Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over the course of three nights
at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater in December 1983. It was/is a sonic and
visual spectacle with TH on top of their game. Many remember it too for David Byrne wearing that too-big suit and his manic dancing.
The movie returns to theaters later this year
with a new 4K restoration courtesy ofA24.
If the suit still fits… This year, we’re bringing Jonathan Demme’s groundbreaking 1984 Talking Heads concert film STOP MAKING SENSE (newly remastered in 4K!) back to theaters worldwide. #StopMakingSense2023pic.twitter.com/Kh2Nevaf2X
In addition to the film’s restoration and rerelease, Stop Making Sense’s 1984
soundtrack will be reissued in unabridged, 2-LP form for the first time on
August 18.
Active in the mid-80’s and heavily influenced by the British post-punk dissonant
style and the Belgian cold-wave melancholic atmosphere, the band resurrected
during the COVID lockdown, releasing a selection of old demos. A dynamic impulse
that brought The Ultimate Dreamers not only back on stage but also into the studio
with their new line-up.
The EP is a characteristically post-darkwave-punk affair with
infectious twilight melodies embedded in a whirlpool of booming
beats, scintillating synths, gloomy stories, cinematic orchestrations
and tenebrous vocals. And if you’re a fan of Aussie hard rock giants
AC/DC you’ll be really surprised by The UD’s haunting cover.
Watch the B/W video clips for footstomper Polarized
and amplified reverie Piano Ghost.
London‘s synth-dream-pop FERAL FIVE – Kat and Drew Five – released
their long-awaited debut LPTRUTH IS THE NEW GOLD last month.
They introduced it with this message: “It’s an evocative voyage through a Feraltropolis style future city, and an offering of sonic elixir for heart, feet and mind. Leading us through secret spaces, changing skies, personal truths and revelations, the Ferals glide seamlessly between bold alt-pop, experimental electronica, and cinematic landscapes.”
What can I add? Turn Up The Volume‘s ears are FF fans for several years now and
this debut longplayer spoiled them again and again with a series of spins and many
more to come. Kat and Drew took their time to come up with a first full-length, and
they hit all the right buttons with this golden trance-dance-pop accomplishment.
Kat and Drew will tell us all about it in this Q&A.
Hello FF,
welcome and thanks
for taking the time
to do this interview
This July it will be 10 years since you released your debut single SKIN.
Since then several swirling singles followed. Why did it take so long
to have an album out?
“We wanted the album to be all killer no filler! Skin was a cracking single, we still love playing it live, and we’ve evolved a lot since, both as musicians and producers. We didn’t just want to put an album out because we could. We’ve released 4 EPs and a load of singles, plus we’ve been producing and remixing for other artists. We’ve been busy.”
. Now that it’s here how does it feel to have that CD and vinyl in your hands?
“Awesome. It’s a culmination of recent ideas, sonic explorations and experimental pop tendencies. It’s also a story and a journey. To have it literally in our hands and not just as
a DL is pretty cool, and it’s been great working with ethical record label Reckless Yes for
this release.”
Which artists and or music was your biggest inspiration along the way?
“We’ve a huge melting pot of musical loves from Siouxsie Sioux to Killing Joke, Goldfrapp to Hot Chip, Billy Nomates to Billie Eilish, Daniel Avery to Kelly Lee Owens,
Hans Zimmer to Hildur Guðnadóttir. There are many.”
What’s the story behind the album’s title ‘TRUTH IS THE NEW GOLD’?
“It sums up exactly what we think, and our values right now. It came from our
song of that name, Truth Is The New Gold. We’ve experienced so many devastating
shifts in the world and people manipulating truth and reality. We wanted the title
to be purposeful, clear, and give hope.”
All songs are no older than about 2 years, besides PET SHOW
released in 2018? Does that track mean something special to you?
“We wanted the album songs to be ultra new as we were heading
in fresh lyrical and sonic directions, and most of them are.
Pet Show was our first exploration of the world of Artificial Intelligence, a playful song
about AI robo-companions. It spawned our idea of the journey for the album, which explores different kinds of truth and trust, and includes some AI sonics.”
I miss that 2019 dancefloor banger SHAKE IT. Did you
ever thought of including this one on the album?
“We had a vision for our album, and it had to be a cohesive and inspiring
piece of new work. Shake It still finds its way into our live set though.”
All the artwork for your music used to be glossy, glamorous and flashy. The cover sleeve of the album is different. It’s the title that dominates the look. A conscious choice?
“The album is high concept and thought-provoking. We wanted to make a statement. It was very exciting working with cover art legend Malcolm Garrett (Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, Simple Minds) on all our artwork and band merch, and we had many meetings to discuss ideas.
We took a very bold step in not putting our band name on the front cover – but letting
the statement speak for itself, and there’s gold on the cover! Plus wearable glamour, we collaborated with cult UK jewelers Tatty Devine on a gold mirror necklace based on the album artwork, and we’ve gold t-shirts.”
