Reissues Archives — Post-Punk.com https://post-punk.com/category/reissues/ Your online source of music news and more about Post-Punk, Goth, Industrial, Synth, Shoegaze, and more! Tue, 05 Mar 2024 15:08:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://post-punk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cropped-postpunkincon-2-32x32.png Reissues Archives — Post-Punk.com https://post-punk.com/category/reissues/ 32 32 Hopes Are High | A Conversation With Alison Shaw of Cranes https://post-punk.com/hopes-are-high-a-conversation-with-alison-shaw-of-cranes/ Tue, 05 Mar 2024 14:34:23 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=68231 In mid-2023, one of the UK’s most beloved bands reactivated on social media, hinting at greater things to come. The band in question is Cranes, a legendary band formed by…

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In mid-2023, one of the UK’s most beloved bands reactivated on social media, hinting at greater things to come. The band in question is Cranes, a legendary band formed by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw in Portsmouth, England in 1985. Over the course of their career, the band has carved out vast microcosms of sound, including flirting with avant-garde textures on their debut LP Self Non Self, embracing dark dream pop on 1991’s Wings of Joy and 1994’s Loved, and exploring delicate electronic lullabies throughout much of the 2000s. No matter what sound is on display, Cranes are unified by Alison’s trademark vocals, which soar high above their musical cacophony. Cranes’ vast body of work, which never fit comfortably in any particular genre, is timeless in itself, and the band has remained a forever favorite amongst their devoted fanbase. Their latest recording, a self-titled record, appeared in 2008, and the band continued to play shows until 2012. While Cranes had remained near-silent ever since, much-needed vinyl reissues of their earlier works appeared regularly via Music on Vinyl, including the first-ever vinyl pressing of 1997’s underrated Population Four LP and La Tragédie D’Oreste Et Électre, which was recorded in 1994, released in 1996, and saw the band returning to their experimental roots, taking deep inspiration from Jean-Paul Sartre’s works as well as the infamous Greek myths.

However, 2023 saw a flurry of new activity from Cranes, straight from the source. Firstly, the band released a string of radio sessions recorded for the late, great John Peel in 1989 and 1990, many of which had never been circulated previously. Additionally, the band announced two shows, one in hometown Portsmouth and the other in the heart of London, both of which sold out immediately. Both shows were meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 1993’s Forever, one of the band’s most beloved recordings that also earned them a slot opening for The Cure’s celebrated Wish tour, which alongside a single remix of “Jewel” remixed by Robert Smith himself, helped usher in a new legion of fans. These new gigs reunited the Shaws with original guitarist Mark Francombe as well as Paul Smith, who began recording with the band with 2001’s Future Songs album. These shows were special occasions through and through, with fans (including myself) traveling far and wide to attend. While the band was originally unsure what would be in store next, they seem to have rekindled the spark and reclaimed their stake in today’s robust scene. More live dates have been booked for 2024 in Leeds, London, Brussels, and Rotterdam, and a new reissue has been announced – this time unearthing Fuse, the band’s very first release and one of their deepest obscurities. Originally released on cassette in 1986 via Bite Back!, Fuse has been lovingly remastered at Abbey Road and will be reissued via the band’s own Dadaphonic imprint on April 5th of this year. Like the Peel Sessions release prior, this new edition of Fuse features artwork by Chris Bigg of V23, who originally helped design much of 4AD’s classic artwork over the years. To sweeten the pot, this beautiful new edition features “New Liberty,” a song recorded during these early sessions that has not been heard until now.

We had the immense pleasure of speaking to vocalist, guitarist, and bassist Alison Shaw about all of this activity. Check below for our conversation, as well as a full list of upcoming tour dates and Fuse reissue details…

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Firstly, I just have to say it: WELCOME BACK! It’s really great that all these new gigs are popping up on the horizon. After years of radio silence, it really was so exciting to see this flurry of activity. What, what was the catalyst for getting back together? What got you thinking about it and what’s been fueling the fire so far? 

I guess it was the end of 2022 when, quite by chance, Jim and Matt (Cope) met up. Around the same time, Jason, who was our manager throughout the Dadaphonic years also got back in touch and told us that if there was any chance that we wanted to do something again, he’d help us. For the last ten years, it was the last thing on our minds, you know? We were all just doing other things in our lives. Somehow, things just fell into place. We all thought that we wanted to take it slowly, to see what happens. When we announced that first London show, we actually weren’t quite ready in our minds. We weren’t sure if we were able to do it, or if we really wanted to do it. But it went on sale and it sold out really quickly in a day and a half, and so we were like “oh my God, we’ve got to do it, we’re committed now.” It really was a good experience though. You were at the show, right? The audience was amazing! For us, it was a very happy show and it made us think that we might quite like to do some other shows.

Yeah, EartH is such a gorgeous venue and there was so much great energy in the room. It was a perfect fit! 

Yeah, exactly I think that was kind of a special evening for us all.

There aren’t a lot of bands out there like Cranes, so it’s great that you’re back in that sense. There was a big gap left in the scene when you left…

Yeah, our last record was in 2008. And I think our last gig was about 2012 or 13. So there’s been a long gap!

It seems like you just went dormant and life carried on for you all. Had people been asking for shows or for new material over the last decade? 

Well, when we went dormant, I also wasn’t connected to any social media at all for about ten years. I just couldn’t deal with it for one reason or another. I was vaguely aware that somebody out there was reissuing our records. It was the Music on Vinyl company in Holland, they’ve become good friends now and they’re really big fans of the band. They’ve reissued all our albums and they make really lovely vinyl editions. At the time though, I was only vaguely aware of this, but now I’ve kind of clipped my brain back into being doing Cranes stuff. We’re much more in touch with everything.

It’s been brilliant being back in touch with Mark (Francombe) again, because he was, as you know, he’s the original guitarist from the late 80s and early 90s. He’s been living a totally different life these days, because he lives in Oslo, in Norway. We’ve remained friends over all of these years, only seeing each other maybe once a year or something. But now we’re in contact every day, on the phone, or messaging or talking. He’s a very creative person and he helps with all the social media stuff.

So really, it’s weird. We’re just slowly motioning back into being a band again after such a long break, taking it at our own pace.

Cranes at EartH Theater on 10/14/23 – Photo by Tara Kennedy

That’s great! And it’s great that Mark is so invested and so involved as well. So, these next batch of shows in the Spring, can you tell us a bit about those? 

