So, for those of you who hadn't heard, our crystal ball voodoo fortune teller prediction for the three cover songs on The Mortal's debut EP were as follows:
1) A cover of "Spirit," by Bauhaus.
2) A cover of a song originally sung by a female vocalist.
3) A cover of a song nobody thought Mr. Sakurai would cover.
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And now, friends, the track list has been announced, as follows:
01. Pain Drop
02. Spirit (Bauhaus cover)
03. Shadow of Love (The Damned cover)
04. Cities in Dust (Siouxsie and the Banshees cover)
05. Yume
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Interestingly, the covers of "Shadow of Love" and "Cities in Dust" will have lyrics in Japanese, written by Mr. Sakurai, possibly with the help of a translator...or then again, possibly not, since the man speaks English surprisingly well.
Interestingly, the covers of "Shadow of Love" and "Cities in Dust" will have lyrics in Japanese, written by Mr. Sakurai, possibly with the help of a translator...or then again, possibly not, since the man speaks English surprisingly well.
Unless you thought it likely that Mr. Sakurai would cover a song by The Damned, we believe our prediction gets full marks here!
If you would like us to read your tea leaves or tarot, please queue to the left. The cost of a reading starts at 3000 yen plus a shot of whiskey. The whiskey only makes our readings more accurate, so have no fear of drunken miscalculations.
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Now, to move on to the educational section of our program!
For those of you who never graduated from goth school (I'm looking at YOU, Anonymous Genesis-Snogger) -
THIS IS BAUHAUS.
BAUHAUS ARE VERY IMPORTANT. (They will also be on the test, so take notes!)
Why are Bauhaus important? For one thing, they are band who more or less started the goth movement. And for another, their vocalist, Peter Murphy, is one of the main figures who inspired Mr. Sakurai to wander down the dark and spooky road less traveled that he has since traveled almost constantly since that fateful day.
Let's not mention the part where Hamlet Machine (otherwise known as one of those other bands that
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And this is The Damned, who are also indisputably one of the major acts of the early goth movement. Fangirls, if you thought Mr. Sakurai was a vampire prince, this ought to be all the proof you need that you're wrong.
THIS is what a vampire prince looks like, my friends. Pay close attention, this will also be on the test!
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But for us, the most significant choice of song in this list is the third one: "Cities In Dust," possibly the greatest hit ever of Siouxsie and the Banshees, off the album Tinderbox, of which Sakurai has long admitted to being a fan. The band themselves dismissed this album as far from their best work - founding members Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin never stopped ragging on the guitar work of John Valentine Carruthers, who played guitar on this album - but for anyone who likes the sound of hollow, jangly chords and tight arpeggios, every minute is pure beauty. Echoes of this album can be heard all over Buck-Tick's work, not least of which in "Not Found" (check out the Banshees' "Cannons" to see what I mean!) so if you've never heard it before, I strongly urge you to give Tinderbox a listen.
But that's beside the point.
The point is, Mr. Sakurai has done it again: he's decided yet again to cover a song originally sung by a female vocalist...and what a female vocalist she is, too!
Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is Siouxsie Sioux, also known as the Ice Queen (long before Elsa!) and the Godmother of Goth (forevermore!)
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She's androgynous...
She has great taste in hats and ties...
She gives exactly zero fucks about your fear of nipples...
She is sensual...
She could probably keep up with Mr. Sakurai in a drinking contest...
She's in ur country, appropriatin' ur culture...
She was probably the model for the model in the background visuals for "Yasou" on the Yumemiru Uchuu hall tour...(courtesy of the The Night Porter...)
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Plus, she is so fabulous, she has ALL the waffles.
Ladies and gentlemen, you cannot touch Siouxsie Sioux. You simply cannot touch her.
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And THIS is Cities in Dust. If you haven't seen it already, watch it. And if you've already seen it, watch it again. And if you've already watched it again, watch it again and and again and again.
And if you think Mr. Sakurai can seriously manage to pull of a sexier version of this song than the original, well then...you have a lot of faith in Mr. Sakurai. But I will stand by what I've said before: the two of them should really be doing it as a duet. If any lady vocalist can keep up with Mr. Sakurai, it's Siouxsie Sioux. Though in all likelihood, he would be on the floor at her feet, begging to be stepped on.
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In conclusion: we called it...so what are you waiting for? Call us up for your next prediction!
In fact, we called it so hard that we're now seriously regretting we didn't bother to predict that Sakurai would write another song with "Yume" in the title...after "Yumeji," "Yumemiru Uchuu," "Mugen" and "Muma," we ought to all be amazed that this is actually the first song he's ever written that's simply titled "Yume."
