In this era of perpetual performance and social media self-promotion, it seems that everything we do is captured for the camera: from our daily skincare routines, to sharing random anecdotes or showing off our outfits of the day. But when it comes to filmed intimate encounters, the consequences can be devastating, as Pamela Anderson can attest to. On the flip side, such footage can also catapult one to fame, like Kim Kardashian. In America, where puritanical values and corporate greed reign supreme, both condemnation and titillation sell equally well.

We’ve certainly come a long way since the days of “sex, lies and videotape.” Nowadays, people can effortlessly peddle their intimate lives as a side hustle on OnlyFans. Yet, the exploitation of the creative force through media overload manifests in many forms, and this is where The Sex Tape Sessions comes into play: a multimedia, multi-format, and multi-channel art piece by Kill Shelter and Death Loves Veronica. This project offers commentary on the artistic process and the commodification of personality in music.

The artists question the very notion of authenticity, uniqueness, and value in an era where pornography and music exist in identically oversaturated digital worlds, both freely available and easily pirated without consequence. The easy accessibility of both media has stripped them of their impact, prompting a deeper examination of the use of redundant technology and niche platforms for distribution. The Sex Tape Sessions is a provocative and thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between art, technology, and commodification. They are, effectively, releasing their art the same way one would have done with the old-fashioned sex tape. In doing so, they’re reclaiming the endangered elements of naughtiness, voyeurism and anticip….ation.

“There’s a lot more to this release than people realize – it’s an art film hidden within an album release, one that has to be pieced together, solved, and for some, this will be an unattainable feat,” says Death Loves Veronica frontwoman Veronica Stich. “Parts have been leaked, sold – but not entirely. It’s a soundtrack of desire, human sin and most of all, pleasure – the pleasure of dance, rhythmic beats, color, black and white, sound and life.”

The collection includes an eight-track EP with new material as well as remixes of tracks taken from Death Loves Veronica’s album “Chemical”. This includes the use of bootleg tapes, mini DV and VHS cassettes as well as limited runs of vinyl, CD and cassette.

Various pre-release bootleg cassettes and VHS tapes were put into circulation ahead of the official 17 March release. The bootleg VHS videos, which sold out in a matter of minutes, contain material that does not appear in any of the official releases. Owners of the Bootleg Tapes and Videos are encouraged, wherever possible, to copy, share and redistribute the material in whatever way, and by any means, they see fit.

“On one level, this release is a statement about the commercialisation of personality and the devaluation and proliferation of music,” says Kill Shelter’s Pete Burns. “On another it’s an absolute and unbridled celebration of female sexuality. It’s provocative, empowering, polarising and challenging.”

“I never expected something so deep or so personal from this collaboration – it almost reveals too much,” adds Stich. “I think listeners will be drawn in, if not by primal curiosity, by intrigue or simply a desire for more. I can only hope it captivates those curious and daring enough to take a listen.”

The video for Sex Tape features Veronica lying on a bed as she directly talks to the camera – taunting us, asking what we want and why – but we don’t see the end product, we become the filming voyeur as she asks the tough questions. The experience of sex becomes less about human connection, and more about connection with the camera – and how pleasure appears rather than feels.

As a token of appreciation and in a bid to promote their latest release, Kill Shelter and Death Loves Veronica are generously gifting two music videos from their “The Sex Tape Sessions” EP for gratis download and sharing. This exciting opportunity is open to all fans, followers, and those who are simply curious – the artist grant full rights to use, upload, and distribute these videos without limitation, be it for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Find them here.

But wait, there’s more! The tantalizing tale of the “Sex Tape Sessions” will be unfolding across various media channels in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned.

Listen to the album on Spotify:

Veronica Stich is a multi-talented artist with a wealth of accolades to her name, from being an award-winning writer and producer to composing and performing music for various post-punk and deathrock outfits. With her solo project, she blends a variety of instruments and experimental methods to create a dark electronic sound that harkens back to the glory days of the 80s and 90s electronic post-industrial and new wave movement.

