felt-reissues

Felt albums being reissued & new Go-Kart Mozart record in 2018

Good news for fans of cult indie musician Lawrence of Felt, Denim and GoKart Mozart fame — there’s a lot happening in 2018. The biggest news is the “A Decade In Music” reissue series that will see the release of Felt’s long-out-of-print catalog on vinyl and CD. The first five of those come out February 23 via Cherry Red: Crumbling The Antiseptic Beauty, The Strange Idols Pattern And Other Short Stories, Ignite The Seven Cannons, and Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death which has here been retitled The Seventeenth Century.

The albums have been remastered by Lawrence who also oversaw the design. The vinyl reissues all come in gatefold sleeves but it’s the the CD versions (believe it or not) that are extra special. They’ll each be released in a bespoke 7” box, complete with “the original album in a special gatefold sleeve – long deleted 7” vinyl single pertaining to the relevant year of release – reproduction gig flyers – double sided wall poster – and four button lapel badges for wearing with pride!” You can check out tracklists and more information on the reissues below, and preorders are available now.

If you’re unfamiliar with Felt, they existed from 1979 – 1989 and released 10 albums and many non-LP singles, mostly in the jangly post-Dylan/Velvets/Television variety, with a few excursions into neo-classical and cocktail jazz. They are one of the quintessential ’80s UK indie bands and Felt’s influence can be, uh, felt on records by Belle & Sebastian and Pains of Being Pure at Heart to Girls and The Tyde, and more. You can stream some of Felt’s music, below.

Meanwhile, Lawrence’s current project, the junkshop glam-rock meets synthpop Go-Kart Mozart, will release a new album, Mozart’s Mini Mart, also on February 23 via West Midlands/Cherry Red. It’s his first record since 2012’s On the Hot Dog Streets and you can watch the video for single “When You’re Depressed,” and check out the artwork and tracklist, below.

FELT-RSN1-Crumbling-The-Antiseptic-Beauty-LP-3D-1

Crumbling The Antiseptic Beauty
Lawrence’s ambition was to release the best debut English album ever! Adrian Borland offered his services, then commitments with his band The Sound prevented this from happening. So Felt began a relationship with Swell Maps producer John A. Rivers. Recorded and mixed in six days the band got a taste of how bitter reality fares compared to the “mellow fruitfulness” of blind ambition.

Tracklisting
Evergreen Dazed
Fortune
Birdmen
Cathedral
I Worship The Sun
Templeroy
Remastered by Kevin Metcalfe and Lawrence.

CD Box Single
Something Sends Me To Sleep / Something Sends Me To Sleep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4MNvl72z6g&list=PLwlAHQihKdnR2_Z9lnhVrwcMaIz349hgI

FELT-RSN2-The-Splendour-Of-Fear-LP-3D-1

The Splendour Of Fear
Lawrence escapes the contours of a bland city and retreats into his mind. Felt had risen from the underworld searching for a new horizon but only managed to slip into a desolate obscurity! Dark black slabs of creosote guitar – vast swathes of epic interplay – casting futuristic Shadows – an idiosyncratic and unobtrusively brilliant band, the music Felt made on this album is unlike anything attempted before. This really is a template for an age yet to come. And it pays to know that Maurice Deebank now resides in a monastery in Birmingham!

Tracklisting:
Red Indians
The World Is As Soft As Lace
The Optimist And The Poet
Mexican Bandits
The Stagnant Pool
A Preacher In New England
Remastered by Kevin Metcalfe and Lawrence.

CD Box Single
Trails Of Colour Dissolve / My Face Is On Fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnDTTffIGpI

FELT-RSN3-The-Strange-Idols-Pattern-And-Other-Short-Stories-LP-3D-1

The Strange Idols Pattern And Other Short Stories
Before the Stone Roses and after Be-Bop Deluxe and Plastic Ono Band, John Leckie worked with Felt. Booked into a metal/reggae studio in Birmingham’s industrial wasteland he sculpted a Michelangelo slice of new rock – exquisite and beautiful guitar odysseys – quite unlike anything the city had experienced before. Merging pop with a classical nuance Felt stood alone as the forerunners of a brand new style. And Gary Ainge was finally allowed to use his high-hat!

Tracklisting:
Roman Litter
Sempiternal Darkness
Spanish House
Imprint
Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow
Vasco Da Gama
Crucifix Heaven
Dismantled King Is Off The Throne
Crystal Ball
Whirlpool Vision Of Shame
Remastered by Kevin Metcalfe and Lawrence.

CD Box Single
Penelope Tree / A Preacher In New England

FELT-RSN4-Ignite-The-Seven-Cannons-LP-3D-1

Ignite The Seven Cannons
Produced by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins and featuring the skyscraping vocal of Elizabeth Fraser on the mighty Primitive Painters. Felt found themselves at the top of the independent charts. Unhappy with the overall sound though – it was as if some of Lawrence’s best songs were lost in an “ethereal swirl.” John A. Rivers has been given access to the original master tapes and six songs have been remixed. Also – side 2 has been focused, edited and “made symmetrical.” Finally these songs can be heard as intended by Felt. It has become at long last a cohesive whole.

Tracklisting:
My Darkest Light Will Shine (remixed)
The Day The Rain Came Down (remixed)
Scarlet Servants (remixed)
I Don’t Know Which Way To Turn (remixed)
Primitive Painters
Textile Ranch
Black Ship In The Harbour (remixed)
Elegance In D
Caspian See (remixed)
Southern State Tapestry
Remastered by Kevin Metcalfe and Lawrence.

CD Box Single
Mexican Bandits / The World Is As Soft As Lace

FELT-RSN5-The-Seventeenth-Century-LP-3D-1

The Seventeenth Century
Retitled The Seventeenth Century – the original name for the album was changed late in the day. This reversal of misfortune was classed as an awful mistake and Lawrence’s biggest regret. Flash forward to now and this situation can finally be rectified. “You can’t change the title of an album” – they told him – so he said; “if Kraftwerk can and Bowie can then I can too!!”

Tracklisting:
Song For William S. Harvey
Ancient City Where I Lived
Seventeenth Century
The Palace
Indian Scriptures
The Nazca Plain
Jewel Sky
Viking Dress
Voyage To Illumination
Sapphire Mansions
Remastered by Kevin Metcalfe and Lawrence.

GO-KART-MOZART

Go-Kart Mozart – Mozart’s Mini Mart tracklist
Song For William S. Harvey
Ancient City Where I Lived
Seventeenth Century
The Palace
Indian Scriptures
The Nazca Plain
Jewel Sky
Viking Dress
Voyage To Illumination
Sapphire Mansions
Remastered by Kevin Metcalfe and Lawrence.
Anagram Of We Sold Apes
When You’re Depressed
Relative Poverty
Zelda’s In The Spotlight
Big Ship
Nub-End In A Coke Can
A Black Hood On His Head
Facing The Scorn Of Tomorrow’s Generation
A New World
I’m Dope
Crokadile Rokstarz
Knickers On The Line By 3 Chord Fraud
Chromium-Plated We’re So Elated
Man Of Two Sides
Farewell To Tarzan Harvey
A Ding Ding Ding Ding Dong!!
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