So bravo, Mr. Sakurai. The great thing about dreams is, they're free, and they're different every night so you don't have to worry about self-plagiarism...
...or maybe not.
Perhaps every single night, Mr. Sakurai dreams of Ms. Sioux stepping on him with her shiny bootheels. The other song is called "Pain Drop," after all.
Even so, if so, we can't say we blame him.
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In conclusion: we called it...so what are you waiting for? Call us up for your next prediction!
In fact, we called it so hard that we're now seriously regretting we didn't bother to predict that Sakurai would write another song with "Yume" in the title...after "Yumeji," "Yumemiru Uchuu," "Mugen" and "Muma," we ought to all be amazed that this is actually the first song he's ever written that's simply titled "Yume."
So bravo, Mr. Sakurai. The great thing about dreams is, they're free, and they're different every night so you don't have to worry about self-plagiarism...
...or maybe not.
Perhaps every single night, Mr. Sakurai dreams of Ms. Sioux stepping on him with her shiny bootheels. The other song is called "Pain Drop," after all.
Even so, if so, we can't say we blame him.
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This is Cayce squeeing my friends.
Take a good long hard look right now because you'll probably never see it again...unless, that is, Siouxsie herself turns up as a guest on the tour.
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Oh yeah, and if you want to hear several seconds of random screechy incomprehensible noise that baby Siouxsie in the 70's would have been proud of, then watch the Spirit trailer, below.
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Aaaand...the album artwork.
You update fast! Thank you for all the information. I already listened to (and loved) Bauhaus, but now I'll definitely check the other two bands out too. Especially Siouxsie and the Banshees. With a band name like that, I have no clue why they aren't on my favorite list already. And she sure seems awesome!
ReplyDeleteCayce squeeing? This is a very memorable moment! I hope you will still feel that way when the mini album comes out.
I'm not sure how I feel about the music in the trailer. Should I be scared or excited?
I also wanted to ask, I heard that Shadow of Love and Cities in Dust will be performed in Japanese. Any idea if it's true?
If you listened to Ai no Wakusei and the attending singles and b-sides, you'll know that the noise in the trailer means you should be very excited.
DeleteScratch that question about the language of the lyrics. I just read it again and saw you already mentioned it. (Was it an update though? I don't remember reading it the first time. Or maybe I'm just not as sharp today.)
ReplyDeleteMy sarcasm meter is also not working properly on this day. " written by Mr. Sakurai, possibly with the help of a translator...or then again, possibly not, since the man speaks English surprisingly well." All I can think of is http://www.myvideo.at/watch/8748374.
Aw, I remember this... I'm not sure which cracks me up more: Sakurai, or the looks on all the other members' faces
DeleteMy inner post-punk fangirl is hyperventilating.
ReplyDeleteSo Sakurai will be singing the covers in Japanese? Or at least part of them. I wonder how will it sound. Cities in dust has got to be one of my faves ever and it's the one I can't wait to hear in Sakurai's version. Oh I suppose they have the owners' permissions for the Japanese covers.
ReplyDeleteIt depends. I believe that if you intend to change the lyrics of a song you are covering, some countries copyright laws require authorisation. And there are also various arrangements for paying royalties and so forth on commercially released covers, but it's different in different countries and varies according to what media/what country you're selling the new versions in. It's a tangled web
DeleteI used to have one of the pics from that shower photoshoot with Siouxsie and Budgie on the wall of my room at university. MEMORIES!
ReplyDeleteIt would appear we will have the pleasure of listening to Mr Sakurai sing in English, at least that is what the new audio extract just posted on their facebook page sounds like. Although this does appeal to the fangirl in me, a tiny bit of myself was looking forward to a possible article by cayce commenting on a would-be lyrics translation to japanese . For the time being, we'll just have to raise a glass of wine in his honour and wait . / delana
ReplyDeleteIt's Shadow of Love and Cities in Dust that it was hinted would be rewritten with Japanese lyrics.
DeleteNow now, probably not sexier, but that Cities in Dust excerpt sounds amazing! You can tell just how much Sakurai loves Siouxsie's singing in the original (: Well, if something is perfect already, maybe it is okay to leave it like that. Going to study some more for my goth exams now.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you guys think of the ones you have listened to till now? I personally love them. Very excited for the album and lives. And wouldn't mind a review and report afterwards. ;)
ReplyDeleteI love them so far! And my other half, who is not a B-T fan but is of the goth inclination, also gave them the thumbs up. I am looking forward to hearing the rest now - I already know he'll knock Shadow of Love out of the park but really want to hear what direction the original works will take!
