Born in times of difficulty and adventure, Cut With The Cake Knife is the debut album from Rose McDowall, solo-artist and ex-member of cult pop group Strawberry Switchblade. Originally recorded in 1988-89 and now re-mastered and getting the re-issue treatment from Sacred Bones Records (U.S.) & Night School Records (UK, EU)
Marking the beginning of an extensive archive project spanning Rose’s 34 year career, Cut With The Cake Knife will include unreleased recordings alongside unseen photographs and detailed new sleeve notes.
Recorded in various locations around the UK and Iceland following the break up of Strawberry Switchblade, the original 9-track Cut With The Cake Knife album featured songs written and demoed for the group’s fabled second album.
Rose McDowall began her career in her hometown of Glasgow, operating within the nascent punk scene with her first group The Poems. After a meteoric rise to pop stardom, which saw Strawberry Switchblade achieve chart success, world tours and global fame, McDowall’s relationship with partner and friend Jill Bryson disintegrated. The aftermath of her pop career saw McDowall earn a new reputation as an underground artist, collaborating with Coil, Felt, Current 93 and Nurse With Wound among others. Cut With The Cake Knife was recorded against this tumultuous backdrop and is one the most affecting collections of direct pop songwriting committed to tape.
The album opens with one of McDowall’s most heartfelt, honest moments: Tibet; a simple song written with absolute truth about the loss of friendship. For errant Switchblade fans it’s a prime example of why McDowall’s legacy is so important: shorn of unnecessary ornament, it’s one of many songs here that speak loudly and clearly about universal emotional states. Production values throughout lie somewhere between glossy, 80s studios and home-recorded demos but it’s a sound that only heightens the poignancy in McDowall’s voice: her best instrument and one that can evoke vulnerability, as in the near-angelic harmonies on Sixty Cowboys or swirling excitement as in the number 1 hit that never was, Crystal Nights. But perhaps her prowess is best summed up by the album’s title track, written for the 2nd Switchblade album yet thriving here, in which Rose projects a powerful protagonist, tinged with violence but still playful. At the heart of even the most upbeat, transcendently “pop” moments is a beautiful melancholy, a nagging heartache McDowall can call her own.
As Rose writes in the 2015 edition sleeve notes: “They’re real sad songs, about real life.”
Cut With The Cake Knife is out September 18th on Sacred Bones (U.S.) / Night School (UK / EU)
On 17th October Wool-E-Shop organises for the third time Cassette Store Day, Wool-E tape (the label) is working on new cassettes of Sound & Vision ( Lieven de Ridder & Tom Simoen) and Charnier (the post-punk darlings from Brussels) and there will be performances in the shop. More news shortly.
17 Oktober is het voor de derde keer op rij Cassette Store Day, Wool-E-Tapes werkt aan nieuwe cassettes van oa Sound & Vision (Lieven de Ridder & Tom Simoen) en Charnier (postpunkdarlings uit Brussel) en er zullen tevens optredens zijn in de winkel. Meer nieuws binnenkort.
Wool-E Shop will be residing at the Consouling Store from 17th July till 8th August, during the Gentse Feesten ( July 17th till 26th ) there is a 9000 Toeren-photo-exhibition (that’s music from Ghent) and there are also two performances, one to open and another to close the festivities.
Wool-E Shop zit vanaf 17 Juli tot en met 8 Augustus op residentie bij Consouling Store, tijdens de Gentse Feesten (17 tot en met 26 Juli) is er een 9000 Toeren fototentoonstelling en er zijn ook twee optredens, eentje om te openen en eentje om af te sluiten.
On 19th August Warner releases Focus with Will Smith on both DVD and Blu-ray.
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Stars: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro
Nicky Spurgeon is an extremely accomplished con man who takes an amateur con artist, Jess, under his wing. Nicky and Jess become romantically involved, and with Nicky's profession of being a liar and a cheater for a living, he realizes that deception and love are things that don't go together. They split, only to see each other three years later... And things get messy.
BONUSMATERIAL:
Masters of Misdirection: The Players in a Con (Blu-ray™)
Will Smith: Gentleman Thief (Blu-ray™)
Margot Robbie: Stealing Hearts (Blu-ray™)
Deleted Scenes (Blu-ray™, DVD)
Alternate Opening (Blu-ray™)
Je bent maar beter op je hoede wanneer je in de buurt van Nicky Spurgeon bent. Deze meesteroplichter, rol van Oscar® - nominee Will Smith, probeert in elke situatie z'n cool te behouden, wat niet zo eenvoudig is wanneer hij plots geconfronteerd wordt met Jess, een groentje dat bij hem in de leer wil gaan. Margot Robbie, het nieuwste snoepje in Hollywood wiens passage in The Wolf of Wall Street bij de heren ongetwijfeld nog in het geheugen gegrift staat, brengt het hoofd van The Fresh Prince helemaal op hol, wat de nodige gevolgen voor z'n oplichtingspraktijken met zich meebrengt...
Focus is een sexy cocktail van spanning, actie en sensualiteit, perfect voor de zomer dus! De film is vanaf 19 augustus beschikbaar op Blu-ray™, DVD en Video on Demand.
SYNOPSIS
“Het gaat om afleiden. Het gaat om focus. De hersenen zijn te langzaam om te multitasken. Maak daar gebruik van.” Aldus Nicky Spurgeon, een meester in misleiding. Hij krijgt een relatie met de nieuwbakken oplichtster Jess. Terwijl hij haar de fijne kneepjes van het vak leert, ziet hij in haar een risico en verbreekt de relatie. Drie jaar later duikt zijn voormalige vlam, nu een volleerde femme fatale, op in Buenos Aires, tijdens een lucratieve autorace. Nicky speelt een levensgevaarlijk spel, maar Jess gooit al zijn plannen in de war waardoor de doortrapte oplichter volledig van de wijs raakt.
BONUSMATERIALEN
Masters of Misdirection: The Players in a Con (Blu-ray™)
Will Smith: Gentleman Thief (Blu-ray™)
Margot Robbie: Stealing Hearts (Blu-ray™)
Deleted Scenes (Blu-ray™, DVD)
Alternate Opening (Blu-ray™)
Coming up in July, two reissues of material from James Ray, including demos and rarities appearing on CD for the first time.
After making his sonic debut topping the indie charts in 1986 singing lead vocals on 'Giving Ground' by The Sisterhood, Ray signed to The Sisters of Mercy's own Merciful Release record label to produce these two albums with his two outfits, The Performance and Gangwar...
These records are available at Wool-E-Shop.
