Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts | ||||||||||
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Studio album by Kula Shaker | ||||||||||
Released | 8 March 1999 | |||||||||
Genre | Britpop, Psychedelic rock, Raga rock | |||||||||
Length | 54:11 | |||||||||
Label | Columbia | |||||||||
Producer | Bob Ezrin, George Drakoulias, Rick Rubin | |||||||||
Kula Shaker chronology | ||||||||||
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Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is the second album by the British indie and psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker.[1]
Recording
Initial recording sessions for the album were produced by John Leckie but the band soon decided to bring in producers George Drakoulias and Rick Rubin instead.[1] Eventually Drakoulias and Rubin were rejected by the band and Bob Ezrin was brought in to complete the album.[1] As a result of this, the production credits for the album's lead single, "Sound of Drums", name Drakoulias and Rubin as producers, while the rest of Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is produced by Ezrin. Like its predecessor, K, the album continues the band's hybrid of 1960s-style psychedelic rock, groovy indie pop, and Indian instrumentation, albeit with a more progressive rock slant than on previous releases.[1] Musically, many of the songs make use of Beatles-influenced psychedelic effects, swirling guitars, and Indian chants.[1] This musical eclecticism prompted the band themselves to refer to Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts as their "kitchen sink album".[2]
The album was partly recorded at the Astoria recording studio, a houseboat-studio owned by Pink Floyd guitarist, David Gilmour. During production, the album was given the working title of Strangefolk, as lead vocalist Crispian Mills revealed during a BBC Radio 2 interview on 10 September 2007. Mills explained that the album's title was only changed to Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts at the last minute before release. However, the rejected album title was later reused for the band's 2007 comeback album, Strangefolk.
In addition, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was originally intended to feature the song "Strangefolk", a 10-minute-long track that began with the spoken introduction "In the beginning was the word, and the word was...'Om Keshavaya namah aum'."[2] Ultimately, this track was not released on the album but an excerpt of it was included as a hidden track on the 2002 compilation album, Kollected: The Best of Kula Shaker.[2] Another song entitled "Strangefolk" was included on the 2007 reunion album but despite its identical title, this song is not the same as the Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts outtake.
Release and legacy
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [3] |
Los Angeles Daily News | [4] |
The album was released on 8 March 1999 and reached #9 in the UK Albums Chart, during a chart stay of 10 weeks.[5][6] It was less successful in the U.S., however, where it failed to break into the Billboard 200 album chart.[7] It was preceded in April 1998 by the "Sound of Drums" single which reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart.[6] Two further singles were taken from Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts: "Mystical Machine Gun", which was released concurrently with the album and peaked at #14 in the UK, and "Shower Your Love", which was released in May 1999 and also reached #14 on the UK charts.[6] None of the album's accompanying singles charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in America.[7]
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was re-released in a 10th Anniversary, 2 CD edition on 20 January 2010.[8][9] The 10th Anniversary edition included an expanded running order for the original album, with the outtake song "Strangefolk" included, as the band originally intended.[8] It also featured previously unreleased demos, alternate versions of songs, and new artwork.[8]
Track listing
1999 Original Edition
- "Great Hosannah" (Crispian Mills)
- "Mystical Machine Gun" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "S.O.S." (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Radhe Radhe" (traditional, arranged by Crispian Mills, Gouri Choudhury)
- "I'm Still Here" (Crispian Mills)
- "Shower Your Love" (Crispian Mills)
- "108 Battles (of the Mind)" (Crispian Mills, Alonza Bevan)
- "Sound of Drums" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Timeworm" (Crispian Mills, Alonza Bevan)
- "Last Farewell" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Golden Avatar" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Namami Nanda-Nandana" [aka "Nanda-nandanāṣṭakaḿ"] (traditional, arranged by Crispian Mills)
- "Stotra" [hidden track]
2010 Deluxe Edition
On 20 January 2010 a deluxe edition was re-issued by StrangeFOLK Records Band's Label featured:
- Numbered CD booklet (this edition limited to 3000).
- 4 postcards of original ideas for the artwork
- 2010 artwork box and shrink wrapped
- Disc 1 - "The Album"
- "Great Hosannah" (Crispian Mills) - 6:07
- "Mystical Machine Gun" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker) - 5:41
- "S.O.S." (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker) - 2:55
- "Radhe Radhe" (traditional, arranged by Crispian Mills, Gouri Choudhury) - 2:49
- "I'm Still Here" (Crispian Mills) - 1:31
- "Shower Your Love" (Crispian Mills) - 3:39
- "108 Battles (of the Mind)" (Crispian Mills, Alonza Bevan) (new ending!)- 3:15
- "Sound of Drums" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker) - 4:27
- "Timeworm" (Crispian Mills, Alonza Bevan) - 4:02
- "Last Farewell" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker) - 2:46
- "Golden Avatar" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker) - 4:29
- "Namami Nanda Nandana" (traditional, arranged by Crispian Mills) - 5:12
- "Strangefolk" [the original title track] - 5:58
- "Stotra" [Hidden track] - 2:22
- Disc 2 - "Astronauts Anthology"
- "Sound of Love" [Bearsville Studios Session, which became Sound of Drums] - 6:10
- "Avalonia" [B-side] - 2:17
- "Golden Avatar" [Band Demo] - 4:32
- "Strangefolk" [Band Demo] - 5:05
- Roger Morton Interview with Crispian and Alonza recorded on 13 November 2009 in London about the making of Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts (Parts 1-9) - 46:03
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
- 1 2 3 Spectre, Will. (2002). Kollected: The Best of Kula Shaker (2002 CD liner notes).
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ Moon, Tom (2 July 1999). "Sound Check". Los Angeles Daily News Archived at The Free Library. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ↑ "Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts review". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
- 1 2 3 Brown, Tony; Kutner, Jon; Gambaccini, Paul; Warwick, Neil (2000). The Complete Book of the British Charts. Omnibus Press. p. 484. ISBN 0-7119-7670-8.
- 1 2 "Kula Shaker chart data". Ultimate Music Database. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
- 1 2 3 "Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts - 10th Anniversary Edition". Kulashaker.co.uk (Official Music Website). Retrieved 2009-12-18.
- ↑ "You Got To Be In It, To Win It...". Kulashaker.co.uk (Official Music Website). Retrieved 2010-05-21.
External links
- Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)