earlier this year they were (ao) already at AB, but on October 22 they will shake up the VK !
Cold War Night Life (www.coldwarnightlife.com), the online magazine of electronic music and culture, has announced the planned release of a tribute to Rational Youth. Called Heresy, the vinyl and CD package features many of the Canadian synth pioneers’ best-known songs, interpreted by contemporary artists from the UK, Sweden, Australia, Norway, Germany and Canada.
Included in the release will be the premiere of a new track from Rational Youth. “This Side of the Border” is in the classic Rational Youth style and is certain to please existing fans and win new admirers.
Spanning two vinyl LPs and a 12” EP, with two accompanying CDs mirroring the vinyl, all contained in a triple-gatefold sleeve, Heresy will be issued only in physical form – no Spotify, no iTunes, no Google Play. This reflects Cold War Night Life’s philosophy that albums are to be touched, read and heard.
The album is expected to be released close to the New Year.
The featured artists and tracks are:
Rational Youth – “This Side of the Border”
Candide – “City of Night (CET Mix)”
Rossetti's Compass – “Coboloid Race”
Johan Baeckström – “Saturdays in Silesia”
Psyche – “Ring the Bells”
Kord feat. Annie Gylling – “Dancing on the Berlin Wall”
Independent State – “Beware the Fly”
Den Där Killen – “In Your Eyes”
Procedure – “Close to Nature (No TDM Mix)”
Parralox – “I Want to See the Light”
John Costello – “Holiday in Bangkok (Direkt Mix)”
Diskodiktator – “Talk to Me (I'm Only Human)”
Mars TV feat. Robert Enforsen & Karin My – “Just a Sound in the Night”
Project Grudge – “Beware the Fly”
Technomancer feat. Angst Pop – “I've Got a Sister in the Navy”
Machinista – “City of Night”
Rekk feat. Robert Enforsen & Karin My – “The Man in Grey”
Datafreq vs The Beautiful Spies – “Everything Is Vapour (Future Spy Remix)”
Touching the Void – “Ring the Bells”
For information, please contact Simon Helm (simon@coldwarnightlife.com).
