Timeline: 2012
Velvets sue the Andy Warhol Foundation
On January 11 The Velvet Underground sued the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for licensing the iconic banana image from The Velvet Underground & Nico album for commercial purposes such as iPad covers, like cases and protective sleeves.
"The symbol has become so identified with the Velvet Underground … that members of the public, particularly those who listen to rock music, immediately recognise the banana design as the symbol of the Velvet Underground. It is not merely the graphic reproduction by Andy Warhol of a piece of fruit: it is the 'iconic' VU banana."
The Foundation replies with an offer not to sue the band for copyright infringement if they would choose to use the image.
The band loses the suit. US district court judge Alison Nathan fails to see an actual dispute. On September 7 she writes in her verdict:
"[It would be] an opinion advising what the law would be under a hypothetical state of facts, The Constitution gives this court no power to issue such an opinion."
John Cale: Conflict & Catalysis: Productions & Arrangements 1966-2006
In February British label Big Beat releases the compilation album John Cale: Conflict & Catalysis: Productions & Arrangements 1966-2006.
Tracklisting:
- Venus In Furs - The Velvet Underground
- I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges
- In Excelsis Deo / Gloria - Patti Smith
- Afraid - Nico
- Pablo Picasso - The Modern Lovers
- Who Is That Saving Me - Harry Toledo & The Rockets
- Re-Bop - Marie Et Les Garţons
- Disco Clone - Cristina
- Italian Sea - Chunky, Novi & Ernie
- No King - Ventilator
- Sex Master - Squeeze
- Take Your Place - Alejandro Escovedo
- Kuff Dam - Happy Mondays
- Runaway Child (Minors Beware) - The Necessaries
- Omnes Gentes Plaudite (The Drinking Song) - Mediaeval Baebes
- Needles For Teeth - The Jesus Lizard
- Scorch - Goya Dress
- Dallas - Lio
- Tearing Apart - Siouxsie & The Banshees
- Spinning Away - Brian Eno and John Cale
"As a producer, you've got to be a catalyst, an ally, a co-conspirator. sometimes you need to introduce conflict.' - John Cale in his autobiography.
Film directors have always been lionised by their industry and by fans who made household names of Ford, Hitchcock and Spielberg. Record producers, on the other hand, have by-and-large laboured in near-anonymity outside the music business and the most devoted of followers. To help remedy that situation ace have instigated their producers series, focusing on the studio output of Jack Nitzsche, Jerry Ragovoy, Kim Fowley, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Martin Hannett and other visionaries who lived to bring the sounds in their heads to the grooves of a record. Another master of the art was john cale, whose work as a producer and arranger they spotlight on this 75-minute 20-tracker. Far from anonymous as a cutting-edge performer, Cale has enjoyed a lower profile in his parallel role as a producer throughout his lengthy career. Spanning 40 years, our collection includes everything from the proto-punk of The Stooges and Modern Lovers to left-field pop princesses Lio and Cristina. Compilation and notes by Mick Patrick and Neil Dell."
Moe Tucker: I Feel So Far Away: Anthology 1974 - 1998
An album that collects all the tracks from Maureen Tucker's long out of print solo albums. Cale played viola and synthesizer on three tracks of I Spent A Week There The Other Night (1991) : (And) Then He Kissed Me, I'm not and I'm Waiting For The Man. The collection also has a few rarities. The most notable is her version of Last Night I Said Goodbye To My Friend, a track she had performed with Lou Reed and Cale as a tribute to Sterling Morrison, at the induction ceremony into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on January 17, 1996.
Sport de Filles soundtrack
Composes the soundtrack for Sport de Filles, a movie by French film director and screenwriter Patricia Mazuy. Also includes the track Pile A L'Heure from the Extra Playful EP.
They collaborated before when he wrote the score for Saint-Cyr in 2000. Cale and Mazuy would work together again in 2018 for the soundtrack of her Paul Sanchez est revenu! movie.
New song "Cry" in Genk
Cale performed Cry, a new song, at C-mine Cultuurcentrum in Genk, Belgium on March 12. This show also marked the live debuts of Bluetooth Swings and The Hanging, the bonus tracks from the Black Friday edition of Extra Playful.
Extra Playful: Transitions 12" remix for Record Store Day
Domino Records releases a John Cale remix 12", Transitions, for Record Store Day on April 21. Limited edition of 750 copies on white vinyl. Fact Magazine publishes the details:
The most immediately appealing of the bunch is probably the John Cale remix 12" pressed on white vinyl with packaging designed by Satomi. Three tracks from Cale's recent Extra Playful EP are remixed by Maria Minerva, Actress and Alva Noto, and appear alongside two tracks inspired by Cale, Leyland Kirby's "Watching & Waiting For You To Begin" and Tim Hecker's "Suffocation Raga For John Cale.