DeleteI really love what I've listened to till now!
ReplyDeleteAnd Sakurai-san seems to have improved his english very much ;o) I was mesmerized by the preview of Spirit!
Hello, Cayce, I got a burning question about the upcoming 'The Mortal' tour which I believe only you can answer; will the concert be purely only songs from the upcoming album + covers or include his earlier solo efforts? I'm in half a mind over taking a 7 hour flight to Japan to attend this tour (among others)!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I wish I could answer your question as I'm flattered by your faith in me, but at this point, I really have no idea whether this new tour will include the old songs or not. It would certainly be cool if it did, and I don't think you can discount the possibility of old songs, especially "Explosion," "Hallelujah," and "Neko," which were written by current members of The Mortal. But I wouldn't say it's a given, so I suggest you plan accordingly.
DeleteI will also add that it's almost certain that most of the songs on the new tour will be new songs. If there are old songs, there will only be a few of them here and there. Don't expect another Explosion tour.
DeleteHi Cayce,
DeleteWell, I finally decided to buy the tickets to The Mortal concert on 26th Nov cos their single hit all the right spots and the album could only be better (I hope!). And like you analyzed, which I also wholeheartedly agree, their album and single is not sufficient for a gig and most likely delve into his previous solo works for songs to fill up the time.
I have another question though; I am currently in the mist of finding tickets to cali gari's sold out (non-FC) gig and found one but it has the female owner's name on it (I presume its a FC ticket) and well, I'm a guy. Will there be issues whilst entering the venue? Like eagle-eyed ushers stopping me from entering?
Also, what is the best time to buy from scalpers? I heard once the gig begins, they'll be desperate to get rid of the tickets at a low price. This is for the One OK Rock/radwimps gig (don't judge me!) and the tickets are currently going for 25000yen at least WTF.
Thanks for replying and hope to hear from you soon!
If you haven't bought the tickets for the show on the 26th yet, I know a fan who has an extra from the first round of the lottery which will probably be a better seat than anything you can get now. Send me an email if you're interested.
DeleteTicket checkers have never checked the gender of the name on the tickets in my experience. I've entered with wrong-gender tickets many times and no one has ever said anything. Just act like you're supposed to be there and you'll be fine.
If you want to get tickets on auction, your best bet is getting them in the week before the show. Close to the show, the prices tend to drop. You can also try the tactic of showing up at the venue early and holding a sign that says チケットを譲ってください and hope someone with an extra comes along and sells it to you. If you want to buy from the yakuza you have to wait until the concert has already started and be ready to negotiate firmly as those dudes do not fuck around. Ideally it helps to be friends with a yakuza who knows the ticket scalper's higher-ups and can get them on the phone as I mentioned in this live report.
https://sites.google.com/site/lyricsyndrome/articles/live-reports/bt-2013-cosmic-dreamer-earthquake-charity
To clarify: you can buy from yakuza scalpers before the show starts. But they won't drop the prices till the show starts and even then they may not. Also, yakuza are generally only present at seated shows. I don't believe I've ever seen them at places like Zepp Tokyo or Akasaka Blitz, and EX Theater has like one security guy per square meter so I wouldn't expect to see them there either.
DeleteOh man, I already bought the ticket to the 26th live through my agent! Looking at ticketcamp:
Deletehttps://ticketcamp.net/the-mortal-tickets/event-183468/
, it seems awfully hard to sell off my ticket if I really wanted your friend/fan's ticket instead...
Thanks for the insight; I'll wait it out for the One OK Rock/radwimps ticket prices to drop then (btw, its at Yokohama Arena on 26th Nov so its semi-seated at upper levels? Nonetheless, from your description, I'm dropping the scalpers as an option); I can always go watch The Mortal that day instead :P
Thanks again!
For future reference, you can get concert tickets through This is NOT Greatest Shopping service. I will handle everything for you - just contact me and tell me which ticket you want and I'll do all the rest...though if the show is likely to sell out it's much better to try in advance through pre-sale lotteries than trying to get tickets second-hand.
DeleteIf the show is at Yokohama Arena, I'm sure there will be scalpers out in spades, but you would probably get a better deal going through Yahoo Japan Auctions. I can help you with that if you like, but you'd have to email me directly.
Also I think it's worth noting that the pic of Siouxsie with the beans on toast and boiled eggs is only from a couple of years ago, for a teenage cancer charity exhibition/book. So, you know, TIMELESSLY HOT.
ReplyDelete