Post-Punk Monk

Two New Visage Albums Delight In 2024 – Just When We Need Perking Up

Posted on October 17, 2024 by postpunkmonk

This Tuesday afternoon, I was minding my business, coming to grips with returning to what was a somewhat normal schedule following hurricane Helene, when I thought to look in my junk mail folder for the first time in weeks. I was excited to see e-mail from the Visage Mothership touting two new CDs in the year 2024! Truth be told, commenter Gavin had let it slip earlier that there would be some new Visage coming our way but he was light on the details at the time.

We can now see that there is a new live album from the sole 2013/2014 tour the band made in support of their sterling “Hearts + Knives” album that saw old pros [Robin Simon, Steve Barnacle, Mick MacNeil] and young turks like Logan Sky and Lauren Duvall joining with the late Steve Strange to craft music full of classic Visage musical values and an emotional depth new to the band. Surely, a best-case scenario!

The “Never Enough” CD single had the live version of The Anvil” as recorded in Hoxton as a taster and it was bracing to hear Visage removed from the antiseptic sheen of the studio and clubs to deliver their payload live. At the time I held out hope that there would be more live recording where that came from and now we have the “Live 2013” album to hit the stores on November 15th on the August Day label who have released all of the 21st century Visage music.

visiage live 2013 cd — August Day | UK | CD | 2024 | SSC012

Visage: Live 2013 – UK – CD [2024]

Never Enough
The Damned Don’t Cry
The Anvil
Hidden Sign
Pleasure Boys
Mind Of A Toy
The Dancer
Shameless fashion
Fade To Grey
Visage

visage live postcards — A set of five postcards comes with the web bundle

This will be widely available, but August Day have sweetened the pot with a second disc. There was a Synthosmphonic show featuring Visage at the Ski Flying World Championships in the Czech Republic with orchestral accompaniment in 2014. This second disc features that session, just like commenter Echorich was hoping for a decade ago. This second disc is a Visage webstore exclusive and from there one can buy a bundle of the two CDs along with a set of the five postcards as seen above. Here’s what’s in store on that disc.

Visage: The Prague Sessions With The Synthosmphonica – UK – CD [2024]

Fade To Grey [Prague Session Extended Mix]
The Damned Don’t Cry
Never Enough
Pleasure Boys
Dreamer, I Know
The Anvil
Night Train
Hidden Sign
Mind of A Toy
Visage
Fade To Grey [Prague Session Extended Instrumental]

We were on these two like white on rice! The justifiably thick Visage CD portion of the Record Cell just got two discs thicker! I can remember the grim times in the late 80s when the paltry selection of Visage CDs used to gnaw away at me, naggingly. Sort of like the Shriekback section as well, now that I think about it. Look where we are now!

Amazingly, there’s rumors of a third Visage CD at the same time; A CD single that was planned but not released from the “Demons To Diamonds” Visage studio album, following Steve’s death in 2015. Reputedly for the track “Before You Win,” but I can’t manage to find a source for these so maybe they haven’t been released yet. I will keep an orb peeled. Meanwhile, if you are a fellow Visage obsessive then you’ll need to order directly from the source for the set of the first two discs; available only there in this bundle. The two CDs are £25.36/€30.44/$32.99. DJ hit that button!

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Posted in Core Collection, Live Music, New Romantic, Want List | Tagged 2013, 2014, 2024, August Day, live album, Visage | 5 Comments

Two More CDs Coming Bring “Lament” 40th Anniversary Tally “Up To 11”

Posted on October 16, 2024 by postpunkmonk

The “Lament” 40th anniversary ultrabox that just arrived last month is something that I’ve just begun to get into in the last week of pseudo-normality. It was seven CDs and a DVD with the Steven Wilson 5.1 surround remix as the 8th disc. But it was not the alpha and omega of that reissue campaign.

