MFANS

M:FANS is the sixteenth solo studio album by Welsh musician and composer John Cale. It was released in January 2016 on the Double Six Records imprint of Domino Recording Company. Produced by Cale, it features new versions of songs from his 1982 album Music for a New Society. "Close Watch" was the album's lead single. It was released in November 2015 and features Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors.[7]

M:FANS
Studio album by
John Cale
Released22 January 2016
Recorded2013–2015
StudioA.R.M. Studio, Los Angeles, CA
GenreExperimental rock, industrial rock, electronic music
Length53:43
LabelDomino/Double Six, Electric Drone
ProducerJohn Cale
John Cale chronology
Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood
(2012)		 M:FANS
(2016)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Line of Best Fit(8/10)[3]
Loud and Quiet(8/10)[4]
Pitchfork(6.0/10)[5]
Under the Radar(8/10)[6]

Background

In a statement Cale recounted the process of making the album, and how the 2013 death of former bandmate and collaborator Lou Reed had informed it:

Making any form of art is always personal to my mind. During the making of M:FANS, I found myself loathing each and every character written about in those original recording sessions of Music For... Unearthing those tapes reopened those wounds. It was time to decimate the despair from 1981 and breathe new energy, re-write the story. Then, the unthinkable happened. What had informed so much over lost and twisted relationships in 1981 had now come full circle. Losing Lou [too painful to understand] forced me to upend the entire recording process and begin again...a different perspective - a new sense of urgency to tell a story from a completely opposite point of view - what was once sorrow, was now a form of rage. A fertile ground for exorcism of things gone wrong and the realization they are unchangeable. From sadness came the strength of fire!!![8]

Accolades
Publication Accolade Year Rank
The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016 2016
92[9]

Track listing

All tracks composed by John Cale; except where indicated.

  1. "Prelude" – 2:17
  2. "If You Were Still Around" (Cale, Sam Shepard) – 5:18
  3. "Taking Your Life in Your Hands" – 5:43
  4. "Thoughtless Kind" – 5:27
  5. "Sanctus (Sanities Mix)" – 5:19
  6. "Broken Bird" – 5:10
  7. "Chinese Envoy" – 3:51
  8. "Changes Made" – 3:54
  9. "Library of Force" – 3:09
  10. "Close Watch" – 5:15
  11. "If You Were Still Around (Choir Reprise)" (Cale, Shepard) – 4:44
  12. "Back to the End" – 3:34

Personnel
  • John Cale – vocals, voice, noises, keyboards, organ, piano, electric piano, guitar, electric guitar, programmed guitar, bass, programming, synthesizer, drums, viola, samples, production, recording, mixing
  • Dustin Boyer – guitar, guitar synthesizer, bass, loops, programming, drum machine, drum programming, drums, mixing, recording
  • Deantoni Parks – keyboards, noises, loops
  • Joey Maramba – synth bass
  • Ralph Esposito – synth bass
  • Alex Thomas – drums, samples
  • Matt Fish – cello
  • Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – viola
  • Thomas Lea – viola
  • Jessy Greene – violin
  • Chris Bautista – trumpet
  • Amber Coffman – vocals on "Close Watch"
  • New Direction Church – choir
  • Benjamin Goodman – choir director
  • William Arthur George Cale – voice
  • Margaret Cale – voice
  • Adam Moseley – mixing, recording
  • Nita Scott – mixing, executive producer

Charts
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] 74
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] 188

References
  1. "M:FANS - John Cale". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  2. Deming, Mark. "M:FANS - John Cale". Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  3. Oinonen, Janne (21 January 2016). "John Cale's M:FANS offers a refreshingly barbed take on the much-sampled 'classic album' concept". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. Wisgard, Alex (January 2016). "John Cale: M:Fans". Loud and Quiet. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  5. Anderson, Stacey (25 February 2016). "John Cale: M:FANS / Music for a New Society - Album Reviews". Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  6. Lucas, Dan (20 January 2016). "John Cale: FANS / Music For a New Society". Under the Radar. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  7. Grow, Kory (17 November 2015). "See John Cale Attend Dreamlike Masquerade in Eerie 'Close Watch' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  8. "John Cale Reworks Music for a New Society as M:FANS, Reissues Original Album". Pitchfork. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  9. "The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016". The Quietus. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  10. "Ultratop.be – John Cale – Music for a New Society / M:FANS" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  11. "Ultratop.be – John Cale – Music for a New Society / M:FANS" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
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