Actually, we just announced another one in Brussels! It’s part of a really lovely festival called Botanique. We just announced we’re going to play there on April the 30th. There’s been a good response already for that one!

Will these upcoming shows still be part of the Forever anniversary celebration, or will you be doing a more varied set? 

To be honest, we haven’t decided yet! I think we might do more of a kind of a mixture, maybe a few songs from the Loved album, but we’re not quite sure yet.

Right, and Mark played on Loved as well, yes? That first era of the band with Mark and Matt on guitar and Jim on drums had quite a groove going throughout the nineties. But then you changed lineups and your sound evolved from there…

Yeah, Mark actually first played with us in 1988, I think. And then he left in 1997/1998, soon after the Population Four album. We did a long American tour for almost every album we did up until that point, but I think the last time we were there was for Future Songs in 2002.

Yeah, I was supposed to go to the NYC show back then, but I was nineteen at the time and couldn’t get in, sadly… I should have snuck in! So, I’d love to talk about the upcoming Fuse reissue. I was curious to hear about any great stories from the era. I’ve read a lot about the early days, recording in your garage and how Martin Hannett was one of the first people to have heard the Fuse recordings. It seemed like things really ramped up quickly for the band from there… 

Well, the Martin Hannett thing, that was kind of an isolated incident, because Fuse was only a cassette. It was the first thing that we released. Jim and I spent months working on it, literally day and night. We used to do it in shifts, and I would work in most of the daytime, and he would work most of the night. We were still developing our sound at that stage and we weren’t quite sure what we were doing! We were kind of experimenting and trying to find our own path. We did what we could given the time constraints. We weren’t sure, to be honest, if it was any good. We’d never released anything, we’d never had a review or anything like that. For some reason, we also decided that we didn’t want to send the cassette out to anyone. But Ian Binnington from Bite Back! heard that Martin Hannett was looking for unsigned bands, because there was potentially going to be a new TV show up in Manchester. So Ian sent him a tape with a lot of local Portsmouth bands on it. When he called Martin back a few weeks later, Martin wasn’t sure who he was, or who any of the bands were, but then he remembered our song from that demo tape. We were very, very honored.

Alison Shaw from Fuse-era. Photo by Kevin Dunford

Yeah, you never know who hears things or how music travels around, especially in the cassette culture days…It’s amazing you got that kind of feedback early on.

Yeah, after that we kind of went back to the drawing board for a couple of years. We weren’t playing live at that stage, it was just me and Jim in my dad’s garage that we turned into a little tiny studio with the drum kit and everything in there. It took us a good two or two-and-a-half years to come up with the Self Non Self material which, at the time, we felt was more our identity, our real identity if you know what I mean.

I tell you what, literally dozens of people have asked us to reissue the Fuse tape, and we’ve always said no because we just thought that it was just our very early thing – that it was just a tape and we were happy to let it stay that way. It’s taken us decades to consider it, and it was really because of Jason (White), who is also the manager at 4AD. He’s so in tune with music and has very good instincts. He said “listen to it again Ali, would you just listen to it again for me?”

Do you often listen back to your music, or? 

Not often, no. But I listened to it with fresh ears and I could see what he was talking about. It was so early for us, listening to it now I’m kind of taken back – how did we produce those sounds with such basic equipment!?

Well, that’s exactly what I wanted to ask you next! How DID you produce those sounds with just the bare bones guitar and drums setup that you had back then? There was a lot of sonic experimentation taking place in those early days. 

Yeah! Well one of the key things that we were we were using very early on was a tiny sampler pedal, which was a similar size and shape as a distortion pedal. It was one of the very first sampling instruments that you could buy that didn’t cost a zillion pounds, you know? Jim used that for some of the drum sounds and we also used it on the voice as a delay and echo thing. Other than that, it was just guitars and the way we played. Jim always dreamt that his first instrument would be the drums, but he also plays guitars and bass and cello and keyboards, and, you know, whatever else. He’s kind of a multi instrumentalist, I guess.

Great to have that in your back pocket!

Yeah that definitely helps! So, I think everything we’ve ever done emerges quite naturally. We just make sounds and then see if it elicits a response in either Jim or me. The things that we both instantly connect to – that’s what ends up being a Cranes song. If one or the other of us doesn’t get it, then it gets left behind.

So I guess that leaves it pretty wide open to create whatever feels right and whatever comes to mind. I can’t imagine the two of you back in the day carefully selecting and mimicking records over the years, trying to carve out your sound that way, as some bands do. It sounds like this has always been a very organic process for you.

Yeah. It was quite important for us not to sound like anyone else directly. We used to edit ourselves. Jim’s kind of obsessed with the idea – if anything sounds remotely like someone else he’ll get rid of it. We were fans of other people’s music at the time of course, but it was a key thing in Cranes, to choose our own path…

Jim Shaw from Fuse-era. Photo by Kevin Dunford

Well, that’s certainly what’s always appealed to me about your music – that you’ve done your own thing. There are definitely bands that you’re peers with, like Slowdive, who you played live with in the early nineties, or Chapterhouse, who you were label mates with. But really, when I got into the band in the late nineties – I had never heard anything like your music. It was so singular, so different, so eclectic, and I haven’t heard all that much out there that I feel the same way about. I’ve always appreciated that. With that in mind, from the early days of being in the garage to the electronic material you’d produce in the 2000s, how did your writing process evolve over the years?

Well, I guess there were two big musical shifts for us. The first shift was, when we first signed to Dedicated. We were able to buy some new equipment, and we bought keyboards, which Jim had always wanted. Up until that point, we’d never had a keyboard that could make string sounds and orchestral sounds and piano sounds. So that was a big shift for us. On Fuse and Self Non Self, there were no keyboards. Wings of Joy, Forever, and Loved were all recorded in the same studio in London, called Protocol Studios. It was the same studio where everyone at the time recorded, including The Sundays, or My Bloody Valentine, who were recording Loveless at the time. So many bands who were recording in the early nineties recorded there, and that place felt like our home, just off Holloway Road in North London.

The more electronic stuff that you you mentioned, that was our third phase, after the year 2000. The old version of Cranes had finished – we ceased to be around 1998. Mark left in 1997 and got married after we did that last tour in America, and we pretty much stopped for a good three years. We weren’t sure what we were going to do or if we were going to record again. But then Jim and I just got together, I guess because we’re brother and sister, it’s hard to split up completely…  I had been living in London at that time and during that break at the at the end of the 90s, I’d been doing some other stuff. I had a couple of ideas for some songs and I came back down to Portsmouth one day, and Jim had couple of ideas for some songs. We basically just started to write and we felt that there was the basis for some new material, and that’s when Future Songs started to come together.

