Timeline: 2024
The Chelsea Underground Anthology (Poetry & Art Inspired by Warhol, The Factory, Lou Reed & NYC Scene)
Cale features in this book compiled by David L. O'Nan (Editor), HilLesha O'Nan (Editor), Sarah Montani (Illustrator), Robert Frede Kenter (Photographer)
Canadian poet and visual artist Robert Frede Kenter contributed a portrait taken at the Prospect Park Bandshell in New York on August 19, 2023, a poem and a portrait inspired by Dr. Mudd from the Sabotage/Live album and the poem Dreamy Creatures (For John Cale and Siouxsie Sioux).
Consuelo Arias, Professor of Spanish and Women's Studies at Nassau Community College in Garden City, NY, contributed a free-flowing essay: John Caleīs Sartorial Splendor: The Beauty of the Chameleon:
He sports a classic black conductor's suit with a few idiosyncratic details. The front of the tailcoat is open, with three matte metal buttons on each side and a discrete stand-up collar. Underneath, he sports a snug layer of black fabric. A stark white collar, almost priestly, circles his neck. The back of the jacketīs cinched waist is tightly held in place by a short and narrow black satin belt, creating a tidy florid shape.
The coat's shoulders are a bit broader than his own and slope a bit downward, contrasting with the small cinched waist in the manner of a 19th-century gentleman. He sits erectly, immobile, except for his fingers floating on the piano keys in a secret choreography. His hands are slender, with pronounced joints and veins, his nails, perfectly groomed.
"Pretty People" video
On February 5 a video for Pretty People is released. The track can be found on the bonus 7" that is included with the limited 2LP on blue transparent vinyl edition of Mercy. The clip was directed by Abigail Portner. His guitarist and right-hand man Dustin Boyer created the animations.
The Marble Index & Desertshore reissues
After being out of print for quite a long time, Nico's The Marble Index and Desertshore are reissued on March 9 on CD and LP. The audio was remastered and taken from the original tapes. Both albums include previously unreleased photos of Nico by Guy Webster.
Roses in the Snow and Nibelungen, two outtakes from The Marble Index, will be released on a 7" single. They were already included on the The Frozen Borderline 1968-1970 2CD (2007).
"What Nico wanted most, was to be considered her own artist, not someone else's flavor-of-the-month. The Marble Index & Desertshore: her everlasting footprints."
"How We See The Light" single + video
On March 26 the How We See The Light single is released as a first taste for the POPtical Illusion album. The video was directed by Pepi Ginsberg.
Marian Zazeela dies
Marian Zazeela, light artist, designer, calligrapher, painter, and musician, dies in her home in New York on March 28. She was a close collaborator of minimal composer La Monte Young, and performed with Cale in the avant-garde ensemble The Theatre of Eternal Music in the early Sixties, exploring drones.
Sturgis Nikides dies
Guitarist Sturgis Nikides succumbs to an agressive form of cancer on April 9. He was 66. He started out in the NYC punk in the late Seventies, before becoming a member of Cale's band in 1979 - he can be heard on the Mercenaries single and the Honi Soit album.
John Cale posted this on his Facebook:
One of the most important things a bandleader can hope for is a powerhouse musician and the forging of friendship along the way. When I met Sturgis Nikides, he walloped me with a wicked sense of humour and abundance of kindness - the musicianship, he had in spades. All that he is, will remain with me for the rest of my life. xx jc
"Spinning Away" on Eno documentary soundtrack
Spinning Away from the Wrong Way Up album is included on the soundtrack for the Gary Hustwit documentary about Brian Eno.
The soundtrack is a summation of Eno's prolific output as a solo artist and collaborator. The album is released on April 19.
"Shark-Shark" single + video
On May 8 Shark-Shark is released as the second single from the POPtical Illusion album. It is a purposely distorted song, where a dirty sounding guitar leads the way to a place where an avant-garde performance of Swan Lake brushes shoulders with art rock. The video was directed by Abigail Portner.
"Sometimes, you write a song purely for a mood. "Shark-Shark" has two versions - both a nod to finding humor in music. When you're feeling too much of the real world, the best diversion is something that puts a grin on your face. I don't know how Abby and team kept this shoot together; being "unserious" was a lot of fun!"
"Shark-Shark" single + video
Interview in Uncut
He is interviewed in the July issue of English music magazine Uncut, discussing the new album, politics and his modus operandi in his studio:
"I'm always involved in some type of labour-intensive newfound something or other - either learning new equipment, or a totally different software, or revisiting creaky old analogue synths that won't stayin tune; deciding to re-string guitars so they don't sound like guitars - that kind of messing around can push you way off!"
Shark-Shark, one of the album's tracks, is included on the free cover mount CD that comes with the magazine.
New album "POPtical Illusion"
A new studio album, POPtical Illusion, is released on June 14.
Despite the album's playful title, Cale's second album in just over a year still contains the same feelings of fierce and inquisitive rage that were present in 2023 album MERCY. He remains angry, still incensed by the willful destruction that unchecked capitalists and unrepentant conmen have hoisted upon the wonders of this world and the goodness of its people. But this is not at all MERCY II, or some collection of castoffs, as throughout his career of more than six decades, Cale has never been much for repetition. His vanguard-shaping enthusiasms have shifted among ecstatic classicism and unbound rock, classic songcraft and electronic reimagination with proud restlessness.
