Metamatic Forums News and Announcements John Foxx news New CD entitled The Quiet Man...

A spoken word CD containing some of the surreal, dream-like stories from John Foxx's on-going novel about London, The Quiet Man, will be released by Metamatic Records on Monday the 27th of July, 2009.

This coincides with a new exhibition, DNA , which features images and narratives from the book alongside work by visual artists, film-makers, illustrators, Manga artists, graphic designers and musicians who have been inspired by the character - and different aspects of Foxx's thirty-year career.

Contributors to the DNA exhibition so far include; Ian Emes, Macoto Tezka, Gary Numan, Jonathan Barnbrook, Karborn, Angelo Cerantola, Adrian Lee, Jeremy Scott, Antonino Cardillo, Craig Hewitt, Flemming Fynsk, Rob C, Andrew Back and Roger Spy. Doubtless more contributors will be announced in due course.

Rob

Fab!

I'll be going along to DNA, so hopefully I can pick up a CD there?

Really looking forward to this exhibition

Thanks for the news Rob

Great news! The Quiet Man gets its official release. Hopefully, the CD will be accompanied in the not too distant future by the book.

Chris

Great news.
Who is doing the 'speaking'? John himself?

At last!

I hope John isn't doing the speaking though - perhaps it's Mark Fisher again?

The 'narration', as for the extracts performed at previous events, will be by Justin Barton,

Rob

the famous architectural photographer ?

The Quiet Man is an architectural photographer? It's like something out of a Ballard novel!

Hmmmmm, hang on a minute...

I'll second that! Interesting...

I was listening to Gary's "EKO" interview with Steve yesterday and he favourably refers to the "proper" incarnation of Ultravox with John as a source of inspiration for music and live shows, and he still does by the sound of it.

Is it "spoken word" as in like an audio book or will it be accompanied by music, as in previous performances?

The Quiet Man CD features some new piano music which has been specifically recorded for the album, as well as some ambient sounds - birdsong, etc.

Rob

Sold! I'll buy three

Great stuff. Will THIS be the best John Foxx album this year? I can't keep up ...

That's what she said.

Below is the front cover image for the forthcoming CD entitled The Quiet Man...



The track-listing and release date will follow in due course...

Rob

I guessed it might be.

Interesting..

Thats quiet a picture............

Its times like this we still need vinyl releases.

The version on The Quietman website is bigger..

That's because I have image editing software...

Rob

It says release date is 27th July according to The Quiet man website or is that not confirmed Rob?

No, it's not confitmed yet...

At least it wasn't when I last spoke to John.

Rob

And I thought I was quick editing my pistyping

Oh yes, it sure is.

Is this going to be one of the best Foxx album covers ever!! Well, since the 'empty suit', and the one before that, and before that etc.....

What a beautiful picture.

It makes me wonder if John has also heard of a recent London phenomenon that has in the last few years become a myth, known as 'The Angel of the Thames'. People have claimed to see an angel in the sky along the Thames near to Jubilee Gardens (from the South Bank, that's roughly opposite the OXO Tower) with stories that the angel has been sighted over hundreds of years.

However, in a William Gibson-esque fashion - there is compelling evidence (overwhelming in fact) that the whole thing was a viral marketing campaign for a charity organisation started back in 2006.

Evidence for; http://www.angelofthethames.com/

Evidence against; http://transpont.blogspot.com/2008/11/angel-of-thames-hoax-brockley.html

Passing the South Bank only the other week, I saw various tour groups stood steadfast opposite the spot trying to capture an 'angel' on camera.

Gazza

Interesting ...

on the QM blg/site the image bears the name of 'genoa-angel'.. wonder why so?

Back in June of 2008, John and I visited the cemetary in Genoa (called Staglieno) - it's 'possible' that this Quiet Man image may have 'originated' from one of the many photos that were taken.

Rob

I was hoping you'd say that Rob!

Someone else had been there before you too .... the Italian-Joy Div connection..

Cool!

Oh yes, I agree. Itty bitty cd jewel boxes never do cover art any justice.

That photograph is striking and once again, an excellent cover for a Foxx cd.

Powerful image, and something about it for me seems to mirror the scenes in Wings Of Desire where the winged Bruno Ganz pauses atop a giant statue of an angel as he meditates on the life of the city below.

I was reminded of this too:

I'm quite fascinated by this phenomenon, which I hadn't heard of until reading this discussion.