I recall that you considered changing the name of the band, but at heart, it was still just you and Jim, so it still felt right to be a Cranes record. Is that the case?

Yeah, that’s kind of right. They are quite two sort of distinct phases of the band, I guess. But it’s still Jim and I at the center of it.

I mean, it’s not like the electronic material came out of the blue – there were hints of that direction on Population Four, La Tragedie D’Oreste et Electre, and a lot of the EP material from that era. Some more delicate moments, electronic touches, and so on. So while the early, chaotic nature of the band wasn’t present on Future Songs, it wasn’t a total 180, in my opinion, minus the lineup changeSo now that the original catalogue has been reissued, is there any talk of reissuing the most recent trio of records, the ones on Dadaphonic? 

Well, we haven’t started on that project yet. But people are asking, you know, especially because those records weren’t originally released on vinyl. It’s a bit early for us at the moment, but it’s definitely possible!

Going back to the gigs you’ve been playing – once you were committed to doing the shows and were back in the rehearsal room, was the focus really just on the older material? Did you happen to do any writing, whether it was accidental or intentional? 

To be honest, it was a lot of the focus was on the Forever songs, because quite early on, people asking if we were going to play the entire album. There are several songs on the album which we’d never played live before..

Yeah! I remember you mentioned at the EartH show that one of the songs had never been performed before, though I can’t remember which it was…

It was “Sun and Sky” – I don’t think we’d ever played it before and I’m not sure why we hadn’t… It’s not a difficult bass line, but I guess because I’m playing it and singing at the same time, I guess we just didn’t have enough time back in the day to rehearse it properly. But this time, I had months to practice it, so I did, and it eventually came together. I think when we first met up to rehearse after not having played together with this lineup for thirty years, our first song was “EG Shining.” And you know, it sounded the same as it always did all those years ago, which was kind of nice.

That’s one of the first tracks Mark had played on, right? 

Yeah, and it was it was one of the first songs we ever wrote, to be honest. Even though it didn’t come out until we were signed, we did it early on at a Peel Session. It was written a couple of years before we recorded it and released it on the Espero EP. It was an original Cranes song, that was one our earliest moments together.

It was great hearing such an intense response to songs like that, as well as “Inescapable” and “Starblood” when you played them. Do you still feel a connection to that material, or was it just something from the past that you exhumed for these shows? How does it feel to play those songs again?

So, that’s the weird thing, if you’d asked me a year or two ago, I’m not sure if I could have played those songs or if it would feel right at this point in my life. That said, there’s something that happens when Jim’s on the drums. One of those key moments in our past was when Jim decided he didn’t want to play drums live at that stage, so he changed to guitar. We had two or three different drummers in the years from 2000-2008. They were all great drummers, but the drumming style of those later albums were different, and of course these drummers used more electronic drum kits and pads and things like that where you can have more control and make more interesting electronic sounds. The earlier tracks were all oriented around Jim’s drum sound. For me, playing these early tracks needed to have Jim Shaw on the drums in order to feel right. That’s what made authentic and believable for me – Jim on drums and Mark on guitar, with Matt joining us for early rehearsals. It really made me connect to the material again. Something was there that I can’t quite describe but makes the songs come alive again.

I hate to jump the gun or anything, but do you think you’ll do any writing together – or are you still taking it one day at a time?

Well, you never know, you never know… There’s some writing going on but I can’t really elaborate! *chuckles*

Well, since we’re hinting at some vague things here – what’s the scoop on returning to America? Is that something we can look forward to in the coming years?

Ahh, well, I can’t say much at the moment, but I’ll give you a hint. Just recently we have been offered something in America and it’s looking very positive…

Well, I accept that you can’t tell us more, but that’s very promising news! We’ll stay tuned for some more details on that, if and when the time is right! So, here’s a more open ended question – do you have a favorite moment throughout all the years you’ve been together as a band? 

Favorite moment? Well, I mean obviously the tour with The Cure was completely awesome for us. I remember especially on the American leg of that tour, I remember just being happy every day, like every moment of every day, driving from city to city and playing these incredible arenas and auditoriums and stadiums, even…

How did that come about – how were you first approached by the band?

Apparently, Robert, and Simon had heard the Wings of Joy album, and they liked it. We had an agent at the time, and I think that’s how they approached us. We met them around that time, they did a few warm up shows before the tour, playing in much smaller venues in the UK. They played in our local town hall, which is called the Guild Hall in Portsmouth. We were invited to the show, and that’s where we met the band and that’s when they invited us on the tour.

Well, it was a perfect match, and obviously they’ve invited you back regularly since then, for the Trilogy shows and some other one-offs over the years. It seems like the door is always open!

Well, they’ve been so amazing to us over the years. Every few years we’ll get a call. I’ve chatted to Robert a few times recently, over email, and he’s really supportive of what we’re doing now. They’ll always be a really important part of our journey.

I’m so glad it’s still be so positive over the years. It seems like it’s a lifelong friendship with the two of you, and some of the other bands they’ve been friends with over the years, like And Also the Trees… 

Yeah, he’s pretty amazing…as you might imagine.

So what else are you planning with the back catalogue at the moment? It was great to see you bring the Dadaphonic brand back into the mix…

Yeah, the Peel Sessions release that came out last year was also under Dadaphonic, and Fuse is going to be on vinyl and CD as well. We weren’t sure if people would want a CD, but people are still requesting it. We won’t do a huge amount of them, but it’s there if people want it.

Yeah, people come back around again when it comes to physical media. I mean, after growing up in the CD era, I’ve switched fully to vinyl and digital. I don’t miss having to pack and carry a CD wallet to take things with you, and really like having a lot of music at your fingertips these days, through all kinds of mediums and services. It’s great to see the back catalogue has been well cared for after all these years… How has streaming treated you? 

I think most of our catalogue is now streaming, which helps for people who haven’t discovered us or heard most of what we’ve recorded, even some of the more rare things like La Tragedie… For many years, we didn’t think anyone would be interested in all that stuff. But Jason’s really helped us to find that focus again.

What about the Inrain single you did with Rudy of A.R. Kane? Is that something people still ask about? 

