As you know by now, the Polish label Zoharum just released a great White Stains CD: ”Singleminded Dualisms”. I am so very happy about this release. First, because it’s the first of many coming new/old releases from the Carl/White Stains/Cotton Ferox HQ. And secondly because it looks and sounds so damn good. Kudos to everyone at Zoharum for making this happen.
https://alchembria.pl/en/music-cd-vinyl-mc/5748-white-stains-singleminded-dualisms-1988-1989-cd.html
The CD contains all our vinyl singles plus one track for the ”Swedish Exotica” compilation LP I put together in 1988 in collaboration with the divine record store PET SOUNDS in Stockholm (that saved many a wayward teen from drifting into mainstream culture, and successfully bridged the divide – against all odds! – between edgy and arty industrial music and ridiculous britpop/”capuccino socialism” culture à la Paul Weller).
Listening to all these tracks of course takes me back to a wonderfully pleasant nostalgia. Where there’s a will there’s a way, and who needs to tune the guitars anyway? Crowleyan Compensations, Emotional Emulations, King of the Hill-isms when it came to the amp volume controls, and a whole lot of big-eared wonder when listening to rehearsal tapes and these old studio recordings. We did it all and that was that and so mote it be.
One funny thing that didn’t dawn on me until much later… Someone recommended a studio and we drifted into it to record the ”Express Your Desire” single in early 1989. I liked the studio guy a lot, Thomas Skogsberg, and his Sunlight Studio had everything we needed to pack our psych-rock punch. I only had to give minimal advice to Skogsberg in regard to our production values, but I could definitely sense he wanted it to sound differently. Later on I was told that he had produced a lot of Swedish ”metal” music in that studio, and I was so happy we had come out of the studio despite this with some tracks we could be proud of. A metal-free manifestation straight from the metal cave; that’s a pretty magical feat! It also reminds me of how important it is for young bands not to be pulled into the grip of producers who might not understand what their music is about. Sticking to one’s own vision is so important!
On the “Singleminded Dualisms”-CD you will find the first rock’n’roll line-up, an experimental mid-point with WS co-founder Jan Ekman, and then the first more structured steps with musical greats Peter Bergstrandh (ex-Lustans Lakejer) and Thomas Tibert, who both helped me shape musical ideas and visions over the years to come.
Enjoy this excellent release on a loud volume, and marvel at the youthful zest and Nietzschean attempts at overcoming the caring about that you can’t *really* play an instrument. Be proud and creative, make a record, take it to Pet Sounds… everything will work out just fine!
On an end note I have to inform you that there’s some Belgian a-hole who’s taken the name White Stains and now pollutes and confuses our audience. That’s why it’s extra important that CDs like this come out and show that we were indeed not only first out but that we are also still going very strong; 1987 to PRESENT DAY. Later in 2023 there will be releases of not only archival and unreleased White Stains material, but also completely NEW material. We have never left. And perhaps we never will? OV POWER!
PS. The main photo displays all the goodies you get in the deluxe edition box set: CD, box, bag for the box, reproductions of all the original record covers, and some groovy White Stains stickers. Order this one here:
https://alchembria.pl/en/music-cd-vinyl-mc/5749-white-stains-singleminded-dualisms-1988-1989-wooden-boxset-cd.html
#zoharum #singlemindeddualisms #whitestains #cottonferox #peterbergstrandh #thomastibert #carlabrahamsson
