Category: Mute & Sublabels

Artist:
Maps

Title:
Vicissitude

Label:
Mute

Cat#:
STUMM354

Release Date:
08th July 2013

Format:
CD, vinyl+CD & digital

Tracklist Standard Edition:
01)
A.M.A.

02)
Built To last

03)
You Will Find A Way

04)
I Heard Them Say

05)
Nicholas

06)
Vicissitude

07)
Left Behind

08)
This Summer

09)
Isignificant Others

10)
Adjusted To Darkness

Tracklist Bonus Edition Artist Shop:
01)
A.M.A.

02)
Built To last

03)
You Will Find A Way

04)
I Heard Them Say

05)
Nicholas

06)
Vicissitude

07)
Left Behind

08)
This Summer

09)
Isignificant Others

10)
Adjusted To Darkness

Bonus01)
I Heard Them Say
(Andy Stott Remix)

Bonus02)
A.M.A
(Remix)

Bonus03)
Built To Last
(Free School Remix)

Bonus04)
A.M.A
(Maps Remix)

Bonus05)
I Heard Them Say
(Maps Remix)

Bonus06)
Built To Last
(Maps Remix)

Bonus07)
As I Can See

Bonus08)
Resurgence

Bonus09)
There Is A Place

Bonus10)
I Heard Them Say
(Andy Stott Remix)

Bonus11)
I Heard Them Say
(Maps Remix)

Bonus12)
A.M.A
(Legowelt Remix)

Bonus13)
A.M.A
(The Invisible Remix)

Bonus14)
A.M.A
(Maps Remix)

Bonus15)
A.M.A
(Original Demo)

Bonus16)
You Will Find A Way
(Original Demo)

Bonus17)
I Heard Them Say
(Original Demo)

Bonus18)
This Summer
(Original Demo)

Bonus01 – Bonus19 plus a package of audio files for remixing are only available via Maps’ own shop.

Tracklist Bonus Edition Rough Trade Shop:
CD01-01)
A.M.A.

CD01-02)
Built To last

CD01-03)
You Will Find A Way

CD01-04)
I Heard Them Say

CD01-05)
Nicholas

CD01-06)
Vicissitude

CD01-07)
Left Behind

CD01-08)
This Summer

CD01-09)
Isignificant Others

CD01-10)
Adjusted To Darkness

CD02-01)
I Heard Them Say
(Andy Stott Remix)

CD02-02)
I Heard Them Say
(Maps Remix)

CD02-03)
A.M.A
(Legowelt Remix)

CD02-04)
A.M.A
(The Invisible Remix)

CD02-05)
A.M.A
(Maps Remix)

CD02-06)
A.M.A
(Original Demo)

CD02-07)
You Will Find A Way
(Original Demo)

CD02-08)
I Heard Them Say
(Original Demo)

CD02-09)
This Summer
(Original Demo)

Bonus CD is only available via Rough Trade shop.

Info (English):
Vicissitude:
1: variation or mutability in nature or life, esp successive alternation from one condition or thing to another
2: a variation in circumstance, fortune, character, etc

Maps – aka James Chapman – returns with a brand new album, Vicissitude, out on 8 July 2013.

The third album by Maps is all about changes of situation. For James Chapman – the fizzing brain behind the music – Vicissitude owes its very existence to the period of personal reflection and rearrangement that took him out of the game after the release of 2009’s Turning The Mind; a three-year phase between albums that’s clearly pushed Chapman onwards to create by far his finest work to date.

While Turning The Mind swung like a hedonistic after-party held after Maps’ debut We Can Create’s Mercury Prize nomination, Vicissitude has the distinct feeling of digging deep and confronting reality head on. And in each of those cases, with Chapman the sole creative force behind the music, any Maps album is defined entirely by where his head was at during the recording process.

“The whole album is about change;” says Chapman. “It’s about dealing with a struggle – whatever that may be – and ultimately coming through it.”
As with previous releases, the new album was primarily recorded at Maps’ home, and was mixed by Ken Thomas (Sugarcubes, M83, Sigur Ros) and Jolyon Thomas.

Vicissitude focuses, tightens and sharpens Maps’ expansive sound. The album might have been born from a long period of self-contemplation, but maybe you do need a while to get simple answers to the difficult questions.