As we noted, this time there was also a Blu-Ray Dolby Atmos® mix disc. Also from the peripatetic desk of Steven Wilson. This was one of the SuperDeluxeEdition releases that come and go fairly swiftly in the window of opportunity. Even though I don’t have a DolbyAtmos® rig, the sound is said to “fold down” to 5.1 in a different mix from the extant 5.1 DVD as disc #8 in the “Lament” ultrabox. Phew! Got that? Because anyone paying attention over the last four years knows what’s coming next…

RSD BLACK FRIDAY 2024: STEVEN WILSON “LAMENT” 2xCD 2.0/INSTRUMENTAL REMIX

ultravox lament wilson remix/instrumental — Chrysalis Catalogue | US | 2xCD | CDLC1459 | 2024

Ultravox: Lament Steven Wilson Vocal/Instrumental Mix – US – 2xCD [2024]

Disc 1: Steven Wilson 2.0 Remix

White China
One Small Day
Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
Lament
Man Of Two Worlds
Heart of The Country
When The Time Comes
A Friend I Call Desire

Disc 2: Steven Wilson 2.0 Instrumental Remix

White China [inst.]
One Small Day [inst.]
Dancing With Tears In My Eyes [inst.]
Lament [inst.]
Man Of Two Worlds [inst.]
Heart of The Country [inst.]
When The Time Comes [inst.]
A Friend I Call Desire [inst.]

This set of discs drops on November 29th, as Record Store Day’s Black Friday push. There will be, as usual, a 2xLP edition [also pictured] in the UK and US, but the 2xCD seems to be exclusive to the US [!] in en edition of [don’t laugh…] 420 copies. Someone’s making sport, obviously. So I’ll make the effort to grab one of these if local or not. The color variation will be something new to the designer black orgy that is every other copy of “Lament” in my record cell. But wait, there’s more…now how much would you pay?

DISC #9: LAMENT EXTENDED REMIXES CD

Ultravox lament 40th anniversary disc #9 remixes — Number Nine…*number nine…*

Ultravox: Lament Extended Re-Mixes CD – UK – CD [2024]

White China (Steven Wilson Re-Mix)
Man Of Two Worlds (Steven Wilson Re-Mix)
When The Time Comes (Steven Wilson Re-Mix)
A Friend I Call Desire (Steven Wilson Re-Mix)
One Small Day (Odder Re-Mix)
White China (12” Instrumental Mix)
Lament (12” Re-Mix 2024)
When The Time Comes (Extended Re-Mix)

We were blindsided by this news last night when catching up after the hurricane on the Steve Hoffman Forums. I was perusing the “Lament 40th Anniversary Boxed Set” thread and saw that Chrysalis was releasing the other mixes commissioned but rejected by band consensus for the disc #3 of the “Lament” ultrabox. Where an alternative mix of the album was made. There were said to be four mixes left over which reach our ears only here [red], but Chrysalis have added all four Steven Wilson extended remixes that were issued on the RSD EP earlier this year.

These were also added to the Blu-Ray of “Lament” but this marks the only time that Wilson’s excellent extended remixes of “White China” and “Man Of Two Worlds” were on CD format. There were 500 LPs of this pressed up but they’re all gone now.I have no idea when this was announced because I was offline for half a month, but there are still copies of the CD of “Disc #9” as we’ll call it for £11.00/$15.00. Lets be thankful for small miracles of CDs of music we want.

But caveat emptor…I tried to buy this last night in Firefox browser and it didn’t like the coding of the official Ultrabox webstore. I wasn’t allowed to choose the US or Global stores. It showed me just the two items [the 8 disc box and the 2xLP reissue of “Lament”] available to US store buyers. I then logged into my VPN from Manchester and it still cut me off from the goods I wanted. It wasnt until I tried a different browser [DuckDuckGo, if you want to know] that I was able to successfully buy the ninth configuration of “Lament.” The CD is released this Saturday, October 19th so if you’d like to hear these “Salon de Refusés” remixes act now! DJs hit that button!

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Posted in 5.1, Core Collection, Designed By Peter Saville, DVD, New Romantic, Record Store Day, Scots Rock, Want List, Wilson Never Sleeps | 17 Comments

Countess Of Fife Crowdsourcing Album #2…Right Now!