Kill Shelter is UK based alternative artist and producer Pete Burns. His unique work blends elements of Darkwave and contemporary Electronica with heavily processed guitars. His debut album “Damage” (2018) was originally released by Unknown Pleasures Records. This was followed up by the 2021 release, “A Haunted Place” with Antipole. His highly acclaimed 2022 release “Asylum” is currently available via Metropolis Records and Manic Depression Records. Following a series of remixes including She Past Away’s “Soluk” for their tenth anniversary release “X” on Metropolis and Fabrika Records, The Wake’s “Emily Closer” and Spectre (Love is Dead) by Christian Death on Cleopatra Records amongst many others, Kill Shelter is currently working on material for two LPs.

The Sex Tape Sessions EP is available on vinyl, CD, VHS and cassette via Cold Transmission Music:

• Kill Shelter Bandcamp
• Death Loves Veronica Bandcamp
• Cold Transmission

Follow Kill Shelter:

• Spotify
• Bandcamp
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Web

Follow Death Loves Veronica:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Bandcamp
• YouTube
• Spotify

The post Darkwave, Desire, and Video Tape — Kill Shelter and Death Loves Veronica Leak Special Release appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Concurrently, two young street artists named Al Diaz and Jean-Michel Basquiat were perplexing the city with their uniquely cryptic graffiti poetry and phrases under the tag SAMO©—a shortened phrasing of “same old shit.” The pair wryly poked fun at the art world.

“The SAMO© story is a long, convoluted one,” Diaz said in an interview to artnet News. “JMB [Basquiat] gave our often-used slang word, same ol’, a new purpose as the name of an imaginary religion/cult/product. I was a seasoned graffiti artist and I saw the possibilities it had as a ‘Jesus Saves’-type of graffiti campaign, so we began to spread it around as a private joke.”

The pair of artists went their separate ways, and within a few years Basquiat would become one of the most lauded artists of the scene, hob-nobbing and eventually collaborating with Warhol, selling his paintings for astronomical amounts of money.

Tragically, fame and a massive cash flow led to his demise. A year after Warhol’s death, Jean-Michel Basquiat tragically died from a heroin overdose at the tender age of 27 in his loft on Great Jones Street in 1988, still at the top of his game in the art world.

Diaz revived SAMO© as a protest during the Trump election, and continues to create work under the tag, keeping the spirit alive. Occasionally, you will still see a new SAMO© phrase appear at a random subway stop or on a door.

Same ol’, same ol’.

A Certain Ratio embodies this collective spirit with their new song SAMO, where vocalist Jez Kerr namechecks a string of those mythical figures from that scene – Warhol, hip-hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy (similarly namechecked in Blondie’s Rapture) – and recites a series of phrases that SAMO© tagged around SoHo, NYC. The song and lyric video serve as a touching encomium to Jean-Michel Basquiat’s vibrant, intense artwork, as well as a zeitgeist long past.

Watch below:

 
‘SAMO’ follows recent singles ‘Afro Dizzy’ (which spent four weeks on the BBC 6Music playlist) and Waiting on a Train, from 1982 out via Mute Records.

Even by the band’s high standards – which includes a gleeful disregard for boundaries of style and genre, their eye fixed firmly on constant movement forwards – their latest studio album 1982 is multidimensional. Recorded by the core ACR lineup of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, and Donald Johnson, alongside Tony Quigley, Matthew Steele and Ellen Beth Abdi, with a cameo from Mancunian rapper Chunky, it shoots off in every direction: searing Afrobeat, mind-melting jazz breakdowns; moody electronic experiments. That, like SAMO©, keeps that spirit of open-minded collaboration alive and kicking.

Pre-Order 1982 here.

To celebrate the release of the album, A Certain Ratio will be embarking on a UK tour throughout April – full details below.
 