Yeah, and actually, Rudy and I have stayed in touch over the years. Every few months we get together on the phone. We’ve had several people offer to reissue it for us, and I suppose we’re just waiting for the right moment there as well. He just did a really great A.R. Kane reissue box set and has a few other projects in the works, so perhaps we’ll see an Inrain reissue in the near future!

I love seeing bands reactivate on social media, to come out of a long slumber and just poke their heads out on social media, like you or A.R. Kane and maybe even Catherine Wheel are doing at the moment. As a fan, I always get extremely, almost scarily excited when this happens. I feel like Cranes were one of the last bands from my youth that I never had the chance to see over the years, and I’m glad you’re back. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say, and with so many bands reforming and having a second victory lap, so to speak. I hope it’s been great experience for you. 

Yeah, it certainly has. We’re taking it slowly but we’re really, really happy that people seem to be receiving the idea of us in a such a good way. We’ve always been flattered when people ask after all these years, but it never was the right moment until now. But really, we’re glad to be here! §

Cranes – Fuse LP/CD
1. Pillow Panther
2. Fuse
3. Valentine
4. Gas-Ring
5. Things That I Like
6. Wrench
7. Fracture
8. New Liberty (previously unreleased)

Order via Bandcamp (UK and US) and via Linktree

Cranes 2024 tour dates: 

Header photo by Phil Nicholls

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Riverside Bring Their Jangle Pop and Post-Punk Classic Debut Album “One’ to Vinyl via Kickstarter https://post-punk.com/riverside-bring-their-jangle-pop-and-post-punk-classic-debut-album-one-to-vinyl-via-kickstarter/ Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:07:43 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=68003 In the early 90s, Philadelphia gifted the alternative music scene with Riverside, an earnest group of musicians whose songs wove a gossamer melange of dream-infused rock, tinged with the nostalgic…

The post Riverside Bring Their Jangle Pop and Post-Punk Classic Debut Album “One’ to Vinyl via Kickstarter appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

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In the early 90s, Philadelphia gifted the alternative music scene with Riverside, an earnest group of musicians whose songs wove a gossamer melange of dream-infused rock, tinged with the nostalgic jangle of bygone days, and laced with a subtle undercurrent of melancholy. This ensemble, led by the Kochanowicz brothers—Keith, with his haunting vocals and deft touch on the guitar and organ, and Glenn, with his deep bass lines and harmonies, complemented by Kenneth Jackson’s lead guitar riffs and Geoff Verne’s rhythmic drums—emerged as a beacon of melodic resilience in the face of the music industry’s capricious nature.

Yet, it was with their debut album, One, that Riverside truly soared, embodying the essence of spectral reverberations reminiscent of Echo & the Bunnymen, and the heartfelt yearnings akin to The Smiths. Their sound, however, was distinctly American in its raw passion, an echo of an era that if transplanted to the misty landscapes of Scotland, would have found kinship with the likes of The Lightning Seeds and Belle and Sebastian.

In an age when grunge’s gritty realism dominated the airwaves, Riverside stood as anachronistic heroes, champions of melodic grace in an industry veering towards the jagged edges of rebellion. Yet, the album One remained a steadfast testament to the timeless allure of melody, infused with a British sensibility and the soulful depth of Philadelphia.

The album’s tracks, like Cinnamon Eyes and Waterfall, became anthems of a generation, echoing through the halls of college radio and flickering across the screens of a darker MTV landscape. Cinnamon Eyes, with its buoyant, shimmering jangle-pop reverie and playful percussive beat, captures the essence of an unabashed love song, while Waterfall, with its cascading melodic guitar hooks that flow like their namesake, accompanied by chime-like guitar accents that dance in the wind, perfectly encapsulates the earnestness of a golden era straddling the early ’80s post-punk and the burgeoning alternative rock scene.

The album One stands as a sanctuary for the hopeless romantics and dreamers, a portal to a golden-hued era of alternative rock, its timeless sound never fading into obscurity but rather aging like fine wine, growing more profound with each listen.

In recent years, Riverside has rekindled the flames of their legacy, gracing stages alongside The Ocean Blue in sold-out reunion shows, with whispers of more to come in 2024. In a thrilling development, Riverside has partnered with Lost in Ohio to bring One to vinyl, a first for this cherished debut. This Kickstarter-funded reissue is a call to arms for those who wish to hold a piece of music history in their hands, complete with t-shirts, posters, and a dive back into the riverside of yesteryears.

With the March 1st deadline approaching, the band’s Kickstarter campaign is a call to action for those interested in contributing to the revival of the band’s legacy.

Find the link to the Kickstarter link for Riverside’s project to reissue their debut album, One, on vinyl here.

Follow Riverside:

Riverside Band

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The Cure to Reissue “Paris” Live Album with Bonus Tracks — Listen to “Shake Dog Shake” https://post-punk.com/the-cure-to-reissue-paris-live-album-with-bonus-tracks-listen-to-shake-dog-shake/ Sat, 10 Feb 2024 10:28:57 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=67580 The Cure is set to celebrate the 30-year-plus legacy of their 1993 live album Paris with a grand reissue featuring a new 2LP vinyl pressing and a single CD set,…

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The Cure is set to celebrate the 30-year-plus legacy of their 1993 live album Paris with a grand reissue featuring a new 2LP vinyl pressing and a single CD set, both adorned with two previously unreleased tracks. This special edition, remastered by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London, is scheduled for release on March 22 and is currently available for pre-order on CD and double black vinyl via Rhino.

Paris, originally a sonic snapshot from The Cure’s 1992 European tour, captured over three memorable nights at Le Zénith de Paris, is known for its eclectic mix of hits and deep cuts, including “Lovesong,” “Catch,” “Play For Today,” and “One Hundred Years.” This reissue not only brings these classics back to life but also introduces “Shake Dog Shake” and “Hot Hot Hot!!!” to the album’s lineup, tracks that were not part of the original live album but are now included to bookend this musical journey.

The remastering process, undertaken by Smith and Showell, ensures that Paris resonates with the clarity and depth it deserves, making this reissue a must-have for fans and vinyl collectors alike. The addition of the previously unreleased live versions of “Shake Dog Shake” and “Hot Hot Hot!!!” adds a fresh dynamic to the album, offering listeners new insights into The Cure’s live prowess.

