John Cale S/D

Vintage Violence is my fave.

And of course there is "Songs for Drella."

x-post... OTM

I'm not at all familiar with his other albums (the only other thing of his I've got is the "Seducing Down The Door" comp.) but I think "Hobo Sapiens" is wonderful - and it's making me want to explore the rest of his back catalogue further - I was thinking I'd probably start with either "Paris 1919" or "The Island Years"

I've been meaning to pick up Hobosapiens but haven't just yet, the 5 Tracks ep which came out a few months earlier is great though and if that's a taster of what the album will be like then it should be great.

x-post: The Island Years is the double album I mentioned.

This is actually the only Cale album I own. Did he ever do any other records like this one?

Paris 1919 is probably the next best to approach, it's gentle and accesible. Somehow I think it's nice to get this one in before going to Church of Anthrax / New Society, which if you heard them completely out-of-the-blue would sound like the flailing piss of a coked-up bag of bellybooze. Which they are. The secret is to learn to love the bag, and that takes a while.

The 80's ones, Carribean Sunset in particular, are shit. Think about it. It's a solo album from a 60's guy in the 80's called Carribean Sunset. More than any of the one's that were mentioned up to go for Fear next. It's got a fairly decent mix of material and the 70's bar-rock boogie is at it's least annoying. Slow Dazzle has it's highlights, as has Honi Soit.

Hobosapiens I still can't get into for some reason. It sounds like your old Geography teacher berating you from the next room about subways and somesuch. I'll reserve my opinion of that as I haven't quite listened to it enough yet.

S: Fear; Slow Dazzle: Guts; Paris 1919. (Fear, Slow Dazzle, Helen of Troy, and a few singles were reissued on a twofer called "The Warner Bros. Years" a while back, and it's the way to go.) Paris 1919 is very good indeed but I think "Slow Dazzle" is the greatest John Cale record, sort of brutalist Brian Wilson...

D: Vintage Violence (never liked it except for "Gideon's Bible"); all his '80s shit; all his '90s shit (I do like his last one but it's hardly essential).

I also have three CDs of his early noise stuff in NYC, nice room-clearing music but again hardly essential.

Honi Soit is an honorable attempt at a comeback around '81, and there are some nice moments, but by that time he had really started to lose his voice, and it sounds a bit stillborn. Worth getting for a few bucks.

Sabotage & Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - Great for die-hard fans, but probably not for beginners.
John Cale is Alive - More accessible, but less good.

Walking on Locusts - I absolutely love this one, but no one else seemed to.

Mid 70s albums terrific, Animal Justice terrific (Hedda Gabler!!!!!), New Society terrific, most other stuff patchy, I am fond of Sabotage but never actually listen to it, Fragments is lovely but I get embarrassed listening to it for personal reasons, I would love to assert that Caribbean Sunset is good but I can't honestly remember anything about it, it's better than Artificial Intelligence though surely.

i.e. what everyone else said.

I was about to say. They need to fix the star ranking though!

Christgau is right; the "Peril" track "Days of Steam" does remind of the Ernie Kovacs theme.

Yeah that 'Island' comp really is terrific - all the hits and none of the shit (well, some) - glad someone mentioned 'Ski Patrol', a real fave of mine

Sabotage really is a fantastic noise thing on the rock-meets-avant-jazz tip.

Artificial Intelligence is getting way underrated here as pretty-pop.

But orchestral cale hits his peak, as far as i'm concerned, with "words for the dying" which is one of the few where the studio recorded versions so clearly top the fragments... versions.

I saw him live in a very small bar like 4-5 years ago, and it was wonderful. A lot like the Fragments of rainy day CD. All he had was a piano and acoustic guitar on some songs and vocals.

Did you see yourself in the audience?

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I'm surprised how many people have cited Honi Soit. I love that record, even as weak as it is.

I recently watched the Drella video on the big screen again .. still fantastic... and the Cale songs are superior, but maybe that's just me being a little sick of Lour Reed.

I met a guy the other night who said he played the viola. I asked him if he'd heard of John Cale. He said no.

HOW THE FUCK DO YOU PLAY THE VIOLA AND HAVE NOT HEARD OF JOHN CALE???

BECAUSE IT'S A BIG FUCKING WORLD BIMBLE COME ON

All the same, folks in western countries who don't know Velvet Underground need to get with it, pronto. The end of the world is coming soon, there's not much time left. QUICKLY!

NEXT THING THEY'LL BE TELLING YOU THEY DON'T KNOW WHO PALL MACKNARTANEY IS!?!?!

Why is there not a beautiful 4 or 5 CD box set career overview? The _Seducing Down The Door_ 2 disc set is necessarily very stingy. There's so much to his career and lots of great rarities could be included as well!

yeaaaah I wanna hear outakes from Church of Anthrax and more live recordings from both the mid-70s and that beserko 78-79 period.

And if you give me half a chance, I'd do it now, I'd do it NOW, RIGHT NOW, YOU FASCIST!

So great.

DAMN RIGHT MAMA!

I just bought "The Island Years" and I can't believe my ears. I had no idea I'd like this that much. The likes of Coldplay only wish they'd done anything as good as "Ship of Fools".

Just don't understand how this CD could be as good as what I'm hearing.

"Fear Is A Man's Best Friend", too...it's weird cause I think I heard that song before years ago. Just fucking fantastic, man.

yeah, those 3 records are my favorite of his. look for the expanded CD version of "Sabotage" next!

i've been playing "paris 1919" and "fear" all week. god, what a great album. "gun" completely kills. album for album, cale's post-VU work is just much more my scene than lou reed's, and i love "transformer" and "berlin" like, a lot. i'm not sure if i like the album version of "fear is a man's best friend" better than the live one from "fragments of a rainy season."

also, he is a very nice, articulate, handsome man.

yeah, when I got The Island Years I was like "I wasted all these years trying to like those damn Lou Reed albums when I could have been rocking this?!?!"

EB he is great in that BBC Velvet Underground documentary if you ever get a chance to see it. I'd love to see a career-spanning doc on Cale with live footage.

"Child's Christmas in Wales" and "The Endless Plain of Fortune" are perfect Xmas music.

Artificial Intelligence may not be all that, but "Dying on the Vine" is one of his four or five most beautiful songs & lyrically is some of his tightest, most cutting work I think

I'd love to see a career-spanning doc on Cale with live footage.

oh look, one is mentioned upthread! gotta find that...

Some of the greatest music ever made. "Vintage Violence" up thru "Helen of Troy" is a flawless body of work - and it's pretty great after that too.!

yeah, when I got The Island Years I was like "I wasted all these years trying to like those damn Lou Reed albums when I could have been rocking this?!?!"

Oh my god, dude, that is just so OTM I don't even know where to begin. Cheers.

i find myself jealous of those discovering john cale. on christmas, no less.

I just bought "The Island Years" and I can't believe my ears. I had no idea I'd like this that much. The likes of Coldplay only wish they'd done anything as good as "Ship of Fools".

Just don't understand how this CD could be as good as what I'm hearing.
Bimble, Monday, December 24, 2007 5:03 PM

HOW THE FUCK DO YOU PLAY THE VIOLA HANG AROND ILX FOR YEARS AND HAVE NOT HEARD OF JOHN CALE CAN NOT UNDERSTAND HOW GOOD THOSE ISLAND LPS COULD BE???

Well that looks like a typical ILX cheap-shot/smartass post to me, but if you're really looking for a serious answer, I've never been convinced by what I've heard of Cale's music in the past outside of a few songs here and there. A lot of his stuff with Nico scared me off, too even though I'm a pretty big fan of hers.

I'm listening to Music For A New Society now, though and I think I might end up liking it more overall than the Island stuff, actually. I do hope that news doesn't make you have a heart attack or something! ;)

I'm moving on to Sabotage next.

Be cool, just a little joke. Your "HOW THE FUCK..." post did make you sound like a big John Cale fan.

hedda gabler is a monster track

Oh yeah Hedda Gabler is the fucking shit and if anyone can point me to something better than that in his entire career, I'll be quite grateful. But I doubt you could come up with better than that.

nope!

Good to know!

I played Music For A New Society last night in its entirety and was completely and totally blown away. It seemed like every time I thought it couldn't get better, it added some touch here and there (bagpipes at the end of 'I Keep A Close Watch', the quiet, solo piano brought in at the very end of the album) that just sent me over the top. I know I said the Island stuff was good, but there's nowhere near that kind of consistency for me.

Never win and never lose
There's nothing much to choose
Between the right and wrong
Nothing lost and nothing gained
Still things aren't quite the same
Between you and me

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine

I still hear your voice at night
When I turn out the light
And try to settle down
But there's nothing much I can do
Because I can't live without you
Any way at all

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine

that song hits me hard

bagpipes or none

John Cale's 'The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy' is about the best song title this side of Tom T. Hall.

Yeah I'm sorry I should have clarified...winston, that song hits me real hard, too, with or without bagpipes and truth be told I think the version of it on the Island Years dbl CD (or the Helen of Troy album) with *strings* is actually the superior version (no bagpipes)!

Just picked up Church of Anthrax - newly reissued but no bonus tracks or anything. Fantastic. Other than The Soul of Patrick Lee, you could really think it was some great lost krautrock classic.

is this remastered or anything? sketchy that the promo copy says "never before on cd" when obviously it's been available for a long time.

I don't think it's remastered or anything. I think it's just been out of print on CD and now it's back in print. I got a new copy from some amazon seller for $11 with shipping, which was way lower than the list price.

John Cale has sortof been my rebirth. Caribbean Sunset, etc.

But Chinese Envoy, god, I was in love with someone who knew that song.

Look I'm gonna have to have this Music For a New Society album. This is some wonderfully heavily postpunk stuff.

What happened to that guy I was in love with, though? Is he reading this? Do you remember we played John Cale, honey? I love it, John Cale. Never forget, we played him. Don't forget. Sweetheart, don't forget it. Don't you remember? I can't forget.

I've never heared Music for a New SOciety and this makes me sad :(

But do you know Caribbean Sunset? Cause that album just absolutely kills me

NO
isn't that supposed to be one of his worst albums?
I'm too poor to love music :(

Okay I admit it, I'm too drunk. I'm sorry. I'm going to chill out and be quiet, now.

But Mr. Bimble, I dream of meeting a lady who digs on Mr. Cale
that sounds wonderful

i just bought a (new!) copy of Even Cowgirls Get The Blues on cassette at a record store in Taos, NM. I'll be driving around listening to live Cale in no time.

Caribbean Sunset is worse than a lot of his albums but there's still a lot find in it.

Is there any discussion of the New York in the 1960's stuff that Table Of The Elements put out hiding away on here? I like the two of those albums that I have, particularly Sun Blindness Music, which was the first one I found.

I've been listening to that volume a lot, lately. I love that guitar drone piece, it's very metal.
Preparing to do a big Velvets radio show on Oct 28th. Going to read passages out of the Unterberger book and play a lot of live/rare/solo stuff and just some favorites, too. Should be a lot of fun.

carribean sunset is pretty good as some posters already said before. i listened to it a lot alone in my small room in the winter of 1983/84. it was my first term at university and it was a nice antidote to mark knopfler's dire straits which were ubiquitous at the time. i had nothing against them but john cale rockin' out was about a zillion times cooler. the album sounded doomed and fucked and i loved it for that.

Which of the NY in the 60s one is the organ drone piece? Kinda sounds like the same organ used on "Sister Ray"? I heard that once, but don't own it ... Need to track it down.

That is on Sun Blindness Music. There is a forty minute organ drone on that one. I'm guessing that is the one you are talking about, anyway.

Yeah, I think that's it ... Intense stuff! Sure to clear a room within 3 minutes!

Aye, I owned a second hand copy for ages, hadn't listened to it for a while, but remembered it as being wonderful transcendent drone... then it was repressed or whatever and a new copy turned up in the shop, so I stuck it on... didn't go down too well, unfortunately. Still sounded awesome to me.

