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Nov 29, 2012

New THE SUN AND THE MOON EP

CONVERGENCE, the new THE SUN AND THE MOON Ep has been recently released in a limited edition, containing 4 re-recorded classic songs:

1-Arabs and Americans
2-Death of Imagination
3-Limboland
4-Dolphin

Due to the fact the original recordings are not available from Geffen, original members of the band (Andy Clegg, Andy Whitaker, Mark Burgess & John Lever) have decided to record again some of their classic stuff, and make it available for the fans.

How to get Convergence EP:

  • In the Merchandising Corner of Chameleonsvox Tour (currently available)
  • Contacting Andy Clegg in the following email address: gnrecords@gmail.com  Note:Not in stock yet, but preorders can be made.
As per Mark´s inner sleeve notes, this will probably be the first of a few EPs of the same nature, so it´s likely in the near future we will see almost all the songs of THE SUN AND THE MOON being re-recorded.

This is a transcription of Mark inner sleeve notes:

"So The Sun And The Moon converge again to revisit and to some extent rediscover some of the songs we wrote together some years back.

As one of the writers and the lead singer of the band, I said some pretty unfair and uncalled for things about the original record back in the day. I wasn´t in a very good place in my head while we were doing it, or for quite a while after. This time I was in a better place and what began as a re-recording of a single song  for a Manchester benefit record became something else. This will probably be the first of a few EPs of this nature and I found the experience to be much more enjoyable this time around, and while they may lack some of the charm of the original recordings, and while the originals have the benefit of having been recorded in the mighty Cargo Studios in Rochdale, I do personally prefer these and had a better time doing it.

For one thing there wasn´t any pressure. Back then the two Andys were in the shadow of a couple of other guitar players I´d been working with, who even at that early stage were carving out a bit of a legend. While I understood to a certain extent, I felt at the time that the comparisons were unfair. While Andy Clegg and Andy Whitaker had developed their own slant on two-guitar-interaction, they´s done so completely independently over a long period of time and had established a style of their own; and what they did with that style, and what they wrote, was a different approach entirely. I also felt the pressure of the "okay, let´s see what he can do without the other two" mentality, while my divorce from them was still very, very wet. I like to think I rose to the occasion and, contrary to what some people may believe, The Sun And The Moon actually did hold its own. The EP "Alive; not Dead" containing the song Arabs And Americans, which is also featured here, actually charted, thereby equalling the othher lot at their best. The other lot held the all time attendance record at Manchester´s International, while this band held the same at the International 2. Over the years though this music has proved a little harder to keep in circulation than theirs. The original recordings have been unavailable for far too long with no singn that changing, so rather than take on the owners of these recordings in lengthy boring negotiation, we just decided we´d do some of them again. After all, if we wanted to jump through hoops, we´d have been athletes, not musicians.

So here is the beginning of the process. "Convergence I". We hope you enjoy it and that it will make you eager for more. Yeah it´s a bit dear for a four track EP I suppose, but everythings is these days."

Nov 25, 2012

CHAMELEONSVOX Live in Donosti 2012


Mark Burgess and John Lever arrived in Donosti, with the rest of the band on 24th Nov 2012.  It´s been now over a decade that they visited the Basque Country with the original band The Chameleons. Now, it´s ChameleonsVOX, without the presence of Dave Fielding and Reg Smithies, the band who performed a Live Show in Donosti at Intxaurrondoko Kultur Etxea, revisiting the classic songs of The Chameleons.
 
Mark, as in previous gigs with ChameleonsVOX, has taken again the bass guitar. The sound, in general was quite good, although Mark was not at his best with his voice. Nevertheless, that didn´t prevented the fans from enjoying a fantastic show, remembering all those classic tunes, which were performed with respect and very close to the original guitar sounds of the Smithies-Fielding tandem.

The audience was eager for listening to Chameleons songs, and good vibrations floated during all the show in the venue. The band felt comfortable on stage.


This is the actual Chameleonsvox line-up:
  • Mark Burgess - Voice & Bass guitar
  • John Lever - Drums
  • Chris Oliver - Guitars
  • Neil Dwerryhouse - Guitars
 
This is the setlist of the Donosti show:
01- Swamp Thing
02- A Person Isn´t Safe Anywhere These Days
03- Looking Inwardly
04- Monkeyland
05- Up The Down Escalator
06- Perfume Garden
07- One Flesh
08- In Answer
09- I´ll Remember
10- Soul In isolation
11- Singing Rule Britannia
12- Caution
13- Second Skin
Encore
14- The Fan & The Bellows
15- In Shreds
16- Don´t Fall













 More pics from this and other shows of ChameleonsVOX on this Picasa link

We recorded some vids of the show. Image and sound is audience recording quality, so it does not reflect the real experience, but still good vids. Hope you like them!