I'm also fascinated by the whole 'doors in women' theme that seems recurrent in John Foxx artwork.

If I am being honest, I didn't like the image at first. I was expecting something like the cover of Quiet Men - leafy lanes, that kind of thing. However, the more I look at it the more I like it. The sky of course is fabulous.

My brain has been particularly slow and preoccupied this week so I have only just noticed that the angel is missing a wing.

Track from The Quet Man called Cathedral Oceans uploaded on [url=www.myspace.com/foxxmetamatic ]myspace player[/url].
Blog also states.
roll up roll up..

Cheers D!

The blog notice also states that this album is a limited edition - but doesn't say how limited (1000?)

Nice

http://twitpic.com/aizzn

hahaha! you found me out!

I love this reading, and I'm really looking forward to the album.

IMHO, Justin 'scanshifts' Barton has the perfect voice for The Quiet Man - his intonation and measured delivery really adds to the text and develops the rhythm and poetry to exactly the right degree. He has a wonderful air of resignation and detachment at times too, which brings another dimension to it.

Listening to it again now, focussing on the background music. Sounds quite beautiful - did I read somewhere it was specially written for the project, or is this material that John has in the archive that he's been waiting to finish off and release for years?

Me too Martin – I keep hoping I get lucky and that one of the early editions plops through my letter box.

Bartons’ voice is the voice of The Quiet Man, as much as I love listening to Foxx interpret his own work, you need that distance and resignation that Barton has.

I believe the music has been specially created for the album, yes. And with so many Quiet Man stories, it’s not hard to imagine a companion volume sometime in the future. There has also been mention of it being finally realised as a book in the near future too (though I note that that particular avenue hasn’t been spoken of in all the recent Quiet Man activity)

Right, I’m off to check my letterbox again

Im still in two minds about Justin Barton doing the voice of all things Quiet Man.

Me too. I ordered a copy and I'm very curios about it within the new background music John wrote for this. The art work is fantastic!
So, we will listen how Mr. Bartons voice works on it...

Yes thats about the same for me too Andreas. I will just have to accept it the more i play it, i suppose. The worst thing would be if this kind of material never was released at all. And the artwork is stunning.

C'mon lads!

You must understand that Foxx isn't The Quiet Man - he never was. He wasn't built to be The Quiet Man, but he was very adept at creating The Quiet Man and The Quiet Mans' world.

To have Foxx do the vocal live is something special, but for The Quiet Man to exist in any real sense, it needs to be done by someone else, with a sense of detachment and distance.

Otherwise it's a bit like finding out Stallone is gonna play the faceless Judge Dredd

But then, I'm used to disinterested, detached vocals - if you're on the London Underground, and happen to be on the Central Line, you may hear the following;

"Would Inspector Sands please investigate...,"

Most provincials/tourists wouldn't give it a second thought, but us Londoners know that;

Inspector Sands = GET THAT F*** OUTTA THERE!*

Joking aside, "Inspector Sands" is when an alarm has been activated, and London Underground need to investigate without causing pandemonium. In some stations it's a prerecorded message from the 1950s (try Notting Hill - I'm not kidding) connected to the PA system. It's quite odd in the 21st Century, when an RSC/BBC voice tells you in code, what's going on.

And this is what The Quiet Man is. John Foxx, as Dennis Leigh as a series of coded messages via John Foxx via The Quiet Man.

I have no idea who Justin Barton is, and I don't care to. Just as long as his - disinterested, detached and all too human vocal is The Quiet Man - that's good enough for me.

Gazza


For those about to rock...and run...
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_Sands

For general subliminal public warnings of mass destuction...
http://www.b3ta.com/board/4/8/1/2/9/3

yeah - what he said!

Go Gazza. Thanks for presenting my thoughts on The Quiet Man so eloquently

"Will Birdsong see Inspector Sands Immediately..."

I have a feeling you wont need to announce it twice.

This is the reason why im in two minds still Garry. Partly i want the detached distance views from a 'third party', but then i want John to read what is after all, his work, and he would know best, maybe, how to convey the imagery.

Its a tricky one, but being relistic, with the workload that John has, it cant always be done by himself anyway. And i suppose in some way, the live quiet man is made all that more special by the infrequence of John for every reading.

IT'S WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anti-Bartons' vs Pro-Barton's!!!!!!