Time to face the light.

Info (Deutsch):
„Vicissitude“ – zu deutsch Wandel, Wechselhaftigkeit, Unbeständigkeit – ist der Titel des neuen, dritten Albums von Maps alias James Chapman, das am 05.07. auf Mute/GoodToGo erscheint.

Schwang im Zweitling “Tuning The Mind” noch der Hedonismus des Mercury Price nominierten Erfolgsdebüt „We Can Create“ nach, vermittelt „Vicissitude“ nun die unmittelbare Konfrontation Chapmans mit der Realität: „Writing and recording coincided with quite a lot of things in my life changing. Although things are good for me now, every song on the record comes from a long period of me having to take stock, to start again almost. I took myself out of everything and had a hard look at what I wanted to do and where I wanted to take Maps.“

Der Produktionsprozess begann für Chapman mit Veränderung seiner eigenen Arbeitsmethoden: Das bedeutete den Rückzug nach Northhamptonshire, den Entstehungsort seines Erfolgsdebüts, wo er sich mit seinen Lieblingsplatten verschanzte, und sich den althergebrachten Methoden des Songschreibens zuwandte: Anstatt sich in den endlosen technischen Möglichkeiten des Studios zu verlieren, griff Chapman zur Akustikgitarre. Mit voller Rückendeckung: „Mute are fantastic; they just let me get on with things. Before I started recording, Daniel Miller said to me, ‘Go away, make the record you want to make, take as long as you need.’ That’s what every musician wants to hear from their record label.”

Die traditionelle Herangehensweise ans Songwriting und die Beschäftigung Chapmans mit den Musikidolen seiner Jugend in den frühen Neunzigern, haben im Sound des Albums zweifellos ihre Spuren hinterlassen: Erforschten die alten Platten vornehmlich die Welten eines verträumten, elektronischen Shoegazings, was „Vicissitude“ durchaus auch tut, fusioniert hier dennoch stärker pulsierende Technologie mit kristalliner, emotionsgeladener Popmusik – und markiert, wenn man so will, Chapmans Einzug in die Ruhmeshallen der Mensch-Maschinen-Mute-Alben.

Den letzten Feinschliff der Platte übernahmen Produzent und Sound Engineer Ken Thomas (Sugarcubes, M83, Sigur Ros), der zuletzt auch an „We Can Create“ mitarbeitete, und sein Sohn Joylon, der schon als Programmierer und Produzent für Bands wie S.C.U.M. und Telepathe aktiv war. Nichtsdestotrotz ist der Sound von „Vicissitude“ – vom federnden „Left Behind“, zur überbordenden Euphorie des Titeltracks, über das erlösende Mantra „When all this ends, we start again“ in „You will find a way“, bis zur verzerrten, sich ausdehnenden Atmosphäre in „Insignificant others“ – unverkennbar das persönliche Werk James Chapmans.

Und so unterschiedlich die Songs auch sind, so gibt es doch ein Gefühl, dass die Essenz des Albums ausmacht: „I´m okay now. I´m moving on.“ Sie entstanden in einer Phase langer innerer Einkehr, doch oft dauert es eben länger, auf komplizierte Fragen klare Antworten zu formulieren.

Time to face the light jedenfalls! „Vicssitude“ ist eine 10-Tracks starke Ode an die Hoffnung.

Listen:
“I heard Them Say”

“A.M.A.”

more soon

Trailer:

Videos:
“A.M.A”

Buy CD:
Maps (special edition with bonus)
MuteBank
Amazon GER
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon FR
Amazon ES
Amazon IT
Juno
WOM
Dussmann
Rough Trade (RT special edition)
more soon

Buy Vinyl:
Maps (special edition with bonus)
MuteBank
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon FR
Amazon ES
Juno
WOM
Rough Trade (RT special edition)
deejay.de
more soon

Buy Digital:
Maps (special edition with bonus)
Amazon
iTunes
Boomkat
more soon

Commercial Streaming Services:
Spotify
Rdio
Wimp
more soon

Websites:
Maps
Mute
Mute @ Facebook
Mute Germany @ Facebook