UP THE DOWN ESCALATOR


IN ANSWER/I´LL REMEMBER


LOOKING INWARDLY

Oct 25, 2012

CHAMELEONSVOX Nov/Dec12 Europe Tour Dates

ChameleonsVOX will be performing some Live Shows in Europe during November/December 2012

Flyers of Toulouse Show. Supporters: April Fools
These are the already confirmed dates and venues which are published in the Facebook Evenet, Mark Burgess has created:


york-fibbers 16th nov
clitheroe-the grand 17th nov
barcelona-sidecar 20th nov
madrid-arena 21st nov
valencia-wah wah 22nd nov
majorca-teatre lloseta 23rd nov
san sebastian-intxaurrondo 24th nov
toulouse-la dynamo 26 nov
essen-zeche carl 30th nov
frankfurt-das bett 1st dec
berlin-magnet club 2nd dec
nl breda-mezz 3rd dec
rome-traffic club 7th dec
scandiano-coralla club 8th dec

manchester-sound control 15th dec

To be up-to-date, join the FB Event:



Sep 27, 2012

ANDY WHITAKER new album

Andy Whitaker, formerly from Music for Aborigines, The Sun and The Moon and Weaveworld, has released a solo album, whose title is THINGS THAT HAPPENED ON EARTH.

The album also features Andy Clegg (also Music for Aborigines, The Sun and The Moon and Weaveworld), John Kolbeck (Messengers, Black Swan Lane), Steve WilsonJack Richard Sobel (Messengers, Black Swan Lane) on various instruments. The album is produced by Wanderland Music & Black Swan Lane.

An excerpt from Militant Milicent, one of the songs of the new album, can be listened to on the following web site:

http://blackswanlane.com/song-of-the-month/

The video of Your Car, another song of the album is also available in Youtube:





 
You can order the album on Wanderland Music Website:

http://www.wanderlandmusic.com/andy-whitaker/



According to Andy, the writing on this album happened organically and he had the title for the record from the onset.  ”This will be the record to leave behind when I’m gone.”  This is the album to send into outer space for other civilizations to get an account of what life was like on Earth.  Songs on the album delineate subjects such as The Suffragettes, The Dawn Of Man, Prostitutes, Religion, Love, Sex, Death and The Life of Andy.

The Album cover will be done by Photographer by Julie de Waroquier, who also did the covers by some Black Swane Lane albums.


A very interesting post by Jack Richard Sobel, in which he talks about this new album is available on http://blackswanlane.com/and-the-moon/

Sep 2, 2012

WHITAKER&CLEGG Spanish Live Dates

Andy Whitaker will be performing an acoustic  live show with Andy Clegg on 5th October at Sala Mariscal, in  L´Startit (Costa Brava), Spain.

Both Andys were founder members in the 80´s of bands like Music for Aborigines, The Sun and The Moon and Weaveworld. Andy Clegg, has also been participating during last years with his brother Ian in a band called Kizilok. They will be playing old stuff, and also new material from the forthcoming album by Andy Whitaker, THINGS THAT HAPPENED ON EARTH.

On 6th October, they will also be participating in a show by MonkeyLand Project on Municipal Theatre Cinema of Caldes de Malavella (Girona), Spain

On Sunday 7th October, at 6:00 pm they will be performing a Live Show for RADIO CALDES FM.

More information on the following Facebook event:


We link here some youtube videos of both Andys playing live:

Love Is Your Game (Andy Whitaker and Andy Clegg)@The New Inn, Clitheroe, October 2008
 

An Individual Mind (Andy Whitaker and Andy Clegg)@The New Inn, Clitheroe, October 2008



Dolphin (Andy Whitaker and Andy Clegg)@The New Inn, Clitheroe, October 2008





Jun 7, 2012

CHAMELEONSVOX @Primavera Sound (BCN)

For those who couldn´t attend The ChameleonsVOX at Primavera Sound, in Barcelona, here you have some Youtube links with the full show.
Enjoy




(Thanks Jörg for the links)

May 2, 2012

New Retrospective album from THE CHRYSALIDS

Hot news directly received from Yves Altana: New Retrospective album "Neither Love Nor Money" from his band The Chrysalids, to be released on August the 6th 2012.

This retrospective also contains the re-recording of 5 songs. On the following link you can listen to Shrine, one of the tracks which ash been re-recorded
This is the Track List and Press release, Yves has forwarded to us:
********************************
ALBUM NAME :Neither Love Nor Money
TRACK LIST :
1. When There Are No Stars In The Sky
2. My Heart Is Where My Home Is
3. Home Grown Garden Boy
4. Shrine
5. Too Lucky To Listen
6. Half The Distance
7. Canute’s Last Wave
8. Days Like These
9. Tell My Story
10. Just Like Stingray
11. I Am My Mirror
12. Mad Professor
13. Don’t Wait At The Gates For Me
14. Spoil The Child
15. Before I Stop, Let Me Start

PRESS RELEASE:
The Chrysalids
 
 In South Manchester throughout 1989 two groups routinely rehearsed in adjacent rehearsal rooms, exchanging nods of acknowledgement like polite neighbours with nothing much to say to each other. One of these groups would soon become known to the world, whilst the other was to soon retire from it - Manchester, and the world, was about to go Mad.

