-Brave New World
-End Of The Corridor
-Eight Ways To Start A Day (rehearsal demo)
-Thin Rope (rehearsal demo)
-Business Business/Fragile Object
-Song Of Joy
-Exit Calls (live - p.a. recording)
Extra CD-tracks :
-Womb (live - p.a. recording)
-Sink Or Swim (rehearsal demo)
-Out Of Balance (rehearsal demo)
-Losing Height (rehearsal demo)
-End Of The Corridor (original 9’ rehearsal demo)
Both editions
will include a rather gorgeous booklet with band-bio and lots of photos. Beautiful objects both - a true labour of love - thank you Caleb and Sacred Bones!
SHOULD YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE ANY PHOTOS, CONCERT POSTERS, LIVE-RECORDINGS OR ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS REGARDING THIS BAND, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL VIA THIS PAGE!
Meanwhile, check out these ultra-cool DECAY t-shirts :
THIS PAGE CONCENTRATES ON 'THE CULTURAL DECAY' IN CONCERT (1980-1982), COMPLEMENTING THE MAIN MYSPACE-PAGE
As with a number of bands, studio
recordings and the live-experience were two entirely different propositions. The latter was a pretty rare occurrence, moreover, since in the two and a half years the band existed, we played no more than about fifteen gigs. Four of those were (partially) recorded, which isn’t a bad percentage, after all. As there seems to be an ever-growing interest in all things Cultural Decay, this page aims to fill a void, in a sense, especially since there are no immediate plans to release a live CD.
Apart from the single and 12” and some rehearsal-demos, the compilation on Sacred Bones Records features two live-tracks : ‘Womb’ and ‘Exit Calls’ from the March 20th 1982 gig in Schepdaal (near Brussels) which was recorded from the p.a. system and (obviously) has the best sound-quality. Unfortunately, the two other songs of interest on that tape are incomplete; ‘Middle Ages’ has the tape running out after a very promising intro (AARGH!), while the following ‘Meal (Blue Ballet)’ only starts after the first verse (someone was very slow flipping that cassette over!!). That whole concert also sounds uncharacteristically controlled, almost like a studio-recording, which is good in a way and which justifies the presence of two tracks on said release, but not really typical of Decay live at all.
The raw stuff was recorded on two other occasions and it doesn’t sound rough because of the (less than brilliant) recording quality only. The December 26th 1980 Vossem (near Leuven) recording is of let’s say ‘adequate bootleg quality’ with a couple of tracks sounding better than others – for no apparent reason. It illustrates quite well the loose structure of the early songs (and gigs) which were mostly improv’s around one or two chords with the lyrics as only ‘fixed’ factor (although…). We could hardly play, to be honest, so these early concerts were a constant hit-or-miss affair, best illustrated by the intro to ‘End Of The Corridor’ with the band struggling for almost a minute to find a common starting chord. Amazing, since we could only play about three chords and the song uses two, which would give one a fair chance of hitting the right one – you might think… (not the version on the player here, btw). It also feautures a couple of songs of which this would later appear to be the only surviving recording.
The Brussels July 1982 tape (the last ever Decay gig, as it would turn out) has a pretty crisp sound (considering it’s an audience recording) with good vocal presence and was actually released as a bootleg-cassette at some point (with De Brassers’ gig of that same night on the other side, I seem to remember). It’s been ‘tweaked’ a little and it sounds pretty good now. Most importantly, though, this was without any doubt the most inspired and aggressive gig we ever played, with everything ‘in a higher gear’, so to speak. The reason for this was simple : we were let down by the person who was supposed to pick our gear up and had to set off for Brussels without amps or drums. Fortunately, De Brassers (bless’em!) immediately agreed to let us use their equipment, but by the time we stepped onto that stage (and after having discovered the 1 bottle of coke and 1 beer per person (!) provided by the promotor – cheap bastards!) we were so pissed off we really stormed through our set. Even the opening ‘Corridor’ sounds vicious and the final (in more ways than one) ‘Song Of Joy’ which has Alex spitting out the lyrics ends –fittingly- on a couple of broken strings. Not the first of the night either. Afterwards, and to top off a perfectly catastrophic evening, there was a dispute over money as well, when the promotor threatened to pay only half the (measly) sum we had agreed on. We got the other half the next day anyway, but as last shows go, this certainly was a night to remember. Decay concerts usually were all-or-nothing affairs at the best of times, but that night we would have blown ANY other band off that stage. I still to this day don’t have a clue who recorded it, but would like to thank whoever did. .
The fourth recording (Genk concert 1981) is of as yet unknown sound quality, but in the safe hands of a friend who will try and get it transferred in the not too distant future.
We’ll have to limit things to a few tracks on this page, obviously, but if reactions are positive who knows…
And just to confuse things a little (in true Decay-style), I will add a couple of rehearsal-recordings as well, as those were often even wilder than the live-versions.
The Cultural Decay (live-page)'s Friend Space (Top 33)
Le titre "Nanananana" extrait su single "Amsterdam" de Iom with the freaky men est entré dans le Néo Top de Radio Néo! pour y rester : www.radioneo.org/musique/vote.php
We are glad to inform you that the new "Life's Decay - Dysrieuses" album has just been released ! You can listen to 3 mp3 from this release on our myspace page. You can visit www.lifesdecay.com for more info and/or order the album at www.abstraktsens.com
We hope that you will appreciate the new release ! Thank you for reading and for your support ! All the best.
Online Now!
