M:FANS is the sixteenth solo studio album by Welsh musician and composer John Cale. It was released in January 2016 on the Double Six Records imprint of Domino Recording Company. Produced by Cale, it features new versions of songs from his 1982 album Music for a New Society. "Close Watch" was the album's lead single. It was released in November 2015 and features Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors.[7]
| M:FANS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 22 January 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2013–2015 | |||
| Studio | A.R.M. Studio, Los Angeles, CA | |||
| Genre | Experimental rock, industrial rock, electronic music | |||
| Length | 53:43 | |||
| Label | Domino/Double Six, Electric Drone | |||
| Producer | John Cale | |||
| John Cale chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 76/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Line of Best Fit | (8/10)[3] |
| Loud and Quiet | (8/10)[4] |
| Pitchfork | (6.0/10)[5] |
| Under the Radar | (8/10)[6] |
Background
editIn a statement Cale recounted the process of making the album, and how the 2013 death of former bandmate and collaborator Lou Reed had informed it:
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!!![8]
Accolades
edit| Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Quietus | Albums of the Year 2016 | 2016 | 92[9]
|
Track listing
editAll tracks composed by John Cale; except where indicated.
- "Prelude" – 2:17
- "If You Were Still Around" (Cale, Sam Shepard) – 5:18
- "Taking Your Life in Your Hands" – 5:43
- "Thoughtless Kind" – 5:27
- "Sanctus (Sanities Mix)" – 5:19
- "Broken Bird" – 5:10
- "Chinese Envoy" – 3:51
- "Changes Made" – 3:54
- "Library of Force" – 3:09
- "Close Watch" – 5:15
- "If You Were Still Around (Choir Reprise)" (Cale, Shepard) – 4:44
- "Back to the End" – 3:34
Personnel
edit- John Cale – vocals, voice, noises, keyboards, organ, piano, electric piano, guitar, electric guitar, programmed guitar, bass, programming, synthesizer, drums, viola, samples, production, recording, mixing
- Dustin Boyer – guitar, guitar synthesizer, bass, loops, programming, drum machine, drum programming, drums, mixing, recording
- Deantoni Parks – keyboards, noises, loops
- Joey Maramba – synth bass
- Ralph Esposito – synth bass
- Alex Thomas – drums, samples
- Matt Fish – cello
- Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – viola
- Thomas Lea – viola
- Jessy Greene – violin
- Chris Bautista – trumpet
- Amber Coffman – vocals on "Close Watch"
- New Direction Church – choir
- Benjamin Goodman – choir director
- William Arthur George Cale – voice
- Margaret Cale – voice
- Technical
- Adam Moseley – mixing, recording
- Nita Scott – mixing, executive producer
Charts
edit| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] | 74 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] | 188 |
References
edit- ^ "M:FANS - John Cale". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
- ^ Deming, Mark. "M:FANS - John Cale". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ Oinonen, Janne (21 January 2016). "John Cale's M:FANS offers a refreshingly barbed take on the much-sampled 'classic album' concept". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
- ^ Wisgard, Alex (January 2016). "John Cale: M:Fans". Loud and Quiet. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
- ^ Anderson, Stacey (25 February 2016). "John Cale: M:FANS / Music for a New Society - Album Reviews". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ Lucas, Dan (20 January 2016). "John Cale: FANS / Music For a New Society". Under the Radar. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
- ^ Grow, Kory (17 November 2015). "See John Cale Attend Dreamlike Masquerade in Eerie 'Close Watch' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
- ^ "John Cale Reworks Music for a New Society as M:FANS, Reissues Original Album". Pitchfork. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016". The Quietus. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – John Cale – Music for a New Society / M:FANS" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – John Cale – Music for a New Society / M:FANS" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2016.