Being an old goth/industrial kinda guy in the 1980s, I was well into many of the Wax Trax bands during that label’s heyday. One of my favourites were My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, whose first two albums still get play around Chez Solida.
Darling Kandie began as a side project between My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult’s singer/lyricist Groovie Mann (Franke Nardiello) and Ministry/Pigface guitarist William Tucker.
If you were a Wax Trax fan, you’ll be aware of William’s tragic end. When he left this world, he also left behind unreleased Darling Kandie tracks, some of which were finished and released a number of years ago.
Recently, a dear friend and former band mate of mine, Brent Heinze (of Probe 7) got together with Groovie Mann to create a new batch of Darling Kandie tracks from unreleased tracks and new material. I was asked, along with a number of far better-known contributors (including my friend Edward Ka-Spel from the Legendary Pink Dots and John Fyer) to contribute to the bonus remixes.
This was a daunting task. One wishes to honour the late Mr. Tucker, while also ensuring that the remix contributes something of its own value to the project. With that in mind, rather than dispensing with the original backing tracks, I plumbed them through Kyma to come up with what seems like the same subject viewed through a different lens. I also added a bit of oomph from the Moog Model 10.
In any event, it seems that someone has posted the remix on YouTube, so if you like this sort of thing, you might enjoy giving it a listen. You might also like to check out the label’s release page, linked below.
Wait, you’re friends with Edward Ka-Spel? The albums he released with cEvin Key and The Tear Garden have a special meaning for me. I love his voice and lyrics. A truly unique artist.
I like the remix very much. It leaves enough space for Edward’s voice and the weird atmosphere suits him well. Well done!
Awesome! I can’t wait to get home and listen to this (the speakers on my phone surely won’t do it justice)!
The first two Thrill Kill Kult albums have been in regular rotation wherever I’ve lived for decades. Huge influence on me in my formative years. Funky camp faux-satanic industrial disco? My 13 year old mind was blown and I still love it 27 years later!
Yes, I met Edward and Phil on the very first LPD tour of the US many decades ago. They stayed with us on subsequent US tours and we remained in contact for many years after. Eventually (and quite coincidentally) we ended up sharing a label. For that label, I contributed quite a lot of artwork to Edward’s solo albums and we even appeared together on some Armchair Migraine Journey records.
I don’t keep in touch with Edward or Phil these days, but still have fond feelings and memories (record shopping with Edward in Arizona, hanging out backstage at DNA in San Francisco during the Maria Dimension tour, and spending time with LPD at the Grand Canyon are among the best times of my life). I got together again with them a few years ago when they played Kansas City.
I agree. “Ophelia” is a masterpiece. Incidentally, Edward’s “Eyes, China Doll” is among my top five LPs ever recorded by anyone.
The voice in the remix is not Edward’s, but Franke from My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. Funny you say it though, as I had the same reaction upon receiving the tracks, thinking his delivery was very “Qa-Sepel” here. Edward’s contribution was his (excellent) own remix of another song, unconnected to my remix.
Great post. Interesting track. Thanks for explaining it in context. Just starting to explore early industrial stuff and these are all names I’ve been finding out about. Thanks
I got to meet Edward Ka-Spel once, briefly. The Dots played in my friend’s yard on a little island with DVoA back in 2000 or so. I certainly didn’t know the guy but he seemed really nice. I’d met “more famous” people before but it was the first time I’d ever felt star struck.
I fully expected to get brushed off when I approached him since I was just some 19 year old fanboy but he took a few minutes to chitchat. Class act. Sadly, I never got the opportunity to meet Phil.
I think I still have the flyer from that gig (I’m a flyer hoarder), I’ll check when I get home and post a pic if so. Attendance was like three times more than what was expected.
Excited to check it out, 13 above the night is my absolute favorite album (wishing for a vinyl remaster) and the WaxTrax stable centered my teenage years.