Haha, yeah, I think I heard it in Twisted Village in Harvard Square a long time ago, which was typical for those guys. Always playing stuff to make sure tourists didn't venture in there.

Why on earth hasn't someone reissued his 80s albums, especially "Honi Soit" and "Music For A New Society"?

And "John Cale Comes Alive!" Don't know if I've ever seen that on CD.

Nope, never (and neither has "Caribbean Sunset"). Neither are spectacular but you'd think Rhino Handmade or Hip-O would get it done.

Search: this double DVD of two early 80s performances on German TV http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Cale-Band-Live-Rockpalast/dp/B003BWBA6W

yeah a lot of it is on youtube iirc

Yeah, the material has been bootlegged forever, but now it's officially out on DVD.

yeah, i've watched the youtubes of a lot of that -- amazing, but a weird era.

NEW ARTISTS CONFIRMED FOR THE SAN MIGUEL PRIMAVERA SOUND 2011

In the new batch of confirmations there are some names that are essential to the understanding of music and its evolution over this last decade, as well as some pillars of the history of music of the last forty years. All of them are outstanding.

The proto electronic music of the New York seminal duo Suicide, the former Velvet Underground member John Cale (with his performance When Past & Future Collide: John Cale & Band + Orchestra perform PARIS 1919 live) and Swans, Michael Gira’s re-formed band will also be in the Parc del Fòrum next May.

OMG

Shit, upon further research turns out he's played a few Paris 1919 shows recently. Still, gonna start investigating flights to Barcelona.

got the rockapalast double CD (the dvd was mentioned above) and it is killer. lean/mean band on the first disc, intense solo performance on the second. recommended!

I talked about it on some Cale thread - it's great!

where'd you guys get it?

oh it's been officially released. i got it from amazon.

I got it from my local shop.

thx

Yeah, it's pretty damn good. Maybe just a bit passed his prime (I want more 70s live Cale!) but still, some amazing psycho versions, especially "Waiting For My Man".

yeah the waiting for the man on the first disc is a pretty wild reinterpretation -- puts the pounding (almost steve reich-y) piano at the forefront. and then goes off into weirdland with his rant about south america and coffee beans.

Just got this. Thanks for the tip.

Someone should release the "Even cowgirls..." boot!!!

is that a bootleg? it *sounds* like a bootleg, but I thought it was a semi-official release. great stuff, anyway.

The man needs a proper box set for crying out loud! Is this what happens when the record labels fold? Ah well, I made my own anyway!

you got a tracklisting for your box set?
i guess the only real career spanning set is seducing down the door, which is just two discs and came out, when, 1992?

I listen to that live German TV version of "Dying on the Vine" at least once a week.

i guess the only real career spanning set is seducing down the door, which is just two discs and came out, when, 1992?

The Island Years, collecting Fear, Slow Dazzle, and Helen of Troy, is essential, but out of print. I got it from Columbia House for 99 cents in '98.

yeah the island years is great. like gerald, i'd love to hear a good live show from that era. i have a couple pretty dismal (sound quality-wise) bootlegs.

Me too.
I think there was Chris Spedding on guitar, shows must have been crazy, especially around the release of Helen of Troy.

I picked up the New York In The 60's box set the other day. It'll probably take me a while to get my head around it, but I think I'll ultimately be able to do business with it. Seems like a good gateway into the world of the drone.

yeah the ny 60s stuff is not for the faint at heart, but some of it is great.
one thing i dig about the live 80s set is how brutal/simple cale's guitar playing is. obviously he's an incredibly skilled musician, but when it comes to guitar, he really just wants to pound on the thing.

He was still playing that way when I saw him do an instore at J&R Music World last year! It probably works better when the sun goes down.

But I guess I like Velvets viola-droning Cale, melodic Paris 1919 ivory-tickling Cale, gonzo live show/Tanglewood hatchet-wielding Cale, and don't really like Cosby-sweater-wearing guitar-bashing Cale.

hey y'all I have been obsessively collecting Cale boots from the Cowgirls era for a while now

Dallas '79 is an incredible soundboard that blows Cowgirls away, and there is a Philadelphia AUD recording that's pretty decent. Also the whole CGGB set that most of Cowgirls is taken from has been floating around as MP3s.

I'll put 'em up on the blog, shardsofbeauty.blogspot.com... gimme a couple of hours though.

yes please

woohoo

awesomeee

OK all done, have at it. I'd love to hear what people think of these shows.

Holy shit -- I've been dying to hear Cowgirls-era Cale forever but all that's been officially released from that era was...well, Cowgirls.

I suppose I can just wait for you to post it, but do any of these dates include "Fucking the Neighbor's Wife"?

no but wow @ that title, never heard of it.

Ok, I suppose I overstated myself - I like to supplement best-ofs that I feel are too stingy, like Cale's "Seducing Down The Door". You should already have "The Island Years" as everything there is prime Cale, not to be skipped. I'm also quite partial to his album with Eno and the "Sabotage/Live" album is killer (the CD with the "Animal Justice" EP tacked on). As it happened I had a terrific set of C90 tapes a friend had made when I first got into Cale and I pulled off the unique tracks from that as well as adding some of my own. So here's my disc 3 of "Seducing":

1. Cleo (Vintage Violence)
2. Hello There (Vintage Violence)
3. The Soul Of Patrick Lee (The Church Of Anthrax)
4. Church Of Anthrax (The Church Of Anthrax)
5. The Philosopher (The Academy In Peril)
6. Dance Of The Seven Veils (Even Cowgirls Get The Blues)
7. Don't Know Why She Came (Even Cowgirls Get The Blues)
8. Streets Of Laredo (Honi Soit)
9. Honi Soit (Honi Soit)
10. Magic & Lies (Honi Suit)
11. I Keep A Close Watch (new version) (Music For A New Society)
12. Praetorian Underground (Caribbean Sunset)
13. Never Give Up On You (Comes Alive)
14. Heartbreak Hotel (Comes Alive)
15. Fadeaway Tomorrow (Artificial Intelligence)
16. Black Rose (Artificial Intelligence)
17. Satellite Walk (Artificial Intelligence)
18. She Never Took No For An Answer (Sid & Nancy soundtrack)
19. There Was A Saviour - Interlude I (Words For The Dying)
20. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night (Words For The Dying)
21. Songs Without Words II (Words For The Dying)
22. Style It Takes (Songs For Drella)
23. Forever Changed (Songs For Drella(
24. Hallelujah (I'm Your Fan compilation)
25. Frozen Warnings (Nico:Icon film)

I cheated, that's more than a single CD's worth. Gotta say, when I go back to the full 80s albums, I think they're mostly great and deserve a real reissue but I expect if we haven't seen it yet we never will.

oh wait looks like I was wrong, it's on the CBGB's set (xp)

setlists:

Dallas '79 - 4/21/79 "great SB, Palladium, Dallas" Rare tape transfer, kind of a weird mix, with vocals mostly right channel, guitar left, but otherwise a clear SBD of a wonderful show, great companion to Sabotage and Even Cowgirls, alt. Lyrics for Baby and Cowgirls; Tracks: 1. Walking the Dog / 2. Mercenaries / 3. Baby You Know / 4. Guts / 5. Evidence / 6. Dr. Mudd / 7. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues / 8. Waiting for the Man / 9. Fear / 10. Chorale / 11. Leaving It Up to You / 12. Heartbreak Hotel / 13. Cable Hogue (inc. ending)

JOHN CALE
THE HOT CLUB, PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA
March 9, 1979
AUDIENCE RECORDING BY THE BIG A
SONY D6>1ST GEN CASSETTE>STAND ALONE BURNER>WAV>FLAC
SETLIST:
01. mercenaries
02. baby you know
03. casey at the bat
04. jack the ripper at the moulin rouge
05. i don't know why she came
06. evidence
07. guts
08. i'm waiting for the man
09. dirty ass rock and roll
10. heartbreak hotel

CBGB's 1978:
1 Dance Of The Seven Veils 05:01
2 Helen Of Troy 04:57
3 Casey At The Bat 05:29
4 Guts 04:02
5 Don't Know Why She Came 04:34
6 Taking It All Away 03:04
7 Even Cowgirls Get The Blues 07:14
8 Darling I Need You 03:51
9 Mercenaries 08:04
10 Neighbour's Wife 04:41
11 Heartbreak Hotel 03:56
12 Pablo Picasso 09:38

Crap, I have OS X 10.4.11, which xACT doesn't work on. Any chance you could post the first two of these as mp3s?

Use this and convert them yourself:

http://download.cnet.com/All2MP3/3000-2140_4-190407.html

Works like a charm and you don't need to to convert them to AIFF as a between step.

Thanks for sharing these Sleeve! Been on a big Cale kick and can't wait to hear 'em.

Great suggestion!

weird I run the same OS, but I have a much older version of xACT, guess I better not update it.

These are great, btw. Love hearing this material with decent sound. The version of "Fear" on Dallas is absolutely bonkers and fantastic. "Chorale" I've never heard -- love the harmonica.

I always thought this would be a fascinating era to write about. I think it was inspired by reading some review of Sabotage somewhere (Trouser Press Record Guide maybe?) that basically said that by the time that record came out Cale's schtick had become something of a parody of itself -- that his music had taken on a heavy metal sound and that the real deal was what he was doing in '77-78, a lot of which (a la "Fucking the Neighbor's Wife" and "Dance of the Seven Veils") never came out on the studio records. Just kind of a "mythical" era in some ways.

Thankig u

sleeve many thanks for these!

here's to Mr. X:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYHIqMmtS-0

Wow.

Only a matter of time for that Marvin/Tammi show performance to turn up?

I did see that Pete Best one (have it on a bootvhs), but that's for another thread...

ach, go on then...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToLZewcgIK8

thanks, sleeve!

oh and hey Gerald -- is Cale's version of Frozen Warnings available anywhere? is there a sdtk for that movie? i feel like i had an mp3 of that song but it was just recorded directly off a vhs copy or something.

I don't think it's available, I got it from a vid too!

gonna check out that German live album. circa when, 1982? I saw the Sabotage tour in '79 and it was indeed awesome, metal guitar player but the rest of the band was punky & Cale was a glowering PRESENCE.

never heard cale's 1975 peel sesh til now -- great performance and sound quality! wonder why this has never been released? fruitierthanthou.blogspot.com/2010/10/john-cale-john-peel-session-1st-may.html

posted this on a john cale thread on some board called de subjectiven or some shit. meant for it to be on ILM.
new ep on domino forthcoming! preview clip sounds ... kind of great? http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/landingpage/15-07-11/john-cale-extra-playful-ep

I haven't heard his last few albums in full (just bits) but this is decidedly the best thing I've heard from him in 20 years!

yeah me too, i've always meant to check out his more recent albums, but just haven't. this is really promising.

did just listen to music for a new society this morning. what a brutal album.

I enjoyed the Circus Live disc from a few years back. It had a couple of cuts from the recent records and they fit in well.

This preview though sounds really great.

hobosapiens is good.

and that '5 tracks' ep.

"Outta the Bag", the first cut on Black Acetate, has Cale pulling his finest Prince impression. Stunningly great.

There's a lot of live stuff around from '79 and thereabouts where the band have a nearly Television-y guitar interplay and is playing a broad range of his music. That includes VU, Fear, Animal Rights etc etc.
Would try to see what you can find of that stuff. I'd recommend it anyway.

yeah sleeve posted a couple great late 70s shows over yonder: http://shardsofbeauty.blogspot.com/2011/01/john-cale-live-in-late-70s-got-my.html

Isn't Cowgirls semi legit if it's ROIR? Haven't heard about that getting a remaster like some of the other stuff from the label. Think I have it on Danceteria which might mean it's a boot of something more legit. Not sure about that label beyond them doing early cd versions of ROIR stuff.