Listen to “Shake Dog Shake” below:

As Paris steps back into the spotlight, it follows in the footsteps of its live record counterpart, Show, which received its own reissue last year. Both albums commemorate The Cure’s global tour in support of their album Wish, showcasing the band’s ability to captivate audiences with their unique blend of post-punk and gothic rock.

This special 30th-anniversary edition not only celebrates the legacy of Paris but also serves as a testament to The Cure’s enduring influence in the music world. With its meticulously remastered tracks and the inclusion of rare live recordings, this reissue is a fitting tribute to an album that showcases how, for many fans, The Cure’s deep cuts can often considered to be as popular as, or even surpass their hit singles.

Pre-order your copy of thie reissue here.

Side One

  • Shake Dog Shake*
  • The Figurehead
  • Play For Today

Side Two

  • At Night
  • In Your House
  • One Hundred Years

Side Three

  • Apart
  • Lovesong
  • A Letter To Elise

Side Four

  • Catch
  • Charlotte Sometimes
  • Dressing Up
  • Close To Me
  • Hot Hot Hot!!!*

CD

  1. Shake Dog Shake*
  2. The Figurehead
  3. Play For Today
  4. At Night
  5. In Your House
  6. One Hundred Years
  7. Apart
  8. Lovesong
  9. A Letter To Elise
  10. Catch
  11. Charlotte Sometimes
  12. Dressing Up
  13. Close To Me
  14. Hot Hot Hot!!!*

*Previously unreleased

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Blind Seagull To Release 10th Anniversary Compilation LP “Decade Of Effort” https://post-punk.com/blind-seagull-to-release-10th-anniversary-compilation-lp-decade-of-effort/ Sat, 10 Feb 2024 00:35:41 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=67565 On April 21, 2014, Kaliningrad, a small Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania, gave rise to a musical phenomenon known as Blind Seagull. With a name…

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On April 21, 2014, Kaliningrad, a small Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania, gave rise to a musical phenomenon known as Blind Seagull. With a name that suggests a peculiarly unfortunate bird, this trio ventured into the resonant realms of post-Sovietwave, exploring a frosty terrain of musical mystery as cryptic as a spy novel from the Cold War era, all while infusing their distinctive Baltic post-punk angst.

A decade into their journey, these musical stalwarts have defied the passage of time to produce an impressive nine full-length albums. These works previously had been lovingly immortalized on LPs, CDs, and tapes, turning into limited-edition treasures that are hard to come by. Yet, their music finds a new life digitally, frequently introduced in playlists with the enthusiastic endorsement, “I think you are going to love this band.”

In an effort to reintroduce these tracks, Blind Seagull, led by Denis Zarubin, has handpicked the best among their catalog for this new compilation, targeting the broader international post-punk/darkwave scene. These fifteen tracks, previously released by labels such as Detriti, Sierpien, and Pine Hill, showcase the band’s distinctive style of icy coldwave—a sound that manages to be both timelessly classic and refreshingly contemporary.

Tucked among these resurrected gems is an exclusive bonus track: a Eurodance remix of their underground banger Animals Die in the Scaffolding. Picture an assortment of goth teens causing mischief at a neon-lit carnival, and you’re halfway to grasping the sheer, delightful absurdity of it all. In doing so, Blind Seagull cranks the dial on their time machine both ways, blending the old-school with a dash of modern-day mayhem.

Decade Of Effort is due on April 21, 2024, through Avant! Records on white vinyl LP limited to 300 with fairy-tale artwork by the band enhanced by the magical lettering style of young Spanish artist Sara Fornés. All the songs are available now except for Animals Die in the Scaffolding [Trouble Concept Remix] which will drop as a single on April the 12th.

Pre-order and pre-save here.

Follow Blind Seagull:

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Anja Huwe Debuts New Solo Track “Pariah” — Plus Listen to the Original Version of Xmal Deutschland’s “Incubus Succubus” https://post-punk.com/anja-huwe-debuts-new-solo-track-pariah-plus-listen-to-the-original-version-of-xmal-deutschlands-incubus-succubus/ Thu, 08 Feb 2024 04:05:20 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=67475 Sacred Bones has just unveiled two more tracks from the parallel releases of Xmal Deutschland’sEarly Singles 1981-1982 (including two bonus tracks) and the debut solo album from Xmal Deutschland’s inimitable…

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Sacred Bones has just unveiled two more tracks from the parallel releases of Xmal Deutschland’sEarly Singles 1981-1982 (including two bonus tracks) and the debut solo album from Xmal Deutschland’s inimitable front-woman Anja Huwe, ‘Codes.’ Both records are set for release side-by-side on March 8th, 2024.

Throughout the 1980s, Xmal Deutschland distinguished themselves with a voracious and unwavering approach to their art. Their distinctive aesthetic, characterized by bold hairstyles and intense, kohl-rimmed eyes, mirrored the complex nature of their music, which combined relentless energy with a nuanced finesse. This blend allowed them to break free from the confines of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement, differentiating them from peers like DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten.

Xmal Deutschland embraced punk’s bold break from traditional norms, finding solace in its anti-establishment ethos—a stark contrast to the rigid conventions of the past. Their recording debut, the single Schwarze Welt, was characterized by an unforeseen turn of events: Rita Simon, the intended lead vocalist, was unexpectedly absent on the day of recording. This twist of fate thrust Anja Huwe, initially the bassist, into the spotlight as the lead singer. Despite her initial hesitations, she stepped into the role, marking a significant shift in the band’s trajectory.

“The only condition from my side [was that] I will never perform onstage,” she reflects. “Two months later, they made me without ever telling me up front. I had no choice.”Their breakthrough came with the release of Incubus Succubus in 1982, a pivotal moment that was further amplified by a landmark performance in London the same year, where they opened for the Cocteau Twins. This event propelled them into the spotlight, attracting an avant-garde audience characterized by torn fishnets and a penchant for the unconventional.

Listen to the original version of the single “Incubus Succubus” below:

 Schwarze Welt was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. The characterization of Xmal Deutschland primarily as a female ensemble—a notion later playfully amended with the inclusion of Wolfgang Ellerbrock, who became the group’s lone male counterpart—gained momentum within the circles of media, a fascination propelled as much by their visual appeal as by their musical prowess. We were like paradise birds,” Huwe wryly remembers. “We as girls, especially being creative in many ways, ignored facts like: be nice, be polite, take good care about your looks. Of course, we wanted to look good but in a different and unconventional way. We were enough for ourselves.”

