Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 19:02:24 -0400 From: Jeff Keibel Subject: Natures Mortes - Still Lives Originally released as a vinyl compilation album in Japan by 4AD and WEA International in 1982, the "Natures Mortes - Still Lives" collection will finally gain a CD release via 4AD mail order on December 1st!! Only a scant 500 copies of the vinyl edition were imported from Japan back to England and from there a handful managed to hit import shops elsewhere. In other words, it's a highly rare item. The compilation features 12 tracks including early singles and material from the 1980 "Presage(s)" compilation. Overall, of the 12 tracks only six have been released on CD in some form. If you want a sampling of the 4AD roster circa 1980-81, this is a very interesting compilation. VARIOUS ARTISTS "Natures Mortes - Still Lives" 1. THE BIRTHDAY PARTY - Mr. Clarinet 2. THE PSYCHOTIK TANKS - Let's Have A Party 3. REMA-REMA - Feedback Song 4. IN CAMERA - Die Laughing 5. BAUHAUS - Rose Garden Funeral Of Sores 6. MASS - You And I 7. CUPOL - Like This For Ages 8. MODERN ENGLISH - Gathering Dust 9. SORT SOL - Marble Station 10. THE THE - Controversial Subject 11. THE PAST SEVEN DAYS - Raindance 12. DIF JUZ - Re Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 14:37:03 -0400 From: Jeff Keibel Subject: Mortes To The Pixies NATURES MORTES - STILL LIVES: The December 1st release of the 4AD mail order CD reissue of the 1982 compilation called "Nature Mortes - Still Lives" (CAD 117 CD) will actually contain UP TO FIVE BONUS TRACKS! A total of seventeen vintage era 4AD songs will be featured. These five extra tracks are not yet disclosed at this time however. More news to follow... Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 19:15:27 +0200 From: Strong Comet Subject: Natures Mortes - Still Lives 4AD will be re-releasing this long forgotten and rare issue of the = Japanese vinyl at the beginning of December. I never saw the original release, so I can't make any comparisons. Track listing: 1. Birthday Party - Mr. Clarinet 2. Psychotik Tanks - Let's have a party 3. Rema-Rema - Feedback song 4. In Camera - Die Laughing 5. Bauhaus - Rose Garden Funeral Of Sores 6. Mass - You And I 7. Cupol - Like This For Ages 8. Modern English - Gathering Dust 9. Sort Sol - Marble Station 10. The The - Controversial Subject 11. The Past Seven Days - Raindance 12. Dif Jus - Re 13. C.V.O. - Sargasso Sea 14. The Past Seven Days - So Many Others 15. Sort Sol - Misguided 16. Last Dance - Malignant Love 17. The The - Black And White CAD117 is the catalogue number, sleeve design by Vaughan Oliver. Front cover shows a negative print of two elderly naked people in a = strange dancing/wrestling position. Inner sleeve - two naked females holding each other with a smile. Back cover shows a bondaged hand in negative and positive prints. This is the essence of 4AD as an independent label at the beginning of = the 80's, and TMHO one of the best albums of 4AD this year, although = this is a re-issue. I'm sure there are more knowledgeable listies than myself who can give = more details on the various tracks. Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 13:24:26 -0500 From: Jeff Keibel Subject: Train arrives at Marble Station Dec. 1st Strong Comet beat me to it, but anyways... Nothing wrong with info overload on a release such as this! Direct from Tim's computer: As mentioned a few weeks ago the 2nd in our ongoing series of Mail Order Releases comes out on the 1st December - 'Natures Mortes - Still Lives' CAD 117CD - Price £12.00 + postage. Postage = UK - £0.70/ Europe - £1.20/ USA & Canada -£1.90/ Rest Of the World - £2.20. This album has been digitally remastered from the original tapes and sounds great. Track Listing 1 The Birthday Party - Mr. Clarient 2 Psychotik Tanks - Lets Have A Party 3 Rema Rema - Feedback Song 4 In Camera - Die Laughing 5 Bauhaus - Rosegarden Funeral of Sores 6 Mass - You & I 7 Cupol - Like This For Ages 8 Modern English - Gathering Dust 9 Sort Sol - Marble station 10 The The - Controversial Subject 11 The Past Seven Days - Raindance 12 Dif Juz - Re And the extra tracks are 13 C.V.O.- Saragasso Sea 14 The Past Seven days - So Many Others 15 Sort Sol - Misguided 16 Last Dance - Malignant Love 17 The The - Black & White So there you go - Phone - fax - post me orders. Tel 0181 870 9724 ask for Tim. n.b. This release is NOT getting a US release and WILL ONLY BE AVAIlABLE ON IMPORT!!! BY TIM HALL AT 4AD MAIL ORDER FORWARD TO 4ad-l BY JEFF KEIBEL SCARBOROUGH, ONTARIO CANADA E MAIL: redshift@interlog.com CAD 117 CD GT will have the Red Atkins track. ;] Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 15:10:50 -0800 From: Michael Scholtz Subject: yes, virginia, there is a rhett atkins. some sort of country/folk singer-songwriter type, judging by the packaging. if i thought there was the ghost of a chance of a genuine connection to our beloved label i would investigate further ... just received 'natures mortes'. i can't understand for the life of me why there hasn't been more discussion of this thing on the list. the mastering job is terrific, and the music has aged well, just as striking, aggressive, adventurous and vibrantly odd in our post-'alternative' millieu as it was some 17 years ago. the cd repackaging brilliantly evokes the feel of the lp edition (designers, check out the finesse used in placing the upc!) yes, a handful of the songs have previously appeared in digital format, but at 76 minutes this is still an excellent value and a terrific introduction to the early 4ad sound. one might carp about the missed opportunity to educate the curious -- it would have been a nice touch to