Sunday, October 02, 2005
An October Sunday Afternoon
I am not one for super star worship, but today I had a chance to meet Andy Gill and Jon King of the Gang of Four.
Finishing up a morning brunch with my wife, my brother and his girlfriend at Schiller's on the Lower East Side, and who should walk in, but... I was a little awe struck, because they are one of my favorite bands in the world, and had just been blown away by their early summer performance at Irving Plaza. I had to get up and say something. I of course just gushed about how great their performance was and how sorry I was to miss their performance in Brooklyn last night. They were absolutely gracious and returned a big grin and a thank you. Well, you have kept a fan gents. Not that there was any real chance that I would somehow end up a G.O.F. hater. Really.
Speaking of Gang of Four, I have previewed the new CD of re-recordings of old Gang of Four songs, entitled "Return The Gift", and it is fucking spectacular. It spans the first three albums and everything is just as angry, but it kicks you in the teeth even harder. The guitars and bass are fuzzed out and beefy. These gents have aged well, unlike many of their contemporaries. I don't have the time to go through a track by track breakdown, but trust me, BUY IT!!! The US and UK versions are due out on October 13th. There is a special UK release that includes Remixes by the likes of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Ladytron, The Melvins, Go Home Productions and more.
By the way, here is the tracklist:
To Hell With Poverty
Damaged Goods
Natural's Not in It
Not Great Men
Why Theory?
Anthrax
Paralysed
What We all Want
Ether
He'd Send in the Army
Capitol
I Love a Man in Uniform
At Home He's a Tourist
We Live as We Dream, Alone.
Finishing up a morning brunch with my wife, my brother and his girlfriend at Schiller's on the Lower East Side, and who should walk in, but... I was a little awe struck, because they are one of my favorite bands in the world, and had just been blown away by their early summer performance at Irving Plaza. I had to get up and say something. I of course just gushed about how great their performance was and how sorry I was to miss their performance in Brooklyn last night. They were absolutely gracious and returned a big grin and a thank you. Well, you have kept a fan gents. Not that there was any real chance that I would somehow end up a G.O.F. hater. Really.
Speaking of Gang of Four, I have previewed the new CD of re-recordings of old Gang of Four songs, entitled "Return The Gift", and it is fucking spectacular. It spans the first three albums and everything is just as angry, but it kicks you in the teeth even harder. The guitars and bass are fuzzed out and beefy. These gents have aged well, unlike many of their contemporaries. I don't have the time to go through a track by track breakdown, but trust me, BUY IT!!! The US and UK versions are due out on October 13th. There is a special UK release that includes Remixes by the likes of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Ladytron, The Melvins, Go Home Productions and more.By the way, here is the tracklist:
To Hell With Poverty
Damaged Goods
Natural's Not in It
Not Great Men
Why Theory?
Anthrax
Paralysed
What We all Want
Ether
He'd Send in the Army
Capitol
I Love a Man in Uniform
At Home He's a Tourist
We Live as We Dream, Alone.