You recently launched a video clip for the LP’s title track.
How did the content came about? What’s the idea behind
the visuals?
“The Truth Is The New Gold music video is all about the search for truth in melting worlds. Set in beautiful landscapes it’s also unsettling as we stride across the narrows, caped in gold and morphing into new shapes ourselves.
It was entirely shot using drones, and the drones became characters too, like surveillance machines. Kat directed it, along with David Morris from Flying Film Labs who did the amazing filming.”
Any memorable anecdotes of the ‘making of’ in the studio?
“No trashed TVs just trashed hard drives! A lot of the sounds on the album were
taken from field recordings that we made and interesting objects. We were doing
lots of experimental sound making, using things that would disintegrate and never
sound the same again.
For example, never use crystals as percussion instruments!
Listen carefully and you can hear the sound of crystals
splintering.
In Feral Five we have our studio language. When one of us says ‘can
we make it sound more silver’ we know exactly what that means.”
I suppose you got this question already a million times. What about
the Artificial Intelligence vocals? What does that mean? How does
that work?
“Playing with reality in sound, we collaborated with Berlin technologists Birds on Mars who created an ‘AI Kat’ for us. Kat had to record her voice, and they trained their AI on it to give us AI vocal synthesis that we could use to make new and unique otherworldly vocals on four of the tracks.
It became a character too, an instigator, an oracle. In Silver Sky it almost sounds like an AI child, retorting to Kat’s human vocals telling her: “it’s not the end, it’s not the end.”
GOLDEN RULE is one of my favourite pieces. It’s about what we need to survive: togetherness. Should we be hopeful that this can actually happen in these troubled times?
“It’s great to hear that Golden Rule resonates with you. That was the reason it’s the final track on the album. Togetherness is key, and yes that can happen. The more chaos there
is in the world, the more people respond to each other as humans, and that is a superpower.”
Will you go out and play THE TRUTH IS THE NEW GOLD on the road?
“Yes for sure. We are working with a leading audiovisual artist on a new show that will bring the album to life, make it grow, and create a unique performance in each location.”
Is this the end of a FERAL FIVE era, a continuation or
the harbinger of a new beginning?
“We’re all about newness and new beginnings. Feral Five is on a continuum.
Anything can happen in Feral land. This is just the start.”
Thank you very much for this interview.
May the road rise with Feral Five!
With a long band name featuring the (fake) first name of the group’s members, you should think that that was a sort of commercial suicide, but no, this British 60s pop squad scored a series of fab hits such as Bend It, Hold Tight, Don Juan, Zabadak and also THE LEGEND OF XANADU written by music composers Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley. As was the case with many of the group’s recordings, it had novelty elements — a trumpet section and the distinctive sound of a whip cracking in the chorus.
The classic cracker topped the British Single Chart on this day 55 years ago.
Last week a journalist named Lachlan Markay tweeted this about Meg White“The tragedy of the White Stripes is how great they would’ve
been with a half decent drummer. I’m sorry Meg White was terrible and
no band is better for having s—ty percussion.” “ Meg was criticised for
her minimalistic way of hitting the drums but this time that tweet
caused a storm including a reaction by White Stripes maestro and
ex-husband Jack White. He responded with this poem on his
Instagram account.
Also Jack‘s ex-wife Karen Elson went on to defend Meg.
Not only is Meg White a fantastic drummer, Jack also said the White Stripes would be nothing without her. To the journalist who dissed her, keep my ex husband’s ex wife name out of your f*cking mouth. (Please and Thank You) https://t.co/qnnxgT3Rxh
ELECTRIC HIGH is a high-voltage rock team from Bergen, Norway.
A 5-piece that goes straight for the throat, fronted by two in-your-face
lead singers, while the band shoots out pure electric power.
Proof of it all is their new headbutt named SEVEN WONDERS.
A song about taking it more than a few steps too far and biting
far more than you can chew.
TUTV: On Seven Wonders this Norwegian hit team go gaga again with
rabid riffage, a pounding rhythm section, and maniacal vocals by the
two vivid vocalists boasting ridiculous promises based on historical myths
of Zeus, Helios, King Nebukadnesar of Babylon, and the seven wonders of the
ancient world. Around the 3-minute mark a freaked-out guitar solo is the
harbinger for a demented finale that attacks your stereo with puissance.
This is what raging rock ‘n’ roll is all about. All motors and
all cylinders on, turning the decibels to the max and going berserk.
It was released 33 years ago, on 19 March 1990, ago as
the 4th single of that mega successful LP, their eight LP.
The inspiration for this classic came when a fire broke loose
in Robert Smith‘s home. After that day, Smith was going
through the remains and came across his wallet which
had pictures of his wife, Mary.
TURN UP THE VOLUME 