include some liner notes discussing the origins of the label and the fate of these bands, but all we get is a track listing -- but the bottom line is that this is a fine piece of work. thank you, 4ad! (even though the bonus tracks include a couple from 'presages' but not the red atkins number!) mikeDate: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 17:11:02 -0700 From: Chris Palacios Subject: Re: yes, Ivo, there is a lame compilation called Natures Mortes... >just received 'natures mortes'. i can't understand for the life of me why >there hasn't been more discussion of this thing on the list. the mastering... I hesitated to write a pissy review of the Natures Mortes reissue. I finally decided not to post a negative review of it because at the time of my Natures Mortes purchase I picked up my vinyl box set of Death to the Pixies and given the roughly 12 years between the two I came to the conclusion that much of my displeasure for the Natures Mortes compilation was due in part to my overwhelming pleasure with Death to the Pixies. While the Natures Mortes compilation was interesting from a historical perspective as far as 4AD is concerned- I was horrified by the overall silly Gothic-ness. The event of the CT's leaving 4AD came much later in the labels history- it is easy to see now what the CT's wanted to distance themselves from. The compilation is downright silly. And not much for your buck! I paid $26.00 plus tax for the little bugger! Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 11:42:11 -0800 From: Michael Scholtz Subject: more on natures mortes i suspected that someone out there would have some strong feelings on the subject. chris opined >While the Natures Mortes compilation was interesting from a historical perspective as far as 4AD is concerned- I was horrified by the overall silly Gothic-ness. certainly this is not lightheared stuff, and there's a certain amount of theatricality present from the very beginning (the birthday party's 'mister clarinet', if you're counting). but i think anyone expecting sisters/violets/mission/lorries black-trenchcoat dance-pop would be sorely disappointed. this music seems much closer in spirit to wire's harsher moments. heck, even the bauhaus song is a john cale cover! >The event of the CT's leaving 4AD came much later in the labels history- it is easy to see now what the CT's wanted to distance themselves from. by the time the twins bailed on 4ad for the majors, the label's image had nothing to do with the long-forgotten alienated experimentism of its early years. if anything, 4ad's widespread typecasting as an arty 'ethereal' label was a product of the twin's success, the participation of liz and robin in a plethora of related projects in the mid-80s, and robin's later production work for the likes of lush. let's face it, if the cocteaux wanted to distance themselves from anything, it was probably the label's more recent, disappointing signings. though i suspect it was all a matter of money. Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 13:37:41 -0500 From: Michael Borum Subject: Re: yes, Ivo, there is a lame compilation called Natures Mortes... In truth, it was 4AD that asked the Cocteaus to leave. Their relationship had, by 1990, grown tense and stale and neither Ivo nor the Cocteaus were extremely happy with the situation. They had simply diverged creatively somewhere along the line and weren't happy working together the way they had been in the 80's. Ivo wasn't taking any active interest in what they did (Robin has commented on how they felt a little slighted by the fact that Ivo was off promoting the next Pixies release and completely ignoring them, although they had an album out at the same time and were getting next to no promo from 4AD [Surfer Rosa/Blue Bell Knoll in 88 and Bossanova/Heaven or Las Vegas in 90]). Remarks about distancing themselves from the perception of them as an "arty farty 4AD goth band" were not really made until after the whole thing was over, when they were looking at the positive side of things. I think they regret the way the split affected their friendship with Ivo more than any difference it may have made professionally. The band had not really considered leaving the label yet (they were still under contract for one more album), but when the invitation to go was offered, they figured it was the best thing to do. Ivo has since referred to letting the Cocteau Twins leave 4AD as a mistake. By 1990 they were already signed to Capitol, having been with them since 1988. Fontana was one of several labels that tried to woo the Cocteaus during their 1990/91 "Heaven or Las Vegas" tour, and eventually did offer them a good enough deal (no drugs that I know of). Michael iceblink@tiac.net Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 20:18:56 -0600 From: Jeremy L Orr Subject: Cocteau Twins > In truth, it was 4AD that asked the Cocteaus to leave. It's funny how the story changes every few years. When the band was promoting _Four-Calendar Cafe_, I remember reading at least two different interviews wherein the band told a slightly different story. They claimed that they were indeed discouraged by Ivo's lack of interest in their work, and shortly after the release of _Heaven or Las Vegas_, they asked to be released from their contract. And then, the night before they were to embark upon the last leg of their _HOLV_ tour, they got the word from Ivo that he was letting them go. Okay, so it's not a *huge* difference...and seeing as how Michael is the official biographer for the CT web site, I'm not faulting him or his work. It's just that the band's penchant for bending the truth out of boredom is hardly a secret.