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JOHN CALE
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For full track listings of the albums and the complete catalogue available, you can check our SEARCH ENGINE in the Mail Order link at the top of the page. You can search by Artist, Track title or Format.
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| ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE
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To quote from the anthology, recently released on Rhino Records; "Ask any well-versed rock fan about Cale, and his status as a co-founder of The Velvet Underground is likely to come to mind first. But his role in the Velvet's extraordinarily influential career is far from the be-all and end-all of his creative contributions. There have been many more fascinating chapters in his story since those notes from the Underground nearly 30 years ago.
By any measure, John Cale is an unlikely rock figure. His academic background seemed to point him toward a 'serious music' career, and he has kept company with such cultural icons as John Cage, Andy Warhol and Sam Shepard. And yet there's another side to this intense, erudite Welshman - He's been a punk cult hero, a manic bandleader, a purveyor of 'dirtyass rock 'n' roll'. His profile as a composer has a Jekyll-and-Hyde look: He's written symphonic pieces, minimalist experiments, tender love ballads, bloodthirsty rants. The contradictions go on and on. Cale co-wrote most of the songs on Artificial Intelligence with lyricist Larry 'Ratso' Sloman, executive editor of 'National Lampoon' and, most recently, collaborator on DJ Howard Stern's literary efforts. Following the Camera Obscura project with Nico, Cale paired the players James Young (keyboards) and Graham Dowdall (percussion) with a previous partner, guitarist Dave Young. The resulting album is heavy on funkified rhythms and cool keyboard gloss, matching the furtive, threatening imagery of the song lyrics. Artificial Intelligence may be one of John Cale's 'easier listening' albums but still retains the nervous edge. There are outstanding ballads, 'Dying on the Vine' and 'Black Rose' and a humourous musical patchwork, 'Chinese Takeaway' among the elegant and perverse 'pop' like 'Everytime the Dogs Bark' and 'The Sleeper'. Specially remastered for the American release in spring 1996, Beggars Banquet re-issued the album alongside Nico's 'Camera Obscura'. With a shared heritage in the Velvet Underground and the subsequent collaborations between these artists, the two albums are inextricably linked. Beggars only distribute this one Cale album, but it's wellworth investigating his body of work, so after you've bought this one (of course!), check out the career overview compilation on Rhino and an anthology of his recordings on Island Records as well as the excellent recent material on Rykodisc. - September 1996 |
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| Another link to John Cale | |||
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