ECGRB's problem isn't that it wasn't mastered properly -- it's that it was recorded poorly. Which is too bad bc the performances and songs are great.

New EP streaming here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/sep/14/john-cale-extra-playful-stream

cool, this is great. one of those older guys who hasn't lost his voice (looking in your direction, Lou). vocals here sound like they could be from 30 years ago.

is that fripp soloing on whaddaya mean by that? ha, probably not. but sounds a bit like him.

Very true. Two songs in and it's pretty enjoyable so far.

xp yes, the Frippy bit! Like the St Elmo's Fire sound.

lol autotuned French tune is pretty wild. "Extra Playful," indeed.

Cheesey sleaze funk of 'Perfection' is amusing too.

But, um, in total I'm not sure this adds up to anything much.

yeah, first two songs are definitely the highlights -- other tracks are fun, but not amazing. still, makes me optimistic for the forthcoming album.

Yep, agree with all that.

lol at him vocoding the french song to hide his pronunciation

"Smelling like an old adobe woman..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRU1oAfGEU0&feature=player_embedded

cool video, ill-advised soul patch notwithstanding. really like this song.

good song, thanks for posting that! his voice is so great. and yes, the soul-patch has gotta go.

yeah very nice! great synth sounds. so wish MegaCale was happening

what's MegaCale?

the new Megadeth + John Cale collab

haha i am so glad we invented the Megadeth + John Cale collab on the other thread

if we talk about it enough, it will become reality

Well he's already done Church of Anthrax I guess.

Honi ...So What!

lol

I'm still holding out for the CaleRush album, Paris 2112

Ha. And ha at MegaCale, which I missed on the other thread

this looks kinda rad
http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/c/cale_john~~_conflictc_101b.jpg
A nicely done tribute to John Cale's production work – from the late 60s era with the Velvets onward to the mid 00s – quite representative of his reach and diversity as a producer! Includes a few of his most legendary productions – art rock genius from The Velvet Underground & Nico, willfully crass primitivism from The Stooges, punk poetry from Patti Smith and more. Also fascinating is the wealth of wildly divergent styles he produced much later – for The Happy Mondays, Jesus Lizard, Alejandro Escovedo and others. 20 tracks: "Venus In Fur" by The Velvet Underground, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges, "Pablo Picasso" by The Modern Lovers, "Afraid" by Nico, "Disco Clone" by Cristina, "Italian Sea" by Chunky, Novi & Ernie, "Sex Master" by Squeeze, "Kuff Dam" by Happy Mondays, Tearing Apart" by Siouxsie & The Banshees, "Spinning Away" by Eno/Cale, "In Excelsis Deo/Gloria" by Patti Smith and more.

huh, I didn't know he produced Squeeze!

I didn't know he produced "Kuff Dam," which is to the rest of the Happy Mondays catalogue as Chateau Lafite is to Thunderbird

here's the full tracklisting
Venus In Furs - The Velvet Underground
I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges
In Excelsis Deo / Gloria - Patti Smith
Afraid - Nico
Pablo Picasso - The Modern Lovers
Who Is That Saving Me - Harry Toledo & The Rockets
Re-Bop - Marie Et Les Garþons
Disco Clone - Cristina
Italian Sea - Chunky, Novi & Ernie
No King - Ventilator
Sex Master - Squeeze
Take Your Place - Alejandro Escovedo
Kuff Dam - Happy Mondays
Runaway Child (Minors Beware) - The Necessaries
Omnes Gentes Plaudite (The Drinking Song) - Mediaeval Baebes
Needles For Teeth - The Jesus Lizard
Scorch - Goya Dress
Dallas - Lio
Tearing Apart - Siouxsie & The Banshees
Spinning Away - Brian Eno and John Cale

huh, I didn't know he produced Squeeze!

Chris Difford: "It was so exciting working with someone I had idolised, especially to see him up close and find that he was actually taking as many drugs as people thought and that he was very ill and incoherent. He was everything I had imagined."

In the studio, Cale either terrorized the band (for instance, insisting that they switch instruments and figure out how to play "Amazing Grace") or passed out on a couch (Jools Holland wrote "I am a cunt" on his forehead and then the band put him in a cab back to his hotel). Cale also tried to convince them to name their first album "Gay Guys."

lollll

Um.

John Cale Announces New Album, Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood

lol, hmmm.

http://www.doublesixrecords.com/doublesix/news/07-06-12/john-cale-shifty-adventures-in-nookie-wood-revealed

Since everyone here loves press releases with tracklists, here is some of it:

Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood is a title to set tongues wagging and minds wondering, but for an album that seems born of a return to John's youth, it seems safely apt in its mischievousness.

Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood is the result of sessions held at Cale's LA studio. Days were spent experimenting with MPCs, pounding fists onto pianos, manipulating glitches and lots of signature viola drone while patiently waiting for songs to reveal themselves. There was also a spontaneous session with Danger Mouse to create the opening track, "I Wanna Talk 2 U."

As a producer Cale has reached a new plateau on this record. At the albums most maximal, it feels like looking at a collection of precious stones. Myriads of differently colored and textured surfaces carefully placed together, each finding their own space to beckon the ear. It's a blend of chaos and beauty in equal measure and a testament to the exploratory spirit at work which ensures there's always something new to the ears on a John Cale record.

Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood will be available on gatefold heavyweight vinyl, CD and digital.

Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood tracklist:

01. I Wanna Talk 2 U

02. Scotland Yard

03. Hemmingway

04. Face To The Sky

05. Nookie Wood

06. December Rains

07. Mary

08. Vampire Cafe

09. Mothra

10. Living With You

11. Midnight Feast

12. Sandman (Flying Dutchman)

oops

excellent song titles. i'm looking forward to this! that ep from a year or so ago was pretty cool.

"I Wanna Talk 2 U" is on soundcloud. It's pretty great.

http://soundcloud.com/double-six/john-cale-i-wanna-talk-2-u

nice! yeah, very good. danger mouse-y but not overly so.

that sounds horrible! tell me more.

haha, well, danger mouse produced it.

it's the least Mousey thing I've heard him work on.

that wah-wah rinkydink guitar (or synth?)_sound is sorta grating

http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs046/1102021487007/img/100.jpg

the combination of beats and john cale is just not a very palatable one for me i don't think

I like that a lot! The cover's cool, too.

New video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtC2418nNcU

Not sure about the video but the song is good.

I was looking through an old notebook and I saw that I've seen John Cale perform once, apparently the same week or so as DMX. Don't recall a minute of either show.

http://open.spotify.com/album/6xzqLW3MaJlFWWtT9uXJYh

Third track in and this is a cracker. His voice sounds fantastic and the slightly swampy feel of the production works a treat. Very much an 'Idiot'/'Lodger' vibe to it so far.

One song in and I agree.

so far this record is cool as hell

you got a thousand yard staaaaaare

*cascade of crashing pianos*

Whole lotta autotune on this.

I'm going to see Paris 1919 performance in Brooklyn.

"Ten murdered oranges/Harder/Faster/Stronger/Break it down!"

So here Cale plays some of his favorite things, talks about them and Shifty, also excerpted. Or you can do like I just now did, and go right to three new songs, in full. "Doing hard time in Nookie Wood/Doing hard time again."
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/02/162158655/guest-dj-john-cale Be sure to bask in "Melody Laughter" too!

coooool, thanks for the link!

Spent a ton of time with this the last few days. It's a really dense record, but deep as well. "Scotland Yard" is a fave so far -- the climax is really something. In places, there's an Eno vibe -- "Vampire Cafe" has a stuttering percussion track that could be off of Fourth World Vol. 1. "Sandman" sounds like an Eno melody performed and produced by Cale. And honestly, the production is pretty amazing. It's kind of stunning that a 70 y/o guy could make a record that sounds so entirely contemporary but also entirely his own.

Yeah, he sounds entirely at home on the tracks I've heard. re the xpost first Squeeze album, the songs I remember, like "Strong In Reason" sound suavely macho--not like I usually think of Squeeze, except when they briefly featured Paul Carrack--but Difford and/or Tilbrook show no strain-- the vocal effect is def Calean but not alien to them. Although they weren't exactly eager to repeat the experience, judging by interviews.

oh damn this is unexpectedly good.

Cool, his MySpace has several albums I haven't heard
http://www.myspace.com/johncaleofficialsite/music/albums

(gotta click Album; MySpace Radio intrudes after playing an isolated track.Can always pause Album when needed)

....and the new album is now atop his MySpace booty. You're too good to us, JC!

JOHN CALE TOUR DATES:

Tue. Dec. 4 - Portland, OR @ Mission Theatre w/ Cass McCombs

Thu. Dec. 6 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox w/ Cass McCombs

Sun. Dec. 9 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom w/ Cass McCombs

Tue. Dec. 11 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey w/ Cass McCombs

Wed. Jan. 16 - Brooklyn, NY @ BAM [Life Along The Borderline - tribute to NICO]

Fri. Jan. 18 - Brooklyn, NY @ BAM [When Past & Future Collide: Paris 1919]

Sat. Jan. 19 - Brooklyn, NY @ BAM [When Past & Future Collide: Paris 1919

grr, i would like to see cale w/ mccombs

there on fri the 18th. Tempted to see the Nico tribute a well.

whoa maybe I need to drive 2 hours to Portland in 6 weeks or so

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLWeqGZT5Wc
recent live clip. great! he's one of those guys whose voice hasn't deteriorated at all -- he sounds pretty much the same as 1975.

and how many 70 year olds could pull off his ensemble.

Now I feel extra bad for missing him here two weeks ago.
Thanks for the youtube tyler, for I'd have missed this awesome piece of classic Cale:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=TYHIqMmtS-0&feature=endscreen

haha, that is a great one. i think i've said it before, but john cale has led a wild n crazy life.

still can't deal w/ the autotune on the new lp.

i'm kind of ok with it? i don't know, it is a weird record, but i am compelled to keep listening to it, which is a good thing, right?

I saw him a few weeks ago. the set was a bit heavy on new material, but he sounded great - opened with cptn Hook, and closed with a pablo picasso / gun medley

OK that sounds like something I can't miss.

from that video...

"fucked HIS wife"

More info and links, sorry for any redund:
John Cale Tour Dates:

Tue. Dec. 4 - Portland OR @ Mission Theater w/ Cass McCombs

Thu. Dec. 6 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox w/ Cass McCombs

Sun. Dec. 9 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom w/ Cass McCombs

Tue. Dec. 11 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey w/ Cass McCombs

Wed. Jan. 16 - Brooklyn, NY @ BAM [Life Along The Borderline: A Tribute to Nico]

Fri. Jan. 18 - Brooklyn, NY @ BAM [When Past & Future Collide: Paris 1919]

Sat. Jan. 19 - Brooklyn, NY @ BAM [When Past & Future Collide: Paris 1919]

John Cale kicks off his West Coast tour with Cass McCombs tomorrow in support of his new album, Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood (out now on Double Six Records). This week marks the first time in over half a decade that Cale has played some of these western cities. With McCombs in tow, the two are sure to offer a pan-generational demonstration of tireless and timeless songwriting. As a teaser of this iconic pairing, both artists are sharing new tracks today. "Hatred" by John Cale was previously only available as a bonus 7" that came with the deluxe edition of Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood. "Empty Promises" by Cass McCombs, premiered by Pitchfork today, is the b-side of the Bradley Manning 7" released earlier this year. You can stream both below.

Listen to/Share "Hatred" by John Cale:

http://soundcloud.com/double-six/john-cale-hatred

Listen to/Share "Empty Promises" by Cass McCombs:

http://soundcloud.com/dominorecordco/cass-mccombs-empty-promises

In January, as part of the three-night Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, John Cale will perform two very special productions. On January 16, he celebrates the legacy of Velvet Underground vocalist Nico - entitled Life Along The Borderline - performing with special guests Nick Franglen (Lemon Jelly, Blacksand), Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Joan as Police Woman, Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age, Gutter Twins), Magnetic Fields, Meshell Ndegeocello, Peaches, Sharon Van Etten and previously unannounced, Yeasayer. On January 18 and 19, Cale will perform his 1973 landmark album, Paris 1919, in its entirety with his band and the 20-piece Wordless Music Orchestra, followed by music from Cale's repertoire, including Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood. A full list of dates is below.