The Chrysalids were brought to the cusp of being by indie pop crooner, John Wood, (late of C86's One Thousand Violins) and Corsican maverick musician, Yves Altana, who had taken refuge in the city where many of their strongest musical affinities had originated. However, in 1989 expressive singing was soon to become drowned out by a chemicalized Madchester monotone, and songwriters who felt that they could pull anything out from pop's lustrous historical bag were to be largely overlooked in favour of the merely 'baggy'.
The Chrysalids had accumulated a repertoire of pop mastery and emotional intensity, but they were 'down' just as the rest of the world around them was 'up'. Their songs were a testimony to those who felt apart from the world, not a part of it.

The final mastering of The Chrysalids' retrospective album 'Neither Love Nor Money' one week prior to the announcement of The Stone Roses reunion sees The Chrysalids finally come fully into the world - not so much as the "resurrection" but as the life. Now, more than 20 years since the songs on this album took their first breath (and featuring four entirely new recordings) 'Neither Love Nor Money' is no fossilised pop pupa but, rather, brings The Chrysalids to us as the unbroken butterfly of 2012.
*************************
If you need more information about Yves Altana and his projects, just take a look at the following links: 
The Chrysalids Facebook Group
Yves Altana Facebook
 

Apr 13, 2012

SOTB: REMASTERED DOUBLE VINYL EDITION


Finally, the reissue of The Chameleons´debut Album, Script of the Bridge, in double vinyl format is now available in Blue Apple Music Web Site.
The re-issue has been restricted to only 1000 copies, so you must hurry up before they disappear.

The package also contains the album in CD format with the 2012 remaster. For those only interested in the CD, you can buy it alone at a cheaper price.

This Special Edition of
The Script of The Bridge has been remastered by Guy Massey, who was in charge of the remastered editions of The Beatles Discography.

As Mark Burgess explains on his ChameleonsVOX Web Site, this edition was beyond Chameleons members while preparing the 25th Anniversary edition, but now it is possible.

As all of you know, the sound recording of the original pressing of SOTB vinyl had to be compressed due to the running time (almost an hour). This new edition of SOTB, will not have such limitation as it has been released as a double vinyl, with 3 songs per side.

These are some pictures of the design of this Double Vinyl Edition, which also contains the CD:








Feb 18, 2012

WHITAKER-CLEGG Unplugged Gig+ KIZILOK

Andy Clegg & Andy Whitaker, founder members of MUSIC FOR ABORIGINES & THE SUN AND THE MOON, will be performing an unplugged gig @The Crown -37 Booth Street Manchester- on 15th March 2012.

Free Entrance
Special Guest: KIZILOK

For more info check this Facebook Event.

Feb 9, 2012

The Chameleons in 80´s Catalonian TV Programme

This is not really "new". In fact, this is old, very old news, but it´s very interesting:

There was in the 80´s a Catalonian TV (TV3) Programme about music called ARSENAL. One of the Broadcasts (Porgramme number 10) was dedicated to The Chameleons, where the fans from that time could enjoy some excerpts from a gig in Barcelona, an interview to Mark and John, and some reviews from a Catalonian Journalist (Guillem Castaño), discussing how important The Chameleons was for him.



That TV3 Broadcast is available through the following Dailymotion video:


Arsenal 10: Temps estranys, The Chameleons por manuelhuerga


The link to the ARSENAL Web Site, where this broadcast appears is:
http://manuelhuerga.com/arsenal/article/programas-1-10

Thanks a lot for this to Daniel

Feb 6, 2012

ChameleonsVOX 2012 Tour Dates

This is an update of the already confirmed ChameleonsVOX live dates for April, May and June 2012:






April 6th @Rewind Easter Fest Vooruit Gent - Belgium
April 7th @Kulturbunker - Köln (Support Dead Guitars)
April 8th @Noels Ballroom - Leipzig (Germany)
April 14th @HMV Institute - Birmingham
April 15th @Club Academy - Manchester
April 21st @O2 Academy Islington - London
April 22nd @Tunnels - Bristol

May 5th @Left Bank - Leeds

June 1st @San Miguel Primavera Sound Festival - Barcelona

More info:
ChameleonsVOX Facebook Site
San Miguel Primavera Sound Web Site (they are mistakenly named as The Chameleons)