And so, on POPtical Illusion, he foregoes the illustrious cast to burrow mostly alone into mazes of synthesizers and samples, organs and pianos, with words that, as far as Cale goes, constitute a sort of swirling hope, a sage insistence that change is yet possible. Produced by Cale and longtime artistic partner Nita Scott, POPtical Illusion is the work of someone trying to turn toward the future - exactly as Cale always has.
The Japanese CD version has two bonus tracks: Running Out and Invention of Language. The limited edition 2LP (1000 copies) comes with an illusionary twirling paper Objet and a bonus 7" single with two exclusive tracks: Beethoven In The Old West and News Of Nicholas. Indie record stores have a version on translucent orange vinyl.
All vinyl versions have a different mix of the Shark-Shark track and does not include All To The Good. Customers who buy the 2LP will be able to hear the original version on the LP only and will also have access to the new version via the Download card and the omitted track.
Baker's Dozen for The Quietus
He picks his favourite 13 tracks for The Quietus for their Baker's Dozen series. He started off with long time favourites The Beach Boys, with the superb I Just Wasn't Made For These Times from their Pet Sounds album:
"It's no secret, my admiration for all things Brian Wilson. Of course I wrote Mr Wilson as an ode to him, not so much his famous band. Pet Sounds is arguably their most disparate suite of songs - masterful in the orchestrations, lyrically introspective. [It was] the point of knowing I was right all along when I thought Brian was the dark horse genius decipherable to anyone listening beyond the pretty stuff. This demonstrated that pop doesn't always come from a happy place. Case in point here!"
Snoop Dogg is in there, as well as Sly & The Family Stone, Erik Satie (he took part in a full performance of Vexations in 1963), Bjork and Michael Rabin. The full list can be found here. Handy playlist with all tracks here:
Ship Of Fools - The Island Albums
The 3CD compilation Ship Of Fools - The Island Albums is released on August 16 by Esoteric Recordings, an imprint of British label Cherry Red Records.
It contains the three albums - Fear, Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy - he recorded for Island, with bonus tracks at the end of each disc. All tracks are remastered. It contains both versions of The Jeweller: the original runs for 5:07, while the CD version on The Island Years 2CD from 1996 was shortened to 4:11.
Cale did not care much about the release:
"I'm spending so much energy on what's going to happen tomorrow that I don't have time to look back on yesterday."
"Davies and Wales" video
On August 19 Davies and Wales is released as the third single from the album:
"........ I wanted it to feel like
summer......... That inexplicable
kind of freedom
coursing through our veins >>>>
when the days are long
and there's a veil of bliss
in all the dark cracks."
The video was directed by Jethro Waters:
"Davies and Wales is such a perfect example of the kind of things that only John Cale can do all at once: upbeat, melancholic, happy, shapeshifting, nostalgic, modern, beautiful heartache. There is such a melange of feelings packed into this song - his youth in Wales, his time in NYC and California - and I wanted to try and translate that time travel in a joyful, purposeful way."
On the same day he announces the dates for an European tour in February and March 2025.
Show in Mexico
Cale's sole live show this year takes place at the Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris in Mexico City, Mexico on September 9.
The setlist includes live debuts of three songs from the new album POPtical Illusion: How We See The Light, Company Commander and Shark-Shark.
Why Don't You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65
On September 27 Why Don't You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65, a collection of songs that were (co-)written by Lou Reed during his days as a hack songwriter for Pickwick Records, is released. This contains The Ostrich for The Primitives, an ersatz band for which Cale was enlisted to play on a tour in the Winter of 1965 (he does not play on the recording). Also includes Why Don't You Smile Now, which he co-wrote with Lou, Terry Philips and Jerry Vance for a band called The All-Night Workers.
Paul Morrissey dies
Paul Morrissey, film director and manager of The Velvet Underground, dies from pneumonia at a hospital in Manhattan, on October 28, aged 86. He made The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound with Andy Warhol in 1966.
Cale wrote the score for his movie Women in Revolt in 1971. Days of Steam was used for his 1972 movie Heat. Andy Warhol created the cover for and The Academy in Peril as a return favour.
"The Academy in Peril" and "Paris 1919" remastered reissues
On November 15 remastered and expanded reissues of Paris 1919 and The Academy in Peril are released.
"Revisiting work from the past is a double-edged sword for me. Of course, it's bound to happen when you've been making music for 60 years or so. . . What's unique about this process with Domino, is their desire to get it right. Not merely re-issue something for the sake of an anniversary or racking up a catalogue favorite - but finding new treasures and highlighting what made it special in the first place. After hearing the test pressings, it occurred to me that the new mastering was a major part of how these works will be presented, rather than simply being preserved. There are moments of clarity and even a laugh or two had by revisiting not only the music, but recalling the sessions (and antics) that made up what became these two recordings. It is my pleasure to share these with you . . . again."
Both albums are remastered from the original tapes by Heba Kadry. The Academy in Peril includes the bonus track Temper (download for the vinyl version). This was previously released on the promotional compilation Troublemakers in 1980 and Seducing Down The Door compilation in 1994. Paris 1919 includes alternate versions, the outtake I Must Not Sniff Cocaine, and one new track: Fever Dream 2024: You're a Ghost. Liner notes written by Grayson Haver Currin.
"Fear", "Slow Dazzle" & "Helen of Troy" vinyl re-issues reissues
Fear, Slow Dazzle and Helen of Troy are re-issued on high quality 180g vinyl via Proper Records on December 6, with carefully replicated art of the original Island Records.