For more information, visit:http://www.bam.org/"> http://www.bam.org/
John Cale's "Face to the Sky" video:http://youtu.be/PtC2418nNcU

John Cale's Welcome to Nookie Wood video:http://bit.ly/NcM7YJ"> http://bit.ly/NcM7YJ
John Cale's "I Wanna Talk 2 U" stream:http://bit.ly/OCXHzc"> http://bit.ly/OCXHzc

Was sure Antony would be a the Nico thing.

Heard dude on the radio today, played a couple songs off the new one and then said, "Here's a song in B-Flat," and proceeded to play "Guts." The DJ did not have quick enough reflexes to bleep the opening line.

Seeing him in Seattle tomorrow.

graces the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon stage tonight, Thursday, January 10th! Cale will be joined by full band, back up singers, and The War on Drugs' spry and deft Robbie Bennett and Dave Hartley (aka Nightlands). Tune in to NBC at 12:35/11:35c to catch a cut from Cale's new album, Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood (out now on Double Six), and enterprising viewers can also feast their eyes on a special, exclusive-to-the-web performance of a classic Velvet Underground song.

I missed him on Fallon show last night and forgot to record it. Hopefully its on Hulu or Youtube or something. Wish I could get to NYC for the Nico tribute gig he's doing Wed. the 16th or the Paris 1919 plus new stuff gigs on the 18th and 19th

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/john-cale-venus-in-furs-11013/1428413/

Nice to have it play outside of US borders, as well.

that is great (and a little weird). even tho lou wrote "venus in furs" it's as much cale's as it is anyone's.

Yep.

I'm excited to see him do "Paris 1919" this coming Saturday.

I will be there, w/ Tropical Jeremy and our better halves.

also going to this, excited

cale returns to ludlow street
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323596204578241620759540276.html
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MN-AB443_CALE_G_20130114211355.jpg
http://subrosa.itcmedia.net/library/images/resized/catalog/contents/maclise-vu.jpg
would be cool if lou was photobombing him from the rooftop of one of those buildings.

will be going to BAM for 1919 thang , but based on a video I saw of him playing "Macbeth" with whichever backing band, I regret that reanimated Richie Hayward will not be on the gig. Maybe his ghost will possess the drummer…

http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com

This looks interesting, Lou DJ's on WPIX in 1979, with guest John Cale (who performs in studio, I think?)

Let me see if I can remember after thirty-three years: Lou plays "The Jeweler" during the first part of the program and when John arrives Lou tells him "a whole lot of people were calling up wondering what that was."

He also refers to the track with the English voice - thankfully Cale didn't hear that part of the broadcast

Does someone call up and thank Lou for playing doo-wop instead of all the hippie-dippy stuff that is popular today or was that another show?

Yes, a sort of fried braincell garbled conversation ensues between the two. Funniest bit is probably Lou admonishing a caller for saying the word "shit", this is the same Lou Reed who'd just released "Take No Prisoners"

Yup, that's how it went. OK, listening now. Even the ads and concert listings are amazing: "Thursday, Friday, Saturday- The Only Ones"!

(by the way this radio broadcast is being discussed on three threads simultaneously)

(I know. I started posting on this one but I am reading the other two. Perhaps should just switch over to one of the others. But which?)

(Maybe it should have its own thread.)

(I would take it to the "Take No Prisoners" thread, any excuse to bump a "Take No Prisoners" thread is good one)

(Good idea. Ha, I forgot I also posted to Search And Destroy: Lou Reed)

I put the link in both threads since it involves Cale and Reed.

Just came across the John Cale on I've Got A Secret on youtube posted upthread.

Garry Moore : "Thank you, Mr. Cale. You have a whim of iron."

Following last month's terrific performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and three sold out shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, John Cale is announcing a performance at the 2013 Hopscotch Festival, happening September 5-7 in Raleigh, NC, and sharing the Laurel Halo remix of "Living With You," the original of which is from Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood.
JOHN CALE'S "LIVING WITH YOU" (LAUREL HALO REMIX) -
http://bit.ly/YdLjXD

JOHN CALE PLAYS LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON:

"Venus in Furs" (Web Exclusive) http://bit.ly/WJjP9g

"I Wanna Talk 2 U" http://bit.ly/RMroQ4

"Living With You" is built on John Cale's trademark viola drone with some of the most delicate nylon guitar picking he claims to have encountered. The "Living With You" single bundle includes the original version of the song, the "Organic Mix," which is a more stripped down version made by Cale that revels in the stark and nakedly emotional nature of the song, plus the Laurel Halo remix. The remix comes after a defining year for Laurel who was awarded The Wire's 2012 album of the year for her debut full length, Quarantine.

Watch & Listen:

"Hatred" stream http://bit.ly/Stgoox

"Face to the Sky" video http://bit.ly/VL2W1Q

"I Wanna Talk 2 U" stream http://bit.ly/QCF65f

Welcome To Nookie Wood video -http://bit.ly/NcM7YJ'

http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/i12bent/437516637/1/tumblr_kyzo6mUetX1qzn0de

A friend lent me his autobiography. It's pretty great stuff.

radical sabotage era clip here: http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/nightclubbing-john-cale-band-1979/

Not one to rest on his laurels, that same year Cale performed his unrecorded song cycle, “The Nine Lives of Gordon Liddy,”

I have never heard of this.

me neither -- sounds made up, but apparently not:

The Nine Lives Of Gordon Liddy - 1980

Gordon Liddy was one of the Watergate burglars. It combines older songs - Only Time Will Tell (Sabotage/Live), later to be released material like Thoughtless Kind (Music For A New Society), Streets of Laredo (Honi Soit) coupled with Cable Hogue (Helen Of Troy), and unreleased pieces: Cold Country Comfort and Coming Around Again. Never recorded as a whole.

Holy crap at that 1979 clip!! Is there no bootleg out there of the stuff from that era that never made it to LP?

there are some good ones, hit me up via PM if you want but I only have them in FLAC.

Did "Fucking the Neighbor's Wife" ever get recorded?

ha, I thought I remembered that from somewhere

Holy shit -- I've been dying to hear Cowgirls-era Cale forever but all that's been officially released from that era was...well, Cowgirls.

I suppose I can just wait for you to post it, but do any of these dates include "Fucking the Neighbor's Wife"?

― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, January 26, 2011 4:15 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no but wow @ that title, never heard of it.

― sleeve, Wednesday, January 26, 2011 4:29 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark

the blog I linked to way upthread for those shows has dead links, but this is a good excuse to address that.

makes me sad to see Bimble posts up under the fold as well :(

actually just came across this today -
Unreleased John Cale songs vol. 1
1. Autobiography (13 Oct 1984 Essen, W Germany)
2. Care Song (26 Jun 1980 Eindhoven, Netherlands)
3. Fucking Your Neighbor's Wife ( " )
4. Ton Ton Macoute (1977 Animal Justice outtake)
5. Wake Up The Boys (In The North Atlantic) (14 Jun 1981 San Diego, CA)
6. Living In Moonlight (16 Apr 1987 Hoboken, NJ)
7. Rape (9 Jul 1979 Toronto, Canada)
8. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (25 Apr 1980 NYC, NY)
9. Cold Country Comfort (24 May 1980 NYC, NY)
10. Coming Around Again ( " )
11. Candy Store (24 Jun 1981 NYC, NY)
12. ? (14 Jul 1981 San Diego, CA)
13. Dirge For The New Sunrise (17 Apr 1991 Madison, WI)
14. Lament (27 Jul 1998 Minneapolis, MN)

all songs by John Cale except:
7 - words by Deerfrance
8 - traditional French folk song
13 - words by Edith Sitwell
14 - words by Dylan Thomas

12 sounds like a song that was made up on the spot, quite possibly

unreleased John Cale songs, vol. 2
1. I Like To Keep Baby Happy (3 Jul 1983 Werchter, Belgium)
2. Flying Seagulls (24 Oct 1981 NYC, NY)
3. Uncle Sam In Samoa ( " )
4. Don't Let Me Down ( " )
5. All Aboard ( " )

http://modern-radio.com/board/t.php?id=48347

[scroll down for live links]

Well I'm nothing if not consistent.

(RIP Bimble)

tyler you are a hero, again.

haha. i assume there are complete bootlegs of these shows where he did this gordon liddy song cycle? would like to hear the whole thang in full...

here's what he was playing -
http://werksman.home.xs4all.nl/cale/setlists/1980_05_24.html
New York 1980-05-24

Live at the Squat Theatre, New York, NY - May 24, 1980. First night of The Nine lives of Gordon Liddy. With Joe Bidewell.
Setlist

Cold Country Comfort #
Only Time Will Tell (early lyrics)
Coming Around Again
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Fear Is A Man's Best Friend
Thoughtless Kind (early lyrics)
Cable Hogue
Streets Of Laredo
(recorded) Narration / King Harry
Buffalo Ballet
Child's Christmas in Wales
(I Keep A) Close Watch

Finally checked out that "Walking The Dog" video. Nice, thanks.

great richard hell vids on that page too...

Will have to look at those as well.

Watched the Wayne Fontana cover. What else?

In the meantime watching The Student Teachers.

there's one older post of "love comes in spurts" maybe from the same show?

OK, just found that while I was away. Yeah, looks like the same show.

Dang, great shot of Quine playing the solo.

http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/nightclubbing-richard-hell-and-the-voidoids/

“Richard had some charisma you can’t buy in a store and apply to yourself like a cream,” recalled Television guitarist, Richard Lloyd. ”He had ‘it,’ the inimitable ‘it,’ the mysterious ‘it.’ His loopy bass lines were cartoonish in their wonderment; he was fantastic.”

Mentioned this on a film thread: there's a nice (too) few seconds of "Fear Is a Man's Best Friend" in the Ed Koch documentary.

Almost put out a Student Teachers CD. Always grouped them with a later class of CBs bands. Nervous Rex. US Ape. Student Teachers only had a few songs but they were all really good. Channel 13 I only heard on a Hyped2Death/Homework comp and was obsessed. Other songs are on the 2x5 Marty Thau comp and the Roir New York Singles Scene comp.

just getting around to that lost cale songs comp -- some really cool things on here!

also interesting -
On the Hear Fear promo album Cale announces cover versions of Jerusalem, Girl From The North Country (Bob Dylan), Eight Miles High (the Byrds), and I Can See For Miles (The Who), all to be included on the Slow Dazzle album.

It never happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et-Gk11mvqM

(Why restrain the Ollie Halsall spam to the Patto thread)

That's a great version! Thanks.

They're both mentioned far upthread, but should be mentioned again. Dead Or Alive from Honi Soit and Hungry For Love from Caribbean Sunset are both sublime, 2 of his best songs.

yeah Hungry for Love never leaves my iPod. The rest of Caribbean Sunset is pretty great too (thanks Bimble for opening my eyes to taht one)

Reissue it on CD with the live album, damnit!

I thought about starting a "singers whose voices haven't shown any/much deterioration after several decades" thread just so I could mention Cale, but it seemed like a thin thread concept. But I just started listening to Circus Live and he's really delivering! 40+ years after The V.U. debut, not bad.

RIP

ha ha

Marc Maron, of all people, has an interview with Cale going up on the WTF Podcast website on Monday.

How is he getting all these musicians lately? In the past 2 months he's had hour-long interviews with Thom Yorke, Nick Cave, Iggy and more.

After midnight in Nookie Wood.