Posted on October 15, 2024 by postpunkmonk

countess of fife band — The Countess of Fife band giving it up live

We return to the action with many faves making active moves in our absence. The world spins and I’m a part of it, right? First up, The Countess Of Fife are re-issuing/re-pressing their “Star Of The Sea” album that was released two years ago. The album made a big dent on the Scot/UK charts at the time; coming in at #7 and #21 respectively. In fact, the LP was sold out. Their label, Last Night From Glasgow are upping the ante with a bonus track added for ten cuts and a blue vinyl makeover. The new song is “Angel In My Pocket” which first came in download form.

So the bonus track enhanced, blue vinyl LP is in the Last Night From Glasgow store for $33.00 and it’s there right now.

STAR OF THE SEA BLUE VINYL LP + BONUS TRACK

But that’s just the prelude. The bigger news is that The Countess Of Fife are running a Kickstarter campaign, just a few days in, to fund the recording of album number two…with the glorious title of “A Woman Of Certain Wisdom!” Some of the song titles already established live evoke the sort of Country Music that Fay Fife [The Countess herself] is ready to explore…”Big Sister Little Sis,” “Hard Woman to Love,” “and “Call Me the Witch.” Working title promise even more with “Live Again/Kiss the Rain,” :River Meets the Sea,” and you’ve got to love this one, “New Phone, New Car, New Man.”

As usual, there’s a full array of pledge points with varying levels of premiums. Here’s what we’ve got.

£10 for the good of it – with a warm glow provided
Advance DL album – £15
Advance CD + DL, Photo £25
Signed CD/Setlist + DL, Photo – £35
Signed LP + DL, Photo – £50
Signed LP, handwritten lyric sheet, DL + Photo – £60
LP or CD signed, T-Shirt, handwritten lyric sheet, Photo signed by full band, DL – £100
2 VIP tickets to launch party, soundcheck song request, signed LP or CD, your name in the album + DL – £150
2 tickets to a COF concert of your choice, T-Shirt, tote bag, signed LP or CD, photo signed by full band, your name in the album + DL – £200
Lathe-cut 7″ single from album with Countess handmade artwork, one Fay Fife home demo DL, Fay’s laminate or wristband from a past show, signed COF poster, signed LP or CD + DL – £250
COF House Concert [within 50 miles of Edinburgh or else travel and accommodation expenses paid by you], signed LP or CD + DL – £550
Executive Producer credit on album cover, invite to morning or afternoon mixing session in person or via Zoom, white label test pressing of LP, signed LP or CD, invite to band rehearsal prior to launch party, 2 VIP tickets to launch party + soundcheck song request – £1,000

Oh to have a trust fund in Edinburgh! We could do some real damage there. How I’d love to have a house concert. The expenses would kill me, but what a way to go! In the interim, while I’m waiting for a fortune to fall from the sky, I’ll definitely be buying in somewhere at the prole level for at least a CD since that worked out so well the last time. The goal for recording, design, and wages is £10,500; an amount that wouldn’t have been the tea and biscuit budget back in the 80s, but can go far these days to pay for:

Studio time (2-3 weeks), including sound engineer
Paying the musicians, the core band and session people
Mixing and Mastering
Creating Artwork

We’ve got another 37 days to help make this happen. The album is tentatively scheduled to deliver in December of 2025 so it’s a long term plan. If it hits the target and continues, then the money goes to promotion with photo shoots, videos, and the all important PR. Here’s what Fay herself has to say about it.

1732273980

days

hours minutes seconds

until

COUNTESS OF FIFE KICKSTARTER ends

COUNTESS OF FIFE KICKSTARTER

DJ hit that button!

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Posted in Core Collection, Scots Rock, Want List | Tagged 2024, 2025, crowdsourcing, Fay Fife, The Countess of Fife | 3 Comments

The Soundtrack To The Futuristic Dystopia That Never Was, “Metamatic” Returns In Grey-Vinyl Form On 45th Anniversary

Posted on October 14, 2024 by postpunkmonk

Aaaaaand we’re back! We’ve picked ourselves up, performed a seemingly endless parade of heavy manual labor, gotten internet in our Asheville locale restored so we’re up to jump-starting this moribund blog now that we have a lunch hour again. Let me give a shoutout to all of the commenters, musicians, and regulars who reached out to see how we were doing under that was difficult circumstances to respond. We had a neighbor on our mountain road set up a public Starlink wi-fi network hooked to a generator that was across the street and that was the only way for weeks that I was able to communicate with the larger world.

