Legendary dark industrial pioneers, ATTRITION have unveiled their highly-anticipated new full-length album, The Black Maria.
“The Black Maria”: a menacing 19th Century figure who would come to take away our outcasts and miscreants. The term was later used as the slang term For UK police vans. Nothing much has changed.
The music on The Black Maria weaves and shifts between gothic/industrial, neo-classical and dark ambient soundscapes, with founding member Martin Bowes’s lyrics fearlessly exploring the themes that bind and break us all - life, love, longing, loss and death; from the politics of manipulation: personal and state to the uncertainties of theosophical and philosophical thought. delivered in his dangerously anarchic yet melancholic growl.
Teaming up with the glorious baroque female vocalists Emke from Black Nail Cabaret, Elisa Day from Hetaira Decrépita and Yvette from Vaselyne is a genius move from the ATTRITION founder, with their voices lending filigrees of ghostly ambience to the band’s rich and distinctive sound. But it’s the return of original ATTRITION vocalist Julia after twenty years that elevates this album to another realm.
The Black Maria Includes remixed/remastered versions of the singles, "The Great Derailer" and "The Alibi" and a reworking of “The Voice of Truth”. The album features special guest appearances from Alia Miroshichenko (Subterranea) Annie Hogan (Marc and the Mambas etc) on grant piano, Vancorvid and Marietta Fox on violins, Ian Arkley (My Silent Wake) on guitar, Steve Clarke (Futumche) on additional guitar/bass, and Kris Force on cello.
ATTRITION will be touring in 2024, commencing in the UK, then Europe, North and South America with autumn dates in Japan and more dates to be added.
The Black Maria is available on the following formats: CD, cassette, vinyl LP and on all major digital platforms worldwide.
Produced by Martin Bowes at the Cage Studios, Coventry, England
On 29 March 1982 Kraftwerk perfomed 'Das Model' ('The Model') live on German television station ZDF.
The single was already released in Germany as 7” in 1978.
On 6 February 1982, the single ‘The Model’ reached the Top 1 of the UK Singles Chart.
Still, in Germany, Das Model, never climbed higher than the 7th position in the German Single charts. After one week it descended again, still remaining about 20 weeks in the charts
Even-though the band initially added the English sung version as only a B-side on their new single ‘Computer Love’ in 1981, DJ’s and the radio audience seemed to prefer this B-side instead of the A-side. After Capitol Records/EMI noticed the commercial potential they re-released the single almost immediately, this time ‘The Model’ as A-side. Apparently this was decided by Capitol Records/EMI much against the band’s own will. Nevertheless this smart strategy by EMI resulted in ‘The Model’ becoming the number one in the UK single charts on 6 February 1982. The single managed to hang in the UK top 75 for a total of 21 weeks.
Unable to deny the succes another 7” was released by the band, and its label Kling Klang / EMI Electrola, bearing both versions ‘The Model’ and ‘Das Model’.
Das Model/The Model was written by Karl Bartos and Ralf Hütter and with artist Emil Schult collaborating on the lyrics and was the preliminary single for their upcoming and legendary album Die Mensch-Maschine or The Man-Machine.
The Model
She's a model and she's looking good
I'd like to take her home that's understood
She plays hard to get, she smiles from time to time
It only takes a camera to change her mind
She's going out tonight but drinking just champagne
And she has been checking nearly all the men
She's playing her game and you can hear them say
She is looking good, for beauty we will pay
She's posing for consumer products now and then
For every camera she gives the best she can
I saw her on the cover of a magazine
Now, she's a big success, I want to meet her again
Das Model
Sie ist ein Model und sie sieht gut aus
Ich nähm sie heut gerne mit zu mir nach Haus
Sie wirkt so kühl, an sie kommt niemand ran
Doch vor der Kamera da zeigt sie was sie kann
Sie trinkt in Nachtclubs immer Sekt (Korrekt!)
Und hat hier alle Männer abgecheckt`
Im Scheinwerferlicht ihr junges Lächeln strahlt
Sie sieht gut aus und Schönheit wird bezahlt
Sie stellt sich zur Schau für das Konsumprodukt
Und wird von Millionen Augen angeguckt
Ihr neues Titelbild ist einfach fabelhaft
Ich muß sie wieder seh'n, ich weiß sie hat's geschafft
Songwriters: Emil Schult / Ralf Huetter / Karl Bartos
Note: Youtube video might be unavailable due blocking by EMI for German audience.