New single, not on Shifty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-yJuwkWsTo&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-yJuwkWsTo&feature=youtu.be

December Rain from Nookie Wood could be sung by Rihanna.

John Cale & Jonathan interviewed in Australia in 1983. JC performs "Chinese Envoy."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W6af7Cj05I

Different interview from the same tour in which Jojo sings "Vincent van Gogh" Would post on a Jonathan thread but I don't know which one so I am posting it here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5D6-7TwDMY

have you guys heard this? damn...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hExyOA7VLF0
more importantly, does anyone have the other track he played "i have nothing left to destroy"?!!!

saw him several times in the 80s, that was a reliable part of the set. third time he moved it over to piano iirc.

he played it when i saw him in knoxville! it was awesome.

oh yeah, he does it all the time, but is it ever as weird/fucked up as this version? yikes!

the version I saw at Fender's in Long Beach circa '86 was really unhinged, as was "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" that night

lol?

Former Velvet Underground star John Cale is to premiere a new work in the UK which will feature the noise of flying drones as they hover over the audience.

The 72-year-old musician, who has often delved into the avant garde, will perform the new "audio-visual collaboration", called LOOP>>60Hz: Transmissions From The Drone Orchestra at the Barbican in London in September.

He is working with the designer and architect Liam Young on the project which will see the drones carrying speakers to project the sound, as well as making mechanical noises of their own which will be incorporated.

Cale, who collected an OBE from Buckingham Palace in 2010 with pink hair, will work with his band to perform songs from his extensive back catalogue.

But he has rearranged them using different tunings and to fit the new format.

Young is aiming to free the drones from their usual associations with surveillance and military uses to make them "choreographed, disembodied instruments which take flight in the auditorium to create a profoundly immersive live music performance", according to the Barbican.

The gallery said it had been through a long process to ensure the performance with the drones met rigorous health and safety rules.

A spokeswoman said: "We've already been through a lengthy planning and approval period with this project to ensure there won't be any risk to audiences attending the performances in September."

The drones will not all be in flight at once but will have choreographed entries and exits through the performances on September 12 and 13, using their own landing point on the stage.

should end with drones murdering the audience tbrr

or at least a chicken

was it necessary to mention the pink hair?

i saw a v. nice amateur programming thing where somebody taught a programmable mini-helicopter drone how to do a tango with a roomba. it was adorable.

or at least a chicken

The drone element didn't really work very well - in this context they were essentially model helicopters made over as children's craft projects - but the concert was pretty good.

Last night irl I made John Cale laugh and blush and also patted him on the shoulder and thanked him sincerely for everything he has done. We also ate brains together!
The satisfaction is indescribable!

Holy crap! Congratulations!

!!!

haha, yes! glad you made it to that event...

!!!! i know!!!! i can't believe it and yet i am 100% sure that it happened. i feel strangely placid tbh.

We also ate brains together!

i really wanted to ask him about orghee but i had to whittle my questions to the most essential

Superb

It is famously famously incredibly difficult to get John Cale to laugh, let alone blush, you are obviously a superhero

He laughed at my flyer!
He blushed when I showed him a picture of the new Gideon bible, which I only took a picture of because Gideon's Bible is one of my favorite songs of all time. His manager was watching the conversation and she said (earnestly, because she didn't have to say anything at all) that he was blushing. My face was on fire for like 5 straight hours so I'm not sure if I was blushing or just really really excited. After I thanked him, I had to go to the bathroom and compose myself because my feelings were leaking out of my eyes.

omg congrats LL!

OMG amazing!

that's incredible!! I saw the photo but didn't know you got to chat & eat brains with him! congrats :)

thanks! i was determined to talk with him -- how could i ever have that opportunity again?! eating brains was an unexpected bonus :)
his speaking voice sounded just like i expected it to
really velvety

this is me sneaking up behind him just in case i didn't get a better pic (i did but i have to wait for it)

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5606/15522404872_d373bf7ae8.jpg

the thing in my hand is my flyer (and a cup of water)

oh good sneaking!

that guy in the bottom right corner made me jump when i realised what i was looking at

Jealous! My only John Cale story is that years ago he signed a copy of his autobiography for me (me and about 5000 other people), the first time I'd ever asked anyone to sign a book for me: then last year I got Joe Boyd to sign his book for me and told him the last person I asked to do this was John Cale and he said, "John, we used to be really good friends and then we fell out and I still don't know why!"

La, was this for publication? If so, link when ready, please!

It wasn't an interview, just a dinner/food orghee

I could report some observations if u have questions but not publish formally or anything.

Any other observations would be greatly appreciated, thanks (also: how did you get to do this, he asked w envy)

it's a long story but i weaseled my way into a fancy dinner that was being held at a restaurant as a fundraiser for public radio.
i have a lot of observations but i would like to say first and foremost that john cale exceeded my expectations wrt being a nice person

Great story. Glad Jim DeRogatis didn't step in the middle...

Join Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot of Sound Opinions for a one-of-a-kind experience.

Chefs Paul Kahan of Nico Osteria, Blackbird, and the Publican, and Matthias Merges of Yusho, Billy Sunday and A10 present a spectacular multi-course dinner inspired by the groundbreaking 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico - with special guest Velvet Underground founder John Cale.

oh they were there alright, it was their show
i was the only person there who showed a significant amount of zeal for the church of anthrax, however :)

Was there a drumkit on hand for you to show off your newly-won skillz0r with, LL?

Ironic trivia: Cale cribbed a big hunk of his autobiography from a feature he did with Kot way back when.

xp - lol no but the possibility of it happening crossed my mind a few times and i enjoyed thinking about what songs i would ask him to play

with me

thinking = daydreaming obvs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tMFqa_K7bg

i was the only person there who showed a significant amount of zeal for the church of anthrax, however :)Where is the love for that? Always found it bracing, esp. on grey-green country days like today.

Vivrancy is like Vintage Violence Leaves Home

much better pic here! http://bit.ly/1w98RyM

so good.

he is the most photogenic person on earth

that made me so heppy

a real lifetime highlight for me tbh!!

That pic totally rules.

A+!

this song is great and i never heard it before today!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0w1TmnxX80
"terry's cha-cha" = terry named the song?

He did a whole WW1-themed thing in Mesen (near Ypres, see your world war history books) last week - including a drastically reworked rendition of the Paris 1919 album. The title track featured, a review said (wasn't there myself), heavy dance beats. This is another song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CowWwu0mOkA

Sounds like Terry playing on that, I don't have that CD, what's the credits?

It's Terry Jennings
I was just wondering if that meant that Terry named it Terry's Cha-Cha or if JC named it that

ah. thought it sounded like Riley.

Happy Holidays from @therealjohncale:
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJohnCale/photos/a.396741823724076.88645.249813671750226/820613624670225/?type=1&theater

But usually more action @johncalenews

(Hey there was at least one more LL pic of her and Cale, where'd it go)

"Projections in conjunction with John Cale's performance at the Whitney." Click it and see, whee! More on YouTube? Will check. Meanwhile:
http://whitneymuseum.tumblr.com/tagged/John-Cale

Not seeing him at the Whitney on YouTube so far, but here's a doc:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkoidS2RtY

it's still there!?

Yes! I just kept overlooking your link; forgot about that & thought the pic itself was posted. Sorry!

Ooo, I need to watch that

John Cale ‏@therealjohncale 9m9 minutes ago

Team @therealjohncale pre-show #Pompidou Work hard, fry brain, have fun! #AbigailPortner #DustinBoyer #deantoniparks
John Cale and Deantoni Parks

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJB92F3WIAAGsD2.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJB9265WsAAMVBY.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJB91mKWsAARLuG.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJB92o_W8AEGpy0.jpg

She's got 3 legs.

Incredible how youthful the guy still looks

Music for a New Society is so brilliant-I can't believe it's been OOP for decades! It needs a vinyl/CD reissue ASAP

I've been plagued with a John Cale earworm so deeply embedded that I heard it in a dream and thought "wow this is the song that has been stuck in my...oh :-/"

The song: "You Know More Than I Know"

Hmmmm. From press release

M:FANS, a radical new reworking of one of John Cale’s most unique and lauded solo records, the 1982 masterpiece Music For A New Society, will be released on January 22, 2016 on Double Six / Domino. View the video for album track “Close Watch,” featuring Dirty Projectors’ Amber Coffman and directed by Abby Portner. Additionally, a fully re-mastered Music For A New Society will be available with three previously unreleased bonus tracks from the original multi-track recordings.

M:FANS explores the relationship between old and new, in terms of the sound and vision, and Cale’s memories of the experience, in terms of his life and the recording. Back and forth M:FANS goes, sampling the original, while creating brand new soundscapes, giving Cale the opportunity for closure on one of the most testing eras of his life, and a way to keep moving forward. Cale shares his thoughts on the reworking:

“Making any form of art is always personal to my mind. During the making of M:FANS, I found myself loathing each and every character written about in those original recording sessions of Music For... Unearthing those tapes reopened those wounds. It was time to decimate the despair from 1981 and breathe new energy, re-write the story. Then, the unthinkable happened. What had informed so much over lost and twisted relationships in 1981 had now come full circle. Losing Lou [too painful to understand] forced me to upend the entire recording process and begin again...a different perspective - a new sense of urgency to tell a story from a completely opposite point of view - what was once sorrow, was now a form of rage. A fertile ground for exorcism of things gone wrong and the realization they are unchangeable. From sadness came the strength of fire!!!”

With Cale’s current band (featured on his last studio album Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood) involved again, the new versions that constitute M:FANS are more fleshed-out, heavier concoctions, in line with his current electronic/chopped-up configurations

M:FANS and Music For A New Society will be released as a 2xCD package with both albums also packaged together on digital stores. Both albums will also be available on 12” vinyl, with M:FANS arriving on 2xLP. Music For A New Society comes with a download card of the three unreleased bonus tracks as listed below

glad that music for a new society is being reissued, not sure about the reimagining... but we'll see!

hmm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trotjp3yCPw

that was unexpected

I didn't really get into the nooky wooky album and I was hoping he would do something a little less busy (if that's the word) but I like the new close watch

And of course the reissue is great news whatever

Where is cale on the bacon continuum I wonder

guess he's still on the autotune kick. thought shifty adventures was decent, but i can probably do w/o hearing this one again...

I pretty much hate that rework but it's great to see him still looking fly as fuck

I like this "Close Watch" quite a bit.

in theory i like that cale is doing weird unexpected stuff at this stage in his career rather than just coasting

Video by Abby Portner, who he's been collaborating with lately, they did something together at the Whitney I think and maybe a tour? She's the sister of Avey Tare from Animal Collective, for what that's worth.

hmm, i heard a rumor that cale was collab-ing w/ animal collective some time earlier this year.

John Cale is not on the bacon continuum, don't even consider pursuing that angle
Even when his experiments are kinda goofy or ill-conceived he's still experimenting and he's still alive and super fly too so please.

haha, i'm not sure what the bacon continuum even is ...

lol I love john cale, it was an idle thought that I will happily abandon (although if it turned out he was bill murray people calling him things like "super fly" would be exhibit a)

ugh i only used that word because someone else used it upthread and i was furtively typing on my phone full of horror at john cale being spoken about that way
i have nothing but earnest reverence and there will be no bacon the end!

that rework is pretty pleasant as a new song but it completely loses the haunting feeling that's at the core of the orginal.

If they tour this I'm there

+1

Disagree that this version isn't haunting – they all are, tho I have a special place for the gothic rendition (replete with bizarre military bagpipe coda) on Music For a New Society .

One of the things I love about this song is that Cale seems to have written it very deliberately as some kind of modern standard (did he write it for Sinatra? can't remember), what with the style, the orchpop arrangement and, of course, the Cash quote. And while it was never really embraced that way outside of his own fanbase, the song has become very much a standard for him. This version plays as kind of a high concept remix, with the treated vocals and MPC/Burroughs-style cutups shifting the focus from the sentimentality of the much loved refrain to the bleak fatalism of the verses.