I was thinking to myself last night [instead of sleeping] that among other things, Holy Crow…I’d have a blog to write today and what was it going to be about. Even in the best of times I am capable of losing the plot, never mind following the hard reset a third of North Carolina just underwent via Hurricane Helene. A hard reset so powerful that some whole communities and roads no longer exist. We were on a mountain and lucky with no flooding in our area, but as I whiled away the minutes instead of sleeping, some musical topics of relevance began to drift across my mental proscenium as potential fodder for this phoenix-like post concerning some major musical comfort food in the aftermath of a disaster.

Metamatic Records | UK | Grey LP | 2025 | META79LP

John Foxx: Metamatic 45th Anniversary – UK – Grey Vinyl LP [2025]

Plaza
He’s A Liquid
Underpass
Metal Beat
No-One Driving
A New Kind Of Man
Blurred Girl
030
Tidal Wave
Touch + Go

I’d like to say that I was on “Metamatic” in January of 1980 like white on rice, but I’d be lying. I had no awareness of John Foxx until a year later; owing to my success at finally obtaining a copy of Ultravox’s “Vienna” LP in December of 1980. Almost three months after seeking it. By January, I was moving to purchase other Ultravox albums, beginning with “Ultravox!” and with that came my first exposure to John Foxx.

My next steps were buying the “Visage” album as well as “Metamatic.” All by no later than the middle of February, 1981. All of these records were foundational for my new musical worldview, and come next January [pinch yourself if you feel really old] “Metamatic” will be chalking up its 45th year as a touchstone of dystopic, Ballardesque technopop. And what will be only the sixth copy of this Cold Wave landmark will be entering my Record Cell. The first five are as follows…

1980 UK LP
1993 UK CD [bonus tracks]
2001 UK CD remaster [diff bonus tracks]
2007 2xCD remaster
2018 3xCD boxed set remaster

I still harbor great regret for not buying the Record Store Day 2014 gatefold white vinyl copy which dropped during a period of much travel saving. Sigh. But that was one of the occasional Demon Records Foxx releases that somehow happen. This copy will be issued on Foxx’s own Metamatic Records on January 17th, 2025. A day short of exactly 45 years, but we still have to honor the Friday release schedule. The LP will be a cold grey slab of wax for maximum cueing difficulty with the classic ten tunes present. I got the email for this from the Foxx Bandcamp account on October 1st, and and while I was in the post-hurricane “internet cafe,” I immediately clicked the link on my phone and pre-ordered the release since what else could I do in the aftermath of hurricane? Especially since the copies pre-ordered from the Official John Foxx Webstore at Townsend Records will ship with a “Metamatic” print signed by Herr Foxx.

While I have an embarrassing number of signed Foxx releases, I’d be crazy to stop buying them now! Especially since it’s my goal to have one copy of each Metamatic number release on his label. I think I’m missing only a handful. Fortunately, the price is right with the LP going for £21.99/€26.99/$29.99. Not too pricey but wow, has the Pound rallied without me being aware? Now that a series of Tory car wrecks are no longer holding the reins of Britain’s government? Of course, the shipping will cost me but I’m sanguine about it. It’s John Foxx, for crying out loud! I’ve already bought but now it’s your turn. DJ hit that button!

