Credits
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Bruno Adams
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vocals, electric guitar |
Phil Shoenfelt
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vocals, electro-acoustic guitar |
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Track 1, 3, 5, 6 written by Bruno Adams
Track 2, 7, 8, 9 written by Phil Shoenfelt
Track 4 written by Jacques Brel, Rod McKuen
Recorded and mixed January 2006 at Wrangelstr. 67A, Berlin, by Bruno Adams & Phil Shoenfelt
Mastered at Stereo Mysterio, Prague by Dan Satra
Photos by Zuzana Oplatková
Design, layout and execution by Pegman Graphics
Initial idea for sleeve design by Phil Shoenfelt
Thanks to: Roland
Popp for lending us the VS-880 8-track recorder; Jolana Izbická for
help with Photoshop; Kateřina Adams for permission to use tracks 1, 3,
5, 6; Volker Regner (without whom this CD would not have come out of
the sky); Ralf Friel and the postie mafia for flying under the radar.
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Press Release
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FATAL SHORE - OUT OF THE SKY - REAL WORLD DEMOS
In January 2006, Phil Shoenfelt & Bruno Adams began to prepare the
songs that would later be featured on REAL WORLD, the third Fatal Shore
CD (Amboss Recordings, 2007). Of the fourteen songs that would appear
on Real World, nine are presented on Out Of The Sky in their
prototypical form. Whereas the critically acclaimed Real World is
notable for its lush orchestral arrangements, the songs contained on
OOTS are remarkable for their purity of sound and the intricate
interweaving of voices and guitars. Without the embellishment of bass,
drums and orchestra, a rich tonality is revealed, a harmonic vibration
that emerges naturally, without striving or affectation. These songs
are strong enough to stand alone – they enter the consciousness of the
listener in an intimate and unmediated manner. What is even more
surprising is that they were recorded on a simple VS-880 8-Track in
Adams’ flat in Kreuzberg – a fact that is hard to reconcile with the
depth of sonic field achieved.
The demos were lost for many years, and only came to light in March
2018. Now released in CD format by the German label Moloko +, they are
a vivid testament to the lyrical and musical alchemy that existed
between Phil and Bruno. They also preserve the songwriting legacy of
Adams, who died from colon cancer in 2009 at the age of forty five.
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Reviews
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Missing-presumed-lost
tracks from Fatal Shore mainstays. In January 2006, Bruno Adams and
Phil Schoenfelt, Australian and English members of Nick Cave-ish
Berlin-based trio The Fatal Shore, convened at Adams' flat with just a
couple of guitars and a borrowed 8-track for company to demo songs for
their third album, Real World. The long-player proper was recorded and
released later that year, but these beautifully captured, intimate and
stripped-down initial versions disappeared into the void, unreleased
until now. Adams died far too young, in his mid-forties, but this disc
is akin to having the two of them perched on the end of your sofa,
delivering their wry, sometimes regretful ballads direct to you,
floated in with just the right amount of reverb and muted drama. Far
from being half-formed sketches, these are fully-realised performances
in their own right, perhaps even more satisfying than the full band
versions which came later.
MOJO, Max Décharné, May 2019 (4 stars)
Prague based indie goth rocker with former bandmate. Shoenfelt's
late-70s northern UK post-punk emergence and New York relocation saw
him regularly playing CBGB's with Khmer Rouge before working with the
likes of Nikki Sudden and Birthday Party's Rowland Howard.
Shoenfelt and (the now sadly deceased) Adams' emotional resonance
radiates through simpler, but still intricate acoustic takes;
distinctive deep vocals and haunting harmonies enhancing tales of
faltering, ruined relationships - 'So Glad I Did' - with pleasing
stop-start outro; the dark vocals of 'The Looking Glass Song'; the
stark soul-bearing strum-along of 'Numb Inside'; plus the haunting
title-track and Jacques Brel's 'If You Go Away' - with Rod McKuen
English lyrics - providing a mighty mournful ballad.
VIVE LE ROCK #65, Mark Chadderton, August 2019 (8/10)
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