On this day, 19 years ago, Nine Inch Nails released 'The Hands That Feeds' single
On 28 March 2005 Nine Inch Nails released ‘The Hand That Feeds’ as the lead single from their fourth studio album, With Teeth (2005). It is the highest charting song by Nine Inch Nails on all charts except for U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, where it stayed at number one for five weeks, because the single that followed, "Only", stayed at number one for two more weeks (non-consecutively).
It is, to date, Nine Inch Nails' only single to hit the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, as well as their highest-charting single on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, peaking at number two.
NIN was due to play this song at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, but dropped out due to conflicts between Trent Reznor and MTV concerning the band's plan to incorporate an image of George W. Bush into the performance. An announcement made by Trent Reznor on the NIN website on 26 May stated:
"Nine Inch Nails will not be performing at the MTV Movie Awards as previously announced. We were set to perform 'The Hand That Feeds' with an unmolested, straightforward image of George W. Bush as the backdrop. Apparently, the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me. See you on tour this fall when we return to play in America."
The following day, MTV stated:
"While we respect Nine Inch Nails' point of view, we were uncomfortable with their performance being built around a partisan political statement. When we discussed our discomfort with the band, their choice was to unfortunately pull out of the Movie Awards."
The song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in 2006.
The Hand That Feeds (Lyrics)
You're keeping in step
In the line
Got your chin held high and you feel just fine
'cause you do
What you're told
But inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold
Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you wanna change it?
What if this whole crusade's a charade
And behind it all there's a price to be paid
For the blood on which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine
Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you wanna change it?
So naive
I keep holding on to what I wanna believe
I can see
But I keep holding on and on and on and on
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
These are dark times we’re in, and we need sounds that mirror it. Gothic Americana band, ANCINE answers the call to provide the musical reflection. They do so with their new release, Death Hymns: Book Of Desolation.
Lyrically, Death Hymns is a collection of murder ballads, often with a supernatural twist. Mike Giallo aimed to mix folk Horror cinema with the seedier side of old time and rural America, with a paradoxical blend of Christian and occult motifs. Though the lyrics are works of fantasy, the themes and emotions that brought them forth are very much real; depression, isolation, alcohol abuse, and misanthropy.
Death Hymns is musically influenced by old delta blues legends Robert Johnson, Son House, and Leadbelly as well as goth/death rock bands such as Christian Death, Samhain, and Fields of the Nephilim.
Death Hymns is available on CD and on all major digital platforms including Spotify & Bandcamp.
45 years of Staircase Mystery - Siouxsie And The Banshees release their second single!
Today 45 ago Siouxsie And The Banshees released ‘The Staircase (Mystery)’, it was the band's second single and was released as a stand-alone single on 23 March 1979 (Polydor Records). It also became the band’s second top 40 entry, peaking at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart.
B-side features a cover-version of the 1973 T. Rex song ‘20th Century Boy’.
The song was later added to the singles compilation album Once Upon a Time: The Singles. Also the remastered 2005 version of their debut album The Scream, contained this single as bonus material.
The acknowledged British music Melody Maker hailed the single upon its release and wrote: "The Banshees have been able to come up with a couple of slices of excellent music for their singles. 'The Staircase' hasn't anywhere near the commercial potential or immediacy of 'Hong Kong Garden', but nevertheless it's a great song. A sinister almost mesmerizing tune, dominated by Siouxsie's unorthodox vocals – it grows and matures with each play.
The Staircase (Mystery) (Tracklist)
A. The Staircase (Mystery) 3:06
B. 20th Century Boy 1:57
DISCOGS
Siouxsie and the Banshees (1979 line-up)
Siouxsie Sioux – vocals
Steven Severin – bass guitar
John McKay – guitar
Kenny Morris – drums
The Staircase (Mystery) (Lyrics)
Stare case lying face up
Stare cat on a mat
Looking down
Slide down the banister
Take the escalator
Slide down the banister
Or try the elevator
I was standing on the landing
Now I'm standing in the hall
Looking up
Won't someone assist me
Solve this mystery
Somebody assist me
Arrange the symmetry
Muffled footsteps on the carpet
Spiral steps start spinning
Around me
Which floor which ceiling
You're off balance
Which floor which ceiling
It's all upside down
Stare case lying face up
Stare cat on a mat
Looking down...
Songwriters: Sioux / John Gareth Mckay / Kenneth Ian Morris / Steven Severin