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Posted in Assorted Images, Core Collection, Want List | Tagged 1980, 2025, Colored Vinyl, John Foxx, Metamatic Records | 8 Comments

BLOG CLOSED DUE TO HURRICANE

Posted on September 29, 2024 by postpunkmonk

Until further notice…

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Posted in Record Review | 24 Comments

Vamberator Let Us Know That “I Used To Be Lou Reed” On Latest Fab Single

Posted on September 24, 2024 by postpunkmonk

We’re catching up on things and I saw that Jemaur Tayle’s new Vamberator project just released their second single last Friday. It’s got the provocative title of “I Used To Be Lou Reed” and we dove into the artist’s Bandcamp page and purchased it last night since the first single was a such a giddy exploration of the myriad of possibilities possible in Art Pop in ways that sounded absolutely nothing like Shelleyan Orphan; Tayle’s earlier project that first brought him to my attention nearly 40 years ago.

Vamberator: I Used To Be Lou Reed – UK – DL [2024]

I Used To Be Lou Reed 5:12

This one plays things closer to its vest; beginning with low octave piano, functioning like bass in the intro as it was paired with acoustic guitar. Then, when the drums rolled out, the Archemia string quartet [along with horns!] added a sixties swagger to the proceedings. Followed by Mr. Tayle adding the graceful swoop of his vocals to the mix; gliding up and down the octaves as the vibe here called for an insouciant, jazzlike touch. Giving off pleasurable whiffs of the sort of vocalizing that we expect from Green Gartside, which has always been just around the corner from Jemaur’s vocal style, now that I consider it.

By the time that the chorus kicked in, so did the major chords being held in check until that point. And the swagger hinted at in the intro was put in the shade as the song took full flight in the most impressive way. Positioning back into the the introduction theme for the next verse. Reed fans would have to love the lyrical nods to Hubert Selby and the “ostrich guitar” that Tayle sprinkled throughout the song like the knowing signposts they were.

The string crescendos in the second chorus showed that the song was happy to climax for a full minute as the lead and backing vocals and the vibrant strings hit their euphoric peak before the entire song diminished into its minute long coda where the scatting backing vocals from Jo Nye and acoustic guitar were joined by distant NYC foley sound effects of sirens and honking horns to take the song to the softest landing possible.

This single was recommended to any Prefab Sprout or Scritti Politti fans aching for another hit of that similarly arch, yet Poptastic, sound that those two artists also brought to bear on their releases. We’ve had two singles now that suggest that it will be a diverse smorgasbord of Pop when that Vamberator album finally happens. If you can’t wait either, then DJ hit that button!

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Posted in Immaterial Music, Record Review | Tagged 2024, Bandcamp, Jemaur Tayle, Vamberator | 4 Comments

Power Pop Icons The dBs Deliver The Goods At Eulogy, Asheville, NC 9-20-24

Posted on September 23, 2024 by postpunkmonk

The dBs in full flight harmony [L-R]: Wes Lachot, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby, Peter Holsapple, Gene Holder

It pays to be nimble! Last Friday morning I was reading the latest freekly that my spouse brought home the day prior [it distributes on Tues.-Wed.] and to what to my won’dring eyes should appear but an ad in the club listings for the club Eulogy; the live venue adjacent to the Burial Beer taphouse. And the evening’s entertainment were Power Pop royalty; The dBs! And they were playing last Friday evening, so I was lucky that I saw the ad in time. I was on that ticket like white on rice then I texted my neighbor who went to college in Athens all those years ago. If he wasn’t a dBs fan I’d have eaten my proverbial hat.

As it turned out, he was glad to be in on my scheme and would join me in an evening’s fun last Friday night on short notice. The stinging irony was that a few weeks ago an offline thread with commenter schwenko of NYC revealed that he had tickets for The dBs of his own and at that time I expressed slight jealousy at his… well, I can’t call it luck. Every act that tours America pretty much performs a NYC show. For some reason I didn’t look up online to see if there were any tour dates here at the time; my usual modus operandi! But the gig goddesses had decided to smile on me any way.

I’d never seen The dBs, but 15 years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey in town promoting their duo album, ‘hERE aND nOW.” So this would be my first rematch with those gents. This time with their classic rhythm section also playing. The full band had regrouped in the original lineup in 2012 for a new album, their first in 25 years at that point, but the occasion for this tour was that Jefferson Holt’s [ex-R.E.M. Manager] label Propeller Sound Recordings were releasing the band’s iconic one-two punch of the albums “Stands For Decibels” and “Repercussion” on LP for the first time in America at this time. “Stands For Decibels” is out now [CD + LP] and “Repercussion” is due for release on October 18th.