Following Xmal Deutschland’s distinguished run, marked by four albums released under esteemed labels like 4AD, Anja Huwe shifted her creative focus, leaving the musical stage to delve into the realm of visual arts. However, this transition did not mean an effortless departure from her musical legacy; the echoes of her past endeavors lingered.

“Since the split in the early 1990s, I have been haunted by the ‘Legend of Xmal Deutschland’ and never-ending requests from all over the world, all of which I always turned down,” she says.

Early Singles (1981-1982) is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; Kaelbermarsch (originally from the compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig) and a gritty live version of Allein (originally from the compilation Nosferatu Festival), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

Pre-order ‘Early Singles (1981-1982) here.

Pariah is the second offering from the debut solo release from Anja Huwe. Invited by her long-time friend Mona Mur, Huwe reconsidered her decades-long hiatus from music and decided to join Mur in her studio in Berlin. Together, they worked for a year and a half, composing, performing and producing the tracks from scratch which eventually became the album Codes.

The razor-sharp new single shows the intentional interchange between languages on the record: “Since I sing multilingually, and often work with metaphors, I hope that the listener can grasp the moods without understanding them literally. I believe that voice, expression, and sound can achieve an overall atmosphere. Sometimes melancholic and blue, but also uplifting, vibrant, or subliminally aggressive.”

Listen to “Pariah” below:

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, Codes is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

The thematic extremities cause an erraticism to Codes—a passing thunderstorm, a cyclonic burst of nature’s force—but one that exudes anticipation amidst the chill. With elegant production by Mur and Huwe and mixing and mastering by Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Gary Numan, Einstürzende Neubauten) epic builds crash and disseminate, the sleek synthesised drones of sound even feel claustrophobic at times.

Pre-order Codes here. 

Follow Anja Huwe:

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Virgin Prunes Announce Deluxe Edition Reissue of “A New Form Of Beauty” https://post-punk.com/virgin-prunes-announce-deluxe-edition-reissue-of-a-new-form-of-beauty/ Thu, 18 Jan 2024 03:23:15 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=66765 Virgin Prunes burst forth from the streets of Dublin in 1977, eventually their niche in the post-punk pantheon with a vehement flourish. Spearheaded by the charismatic Gavin Friday and Guggi…

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Virgin Prunes burst forth from the streets of Dublin in 1977, eventually their niche in the post-punk pantheon with a vehement flourish. Spearheaded by the charismatic Gavin Friday and Guggi and an ensemble of musicians including Dave-iD Busaras, Mary D’Nellon, Strongman, and Dik, this lineup morphed over time, echoing the band’s ever-evolving sound. Initially tightly knit with U2, stemming from shared roots and youthful alliances, the Virgin Prunes were a transcendent, visceral experience. With their daring mélange of punk ferocity, gothic allure, and esoteric art rock, their provocative live performances proved a theatrical tour de force draped in avant-garde artistry…and, naturally, controversy.

Indeed, the Virgin Prunes’ legacy is underscored by their bold defiance of mainstream conventions. Their artistic approach was unapologetically unique, a blend of raw emotion and experimental sound that resonated deeply. This commitment to their singular vision helped them cultivate a fervent, dedicated fan base, even as mainstream success eluded them.

As the 1980s drew to a close, the Virgin Prunes began to fade from the spotlight, but their influence did not diminish. Their impact on the alternative music scene was profound and lasting, leaving an indelible mark that continues to be felt. Their innovative songwriting and performance style garnered admiration from notable figures in the music industry, such as Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan, Michael Stipe, Mark E Smith, and Courtney Love.

Singer and songwriter Gavin Friday’s career has spanned four decades and has seen him collaborate with his childhood friends in U2as well asThe Fall, Sinead O’Connor, Dave Ball, Scott Walker, Hal Willner, and Quincy Jones. He’s also created music for Academy Award-nominated films such as In the Name of the Father and In America.

Now, the Virgin Prunes have announced a new reissue of their 1981 work A New Form Of Beauty, out March 8th via BMG, following their critically acclaimed reissue of their Colin Newman-produced album If I Die, I Die, which came out in early 2023. To mark the announcement, the band has shared an ominous remix of Sweethome Under White Clouds.

The release comes on 3LP and 2CD, alongside a media and art book, new sleeve notes, remastered audio, and brand-new remixes from the band’s theatrical, award-winning frontman Gavin Friday, and Apparition.

The 3LP deluxe edition of A New Form of Beauty features all four parts of the record remastered from original tape in a tri-fold reverse board sleeve deluxe package with a 16-page 11” deluxe artbook containing brand new sleevenotes by Jon Wood and original Guggi drawings.

The 2CD & digital deluxe editions all feature remastered audio with brand-new remixes and tape loop mashups by Apparition and Gavin Friday.

Pre-order A New Form of Beauty here.

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4AD Reissues Cocteau Twins’ Final Two Albums, “Four-Calendar Café” and “Milk & Kisses,” on Vinyl https://post-punk.com/4ad-reissues-cocteau-twins-final-two-albums-four-calendar-cafe-and-milk-kisses-on-vinyl/ Sun, 14 Jan 2024 22:05:39 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=66741 Great news for Cocteau Twins enthusiasts: The group’s final two albums, “Four-Calendar Café” (1993) and “Milk & Kisses” (1996), have finally received a much-anticipated reissue. Robin Guthrie, the band’s guitarist,…

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Great news for Cocteau Twins enthusiasts: The group’s final two albums, “Four-Calendar Café” (1993) and “Milk & Kisses” (1996), have finally received a much-anticipated reissue.

Robin Guthrie, the band’s guitarist, has breathed new life into these classics by revisiting the original studio mixes and crafting brand-new 24-bit masters. This reissue marks a significant first: it’s the debut vinyl release of these albums in the US and the first time 4AD has taken charge of their distribution stateside. Previously, these beloved albums were released through Capitol Records.

The albums are available on black vinyl and CD and are available to order here.

See below for the tracklisting and additional details about the records.

“Four-Calendar Café,” which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, is the first of the two albums that were released via Capitol Records in the US, and it was crafted in the band’s own September Sound studio in West London. This album is a beautiful blend of emotion and artistic expression, with notable tracks such as “Bluebeard,” “Evangeline,” and “Summerhead.” Featuring Liz Fraser’s enigmatic vocals, the album is a testimony to the band’s evolving maturity and artistry, complete with a cover designed by Walter Wick, known for his work on the “I Spy” children’s books.

