JOHN CALE

MUSIC FOR A NEW SOCIETY

Yellow Moon YMCD 003

PARIS S'EVEILLE - SUIVI D'AUTRES COMPOSITIONS

Yellow Moon YMCD 006

23 SOLO PIECES FOR LA NAISSANCE DE L'AMOUR

Yellow Moon YMCD 007

Yellow Moon Records carry out the valuable task of making readily available various bits of the Cale oeuvre that have either been out of catalogue or only released through foreign labels.

Unarguably the most important of these three is 1982's 'Music For A New Society' originally put out by Ze. A set of beautifully instrumented, lyrically complex songs which harked back to the ease and power of 'Paris 1919'; a number of them ('Thoughtless Kind', 'Chinese Envoy'. '(I Keep A) Close Watch') became staples of his solo shows a decade later. An extra song 'In The Library Of Force' augments the collection.

'Paris S'eveille' and '23 Solo Pieces' are instrumental works for film or dance. While never less than interesting it often seems Cale knocks this high class mood music off in his sleep. Also included on 'Paris S'eveille' is a truncated version of 'Booker T' by the Velvets from the April 1967 Gymnasium show, which Cale retains an hour long tape of, and 'Antarctica Starts Here'.

(from BoB#46 Aug 1996)