While I have still to write about my L.A. trip and the Grace Jones show (will get to it soon), had to post a quick one after getting this update in the mail. The late, legendary, seminal disco producer Patrick Cowley, it seems, is getting the Arthur Russell treatment, with Stefan Goldmann (of of the d*ruffalo blog) and Finn Johanssen of the Macro label set to release a long forgotten project helmed by Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras (once of the group Indoor Life, for whom Patrick had produced an EP). The project, entitled "Catholic" and recorded between 1976 and 1979 was submitted to and subsequently shelved by Megatone Records. The project had effectively been forgotten until until the original masters were uncovered by San Francisco DJ Ken Woodard (of Honey Soundsystem) in former Megatone president John Hedges' basement in a 2008 move.
With more in common with post-punk/no-wave than with disco, it's probably not too surprising that Megatone decided against releasing it at the time. While the recordings have definite hints of his more familiar (and seminal in itself) electro-disco style, the sound is ultimately experimental than his more familiar Hi-NRG disco recordings. "Catholic" in a way feels like the mid-point between the 1980 Indoor Life record he had produced and the material he would later release under his own name.
While "Catholic" might be a bit more leftfield than what some fans of his established work might be used to, extracts like "Robot Children" and the unapologetically sexual shuffle of "Burn Brighter Flame" provide a revealing glimpse into another side of Cowley's work and a more complete appreciation of his brilliance.
Listen: Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras - Burn Brighter Flame
More background information and full audio samples are available at the Myspace page Macro have set up, which also has a great three-part video interview with Jorge Socarras about the genesis of the project and the new interest in Patrick's work.
"Catholic" is currently scheduled for an October 19th release, in time for what would have been Patrick's 59th birthday, preceeded in September by a 12'' release for "Soon," with mixes from Morgan Geist and KiNK.
PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
DISCO DELIVERY #50: BRENDA MITCHELL - DON'T YOU KNOW (1978, BARCLAY/POLYGRAM) (SATURDAY JANUARY 12, 2008)
LAST CALL! (SUNDAY NOVEMBER 26, 2006)
DISCO DELIVERY #7: SYLVESTER - M-1015 (1984, MEGATONE) (FRIDAY FEBRUARY 17, 2006)
LINKS:
MYSPACE: PATRICK COWLEY & JORGE SOCARRAS
MACRO RECORDINGS
PATRICK COWLEY TRIBUTE
RESIDENT ADVISOR NEWS: MACRO GET CATHOLIC (INTERVIEW WITH STEFAN GOLDMANN) (MONDAY JUNE 1, 2009)
ELECTRONIC BEATS: UNRELEASED PATRICK COWLEY ALBUM TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY (TEXT: GARETH OWEN) (JUNE 6, 2009)
FACT MAGAZINE: PATRICK COWLEY'S CATHOLIC PAST UNCOVERED (TUESDAY JUNE 9, 2009)
RESIDENT ADVISOR: STEFAN GOLDMANN
MYSPACE: STEFAN GOLDMANN
RESIDENT ADVISOR: FINN JOHANSSEN
D*RUFFALO: THE DAILY MAGAZINE FOR EXCESS CULTURE
DISCOGS: PATRICK COWLEY
DISCOGS: JORGE SOCARRAS
MYSPACE: JORGE SOCARRAS
HONEY SOUND SYSTEM
MYSPACE: HONEY SOUND SYSTEM
DISCOGS: JOHN HEDGES
DISCOGS: INDOOR LIFE
CATEGORIES: DISCO NEWS, MINI DELIVERIES
7 comments:
Thanks, Tommy.
Anyone else hear the Talking Heads vibe?
Tommy, were you at the Hammerstein Ballroom too??! omg, where were you? I was on the floor standing near the drag queen dressed in a Grace Jones outfit with an annoying half-moon hat that we had to make her take off mid-show!
No problem M.E. Grant, I had a feeling this might be up your alley..
Hey Soulbrother, sadly no I wasn't at the New York show. Drag queen with an annoying half-moon hat, too funny, I need to see pix haha! I actually saw her in LA at the Hollywood Bowl.. She was great, though I'd like to see her in a more intimate venue next time..
Miss Grace TURNED IT OUT! Everyone was staggering out the door. We were too weak to demand an encore. DONE I tells ya! She drained us like a True Blood vampire and we couldn't get enough! It took me three days to recover from the HURRICANE!
TENS! TENS! TENS!
Fuck Madonna.
Thank you Tommy for bringing it to our attention !
Being such a Megatone/Patrick Cowley fanatic - I must admit that I love those excerpts.
I would have loved to see Patrick's talent soar and explode for more than just a few years. But music does live on forever...
Hugs
K
Fabulous! Great to have you back. I'll have to do more digging into Patrick's career.
This sounds fantastic! Thank you for clueing me in.
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