A CERTAIN RATIO – 2023 TOUR

• 20 April – Edinburgh, Voodoo Rooms
• 21 April – Huddersfield, The Parish
• 22 April – Manchester, New Century Hall
• 23 April – Leeds, Brudenell
• 25 April – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
• 26 April – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
• 27 April – Bristol, The Exchange
• 29 April – London, The Garage

 
Before that, the band will be hosting a number of special Q&A / signing events in partnership with independent record shops in Manchester, Nottingham and London:

• 31 March – Manchester, Piccadilly Records – Q&A w/ Chris Hawkins (BBC 6Music) / signing
• 1 April – London, Rough Trade East – Q&A w/ John Kennedy (Radio X) / signing
• 2 April – Nottingham, Rough Trade – Q&A w/ Paul A Taylor (Mute) / signing

Follow A Certain Ratio:

• acrmcr.com
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

The post Manchester Post-Punk Legends A Certain Ratio Pay Tribute to Basquiat with “SAMO” from New Album “1982” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Swedish artist, composer, and music producer Katharina Nuttall has released a mesmerizing new single, “Inspired by John Keats.” The song is a musical staging of several lines from In a drear nighted December, by English poet John Keats. The hypnotic spoken-word song serves as a musical spell in the form of quietly intense art-rock. Katharina Nuttall’s stunning performance, an intense hybrid of Tuxedomoon and Laurie Anderson, is an introspective journey into the psyche. Its repetitive nature suits the words of Keats well.

“Like the trees, it reflects a longing to stand deeply rooted regardless of the weather. A desire to avoid being swept away by life’s losses,” says Nuttall.

“The music is a place where I can breathe and be present, a place for reflection and stillness. The stillness may sometimes border on oblivion. With the music, I get to comment on my own, and other people’s life conditions, and I get the opportunity to deepen other people’s stories and experiences of life.”

The video, beautifully directed by Jacob Frössén and acted by Josefine Mellgren, is a perfect blend of magic realism with eerie European pagan undertones.

Watch below:

The Garden is a concept album about emotional flows and upheaval that combines songs, instrumental music, and spoken word, inspired by Charles Baudelaire, John Keats…and dirt. The album is also a collaboration with visual artist Albin Biblom. Nuttall has already released three solo albums; The Garden, which is out on the 21at of October, will mark her fourth.

Follow Katharina Nuttall:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Spotify

The post Swedish Artist Katharina Nuttall Unveils Mesmerizing and Surreal Video for “Inspired by John Keats” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

For the uninitiated, American deathrock outfit Christian Death was formed in Pomona, California, in 1979 by Rozz Williams. Williams was eventually joined by guitarist Rikk Agnew of the band Adolescents, James McGearty on bass guitar, and George Belanger on drums. This line-up was responsible for producing the band’s best-known work: their 1982 debut album Only Theatre of Pain, which was highly influential in the development of deathrock, as well as on the American gothic scene.

During a six-month period between late 1981 and early 1982, legendary LA punk rock photographer Edward Colver befriended Christian Death, and photographed a dozen of the band’s concerts in the Los Angeles area. He also conducted a portrait shoot with the band at Rozz’s family home, which was later used for the album the US back cover of Only Theatre of Pain. These photos are highlighted, as well as a session of now-iconic images at a cemetery in their hometown.

Cult Epics founder Nico B produced an oversized hardcover book of Colver’s photos capturing those rare and never before seen moments, as well as the story of early Christian Death through exclusive interviews with Edward Colver and surviving band members for the 40th-anniversary release of Only Theatre of Pain. Colver’s book is also called Only Theatre of Pain, documenting the dark magic of Rozz Williams in the band’s original incarnation.

Not since the release of the Rozz Williams Artbook, also by Cult Epics, has there been such an essential piece of deathrock history available for fans to enjoy.