Anyway, I was a fan of Nooky Wood's songs and sound – will be interested in MFANS.

listened to this remake a couple more times and it's kind of growing on me! Caaaaale!!!
i think Cale did say at some point he wrote it w/ sinatra in mind ... i actually can imagine scott walker owning it in the 70s.

The Sinatra thing is mentioned in the liner notes to the island years iirc

Also the first time I heard the new version I heard the processed "never win, never lose" as "heroin, never Lou"

haha
think my fave version of "close watch" is the fragments of a rainy season solo performance ... his vocal there is perfect: "i still hear your voice at night / when i turn out the light / and try to settle down"

The Fragments versions are pretty much my favorite versions of all of those songs.

yeah i was thinking that as i was typing it:
think my fave version of "_________" is the fragments of a rainy season solo performance. that record is unbelievable.

It's the first piece of evidence I use in my argument that people dismiss live albums at their own peril.

Yeah, Fragments versions, in particular, of that song, "Dying on the Vine" and "Cordoba" are the definite ones as far as i'm concerned.

yep

Playing roundhouse & philharmonie de Paris in feb btw but dunno if that's mfans: the tour or just like, a show

this one too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTpiadDuA5o

Having overspent on poorly recorded bootlegs of solo Cale, I was thrilled when Fragments was released in 92. Saw him perform twice in 1988 and 1989, the first with Chris Spedding and the second solo, and was growing a bit desperate for a document of those stripped yet intense versions. "Dying On The Vine" is particularly definitive on this collection.

That ws the first Cale song I ever heard and I still think it's one of his v best. Hearing the original version ws a bit of a shock.

heads up this is on spotify

this?

the thread

pisssssssss

sorry

music for a new society reissue/2016 redux

So I gave this a listen and, while it's an interesting reinterpretation, I don't understand why he felt the need to turn it into an opera. I mean, the original is already quite intense, but here he's added even MORE drama to it all.

So over on the Blackstar thread I posted 'bout how KMUW's "Strange Currencies" ignored the FCC or Public Radio rule somebody mentioned vs. playing more than one track by a given artist per hour, as they celebrated Bo's birthday with an hour of hits & album tracks, then a second hour of guest shots etc (like on Ronson's Slaughter On Tenth Avenue). And right now, for the hell of it apparently, they're following tracks from M:Fans, Songs For Drella and The Matrix Tapes with the Rock N Roll Animal "Sweet Jane". Not all Cale, but not bad. (More from M:Fans coming up.)

Changes Made in the style of Joy Division on M:FANS is p lolz

riyl dark morbid spiritual soundscapes

Thoughtless Kind as Kanye also pretty funny.

Changes Made in the style of Joy Division on M:FANS is p lolz

hahaha the reworking is a blast

which it feels weird to characterize anything about this album as a "blast" but idk he kinda made it fun

haha, yeah, i think i'd call it "fun", too! which is quite a feat, considering these songs.

also "back to the end" is super gorgeous

if I didn't like the "Close Watch" rework will I still find things to like y/n

definitely, every rework is pretty distinct

http://www.stereogum.com/1869163/watch-john-cale-play-the-velvet-underground-nico-with-animal-collective-the-libertines-mark-lanegan/video/

No-thanks

I refuse to listen to anything a member of Animal Collective has contributed to

I feel the same about the Libertines.

agggh no

http://concert.arte.tv/fr/john-cale-and-guests-velvet-underground-nico

(= same thing as before but complete and HD)

John Cale ‏@therealjohncale 37m37 minutes ago
Its official, @therealjohncale joins #BowieProms on July 29 Royal Albert Hall
http://bit.ly/29rbHdd

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnBoy2GWEAAPKj0.jpg:large

Cool.

Just was listing to "in Every Dream Home A Heartache" and thinking how much Bryan Ferry's vocal sounded like John Cale. In fact before I recognized what song it was really thought it was John Cale.

Baby John Cale! He whispered "I performed in a concert that lasted 18 hours" into a game show host's ear <3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=0mqO-xsRyTM

That Welsh accent is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

He's playing at the Joshua Tree Desert Daze festival this coming weekend, and Terry Riley is also on the bill for the same day. I'm thinking how cool it would be if they do some Church of Anthrax stuff together.

http://desertdaze.org/

that video just set me up for the day :)

Is Even Cowgirls Get The Blues still available? He was really intense in the late 70s, did a bit of a twin guitar thing going on .
NOt sure taht's even his best from the era but him between like 76 and 81 live is pretty great, certainly up to the turn of the 80s.

I got a few sets fo his from Dime and other torrent sites that are great.

He's playing at the Joshua Tree Desert Daze festival this coming weekend, and Terry Riley is also on the bill for the same day. I'm thinking how cool it would be if they do some Church of Anthrax stuff together.

Riley is playing the same stage, immediately before Cale, so looks very promising (I'm going).

I'm not, unfortunately, but this does look like the best festival I've seen in So Cal for a long time.

Is Even Cowgirls Get The Blues still available? He was really intense in the late 70s, did a bit of a twin guitar thing going on .
NOt sure taht's even his best from the era but him between like 76 and 81 live is pretty great, certainly up to the turn of the 80s.

I got a few sets fo his from Dime and other torrent sites that are great.

I, uh, may have written a fairly long piece on this era recently: http://www.furious.com/perfect/johncalecowgirls.html

You can check out a pretty wide selection of late 70s shows, particularly the 1979 tour, under the Cale section here:

http://tela.sugarmegs.org/alpha/j.html

that's a great read

thanks a lot! There were a couple older ilx threads that helped me first get my bearings of the era before I started digging around more to write it.

Agreed, really good piece.

I've always been fascinated by this era but never really heard anything with decent sound. Of the recordings available, are any of the boots of better quality than Cowgirls?

Reading that excellent Perfect Sound Forever article (thanks!) got me thinking. Anyone put together a better sound quality version of the "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" bootleg? Tyler, this seems right up your alley. ;-)

agggh live Church of Anthrax?!!?? jealous!!

Seems unlikely, tbh, but there may be some Cale/Riley interaction.

Of the recordings available, are any of the boots of better quality than Cowgirls?

― Naive Teen Idol

yes, I don't have my bootlegs to hand at the moment but iirc Dallas 1976 is totally goddamn amazing and sounds WAY better, I'll go through what I have and post more this evening. Pretty sure there's also a Toronto show with a bunch of great performances in slightly lower quality.

oh I see I wrote this thing:

http://shardsofbeauty.blogspot.com/2011/01/john-cale-live-in-late-70s-got-my.html

so those shows were Dallas '79 and Philadelphia '79

I should really fix those dead links

Yes please!

gimme a day or two

There was a compilation of unreleased late 70s/80s John Cale that circulated in 2013, really great stuff and mostly better sound quality than the "Cowgirls" boot (and completely different songs).

is that the one just called "Unreleased Songs"?
yeah, cale should really do a boxed set gathering together some good live tapes from this era (Sabotage redux?). was always surprised at the lo-fi quality of Cowgirls ... great performances though.

and great article, whitehallunity! definitely is going to send me back down the rabbit hole with late 70s cale

Looks like the Danceteria cd is going for a lot of £, that's the one that I picked up in Dublin about 25 years ago.
Wondered if anybody else had picked it up after taht. I don't think I've even heard anything about ROIR itself recently.
How does Cale feel about that era? Sounds like he was pretty messed up at the time

haha, yeah, all these shows sound pretty alcoholic ... can't really remember reading his later opinions about this era.

He either sounds drunk or miserably hungover during that whole period, so probably hard or unpleasant to recall. Any links to that 2013/Unreleased Songs thing? Really love this period.

Not seeing it listed now, but I saw him in 79 or 80, Birmingham AL, with Deerfrance, George Scott---think there were two full-time guitarists (Cale played it occasionally)? Maybe transitional, as the excellent new xpost PSF piece mentions: they did material from Sabotage Live, also "Pablo Picasso", "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues", and several others from the s/t LP, which I ordered from a Voice ad of mid-80s (don't remember how it sounded, but I prob cut it some slack for durty nostalgia's sake). He seemed right at home, even got doggie beggin' paws for my photog buddy during the smog-ripping "Walking The Dog", playing percussion on his hardhat (which he was wearing) while Deerfrance did her thing, kicked back with boots up on the keyboard, playing white noise guitar for a while, also the piano itself re "Waiting For My Man"---maybe he was drunk, but no prob that night.

Thanks again for all the compliments on the article, really means a lot. The link I posted earlier has nearly every 79 era show available as streaming mp3s. Here's some of the better ones:

New Yorker Theatre, Toronto, Feb 19th 1977:

http://ia600203.us.archive.org/10/items/JohnCale1977-02-19TorontoOntarioCanada/JohnCale1977-02-19TorontoOntarioCanada.mp3?cnt=0

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1977-02-19TorontoOntarioCanada.html

CBGBs, Dec 31st 78:

http://ia601408.us.archive.org/7/items/JohnCale1978-12-31CGGBsNYC/JohnCale1978-12-31CGGBsNYC.mp3?cnt=0

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1978-12-31CGGBsNYC.html

The Edge, Toronto, March 21st 1979:

http://ia600502.us.archive.org/16/items/JohnCale1979-03-21TheEdgeTorontoCanada/JohnCale1979-03-21TheEdgeTorontoCanada.mp3?cnt=0

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1979-03-21TheEdgeTorontoCanada.html

Palladium, Dallas, April 21st 1979:

http://www.archive.org/serve/JohnCale1979-04-21PalladiumDallasTX/JohnCale1979-04-21PalladiumDallasTX.mp3

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1979-04-21PalladiumDallasTX.html

Whisky A-Go-Go, April 30th 1979:

http://ia902707.us.archive.org/19/items/JohnCale1979-04-30WhiskAGoGoLosAngelesCA/JohnCale1979-04-30WhiskAGoGoLosAngelesCA.mp3?cnt=0

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1979-04-30WhiskAGoGoLosAngelesCA.html

There's lots more on that site if you browse around.

I had to refrain from going into even more detail about individual tapes in the article, but all the Toronto shows (near and dear to my heart being from Hamilton, just outside T.O.) from that period are nuts in the best way, as is the Dallas show from 79.

Great, thanks so much!! Wondering also about that tela post of a presumably somewhat musical encounter with Lester Bangs( I like LB's "Let It Blurt", the single on Cale's Spy label).

excellent PSF article btw, thanks

i'll upload that unreleased comp when i can ...

here it is: https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/166501611517/john-cale-unreleased-songs-unreleased-cale-here

thanks!

Thanks!

Awesome, thanks

nice child's christmas in wales cover on that blog too!

eyewitness testimony:
John Cale, who turned 75 in March, used his two programs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last week to look back at half a century and to stare unblinkingly into the future.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/arts/music/john-cale-velvet-underground-bam-live.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur

https://www.bam.org/media/9577216/john-cale-b-2000x762.jpg

I was up in NY and went to the Friday program-- Cale and indie-rockers doing an out of order 50th anniversary tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico album, plus a few more songs. Cale sounded good instrumentally and on vocals, although he barely talked between songs and never introduced bandmembers or guests. I was underwhelmed with the band that included Deantoni Parks from Mars Volta on drums. Guitarist Kurt Vile added appropriately noisy stringwork on “Run Run Run,” and singer Caroline Polachek who was in a group called Chairlift was impressive on “Sunday Morning.” Not so good were Sky Ferreria (she sounded nervous and did a rushed,alternate melody for "I'll Be Your Mirror"...Will Hermes in his Rolling Stone review was underwhelmed too).
Animal Collective, and MGMT did not seem like they belonged up there, and Tunde from TV on the Radio did not wow on his vocals on "Heroin." There was a string section on some songs, nice old-school and psychedelic backing visuals, and a closing rendition of “Sister Ray” with everyone onstage adding to the cacophony.