“Four-Calendar Café”

A1/1 Know Who You Are At Every Age
A2/2 Evangeline
A3/3 Bluebeard
A4/4 Theft, And Wandering Around Lost
A5/5 Oil Of Angels

B1/6 Squeeze-Wax
B2/7 My Truth
B3/8 Essence
B4/9 Summerhead
B5/10 Pur

The eighth and final album from Cocteau Twins, “Milk & Kisses,” is a testament to their creative peak, standing as a crowning achievement in the band’s 14-year history of musical brilliance.. Recorded between their London studio and Pors Poulhan in Brittany, France, this album proved to be their last. It features singles like “Tishbite” and “Violaine,” and fan favorites such as “Serpentskirt” and “Treasure Hiding.” The album is a sonic journey of healing and tranquility, leaving a lasting legacy and continuing to enchant new listeners.

Milk & Kisses

A1/1 Violaine
A2/2 Serpentskirt
A3/3 Tishbite
A4/4 Half-Gifts
A5/5 Calfskin Smack

B1/6 Rilkean Heart
B2/7 Ups
B3/8 Eperdu
B4/9 Treasure Hiding
B5/10 Seekers Who Are Lovers

The “Four-Calendar Café” and “Milk & Kisses” reissues are now available.

Order Here

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Anja Huwe Announces Solo Album “Codes” and Xmal Deutschland’s Early Singles for Release on Sacred Bones https://post-punk.com/anja-huwe-announces-solo-album-codes-and-xmal-deutschlands-early-singles-for-release-on-sacred-bones/ Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:12:06 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=66568 Xmal Deutschland, German post-punk pioneers, exhibited a voracious and unyielding approach throughout the 1980s. Their aesthetic, marked by flamboyant hairstyles and heavy, kohl-rimmed eyes, mirrored the dual nature of their…

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Xmal Deutschland, German post-punk pioneers, exhibited a voracious and unyielding approach throughout the 1980s. Their aesthetic, marked by flamboyant hairstyles and heavy, kohl-rimmed eyes, mirrored the dual nature of their music—imbued with both a relentless energy and a certain finesse. This duality enabled them to transcend the boundaries of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement, setting them apart from contemporaries such as DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten. Their emergence was crystallized with the release of the ‘Incubus Succubus’ single in 1982. That very year, a seminal performance in London, opening for the Cocteau Twins, catapulted them into the embrace of an eager, avant-garde audience, typified by torn fishnets and a thirst for the unconventional.

In punk’s audacious departure from traditional mores, Xmal Deutschland found a haven for their anti-establishment inclinations, a world remote from the rigid conventions of bygone eras. Emblematic of punk’s ethos, the band’s members—Caro May, Rita Simon, Manuela Rickers, Fiona Sangster, and Anja Huwe—ventured into music without the trappings of prior experience. Their initial foray into recording, with the single Schwarze Welt, was marked by an unexpected shift: Rita Simon, who was set to take the helm as lead vocalist, was absent on the day of recording. This twist of fate propelled Anja Huwe, originally the bass player, to the forefront as the lead singer, a role she accepted, albeit with reservations.  “The only condition from my side [was that] I will never perform onstage,” she reflects. “Two months later, they made me without ever telling me up front. I had no choice.”

Photo: Jan Riephoff

The characterization of Xmal Deutschland primarily as a female ensemble—a notion later playfully amended with the inclusion of Wolfgang Ellerbrock, who became the group’s lone male counterpart—gained momentum within the circles of media, a fascination propelled as much by their visual appeal as by their musical prowess. We were like paradise birds,” Huwe wryly remembers. “We as girls, especially being creative in many ways, ignored facts like: be nice, be polite, take good care about your looks. Of course, we wanted to look good but in a different and unconventional way. We were enough for ourselves.”

Following Xmal Deutschland’s distinguished run, marked by four albums released under esteemed labels like 4AD, Anja Huwe shifted her creative focus, leaving the musical stage to delve into the realm of visual arts. However, this transition did not mean an effortless departure from her musical legacy; the echoes of her past endeavors lingered.

“Since the split in the early 1990s, I have been haunted by the ‘Legend of Xmal Deutschland’ and never-ending requests from all over the world, all of which I always turned down,” she says.

Finally, however, the persistent clamour for reissues has met a resonant response. Sacred Bones Records announces with palpable enthusiasm two simultaneous releases: a reissue of Xmal Deutschland’s ‘Early Singles,’ enriched with two bonus tracks, and the inaugural solo album from Anja Huwe, titled ‘Codes.’ These records are slated for a concurrent release on March 8th, 2024,

Early Singles (1981-1982) is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; Kaelbermarsch (originally from the compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig) and a gritty live version of Allein (originally from the compilation Nosferatu Festival), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

The Schwarze Welt seven-inch was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. There’s an urgency in its repetitive dirge, a swirling mania that persists on the b-side with Die Wolken and Großstadtindianer, whose crude synthesiser noises escalate in tension. Most of all, Huwe’s uniquely venomous German vocals quickly became embedded in the unbridled and burgeoning scene of glamorous gloom.

Anja’s debut solo album Codes, a pleasant surprise, emerged following an invitation from her long-standing friend, Mona Mur. Huwe, reevaluating her extended sabbatical from the music scene, decided to collaborate with Mur in her Berlin studio. Over eighteen months, the duo meticulously crafted, performed, and produced the tracks that would culminate in ‘Codes.’ A critical element of the album’s distinctive sound came from the involvement of Manuela Rickers, who infused it with her renowned guitar style. This partnership was marked by a shared artistic vision and mutual understanding.

“Mona and I have a similar artistic background since the 1980s,” says Huwe. “We hung out together, and we sport a similar attitude towards life and art. We don’t have to explain ourselves to one another.”

Mur adds: “Anja’s voice is like a spear, her appearance a torch in the darkness.”

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, Codes is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

The thematic extremities cause an erraticism to ‘Codes’—a passing thunderstorm, a cyclonic burst of nature’s force—but one that exudes anticipation amidst the chill. With elegant production by Mur and Huwe and mixing and mastering by Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Gary Numan, Einstürzende Neubauten) epic builds crash and disseminate, the sleek synthesised drones of sound even feel claustrophobic at times.

