From Chris…
It has been another prolific year for me, but I still honestly feel like I could have achieved more! One of the biggest events was the tragic death of my friend and collaborator, Jamie Duffy, and so this late summer saw the current version of the Revolting Cocks play under the name “Cocks Members” to help raise funds for his funeral expenses. It was actually as close to a Cocks show as I have felt in over 20 years. We went on late (after 1am) because all of the onstage technology had beer spilled on it, or was just broken. But, once we were up there, I felt we delivered the goods, which is not to say we were bastions of professionalism-quite the reverse–but that’s what the Cocks are about!
I wrote and finished a new double album, “Day of Knowledge”, which just came out on the label Klangalerie based in Vienna. My friend, Gordon Sharpe (from Cindytalk), introduced me to them. The album features collaborators old and new, including STEPHEN MALLINDER from Cabaret Voltaire and JIM O’ROURKE, amongst others. “Artificial Madness” came out on red vinyl! I also released a cassette only album, “The Collapse of Ether”, and a collaborative flexidisc with ghost researcher Michael Esposito.
The last part of this year has been dedicated to SONS OF THE SILENT AGE, a band honouring the music of David Bowie. I’m doing it along with my old friend, Matt Walker — Matt is the brother of Sol Snyder, he of the SHIPWRECK band. Matt and I have worked on and off for years. The band also features Shirley Manson, whom I have been close friends with since we were runway models in 1984! This band will then be the second time we have shared a stage (the first being back then in ’84!). The show is for pediatric cancer relief.
93XRT Welcomes…
A Benefit for Pablove Foundation/Rock For Kids…
SONS OF THE SILENT AGE: playing the music of David Bowie, featuring SHIRLEY MANSON, MATT WALKER, CHRIS CONNELLY and more
WACO BROTHERS: playing T.REX
DEATH ON THE AUTOBAHN: playing KRAFTWERK
Tickets go on sale Saturday, November 17 at 12 PM
$20 in advance or $25 day of
Show date: Friday, January 11, 2013
Doors: 6:30PM | Show: 7:30PM
This is an all ages show
Tickets and venue: Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., Chicago
Learn more about Sons of the Silent Age (PDF)
“Why have we never put a band together to play Bowie songs?” a mystified Chris Connelly asked his friend and collaborator Matt Walker. “I don’t know… I’ve thought about it so many times”, came the equally mystified reply.
…And that is exactly what they did: a unique opportunity arose to organize a benefit show for the Pablove Foundation, an organization dedicated to funding pediatric cancer research and to the empowerment of the families of young cancer patients.
Messrs. Connelly & Walker are both 30+ year veterans of the music business. Amongst their many other projects, Chris was a member of both the Revolting Cocks and Ministry, while Matt was a member of Filter, Smashing Pumpkins and Morrissey’s band. After assembling an impressive band of musicians to join their cause, songs were selected with care and integrity from the amazingly eclectic and extensive canon of David Bowie. The band has worked them, making them their own, perhaps in the same way Bowie would have-embracing the icon’s lifelong thirst for experimentation, collaboration, and above all, change.
This performance is set to take place at Metro in Chicago on the 12th of January 2013, the week of Bowie’s 66th year on Earth. The band will be augmented by their close friend and peer, Garbage’s Shirley Manson, bringing her own breathtaking skills and aesthetic to some of the greatest songs ever written.
SONS OF THE SILENT AGE are:
CHRIS CONNELLY – vocals
MATT WALKER – drums
SHIRLEY MANSON – vocals
ROBERT BYRNE – guitar
RICH PARENTI – vocals, percussion, sax
CLAIRE MASSEY – vocals, percussion
CAROLYN ENGELMANN – keyboards, vocals
ALAN BERLIANT – bass
STEVE GERLACH – guitar
Sound Opinions hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot–two of the finest and best-recognized pop music writers in the nation—sit down with living legends from Chicago’s musical movements of the 1980s including Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks, Ministry), Santiago Durango (Naked Raygun, Big Black) and “Godfather of House” DJ Frankie Knuckles to explore the music and politics of the decade.
This event was co-produced by Chicago Public Media (WBEZ-Chicago) and is presented in conjunction with the MCA exhibition This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s. Based in Chicago, Sound Opinions is hosted by Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, who for over a decade were dedicated competitors at Chicago’s two daily newspapers–Jim at the Chicago Sun-Times and Greg at the Chicago Tribune. Today, Jim writes about music for WBEZ.org and teaches criticism at Columbia College. Every week, Sound Opinions fires up smart and spirited discussions about a wide range of popular music, from indie rock to classic rock, hip hop to R&B, and every genre under the sun.
Recorded Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at the MCA Theatre.
Pictures from the MCA event (by Jerry Schulman)
Audio from MCA
Chris was interviewed by Steve Edwards on WBEZ’s “Afternoon Shift” in Chicago.
Listen to the interview online
If you haven’t bought “Artificial Madness” yet, what are you waiting for? Your fellow CC fans are giving the album five stars. Buy it at Amazon.com or iTunes. In the meanwhile, download “Compatibility” from Epitonic for free!
And if you’re in Chicago on Tuesday, February 21, get tickets to see Chris perform tracks from “Artificial Madness” live — he’s opening for Zola Jesus at Lincoln Hall!
The next giveaway kicks off on Valentine’s Day, so be sure to follow Chris on Facebook or Twitter!
The music press and Connelly fans alike are loving Artificial Madness! Check out these album reviews — and if you’ve posted a review anywhere, let us know in the comments!
If you haven’t picked up Artificial Madness yet and want a chance to win a copy, join Chris on the social web — like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter! Once Chris gets to 3,000 Facebook likes and 1,000 Twitter followers, we’ll be randomly awarding fans and followers copies of the new album or Chris’s first work of fiction, Ed Royal. Tell your friends and let’s get those numbers up!
News via Glide Magazine:
This fall, Meshell Ndegeocello will return with her latest record Weather, out November 8th on Naïve in the U.S…. The album also features all-star collaborations with the likes of Chris Connelly (ex-Revolting Cocks, Ministry), Benji Hughes, and Joe Henry.
Chris has just finished recording his next album, provisionally titled Artificial Madness. Here’s what Chris had to say about the mood of this upcoming release:
[This] record is the best since “Shipwreck”–a LOT harder, even acknowledging Ministry in certain ways, many tracks very fast & very loud, a few slow, darker moments… the band is a four-piece, traditional guitar-bass-drums lineup of some of the best musicians I have ever worked with:
Noah Leger on drums (from Tight Phantomz, Head of Skulls)
Dallas Thomas on guitar (Swan King, High Confessions)
Will Lindsay on bass (Nachmystium)
It’s produced by Sanford Parker (High Confessions, Minsk, Nachmystium).
While you’re waiting to hear what this endeavor sounds like, here are the song titles:
- Artificial madness
- A career in falsehood
- Classically wounded
- Cold blood in present company
- Compatibility
- British drug lords
- Imperfect star
- Modern swine
- The paraffin hearts
- The subjects
- The goner
- Wait for amateur
Chris recently participated in the WaxTrax! Auction and Show Fundraiser. Rather than playing a few tunes, he treated the audience to a few readings from his autobiography, Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible and Fried: My Life As a Revolting Cock (because what would be more appropriate?).
Listen to Chris read selections from “Concrete”
Haven’t read “Concrete” yet? Buy it! (Seriously, you’ll love it.)