Tracks:
A1. ‘Whaddya Mean By That’ – Maria Minvera's Freaky Cafe Del Mar Mix
A2. ‘Perfection’ – Actress Reflection Mix
A3. ‘Catastrofuk’ – Alva Noto Remodel
B1. ‘Watching & Waiting For You To Begin’ – Leyland Kirby
B2. ‘Suffocation Raga For John Cale’ – Tim Hecker
New single "I Wanna Talk 2", "Welcome To Nookie Wood" video
On July 6th the new single, I Wanna Talk 2 U, is released officially. It's the opening track of Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood.
A promo video - Welcome To Nookie Wood - features a bit of the song.
Face to the Sky b/w Living With You (Organic Mix) single
On August 29 another digital single release: Face To The Sky b/w Living With You (Organic Mix). Both tracks, one of them a remix, from the new album Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood. On vinyl as of September 7.
Face to the Sky video
On August 30 a promo video for Face To The Sky single sees the light of day. Director: Tom Scholefeild(a.k.a. Kon Om Pax).
Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood
A new full-length, Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood, on Double Six, an imprint of Domino Records, is released on October 1st. Songs include Vampire Café, Scotland Yard, and The Flying Dutchman, a song he wrote on the viola. Most of the recording happened in a tiny studio he owns in Los Angeles.
"Some songs I wrote with a Fender Telecaster, some with bass and some with a bunch of keyboards and put some back-up singers and horns on there. I've dressed up the turkey a little bit."
A statement published on his website on March 20:
As many of you have heard from John’s recent press statements - the new album’s release has been pushed to the Autumn. This is a very good thing!
Although the album is finished - we’ve run into a series of deadlines that simply don’t make good sense for releasing the album without giving it the proper due.
Domino have asked for the extra time to set things up to a high standard. It's refreshing to be with a label that actually cares about its Artists and the Art. For this reason, we feel this is a positive direction and one we support.
We’ll adjust the concert dates to make way for quite a lot of touring with the album (we’ll move the one’s that are moveable and we’ll play the dates that can’t be moved). We’ll have many ‘goodies’ to share whilst we wait for the album’s release — just keep your eyes here for the ONLY place to get accurate info.
Oh, and before I forget — John says a big thanks and huge laughs at the B-Day Tributes !! ALL GOOD STUFF as he put it!
Stay tuned ——- !
Double Six, his record label, posted this on June 7th::
It’s with great honour that Double Six announces the release of John Cale’s new album, released on gatefold heavyweight vinyl, CD and digital on October 1st 2012.
Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood is a title to set tongues wagging and minds wondering, but for an album that seems born of a return to John’s youth it seems safely apt in its mischievousness.
Shifty Adventures… is the result of sessions held at Cale’s LA studio. Days were spent experimenting with MPCs, pounding fists onto pianos, manipulating glitches and lots of signature viola drone while patiently waiting for songs to reveal themselves. There was also a spontaneous session with Danger Mouse to create the opening track I Wanna Talk 2 U.
As a producer Cale has reached a new plateau on this record. At the albums most maximal, it feels like looking at a collection of precious stones. Myriads of differently coloured and textured surfaces carefully placed together, each finding their own space to beckon the ear. It’s a blend of chaos and beauty in equal measure and a testament to the exploratory spirit at work, which ensures there’s always something new to the ears on a John Cale record.
Vinyl pre-order bonus singles
Pre-orders of the vinyl version fo the album came with an exclusive bonus track 7" containing a mystery track: "Bluetooth Swings Redux", "Hatred" or "Cry".
The Abigails cover "Nobody But You"
Los Angeles based country rockers The Abigails cover Nobody But You on their Songs of Love and Despair album.
On Later With Jools Holland
Performs I Wanna Talk 2 U on the October 9 broadcast of Later With Jools Holland. A longer version aired three days later with two more songs: Scotland Yard and Guts plus a short interview during which a bit of the November 26, 1992 performance of Hallelujah is shown.
In Conversation @ Rough Trade East, London
On October 29 he discusses noise at a conversation led by host Emma Warre at Rough Trade East, London. He is joined by producer Matthew Herbert, Richard King, author of How Soon Is Now? The Madmen & Mavericks Who Made Independent Music 1975-2005.
The Velvet Underground & Nico - 45th anniversary deluxe edition
A 6CD box set celebrating the 45th anniversary of the release of The Velvet Underground & Nico, hits the shops on October 30.
Disc 1 and 2 contain the stereo and mono versions of the album, augmented with alternate mixes and singles. Disc 3 has the Nico album Chelsea Girl (1969). Disc 4 contains the Norman Dolph acetate that surfaced in 2002. It has alternate versions of the songs recorded at Scepter Studios in 1966, plus rehearsals taped at the Factory on January 3, 1966. Disc 5 and 6 contain a live concert recorded during an Exploding Plastic Inevitable show at the Valleydale Ballroom in Columbus, Ohio, on November 4, 1966. Part of this show was included on Peel Slowly and See box set.
Cale is, at long last, credited as the co-writer of Sunday Morning.