#kurtvile & #chairlift singer #carolinepolachek sounded good. Better than #mgmt & #animalcollective . Everyone was onstage for closing #sisterray .

haha what's with the hashtags?

sounds like a nice evening all in all

Oops, mistakenly cut and pasted something from my Instagram. I was happy seeing Cale sing and play despite the flaws. A friend, on the other hand, grumbled that the flaws ruined it for him-- He wanted a better band and guests, plus Cale to talk in detail between songs about their history and to acknowledge the audience and the guests with more than just hand gestures. Last year I saw part of an outdoors at Lincoln Center tribute to Lou Reed that Yo La Tengo, Don Fleming , Lenny Kaye and others who seemed much better choices to play VU music. Other than Vile and Polachek, most of the guests with Cale did not seem like the right choices (nervously reading music and altering VU instrumentation and melodies in ways that did not work).

with Yo La Tengo not "that"

His show of solo material on Saturday was largely wonderful. I kind of knew the VU stuff would be problematic, and decided to skip it. I've heard their songs enough in my life. The new Cale songs, full of samples and noise, largely eclipsed the scattered straight classics that he played. I enjoyed Fear is a Man's Best Briend, but it still sounded like an exercise in nostalgia, where the new tracks were often pretty amazing. Cale walks with some difficulty, but sings and plays strongly. There was something going on with color stains on the musicians' clothing that was hard to follow. But yes, without having seen the first two shows, I'm very happy that I picked the third. Very little talk. He ended with 3 new songs, all of which were extremely good, and the concert ended on a high note. Version of Hedda Gabler was something I won't forget, nor new song Hatred.

Hope the solo material shows up on youtube. I saw most of the Lincoln Center VU/Lou tribute streaming live and free somewhere---we discussed it on some other thread---and yeah it was great, cool, powerful, expert, even witty (one of my faves was the Three Mile Island version of "Disco Mystic," with Day-Glo Afro wig girls singing the title and waving protest signs emblazoned with it). Laurie pitched in a couple times too, on her violin, and I suspect she curated (not usually big on that word, but deserved here).

Has she ever worked with Cale?

good q, don't think so.

Laurie Anderson and Hal Willner curated the Lincoln Center Tribute to Lou thing together, and production of the outdoor event was handled by Don Fleming (per Will Hermes review of that Aug. 2016 event in Rolling Stone).

Not sure how Cale ended up with the folks he performed with at Brooklyn Academy of Music over the weekend

Avey Tare of Animal Collective's sister does his live visuals. May be a connection there.

heard something about cale playing on an upcoming Animal Collective release too.

I recently found myself having a conversation with a young person who was a real music enthusiast and the conversation came around to VU and I said that I am a John Cale partisan and he was like really? More than Lou? And then I asked if he had ever heard JC's solo stuff and he hadn't. How envious I was of him at that moment! He gets to discover so many great songs and albums and JC's sense of humor and romantic side and angry side and everything that is great about John Cale.

Since then, I have gone on a major JC bender and it feels so good. Oh, and the conversation happened to be on John Cale's birthday, this past Saturday!! He is the best. I want to play a set of JC solo covers like reeeeeal bad :)

nice! John Cale is definitely the best. He's on instagram now, too! https://www.instagram.com/therealjohncale/

ooh! followed immediately
i really would like to play a set of covers -- i've never seen anyone else do that and i would enjoy both hearing it and playing it. i'm already prepared! come at me, interested parties.

you + me + cordoba?

i'd be interested if i was anywhere nearby. john cale songs are fun to learn — mostly pretty simple, but with a bunch of cool twists. child's christmas in wales is a blast to figure out on piano.

speaking of cale covers, i had forgotten about this one til last week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfFkg-rDlFY

I don't know of a cover set having been done, but related to that, this site seems to do a reasonably good job at keeping track of cover versions of Cale songs.

i retain a deep love for the soft boys' cover of cale's cover of heartbreak hotel

Wait, David Sylvian covered "Hanky Panky Nohow"? I'll believe it when I hear it.

Has there really been no notable covers of "Dying on the Vine"? Shame, that.

I've played, "Child's Christmas", "Buffalo Ballet", "Gun" and "Heartbreak Hotel" live, fwiw.

Yes, his songs are gratifying simple and easy to learn. For the most part.

more people in the 70s should've been covering Cale ... like why didn't Sandy Denny sing "Buffalo Ballet" or something?

his lyrics are so good too -- i don't feel apprehensive about singing most of them, at least the songs i like the best. aside from neil young, i can't think of a single other old man whose songs feel as comfortable for me to sing, not only because the lyrics are frequently abstract, unexpected, lighthearted AND heavy, and not dripping with misogyny but also probably from many years of practice lol

i doubt i have what it takes to get the job done, but i would love to organize a john cale tribute album!! has there been one of those?

good question, I don't think so!

strange but yeah, i don't know if there has been a cale tribute album. seems like something that would've happened circa 1998.

ha, totally

Sally Timms did a good "Half Past France," as best I recall (mid-90s). Yall post your covers!

may have posted this before, but here's one my buddy and i did a little while back -- it came out OK!

https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/19004648939/childs-christmas-in-wales-john-cale-john

I'm just gonna rep once more for the outstanding collection of unreleased Cale songs that Tyler has hosted on his blog - tracklisting upthread.

Awright Tyler Songster!

Oh yeah---recently on Little Feat - S&D, C/D

How did you wind up getting Lowell George, Bill Payne and Richie Hayward of Little Feat to play on Paris 1919 ?
I loved that album Dixie Chicken. That tone on [George’s] guitar was very sweet. It was the grooves that he had. And after playing me an early cut of that record, Ted Templeman at Warner Bros. said to me: “Why don’t you use Little Feat as a backup band for Paris ?” He organized it.
one of lots of good tidbits here: https://relix.com/articles/detail/the-shifty-adventures-of-john-cale/
Somewhere else JC mentioned that Wilton Felder, who played bass w the Feats on this occasion (in a studio line-up billed as Penguin), read or at least had the Bible on his music stand during the sessions.
Interesting take on post-VU Sterling too.

I felt like such a nerd or geek for finally clawing at the Reprise/Rhino UK reissue of Paris 1919, with all those alt versions---well the prev. unreleased "Burnt-Out Affair" may have tipped the scales---tried to cancel the order, but sure glad I failed. "Affair" is a somewhat countryoid gothic waltz, closer to Vintage Violence musically, as Matthew Spektor's occasionally too-hip booklet notes point out, though he's also right that the lyrics (and vocal) fit right into this album proper; he even hears it as a kind secret key track, at least the way it shifted, maybe sharpened the focus of the whole project.
Dunno if he's right about that one song, but for me, all of these basic combo and solo versions bring the songs closer, with JC's voice first among equals: "Child's Christmas" with insistent acoustic strumming and I never knew he could play organ like this; here's a family of two (well more counting the voice and the people, places, things he's singing about). Drone Mix of "Hanky Panky No How" has folk-based viola, maybe with a little violin added to the chorus. "Endless Plain of Fortune" the combo coming off well in very non-Little Feat x Jazz Crusaders mode, "Andalucia" a finger-picking picnic, with just the right slide and bass notes, more closet-folkie Velvets than ever. "Macbeth" still rawks hawtly, with and without vocals (inst. is one of the hidden tracks). Sinister grooving strings on one alt mix of title track prove to be children of his piano on another, also lovely voice & keys alone on "Half Past France" and "Antarctica Starts Here."
The orchestrations sometimes seem like they're going to overload my decidedly sub-audiophile headphones and boombox---they don't, but it's good to have the other versions too.

Don, when is your book coming out?

wait what book?

No pressure;)

Ha, thanks again James!

Not to be that guy but I really didn’t like the sound on the expanded Paris 1919 & ended up going back to the 90s CD

Yes- what book?

Good question! I'll check the 90s CD too, wouldn't hurt to hear another shot at those orchestrations. Amazon has a series of remasters incl. Fear, Academy in Peril, Helen of Troy, and Slow Dazzle---the last two aren't on Spotify, sooo (or I could just buy a new record player and listen to my old records).

(But I couldn't afford a record player better than my CD boombox.)

The Island Years is on Spotify. It has everything from Fear, H.O.T, and Slow Dazzle plus rare & unreleased stuff.

^^ if you're only gonna own one Cale set, that's the one

Thanks yall! Speaking of covers, Wiki sez:
Songs from Paris 1919 have been covered by such notable musicians as Yo La Tengo, Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield, Owen Pallett, the Dave Soldier String Quartet, Love and Rockets' David J, Okkervil River, Jay Bennett and Edward Burch, and Sally Timms.[21]

John Cale will be performing at Levitation fest in Austin on Nov 9!

not in love with the idea of seeing him at a festival but the lineup does look pretty great even if i have seen a number of the bands before

Intriguing! Think you might go? Please report back if you do.
Okay, (Jon Not Jon) and that guy on Amazon, I agree that the 90s Warner Archives Paris 1919 does seem to sound better than Rhino UK---which is still worth having for "Burnt-Out Affair" and the forceful clarity of unorchestrated alt takes.

it's not til november -- anything can happen i guess! i'm definitely not NOT going!

Anyone catch his set at Levitation? Curious about what it was like.

He is coming to my city in January so I got tickets for that :) A little something to look forward to.

I was in Austin that night, but I saw Sleater-Kinney. Here's a review of that Cale show:

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2019-11-10/levitation-john-cale-black-angels/

omg, thanks! Will have to find a recording of that.

i watched some of his paris show with cate lebon — he looked/sounded great!

what a dream duo for me

yes that collab makes excellent sense

I saw him last night!!!

Who wants to hear about it?!!?

me!! I heard he played "Helen Of Troy"!

Did he remember you from the last time when you made him blush, LL?

I'll go ahead and share regardless. The set was really cohesive in sound -- the band was three dudes I didn't recognize and he went back and forth from guitar to an electric piano. Yhe arrangements (even of songs that have widely varying original versions) all shared a certain feel that was totally John Cale TM. I enjoyed that. He indeed started off w Helen of Troy and that was pretty much the vibe maintained throughout the...90+ min set. He seemed in good spirits. One short encore for "Emily" <3

He did not see me in order to recognize me in spite of my colorful outfit, lol

The only VU song he played was Waiting for the Man -- and this other thing I didn't recognize where he said the words "Velvet Underground" but it was more of a spoken word thing? Not sure what that was. The visuals were fine -- nothing too extraordinary. I had to avert my eyes from a super-emaciated woman toward the end but other than that it was very John Cale.

It was decidedly NOT a hits set -- it was a carefully organized and coherent set. I appreciated that. He played a few new songs too! One called "Wasteland" iirc? They were good. He did play "Fear is a Man's Best Friend" and that made me happy :) I think that was the only song my partner recognized because he has had to hear me sing it all the time lol

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/john-cale/2020/rubloff-auditorium-at-the-art-institute-of-chicago-chicago-il-1b9899f0.html

Spoken word thing = Style It Takes (from Songs for Drella)? What a great set.

nice, sounds like a great show. seems like he's definitely due for a new album.

"where he said the words "Velvet Underground" but it was more of a spoken word thing?"

could this be "style it takes"? but Cale's rendition on record is not spoken word…tho reed's songs on drella could be described accurately as such…

Hedda Gabler! Would love to see him again, it's been too long. Sounds like a great show, LL!

omg did not realize he played that, my fave

He was wearing a black suit that was half checkered/half plain black and his hair was fortunately all white. Dignified, but with a sense of humor. Easily the coolest dude of his generation!!!

It was a great show. I appreciate that he still cares to put together a set that varied/not just lean back and play some hits. He has plenty of hits but he worked w this band to play this set and it showed. Well done!!

