Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Kaiser Chiefs Drummer/Songwriter Nick Hodgson Quits The Band

Kaiser Chiefs co-founder Nick Hodgson has announced that he has quit the band.

Hodgson revealed the news today (December 4) via Twitter posting: "I can confirm I have left Kaiser Chiefs after 15 spectacular years. I'm moving on. I wish the rest of the band the very best!" 

Lead singer Ricky Wilson responded to the news writing: "The door is on the latch and the key under the mat. X"

Bass player Simon Rix also expressed his well wishes to Hodgson, tweeting: "I can exclusively confirm we will still be collaborating on pints in pubs."

Away from the band, Hodgson runs the Chewing Gum record label and owns the Chewdio record label where bands such as The Vaccines, Mark Ronson and Ryan Jarman have all recorded material. He has also written songs for Duran Duran and Shirley Bassey, working closely with DJ and producer Mark Ronson.


The Horrors To Release 'Higher' Box Set

The Horrors have announced the release of a limited edition box-set, featuring remixes and videos from their 2011 album, 'Skying'.

"Higher" boxset,  contains remixes from Connan Mockasin, Seahawks, Andrew Weatherall, Blanck Mass, Peaking Lights, Cherrystones, Chris Watson, Daniel Avery, JTC and Andy Blake. Asked about his contribution, Andrew Weatherall said: "One of the pleasures of remixing is seeing how other people construct their music. Re-arranging the bricks in The Horrors wall of sound was a particular joy."

"I used Weddell seals singing at the intro recorded under the Antartic sea ice," said Watson. "The rhythms of the Humbolt current around the Galapagos Islands recorded with DPA hydrophones. Singing grey seals recorded out on the Farne Islands, Northumberland and the processed voices of Orca, killer whales, recorded in the sea of Norway." 

Speaking of how the boxed set came to fruition, The Horrors' Tom Cowan said; "We were driving through the deserts of California when we hatched the plan to release a boxed set of the singles from Skying, unaware that it would balloon into the monster that it did. We started off small, just one version per single. However, through chance encounters and wanting to involve more people whose music excited us, the box soon grew into an impressive collection of sonic tapestries and hypnotic grooves and it became apparent that this was no longer about the singles. It was now about this new music which had used the different elements of Skying as a springboard to other ideas. We encouraged everyone involved to be as obtuse as possible, to get as far away from the original source material as they could. The results are stunning, and I think it's just a shame we couldn't have done more."

'Higher' is out now digitally, and will get a physical release in March 2013 via XL.

The tracklisting is as follows:

12" Vinyl One
A1. Still Life
A2. Still Life (Connan Mockasin Remix)
B1. Still Life (Still Living Still Giving Cherrystones Remix)
B2. Dive In (The Pressure Ridges) - Chris Watson Remix

12" Vinyl Two
A1. I Can See Through You
A2. Monica Gems (Daniel Avery Remix)
B1. I Can See Through You (Blanck Mass Remix)

12" Vinyl Three
A1. Changing The Rain
A2. You Said (Peaking Lights Dub U Mix)
B1. Comes In Waves (Seahawks Skying Suite)

12" Vinyl Four
A1. Moving Further Away (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
B1. Moving Further Away (Andy Blake World Unknown Mix)

CD One
1. I Can See Through You (Blanck Mass Remix)
2. Monica Gems (Daniel Avery Remix)
3. Still Life (Connan Mockasin Remix)
4. You Said (Peaking Lights Dub U Mix)
5. Still Life (Still Living Still Giving Cherrystones Remix)
6. Moving Further Away (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

CD Two
1. Comes In Waves (Seahawks Skying Suite)
2. Moving Further Away (Andy Blake World Unknown Mix)
3. Dive In (The Pressure Ridges)
4. You Said (JTC Remix)
5. Wild Eyed (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
6. Moving Into Blue (Seahawks Skying Suite)

DVD
Still Life Video (Directed by Oliver Murray)
I Can See Through You (Directed by White Rabbit)
Changing The Rain (Directed by Pete Fowler)