Even before his much-publicized departure from Depeche Mode in 1995, Alan Wilder was laying the foundations for more adventurous and exploratory musical and sonic territory in Recoil. “I always kept an open mind about what the Recoil project could be,” Wilder explains, “allowing it to head off in any direction,” which indeed it did as the latter three albums saw the artist pursuing a grander, more cinematic scope of production and composition. Now, Mute Records has announced a series of reissues from Recoil, presenting these three long out-of-print albums in CD and colored vinyl – Unsound Methods (1997) in transparent green/clear, Liquid (2000) in silver, and subHuman (2007) in curacao blue. “It was a surprising and pleasurable adventure to hear the work with fresh ears,” Wilder continues, stating that having not listened to these albums in full for many years, “I was able, perhaps properly for the first time, to experience all the detail which I had either forgotten about or hadn’t fully appreciated at the time.” The three reissues are due for release on October 7, with pre-orders available now via the Mute Records webstore.
Unsound Methods was Wilder’s fourth album as Recoil and the first from the project after leaving Depeche Mode. The album featured guest vocals by Siobhan Lynch, Hildia Campbell, New York poet and spoken word artist Maggie Estep, and Nitzer Ebb’s Douglas McCarthy; McCarthy had previously appeared on Recoil’s Bloodline album on the “Faith Healer” single in 1992, while Campbell had been a backing vocalist on Depeche Mode’s Devotional Tour in 1993, appearing on the Songs of Faith and Devotion Live album.
Liquid followed in 2000, with guest appearances by fellow Mute artist Diamanda Galás, New York spoken word artists Samantha Coerbell and Nicole Blackman, the 1940s gospel group Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, and narration by Reto Bühler and Rosa Torres. The album also featured numerous instrumental contributions from bassist Dean Garcia (Curve, SPC ECO), drummer Steve Monti (Curve, Sulpher), and guitarist Merlin Rhys-Jones (Ian Dury and the Blockheads). Blackman is perhaps best known to some in the scene for her appearance on KMFDM’s “Dogma” on the 1996 XTORT record.
Recoil’s final album to date, 2007’s subHuman featured New Orleans blues artist Joe Richardson, providing vocals, guitar, and harmonica; also appearing was English vocalist Carla Trevaskis. Additionally, all three albums feature violin and viola by Wilder’s then-wife Hepzibah Sessa, best known for her work in Miranda Sex Garden. The Selected compilation followed in 2010, with Wilder taking Recoil on the Selected Events Tour in 2010; from that tour came the A Strange Hour in Budapest Blu-ray in 2012, marking the last official release from Recoil.
Mute Records has also announced plans to remaster and reissue Recoil’s first three albums – 1+2 (1986), Hydrology (1988), and Bloodline (1992) – in the near future.
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Ilker Yücel (Ilker81x)
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