Timeline: 2008
New album this summer, acting, touring - a busy year in general
Cale in the February issue of Uncut:
"I've done a couple of songs and we'll try to finish the album in January. I'm very impatient in the studio. I like to get in there, get the job done and get out fast. 2008 is going to be a busy year. I've been in Patagonia making a film called Salamandra. It's directed by Pablo Agüero and I play the role of Dick Winter, who's this dealer-cum-loser-cum-inspirational old hippy. The film's based on real people who went there in the '70s to escape the Argentine junta. I've go to record some music for the soundtrack, too. They want me to a new version of Gun from Fear in '74. There's also a Japanese tour and an album I've produced for Ambulance Ltd. Then there's the stuff I did with Danger Mouse. Working with him was like looking in the mirror. He got me playing on new album by The Shortwave Set, also out in '08."
Slow Dazzle and Helen of Troy vinyl reissues with bonus tracks
On March 3 Speciality label Vinyl Lovers reisssues Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy with bonus tracks stuck at the end of each side. No new material, all tracks can be found on The Island Years compilation.
Both albums are distributed through Lowlands.
Acting in Salamandra
Theatrical release of Salamandra, a movie directed by Pablo Agüero in 2007:
"I've been in Patagonia making a film called Salamandra. It's directed by Pablo Agüero and I play the role of Dick Winter, who's this dealer-cum-loser-cum-inspirational old hippy. The film's based on real people who went there in the '70s to escape the Argentine junta. I've go to record some music for the soundtrack, too. They want me to do a new version of Gun from Fear."
Playing with The Shortwave Set
Plays viola on Replica Sun Machine, the second album by British alternative pop band The Shortwave Set.
Discussing Warhol in Stockholm
John Cale talked about Andy Warhol at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, February 9.
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American Idol embraces "Hallelujah"
Real life always outweirds fantasy. Cale's arrangement is used by a hopeful on the "talent" show American Idol, prompting this message to be posted on his MySpace site:
JOHN CALE + AMERICAN IDOL .... are you nuts???!!!!! Okay, okay, okay...we’ve got to put this nonesense in perspective! Yes, most of you know John Cale has done many versions of the gorgeous Leonard Cohen penned, Hallelujah. For nearly a year, myspacers have been requesting we put up the song on this site. John has been working on a new arrangement of the song, but we’ll just come back to that later... So, for now...this’ll have to do!
Church of Anthrax reissue
Church of Anthrax, the album that John Cale recorded with Terry Riley in 1971, will be reissued on Legacy Records, a SonyBMG imprint, in April. No bonus tracks and probably as a USA only release.
New songs premiered in Oxford
John Cale played two new songs on acoustic guitar at the Carling Academy in Oxford (June 26): <Catastrofuk and a ballad titled Whaddya Mean By That. Both songss were included on the Extra Playful EP in 2011.
Three covers on "Kale" album
Amercian bands Arbouretum and Pontiak release a split-lp with three Cale songs:
Kale is a special LP-only split release by Arbouretum and their Baltimore friends Pontiak, Thrill Jockey’s new signees making their label debut. The split features new songs from each band as well as a handful of John Cale covers, with Arbouretum offering their rendition of Buffalo Ballet, and Pontiak delivering a potent The Endless Plain of Fortune and a great new interpretation of Mr. Wilson. The album was recorded at Pontiak's home studio in Warrenton, VA.
The album is released on Thrill Jockey Records
Words For the Dying DVD release
The Words For the Dying documentary is re-released on DVD by Provocateur Pictures with a few extras:
- Interview with Rob Nilsson
- Foreword by j. poet
- Featurette – Direct Action Cinema
Noel Lawrence from Microcinema produced the DVD. Order it through microcinemadvd.com.
Life Along the Borderline: a Tribute to Nico
Cale put together Life Along the Borderline: a Tribute to Nico, October 11 at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
He performs four songs: Frozen Warnings, Sixty/Forty, Facing the Wind and All That Is My Own, the latter with all the guests from the show.
The show was pro-filmed, but never broadcasted.
Back to Garnant
Visits his birthplace Garnant in November. Footage of this trip is used for this project for the Venice Biennale (2009). The sunrise is filmed at the house where he was born in 1942.