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Mutator

by Alan Vega

supported by
Jim
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Jim "this song is frankly THE SHIT" x2 Favorite track: Nike Soldier.
Dan Nicholls
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Dan Nicholls I caught this track on the radio one day and thought 'damn this is the best new song I've heard in years!' Only to realise it was of course Vega from beyond the veil. This album stands out amongst other Vega releases for combining the 80s-era raw gruff energy with the more refined sound of his later work - truly a transcendent combination. Favorite track: Samurai.
Grant Donaldson
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Grant Donaldson Excellent Alan Vega material. Excited to see what else gets released from the 'Vega Vault' Favorite track: Fist.
soniccatz
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soniccatz Fantastic ! I was really glad to hear that there's some unreleased stuff so I've been very excited for this release.I got my CD the other day Man Nike Soldier cranked up is so cool. The whole CD is a New York City soundtrack. RIP Alan Vega .
Mark Plant
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Mark Plant legend has it that when alan vega spoke his voice always echoed like that its just how his voice sounds
wilall138
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wilall138 Rest In Peace , Alan Vega! NYC’s answer to Iggy Pop! Suicide were such an amazing band! I’m so glad I got to see you guys perform! This record, is killer! Like all of Vega’s releases Favorite track: Fist.
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1.
Trinity 01:16
2.
Fist 05:12
3.
Muscles 04:45 video
4.
Samurai 03:44
5.
Filthy 03:30
6.
7.
Psalm 04:36
8.
Breath 04:22

about

Alan Vega’s name is synonymous with unfettered, tireless creativity. Beginning in the late 1950s, when he was a fine art student at Brooklyn College, through his years playing in Suicide, and all the way up until his death in 2016, Vega was constantly creating. That process naturally led to a wealth of material that didn’t see the light of day immediately when it was recorded, which came to be known as the Vega Vault. Mutator is the first in a series of archival releases from the Vault that will come out on Sacred Bones Records. 

Mutator was recorded alongside Vega’s longtime collaborator Liz Lamere at his NYC studio from 1995-1996, and it serves as a document of a particularly fertile time in his creative life. He had 11 full-length solo albums come out during the ‘80s, ’90s and ‘00s — plus numerous collaborations, and Suicide records A Way of Life and Why Be Blue. Mutator wasn’t shelved intentionally, but Vega’s back-to-the-grindstone M.O. meant that he had moved on to making his next record before this one was finished. Lamere and Vega’s friend and confidante Jared Artaud (The Vacant Lots) rediscovered the raw, unmixed recordings from the Mutator sessions in the Vault in 2019. Soon after, they mixed and produced them into the visionary album that was lurking within those tapes. 

“Our primary purpose for going into the studio was to experiment with sound, not to ‘make records,’” Lamere recalls. “I was playing the machines with Alan manipulating sounds. I played riffs while Alan morphed the sounds being channeled through the machines.”

At the time of the Mutator sessions, Vega was massively inspired by what was happening in the streets of New York — not only the hip hop scenes that were exploding throughout the outer boroughs, but also the literal sounds of the streets, the traffic noise and industrial ambience of city living. That influence trickled into the sounds he and Lamere captured in those sessions. That sensibility, paired with Vega’s unmistakable voice and force of personality, is what made it the great album it is now. The final piece was the production job, completed by Lamere and Artaud 25 years after the songs were first captured. 

“Mutator bridges the gap between the past and present,” Artaud says. “It’s something we feel he would have been really proud of, seeing this lost album released today. In so many ways, his music is needed now more than ever.”

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released April 23, 2021

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Alan Vega New York, New York

The visual artist, musician, and poet Alan Vega co-founded the massively influential avant-garde band Suicide with Martin Rev in 1970, with whom he performed off and on throughout his life. Suicide’s debut album was included among Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and it was a formative work in the invention of synth-punk, post-punk, art rock, industrial, and more. ... more

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