PARLEZ-VOUS/ALBUM UPDATE PLUS THOUGHTS ON ‘CANDIDE’ AND SP TOURS
Affectations, or affections aside, I’d like to share with you what I know. This ‘knowing’ being formed with the present moment in mind; and nothing more. Yesterday, from precisely 1:30-7:30 at Zuzu’s Teahouse, Joseph Hudson and I took on a rendering on CANDIDE by Voltaire, with he as narrator and I as intrepid synth-explorer. I’m happy to report the event went well, and was presented in two parts: which in addition to providing relief also helped more to be involved. To date I’ve had 5 such shows (SIDDHARTHA, MUSIQUE CONCRETE, RUMI, AEGEA ‘LIVE’, and now this), and with each telling I have come into greater contact with what I’d like to get out of the medium, and subsequently share, not excepting those limitations which limit what might be better said.
SIDDHARTHA, much contested and with hindsight, a silly storm, is now ready for release. Meaning the music has been edited and is being sent to the vinyl production plant. It’ll be 5-discs (or about 200 minutes), with the compliment of beautiful cover art by Linda Strawberry. So keep watch if you’re interested, as we’ll probably set up an email list soon to gauge how limited the edition should run. My guess would be somewhere between 350-500 copies total; as in there wouldn’t be a second press given the costs involved. But like the MTAE green-vinyl that Zuzu’s sold exclusively, all will be hand-numbered and signed. As well as being housed uniquely, and so on.
That puts RUMI next in line, with a tape transfer happening tomorrow before focus turns exclusively to upcoming SP shows in Australia and South America. As far as dates in the US I’d say they are likely for summer, with European prospects looking dimmer by the day. When asked I always say the same thing to fans, which is: I don’t make the offers. The promoters do. And where SP is sought, we go, and have always gone, if the deals and position on the festival bills are fair. And unfortunately that is a point of contention right now. But look around, and see what serves as competition, and perhaps you might understand my poor attitude; unchanged as it is for 25 years and counting.
Where buffoonery is tolerated for it’s social media upside, and one song becomes a legacy, there you have the music biz: suicidal, dumb, and feeble; with a fast fading power.
Rock on…Or as I like to say, ‘tra la’…
Oh, and album, once called DAY FOR NIGHT, that’s all good now. I’ve re-written almost all of it in 3 weeks, and we’ll be reviewing all the material (to cull it down some) before Howard bolts town. Right now there’s about 20 or so songs up for the 9 (or is it 12?) spots open. I’d love to share the new title with you, but…you might want to refer back to my comments on buffoonery, idiocy, and the like. But in order to rewrite everything, or write anew, I had to think that maybe my initial conception of what DAY FOR NIGHT would stand for (which was some kind of end) was misguided. So let’s say this’ll be more of a farewell to MONUMENTS funerary. Energetically, spiritually, ergonomically, this feels more appropriate, and the music is a reflection not of quietude or resignation but rather of indomitable spirit; or is it Will?
Will, I Am.
The only downside being there is no ‘hurry’ for this album to arrive this year as planned. As people smarter than I think the year ahead needs the road clear for MTAE to gain traction. And with a new video being commissioned for DRUM + FIFE, those aren’t just pretty words. Still, I’d expect a first single by Fall, with the album to follow thereafter. That puts the timetable then at: record April-July, tour US (should proposed dates hold), and finish record by mid-Sept.
So all I can say to that is the music is strong now (finally), and this secretly-titled album be better and more memorable (and hence more worth your affinity) than the last. And that’s the only thing I’ll guarantee.
Tra-la…
W.P.C.
