Revered for his work both as a founding member of the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist, John Cale is inviting listeners to revisit his 1982 record Music for a New Society. In addition to reissuing the original album, Cale has announced the release of an entirely reworked version of the album, dubbed M:FANS.
A press release explains that M:FANS hears Cale exploring the relationship between past and present, bringing together samples from the original album with newly created soundscapes that result in a "more fleshed-out," "heavier" and "chopped-up" sound.
A statement from Cale about the cathartic project reads:
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!!!
Music for a New Society, meanwhile, has been remastered and will be reissued with three bonus tracks — the previously unreleased "Life of Force," and outtakes of "Chinese Envoy" and "Thoughtless Kind."
M:FANS and the Music for a New Society reissue will arrive as a two-LP set on January 22 via Double Six/Domino. See the full tracklisting details below. Beyond that, watch a brand new video for the M:FANS rendition of "Close Watch," which features Dirty Projectors' Amber Coffman.
M:FANS:
1. Prelude
2. If You Were Still Around
3. Taking Your Life In Your Hands
4. Thoughtless Kind
5. Sanctus (Sanities Mix)
6. Broken Bird
7. Chinese Envoy
8. Changes Made
9. Library Of Force (feat. Man In The Book excerpt)
10. Close Watch
11. If You Were Still Around (Choir Reprise)
12. Back To The End
Music for a New Society (remastered):
1. Taking Your Life In Your Hands
2. Thoughtless Kind
3. Sanctus (Sanities)
4. If You Were Still Around
5. Close Watch
6. Broken Bird
7. Chinese Envoy
8. Changes Made
9. Damn Life
10. Risé, Sam And Rimsky Korsakov
11. Library Of Force (Unreleased)
12. Chinese Envoy (Outtakes)
13. Thoughtless Kind (Outtakes)
A press release explains that M:FANS hears Cale exploring the relationship between past and present, bringing together samples from the original album with newly created soundscapes that result in a "more fleshed-out," "heavier" and "chopped-up" sound.
A statement from Cale about the cathartic project reads:
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!!!
Music for a New Society, meanwhile, has been remastered and will be reissued with three bonus tracks — the previously unreleased "Life of Force," and outtakes of "Chinese Envoy" and "Thoughtless Kind."
M:FANS and the Music for a New Society reissue will arrive as a two-LP set on January 22 via Double Six/Domino. See the full tracklisting details below. Beyond that, watch a brand new video for the M:FANS rendition of "Close Watch," which features Dirty Projectors' Amber Coffman.
M:FANS:
1. Prelude
2. If You Were Still Around
3. Taking Your Life In Your Hands
4. Thoughtless Kind
5. Sanctus (Sanities Mix)
6. Broken Bird
7. Chinese Envoy
8. Changes Made
9. Library Of Force (feat. Man In The Book excerpt)
10. Close Watch
11. If You Were Still Around (Choir Reprise)
12. Back To The End
Music for a New Society (remastered):
1. Taking Your Life In Your Hands
2. Thoughtless Kind
3. Sanctus (Sanities)
4. If You Were Still Around
5. Close Watch
6. Broken Bird
7. Chinese Envoy
8. Changes Made
9. Damn Life
10. Risé, Sam And Rimsky Korsakov
11. Library Of Force (Unreleased)
12. Chinese Envoy (Outtakes)
13. Thoughtless Kind (Outtakes)