"hits" = "crowd faves" in this context, not chart toppers :)

also the tickets were extremely reasonably priced!! $25 for museum members/$35 for non-members

for 90+ min of JOHN CALE!!

damn that sounds awesome, i'm more than a little jealous tbqf

Set list looks interesting. Second tune and others are some of my personal hits.

Oh the Gun/Pablo Picasso pastiche was exceptionally good.

From Jessica at PitchPerfectPR:

Kelly Lee Owens Collaborates With John Cale On “Corner Of My Sky”
https://kellyleeowens.lnk.to/cornerofmysky

Inner Song Out August 28th via Smalltown Supersound

Kelly Lee Owens...specializes in tracks that move between conventionally pretty songs and stark dance music that pushes everything but the beat to the background.”
- Wall Street Journal

“‘Melt!’ makes for both a club banger and a political comment, a dazzling dance macabre for impending environmental collapse.” - Pitchfork

“[‘On’ is] anything but simple, though, mutating from an angelic choral pop song to a sweaty bubbling beat over the course of five minutes.” - Stereogum

“Mesmeric techno deliverance from start to finish.” - FADER

Producer/musician Kelly Lee Owens collaborates with John Cale on a foreboding new single, “Corner Of My Sky (feat. John Cale)," from her forthcoming album Inner Song, out August 28th on Smalltown Supersound. The two Welsh artists first met in London while working on a song for Cale, which prompted a future collaboration for Inner Song. In “Corner Of My Sky,” Cale sings in both English and Welsh over Owens’ droning, psychedelic lullaby. The track follows a string of previously released singles and videos - “On,” “Night,” and “Melt!”

Cale comments, “It's not usually this immediate that a productive afternoon brings a satisfying conclusion to a task. Kelly sent me a track she'd written - an instrumental that was a gentle drift - something comfortably familiar to what I'd been working on myself. On the first listen, the lyrics came with ease and a chorus and melody grew out of it. Even the Welsh phrases seemed to develop from a place of reflective memory which was a surprise since I hadn't written in Welsh for decades. Once finished, I realized there existed a built-in thread we'd created together and apart - and her kind spirit pulled it all together and in quick order.”

Owens elaborates, “I knew with this album I needed to connect with my roots and therefore having the Welsh language featured on the record felt very important to me. Once the music for the track was written and the sounds were formed, I sent the track straight to John and asked if he could perhaps delve into his Welsh heritage and tell the story of the land via spoken-word, poetry and song. What he sent back was nothing short of phenomenal. The arrangement was done during the mixing process and once I’d finished the track, I cried - firstly feeling incredibly lucky to have collaborated with John and his eternal talent and secondly for both of us to have been able to connect to our homeland in this way.”

Inner Song is the follow-up to Owens’ self-titled debut, which was recognized as one of the most critically praised albums of 2017. Inner Song finds Owens diving deep into her own psyche—working through the struggles she's faced over the last several years while embracing the beauty of the natural world. Sonically, Inner Song’s hair-raising bass and tickling textures drive home that Owens is locked into delivering maximal aural pleasure, whether it be on a techno banger, a glimmering electro-pop number, or a Radiohead cover.

it pains me to do this, but i was just listening through a "new release" playlist, and i have 2 questions:

1) is "lazy day" a real song by john cale or is this mislabeled?
2) is this the worst song of the year

ok, the last 2 minutes is better and makes me think that yes, john cale is in there

yeah that's, um... that's... wow. That's very bad.

I ... liked it. I’d rather hear him doing that than mellowing out.

after hearing that im not sure he can get any more clinically mellow

"Lazy Day" is his best tune in years.

I like it, reminds me of 5 songs era a bit with extra idgaf old dude swag

i'm sorry, to be more specific: the part 29 seconds in, the first vocals "lazy day, lazy day", til about 40 seconds in.

that was what prompted me to post it. actually, not just that it happens, but that it repeats again at 57 seconds

i do think it generally goes get better after a couple minutes into the song. there was just something gobsmacking about that first minute, having not heard any recent music of his

generally *does

I think this is actually pretty great? most times I've dipped into c21st John Cale I've been fairly unmoved, but this is cool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_PD9HllOMM

^^dir by Abby Portner who also dir'd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln77F25hXVQ

It sounds like Was (Not Was) covering "Blackstar"

"Artificial Intelligence" is fuckin' great. Just discovered it this week after avoiding for years due to a bad rep. Had I known his band on this were The Faction (Nico's band on 1985's "Camera Obscura" - another longtime fave of mine) I would've listened sooner. Icy and bitter with a nice, yet not overwhelming, cokey sheen.

Artificial Intelligence is certainly worth listening to, sort of the terminal stage of the "crazy man" phase of Cale's career. The sheen is sometimes better than the songs.

I'd have to properly judge a song like Lazy Day in the context of an album. The video is good but the song doesn't register on a casual listen.

We picked up Dracula in Memphis

You know more than I know

you know more than I know

https://www.closerweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/honeymooners-main.jpg

nice cover of a Vintage Violence tune here:
https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2021/05/04/the-lagniappe-sessions-real-estate/

Some nice pictures here: https://www.schmitt-hall-studios.com/ron/JohnCale_03.19_21.79_Pix.htm

80 today!

Hope he can still afford to orgy

Came here to post, and just now re-read this whole thread--

Today, John Cale presents “Night Crawling,” his first new music since 2020 when he released the single, “Lazy Day,” and collaborated with Kelly Lee Owens on “Corner of My Sky.” “Night Crawling” is a taste of much more to come from Cale, and precedes his fall UK tour, which includes his first performances since pre-pandemic (more to come on the touring front in 2023, as well). Cale wrote “Night Crawling” with a nod to '70s NYC pre-disco, recalling times when he and David Bowie would traverse the city at night. Throughout the track, Cale layers his inimitable vocals with a skipping beat and hovering bass. As it expands, it becomes nearly danceable with jockeying percussion and whirs of synth. Cale played nearly every instrument on the track, aside from additional drums by Deantoni Parks and backing vocals by Dustin Boyer, and it was mixed by Seven Davis, Jr.. The accompanying video, animated by Mickey Miles, visualizes the song’s vibrant sounds with colorful, retro animation.

Cale further explains: “It’s been a helluva past 2 years and I’m glad to finally share a glimpse of what’s coming ahead. There was this period around mid-late '70s when David and I would run into each other in NY. There was plenty of talk about getting some work done but of course we’d end up running the streets, sometimes until we couldn’t keep a thought in our heads, let alone actually get a song together! One night we managed to meet up for a benefit concert where I taught him a viola part so we could perform together. When I wrote ‘Night Crawling,’ it was a reflective moment of particular times. That kind of NYC that held art in its grip, strong enough to keep it safe and dangerous enough to keep it interesting. I always figured we’d have another go at the two of us recording together, this time without the interference of being perpetually off our heads! The thing about creating music is the ability to divine a thought or feeling even when reality says it’s a logical impossibility.”

Watch John Cale’s Video for “Night Crawling”

John Cale Tour Dates
Sun. Oct. 23 - Edinburgh, UK @ The Queen’s Hall
Mon. Oct. 24 - York, UK @ Barbican
Fri. Oct. 28 - Cardiff, WLS @ Llais Festival *
Mon. Oct. 31 - Whitley Bay, UK @ Playhouse Whitley Bay
Thu. Nov. 3 - Birmingham, UK @ Birmingham Town Hall
Mon. Nov. 7 - Bexhill on Sea, UK @ De La Warr Pavilion
Wed. Nov. 9 - London, UK @ The London Palladium
Thu. Nov. 10 - Cambridge, UK @ Cambridge Corn Exchange
Fri. Nov. 11 - Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

* = John Cale + special guests, 80th Birthday Celebration

So grateful for John Cale's continuing presence

One night we managed to meet up for a benefit concert where I taught him a viola part so we could perform together.

i think i saw this! it was a benefit for columbia's wkcr at carnegie hall in 1979.
https://www.chisholm-poster.com/large/CL71352.jpg

what a time to have been alive

haha yeah but that thing was, like, 5 hours long. a little bit of minimalism goes a long way. totally cool to see bowie.

haha, I believe you

Cool to see Model Citizens on the bill, they'd have been fun I bet. They morphed into the Dance who were pretty good esp during the earlier stuff and are just now getting the reissue treatment from Sundazed of all people.

sad to say i don't even remember their set. either they got swallowed up by the hallowed hall and lost to memory or maybe i just missed it?

members of Model Citizens also went on to Polyrock with Glass playing on some of their records (and Cale produced the MC 7").

Yeah, their albums were also co-produced by Glass, with Kurt Muncasi: pretty good in that respect, also Glass's keys, but I don't remember the core group as having distinctive songs or performance styles. But maybe they'd sound better now, without any pesky Talking Heads etc. all over the place.

first heard them on RCA's Blitz comp (odd one with Bow Wow Wow, Sparks, etc.). like all 3 of their albums but haven't heard the ROIR cassette.

sorry to sidetrack from Cale. like the new track and very happy to see him back touring. last time I saw him (Desert Daze 2017) he was fantastic with a great young band. angry and bleak, opening with Hedda Gabler/The Endless Plain of Fortune/Rosegarden Funeral of Sores and then an especially dark and extended Heartbreak Hotel, before starting let some light in with Hanky Panky Nohow.

You know more than I know

No one listens to it
They don’t believe it
But it’s the only way for me

you know more than i know

that phrase should always command an exact response

Someone gave me a recording of Cale's Gluepot performance years ago, and it is so killer. Parts of the ChCh Show aired on Radio With Pictures, with Chris Knox doing his own wacko version of 'Streets of Laredo'. CC: @JokermenPodcast https://t.co/9ftxTOR1x5 https://t.co/f0CGh5LpFj

— Matthew Goody (@m_c_goody) August 24, 2022

retweet is by The Matthew Goody:

This week my upcoming book Needles & Plastic: Flying Nun Records 1981 - 1988 was sent off to the printers and I'm pleased to finally share the cover.@AUPBooks / @thirdmanbooks will release it this November. pic.twitter.com/iTh66fz7q0

— Matthew Goody (@m_c_goody) July 8, 2022

Via revival of primeval primavera Go-Between thread, followed an ancient doomandgloom GoB link (which didn't work) to a Sabotage tour link which does work: nicely narsty show w relatively mellower bits---

https://64.media.tumblr.com/638a33b146b176fcac8dbf5ff859f850/3f3144fda7db6f1b-76/s1280x1920/d7d11278611e1b65a45f704b6aa7d40d1a9526fc.png

Scroll down this page, past live Silver Jews link (which I haven't checked yet):

https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/352964735/he-lives-my-life-the-go-betweens-in-the-2000s

Domino just announced a new album will be released in January:

MERCY

20TH JANUARY 2023

For nearly 60 years, John Cale has been reimagining how his music is made, sounds, and even works. MERCY, Cale’s first full album in a decade, moves through true dark-night-of-the-soul electronic torment toward vulnerable love songs and hopeful considerations for the future with the help of some of music’s most curious young minds. Cale has always searched for new ways to explore old ideas of alienation, hurt, and joy; MERCY is the latest transfixing find of this unsatisfied mind.

1. MERCY feat. Laurel Halo
2. MARILYN MONROE'S LEGS (beauty elsewhere) feat. Actress
3. NOISE OF YOU
4. STORY OF BLOOD feat. Weyes Blood
5. TIME STANDS STILL feat. Sylvan Esso
6. MOONSTRUCK (Nico's Song)
7. EVERLASTING DAYS feat. Animal Collective
8. NIGHT CRAWLING
9. NOT THE END OF THE WORLD
10. THE LEGAL STATUS OF ICE feat. Fat White Family
11. I KNOW YOU'RE HAPPY feat. Tei Shi
12. OUT YOUR WINDOW

Nookie Wood was pretty fascinating. Cale has a singular gift with lyrics that tell an authoritative and engrossing story from the first lines; you feel you're being "communicated to" even if the literal significance of the whole is obscure.