Measuring 12×12 inches, the hardcover book boasts over 300 images and text in over 200 pages. It is a pleasure to pour over each of its glossy pages, immersing yourself in a hi-resolution time machine capturing the magic of Rozz Williams and Christian Death, and one of the most creative periods of the California underground music scene.

Gazing upon Rozz’s commanding peacock visage in decaying furs and wedding dresses, holding a microphone like a tamed serpent is captured across many stunning photographs snapped by Colver, and it is nearly overwhelming to visually feast upon each image, whether it be an iconic moment on stage, at home, or lounging in a cemetery. The delightful sacrilege of Rozz and Christian Death is displayed elegantly in its depravity.

Accompanying the captivating photos are the exclusive interviews in the book, which serve as a rare and essential insight and communion that ensnares the reader into the beautiful chaos of the period. This is more than just a coffee table book or a prized collector’s item; this is an immersing world-building work of art that will deepen fans’ devotion to one of the most provocative frontmen and bands ever to walk the face of Earth.

Special editions of the book also include and stunning pressing of the album Only Theatre of Pain and are worth the extra investment or perhaps selling your soul to eternal damnation to obtain.

The Christian Death Only Theatre of Pain 40th Anniversary Book Featuring Photography by Edward Colver is out now!

Order Here in North America

and Here for Europe

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Carly Sioux, formerly the front woman and drummer for cult favorite Brooklyn noise punk trio Wild Bore, documented the mid-2000s NYC music scene as a noted film photographer and video artist. In 2016, she desperately needed a change of pace, and relocated to the Big Easy. Three years later, she launched NO ERA.

Carly Sioux’s unique stamp comes directly from lavish 1970s interiors, and the streetwear of Milan and NYC; experimental No Wave cinema, and – rather unconventionally, her passion for the ZE Records roster of the late 70s. 

“NO ERA is actually a direct reference to No Wave, my favorite genre in music. It’s sexy, sassy, has big attitude, and is essentially danceable and fashionable punk music,” she says. It also, of course, references her adopted city of New Orleans itself.

The concept behind her design mission is simple: sustainability, through sourcing vintage and antique furnishings – yet transcending stylistic periods. 

“NO ERA is layers of eras, no limits!” she says. “Exceptional pieces are chosen, across a broad spectrum of time, seamed together through bold color stories to create a sense of drama. This then sets the stage for these objects to occupy the same space and time.”

To promote her findings, Sioux directs wildly creative and clever short films about the retro-tinged tableaux. Blending Super-8 style footage, post-punk music, unique performance art, and visionary art direction, she often personally interacts with the objets d’arts to weave a story: dancing to post-punk in sexy Bond Girl-style vignettes; wandering slowly through a sleepy Southern backyard; zooming in on interesting details to create a cinematic vibe.

 

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In Sioux’s eyes, still life becomes main character. This approach brings these antiques to life – and moreover, creates a personality behind the objects. She assembles soundscapes for her visuals with music from bands like The Birthday Party, Portishead, The Sleepers, The Slits, Bush Tetras, ESG, Slim Twig and Dirty Beaches.

“Most social media creators use the same viral/trending songs, and I find it to be boring, unimaginative and often cringy,” she says. “There is such an opportunity to create some cool, unique and compelling content with almost any song you can imagine. Not enough people are taking full advantage of this feature.”

Sioux, who jokes that she is “low-key goth,” collaborates with complimentary businesses, such as vintage fashion sellers, to create more synergistic content. She prefers to drop these new short films late at night; or, as she puts it, “a kind of midnight matinee.”

 

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“At the moment I am working on designing a short-term rental in The Marigny with a Mid Century Gothic, vampire theme,” she says. “I’m so fortunate to have interesting clients who trust my vision and allow me to create an authentic experience for their guests, instead of the same old tired, touristy caricatures of the New Orleans experience. Only in New Orleans could Regency Goth even be a thing!”

True to her punk roots, Sioux also ran an edgy, anti-consumerist Holiday Campaign last Christmas season called NO HOLIDAYS.