Birdsong and I will form an "Intellectual Collective"....

"The rest shall keep as they are!"

Yes, the "Intellectual Majority"

You'll have to remind me who that is as I can't count....

Since when is two a majority?

And as for intellectual... gimme a break! :p

John Foxx has always stood by the idea that he doesn't really "own" his ideas and his work in any protective sense. Ideas are there to be stolen and developed.
Barton adds things to The Quiet Man that John wouldn't necessarily see.
And some people are simply better at reading aloud than others. It's quite a skill

Come on anti-Bartonites. Show thyselves...

Since Garry cant count.

Yep, i can see that as a way for Barton coming in.
This is another 50/50 for me. Barton could add new, but John knows his stuff so well.

Its all academic though, as the albums almost with us. In most ways that can only be good for everyone.

Opinion is very nourishing.

What a wonderful place this forum is

Hear! Hear! Thy Brother in arms!

"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right."

Brian Clough

As the saying goes: 'Everyone is entitled to my opinion'

Theres a horror film forum im on, thats always like a ghost town,
but by Metamatic standards, this place was hoppin' tonight.

So YOU'RE the other bloke who's watched 'Horror Hospital'!

What a wonderful discussion...at last!

The only thing I can say against Mr Leigh reading TQM is that his heavy regional accent doesn't quite fit somehow whereas the other bloke's RP does.
I've nothing against regional accents (I live in a country where most people still speak a local dialect as well as the national language) but somehow our Dennis's Yorkshire *fierce edit: Lancashire brogue just doesn't fit with the Quiet Man who seems to be a very 'neutral' sort of character and therefore needs a neutral accent/voice.

That's my penn'orth la...

Yorkshire brogue???!!!!

John was actually born in Chorley, which is in Lancashire not Yorkshire.

It may seem pedantic to point this out but the two counties have a fierce rivalry, dating back to the Wars Of The Roses in medieval times.

To this day the worst insult you can throw at a Lancastrian is to accuse him of being from Yorkshire and vice versa!

I'm guessing you're not from England then......

OMG massive mistake sorry ... (actually it was just to see if someone was reading attentively..) :rolleyes:

Yes I am from England originally but obviously been away too long!

Had to pop home from work just now.

My copy has arrived.

Very nice booklet & design

You lucky man!

Want my copy too!!!

Much as I'd love to claim our Mr. Leigh for my own dear county, he is, as Herbert has said, a native of Lancashire. That distinctive rolled 'r' is a clue...

I'm very ambivalent when it comes to the Barton/Foxx debate. While I like Justin Barton's performance of the stories, I just find that John brings a wonderful warmth to his reading of 'The Quiet Man'. *Perches on fence precariously*

Sorry, Gary - your 'intellectual collective' sounded quite fun (aren't we already in one over here on Metamatic, anyway?)

I'm going to wait for the book.

The Quiet Man is here with me.

And with me...

The piano work on here is much more fragile, much more subtle than on previous Quiet Man recordings – which are practically Motörhead in comparison – so light is the touch here, like the Quiet Man sat alone with his crumbling book, I feel that to listen too hard may cause the sound to turn to mist. There’s Pinter-like pauses too – in the text, in the music – but everything flows beautifully amongst the sound of birdsong (no, not that one).

Love the art work and the booklet of this CD. I think it will take a few listenings until I understand the most of it .

But I have to say it had been better John himself had done the reading. Mr. Barton is not bad, but I love listening to John's voice. This would make it more a special CD for me.

Perhaps, a bit like the grey suit being worn by lots of different people, John should get different people, accents, gender to read extracts in the first person - that would be quite nice.
I like Barton's voice as it remains impersonal, John's voice is good for the cricket - will you get that at 3rd Man, Bumble?
Cheers

I am waiting for the right time to play this - early autumn - and am pleased to see the tree-lined road on the back cover!

Now that, Craig, is a really excellent idea...

I can’t buy this just yet as I’m broke (quelle surprise!), but it sounds every bit as essential as I was expecting.

I like Barton on the CD, he has a cool detached quality to his voice.

Saying that, i would love the music without any voice-over, at some point.

John?

I agree. He has a good voice. Typically modest of him.

I attended the party at the end of Dna that Friday. There he was. Did I speak to him? Well, as usual, not a clue what to say!!!

Good to meet the suit.........!