This is the Original Soundtrack to the stage version of Joanna Hogg's film Souvenir that as a Stage play became Souvenir of England, the original film is set in Knightsbridge in 1981, which was the exact year I started working in Knightsbridge, allowing me to buy Lou Reed and Bowie records in Harrods. For this album Raphael Mann recorded almost everything, most of the percussion being metal on metal, giving hints 80's Industrial music, without sounding industrial, Marianne Dissard added her vocals afterwards. Art Terry joined them for some of the performances.
The album opens with Ghost Town with a dread slow bass drum and harp with bells or glockenspiels slowly moving this classic tune into something that almost sounds medieval.
Love My Way has Marianne's sultry vocals over the sparsely intoxicating backing, adding layers of poignancy to this Psychedelic Furs classic.
Passion Of Lovers takes one of my favourite Bauhaus songs in a distinctly different direction, this sounds far more Cabaret style vocals, minimalistic backing adds layers of feeling, while stripping out some of the originals pomp, adding in some wonderfully squiggly guitar.
Smalltown Boy is a song that reminds me more of working on the Kings Road in the early 80's than Knightsbridge, this slow thoughtful version with extraneous noise of sirens and people on the platform, your about to skip town going to a big city to find yourself, Raphael sings this Hi NRG classic at about a third of the pace of the original and a couple of octaves lower with Marianne's backing vocals sounding rather bewitching.
Souvenir of Love is originally from the 1930's film Sailing Along, Jesse Matthews song is treated here as sparingly as possible, with almost whispered vocals over the clavinet backing.
Dread Lion is read as a poem over a mad manual typewriter, totally taking this Upsetter masterpiece to places not even Super Ape Lee Perry himself would have thought of, the roots have indeed been manipulated.
Shipbuilding takes Elvis Costello's most magnificent chilling song and follows more closely the Robert Wyatt treatment, this slow elegiac song of industrial decline, Raphael makes sure all the words are full of the pain and passion of the lyrics, subtle backing makes it a beautiful memento mori for the shipyards.
Totally Wired has deep bass drum pulsations, Marianne's whispered in your ears vocals, taking The Fall's classic in new directions, yet easily as out there as the original, this builds and builds, like your taking even more drugs to get even more Totally Wired.
They return to Ghost Town only now it almost sounds like it is coming from China town in a super brief 27 second coda. Metal is lots of different metallic sounds, almost like a triangle symphonia.
The album closes as all good shows used to, with the National Anthem that comes in slowly with strings as God Save The King is almost unrecognisable, rather subtly reflective re-imagining, making it feel like a eulogy for the notion of monarchy.
Find Out more at https://frizzrecords.bandcamp.com/album/souvenir-of-england-music-from-the-stage-production https://www.facebook.com/raphaelmann https://www.facebook.com/mariannedissard