“Instead of fueling the capitalist machine to mindlessly consume, I asked my audience to Buy Nothing (New) this holiday season. Always a play on the word NO.”

It’s always a treat to see how she displays her showcases – and bonus, it’s a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and assert your individuality in the home and on your body. “I feel very fortunate to be able to incorporate the music I love with some of the coolest vintage furnishings, and to be able to create experimental video art and photography. And the best part? I actually get to be myself. No Fucks given!”

Sioux’s work takes her up and down the Eastern seaboard and Deep South, working with various vintage retailers. She hopes to expand the concept, as well as clientele and offerings. Keep on rockin’.

Wild Bore channeled Sonic Youth, X, and Pixies; mixing spoken word from a wellspring of female rage. A recently unearthed track from their archives, FaceMelt, is out now for the first time – although recorded half a decade ago, it still perfectly encapsulates the zeitgeist of current female rage. Carly Sioux’s primal shrieks and drumming is anchored by a sinister bassline and hypnotic guitar.

If you’re feeling the burn, friends, shift the energy of your home with feng shui and a good old fashioned spring cleaning. You’ll never know what treasures you will unearth. Happy Full Moon.

Follow NO ERA:

• Website
• Facebook
• Instagram

• Eleanor Bolero Silver Cape: Leslie Courreges
• Leopard Print 80’s Dress: Brooklyn Vintage Company
• Black Patent Leather Belt: FYI (Fuck You Industries) by Dani Read (Wild Bore)

Interior photos by No Era

The post Wild Bore Drummer Releases Song From Archives; Meshes Retro Interiors With No Wave Music appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

An enticing trailer has descended upon us for a new documentary based on Simon Reynolds’ 2005  book, Rip It Up And Start Again. Filmmakers Nikolaos Katranis, Russell Craig Richardson, and Academy-award winner Leon Gast chronicle the evolution of the chaotic punk spirit as it splintered into new genres. The documentary starts at the roots – The Velvet Underground, James Brown, the Doors, Kraftwerk, Kenneth Anger, Maya Deren, German art movements, reggae/ska, the societal despondency of the Vietnam era- and works its way through the next decade and a half, as the rock genre becomes a veritable fractal of sound and its performers reinvent themselves over and over. Goth, New Romantic, No Wave, Industrial – all spawned out of a combination of poverty, boredom, government failures, immense creativity, alternatives to modern therapy, and the exploding demand to shake up the status quo.

The documentary features highly entertaining and insightful interviews with many luminaries of the era who are often overlooked in nostalgia-fests: Jah Wobble (PiL), Una Baines (The Fall), Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), the late Genesis Breyer-P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV) Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire), A Certain Ratio, and Ana Da Silva (Raincoats).

The Pop Group’s Mark Stewart, who recently released the song collaboration “Cast No Shadow” with Mallinder (via Brooklyn Vegan), makes an appearance. He has no patience for “revisionist history,” and minces no words in his disdain for the mythology or living in the past…a tantalizing insight, to be sure. Mallinder himself explains that their motivation was to upend the highly commercial, macho scene in rock. Some saw punk’s example as the epiphany to strike out on their own; although Jah Wobble straight out mocks the “mannered” anger of punk, dismissing it as “bourgeois.” Never forget who you’re dealing with, here.

These interviews in the trailer are peppered with rare performance footage (including Einstüzende Neubauten) and copious photographs by the likes of David Godlis and Anton Corbijn. We also are treated to new photos of A Certain Ratio, Young Marble Giants, Fad Gadget, The Fall, Richard Hell, Siouxsie, Alan Vega, Bowie,

Although a release date has not yet been announced for Rip It Up and Start Again (a title also taken from the song by the new wave band Orange Juice), an extended trailer has been released.

Watch below:

The post “Rip It Up And Start Again” Post-Punk Documentary to be Released appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Afterhours Heatwave Popsicles were inspired by the origin story of the song, shared in Trevor Ristow’s Sisters of Mercy band biography, Waiting For Another War.