The band were famously a very American jangle-pop band who had their first two albums released on the UK-only Albion label. So this most American of bands, inspired by Big Star [where Stamey played in a late lineup pre-dBs] and The Byrds while soaking up the New Wave of the time, could only be bought on import in their native land. They were anticipating the sound and values which would later manifest via bands like R.EM., who had much better luck with getting their records released and distributed than The dBs did.

That’s not to say that the band don’t proffer a top quality performance by Power Pop icons who have perfected a blend of tuneful hooks cheek-by-jowl with inventive, leftfield excursions that deliver on terms larger than the sum of their impressive parts. Abetted by their clear, powerful harmonies. As a fan of artists like Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, seeing them live was a glimpse at the prowess of the masters of the form who had emerged form the Head of Zeus while their peers were still in development.

The show this evening was a masterclass in the Joy of Pop, performed with a love for its many pleasures as well as a need to push artistic boundaries. The quartet were aided this evening by their keyboardist, Wes Lachot, who allowed them to add the filigree necessary for attaining those reaches for the sublime in excess of that a four piece rock band can achieve. I’ve always loved bands with more than a single lead singer and Holsapple and Stamey traded off material from their excellent catalog, with the exception of numbers that they sang as duets.

The sick, sad thing is, that I’ve never owned any dBs albums [I did buy the 2009 Stamey/Holsapple disc] but fortunately, I had a reasonable familiarity with a few songs from the band’s canon via the medium of cover versions! I’d been a big Marti Jones fan from day one and she had impeccable taste in covers, with two classics on her amazing debut album, “Lonely Is As Lonely Does” and the rip roaring “Neverland.” Both of these tracks would be the only songs I knew front to back here this evening, but the sweet, simple fact was that they were but the tip of the iceberg.

The band had a tight set of 90 minutes and there wasn’t a duff minute among them. This was the sort of show that sees me with a huge grin pasted on my puss the whole time. And as if that wasn’t reason enough for hosannas, the show began right on time at 8:00 PM and ended shortly after ten so we could get home and in bed by 10:20! And the best part of all, the concert sound was the second show in a week with blissfully modest sound volume and a clean mix. Honestly, if I didn’t already have tinnitus, I would not have bothered with earplugs.

My only regret here was that I had been completely unaware that The dBs were touring up front. I would have posted the dates in advance on the blog, and would have been planning to buy my ticket much sooner than the day of show, though the whole quick pivot thing worked out magnificently. My neighbor and I had a great time and were telling our wives about the show yesterday when visiting. If you would like to see the next leg of the tour, here are the dates as the band is now taking a little break.

THE DBs | US FALL ’24 TOUR

Oct. 11, 2024 | Saint Paul, MN | Amsterdam Bar And Hall
Oct. 12, 2024 | Chicago, IL | Old Town School Of Folk Music [SOLD OUT]
Oct. 13, 2024 | Milwaukee, WI | Shank Hall
Nov. 14, 2024 | San Francisco, CA | The Chapel
Nov. 16, 2024 | Los Angeles, CA | Zebulon
Nov. 17, 2024 | Los Angeles, CA | Zebulon [SOLD OUT]
Dec. 6, 2024 | Winston-Salem, NC | The Southeastern Center For Contemporary Art

And sadly, I didn’t buy the CD of “Stands For Decibels” on the merch table as there will be a lot of dining out planned over the next week for us, so I had to show some restraint. But there is no shortage of CDs, T-shirts, and LPs of the classic at The dBs webstore. CDs are $15 with black + white split LPs just a tenner more. I didn’t know about the “I Thought You Wanted To Know” compilation of ’78-’81 rarities and unreleased material that might be a real corker! But right now it’s on sale at the Propeller Sound Recordings website with CDs for a ten spot and double green vinyl for $25. So if you need any of this tuneage, then DJ hit that button!