Along with the announcement today, she shares the frenzied Rabenschwarz, which, with Rickers’ hypnotic apocalyptic guitars, Mur’s agitated and distinctive electronic sounds and beats, forged together with Huwe’s unmistakably energetic and expressive vocals, hits you in the face

Pre-order Early Singles (1981-1982) here. Pre-order Codes here

Follow Anja Huwe:

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The Cult to Release 40th Anniversary Vinyl Edition of Debut Album “Dreamtime” https://post-punk.com/the-cult-to-release-40th-anniversary-vinyl-edition-of-debut-album-dreamtime/ Thu, 07 Dec 2023 04:09:30 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=65978 The year was 1984, and from England’s vibrant music scene emerged The Cult, shedding its old name and taking flight like a butterfly from its chrysalis. Their story is now…

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The year was 1984, and from England’s vibrant music scene emerged The Cult, shedding its old name and taking flight like a butterfly from its chrysalis. Their story is now etched in the annals of post-punk and rock ‘n’ roll, a tale of transformation and rebirth that continues to captivate the hearts and minds of their followers worldwide. As part of their 40th anniversary celebration, fans can now enjoy a special vinyl reissue of “Dreamtime,” their debut album, courtesy of Beggars Banquet. The release is set for February 23rd

The Cult’s journey began with its earlier forms, Southern Death Cult and then Death Cult, before they settled on their current, evocative name. The band, led by the charismatic Ian Astbury and the guitar wizardry of Billy Duffy, has traversed a remarkable path over four decades, producing 11 studio albums and selling over four million albums worldwide, garnished with gold and platinum accolades both in the UK and abroad.

“Dreamtime” was more than just an album; it was a declaration of a new musical direction, moving away from the goth and punk roots that first defined the band. Astbury and Duffy infused their music with elements inspired by indigenous cultures from the Americas and Australia, creating a sound that was both powerful and distinctive. The album’s first single, “Spiritwalker,” soared to the top of the UK’s independent chart, setting the stage for The Cult’s unique and enduring musical journey.

The band gained international fame with their 1985 album “Love,” featuring the rock anthem “She Sells Sanctuary,” and continued their success with the 1989 release “Electric,” which included hits like “Love Removal Machine,” “Wild Flower,” and “Lil’ Devil.” Their latest offering, “Under the Midnight Sun,” has been praised for maintaining the band’s fiery passion and melodic flair.

2023 saw a thrilling development as Astbury and Duffy briefly revived Death Cult for a series of live performances, including a special U.S. show at The Theatre at The Ace Hotel and several sold-out dates in the UK, like at the Brixton Electric.

The upcoming “Dreamtime” reissue, out on February 23rd, 2024, is available for pre-order now and features oxblood (indie-retail) and black vinyl editions.

Pre-Order Here

And for fans eager for more insights, Post-Punk.com recently featured an exclusive interview with Ian Astbury, delving deeper into the mystique and legacy of The Cult. This conversation is a must-read for anyone captivated by the band’s shamanic and gothic allure.

The full interview can be found here.

Dreamtime tracklist:

  • A1. Horse Nation 
  • A2. Spiritwalker 
  • A3. 83rd Dream 
  • A4. Butterflied 
  • A5. Go West      
  • B1. Gimmick
  • B2. A Flower In the Desert
  • B3. Dreamtime
  • B4. Rider In the Snow
  • B5. Bad Medicine Waltz

FollowThe Cult:

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Cocteau Twins to Reissue Final Two Albums “Four-Calendar Café” and “Milk & Kisses” on Vinyl https://post-punk.com/cocteau-twins-to-reissue-final-two-albums-four-calendar-cafe-and-milk-kisses-on-vinyl/ Fri, 20 Oct 2023 03:58:25 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=64574 For those who wonder what exactly Cocteau Twins are saying, they are in luck, as the beloved band reveals plans to reissue their more lyrically coherent but no less beautiful…

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For those who wonder what exactly Cocteau Twins are saying, they are in luck, as the beloved band reveals plans to reissue their more lyrically coherent but no less beautiful final two albums, Four-Calendar Café (1993) and Milk & Kisses (1996), through the label 4AD in the United States. In preparation for these highly anticipated releases, Robin Guthrie, one of the band’s core members, revisited his original studio mixes, producing dazzling 24-bit remastered versions of both albums. Notably, this launch represents the debut of these albums on vinyl in the US.

Furthermore, this is the first time the albums are to be released by 4AD, given that both were previously unveiled to American audiences through Capitol Records.

These reissues will be available on black vinyl and CD from January 12th, 2024, and are available for pre-order here.

See Tracklistings and release descriptions below:

“Four-Calendar Café, now celebrating its thirtieth year, was the first of two Cocteau Twins albums previously released via Capitol Records in the US.

Like most Cocteau Twins works before it, Four-Calendar Café was recorded and produced by the band, this time at their September Sound studio on the banks of the Thames in West London. A beautiful yet bittersweet record featuring the singles “Bluebeard,” “Evangeline,” and “Summerhead,” the band manifests maturity and fragility in equal measure, and while Liz’s lyrics remain cryptic, they’re more intelligible here. Complete with a memorable design of inanimate objects by the I Spy children’s book creator Walter Wick, Four-Calendar Café still stands tall going into its fourth decade.”

Tracklisting for Vinyl and CD:

A1/1 Know Who You Are At Every Age
A2/2 Evangeline
A3/3 Bluebeard
A4/4 Theft, And Wandering Around Lost
A5/5 Oil Of Angels

B1/6 Squeeze-Wax
B2/7 My Truth
B3/8 Essence
B4/9 Summerhead
B5/10 Pur

“Milk & Kisses is the band’s eighth and final studio album, the second of two Cocteau Twins albums previously released via Capitol Records in the US.

A period of high creativity for the band, they recorded and produced Milk & Kisses between their September Sound studio in London and the coastal town of Pors Poulhan in Brittany, France.  Featuring the singles Tishbite and Violaine and fan favorites such as Serpentskirt and Treasure Hiding, the album is a cathartic, healing listen, too. Ultimately, Milk & Kisses proved their swan song, bringing the curtain down on 14 years of wonder to leave an incredible legacy that new generations continue to discover to this day.”

Tracklisting for Vinyl and CD:

A1/1 Violaine
A2/2 Serpentskirt
A3/3 Tishbite
A4/4 Half-Gifts
A5/5 Calfskin Smack

B1/6 Rilkean Heart
B2/7 Ups
B3/8 Eperdu
B4/9 Treasure Hiding
B5/10 Seekers Who Are Lovers

Follow Cocteau Twins:

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