These delectable treats, made with beetroot, strawberries, oranges, fresh ginger, cayenne pepper, and balsamic vinegar, resemble the blood popsicles from Only Lovers Left Alive. The popsicles have electric blue popsicle sticks, intended for harmony with the electric blue album art on the cover of the Body and Soul EP. They were photographed on a sheet of frozen ice that was cracked to look like a mirror, referencing the lyrics.

“Afterhours is one of my favorite Sisters of Mercy songs, and I was happy that Trevor Ristow’s book gave me inspiration to honor the song with food. According to Trevor’s book, Andy didn’t eat much back then, but I thought he could have managed a popsicle…Afterhours was written in the midst of a heatwave in the early 1980s while Andrew Eldritch was in New York City for the New Music Seminar, and the song immortalized a druggy night that he spent with Patricia Morrison. It was one of my favorite parts of the book.”

You can get The Loving Belly’s recipe for her Afterhours Heatwave Popsicles and read her book review, which includes more on Andrew Eldritch’s New York City heatwave trip, here.

Enjoy!

The post The Loving Belly Shares Sisters of Mercy Inspired “Afterhours” Heatwave Popsicles appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

The band was one of the first to embrace the possibilities of the Internet, transferring their innovative Dial-A-Song (once a literal cassette answering machine) to their website – long before most bands had even considered making websites. As early as 1992, TMBG was sending news updates to their fans via Usenet newsgroups. In 1999, They Might Be Giants became the first major-label recording artist to release an entire album exclusively in mp3 format: Long Tall Weekend.

Now They Might Be Giants announces a new deluxe set and an intriguing new artistic partnership with BOOK, with another frequent collaborator: designer Paul Sahre.

The 12″x12″ 144-page cloth-bound hardcover art book features lush full-colour photographs by Brian Karlsonn, as well as select lyrics from TMBG albums My Murdered Remains, I Like Fun, and their forthcoming EP BOOK.  Sahre arranged the lyrics artistically in the style of poetry concrete, using an early 1970s IBM Selectric typewriter. Inside every copy of the book, there is a copy of the musical album BOOK on compact disc. Everyone who orders the book version of BOOK will get an instantaneous download on release day.

 

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Since the early 1980s, Depeche Mode has considered Corbijn a veritable unseen member of the group, having photographed them extensively and filmed their most memorable videos. Enjoy The Silence, Personal Jesus, and Policy of Truth are but a few that Corbijn has visualised for the band and transformed their identity in the public sphere. The two entities are so intertwined now that it is hard to imagine what Depeche Mode would be today without Corbijn’s brilliant artistic projection.

“We were seen as just a pop band,” said Martin Gore. “We thought that Anton had a certain seriousness, a certain gravity to his work, that would help us get away from that.”

“Anton was able to give the Depeche Mode sound, that we were beginning to create, a visual identity,” says Dave Gahan.

Last year Taschen released a limited-edition photo book featuring his work with Depeche Mode, which included over five hundred photos from his personal archives (many previously unseen) as well as album covers, set designs, sketches, detailed notes, stories, and observations. The limited-edition, signed by the band and Corbijn, sold out quickly – quite amazing, considering the whopping $2000 pricetag – but now you don’t have to impulsively blow your whole stimulus on a copy of the book! The new edition release will be $150, but it truly is a work of art and inspiration.

Here is a wonderful moment with Anton Corbijn leafing through the limited edition version, which will be similar to the one offered (with no autographs, presumably).

Here is a wonderful little piece from the documentary about the artistic brotherhood between musician and photographer:

Pre-orders are available now until the book arrives on shelves May 2021. Until then, whet your whistle with this fountain of stunning images. It is a photographer’s dream.

The post Anton Corbijn to Release Stunning Collection Of Depeche Mode Photos in New Standard Edition of Book appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

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