cago

CAGO

CAGO
dead man ray october 1st 2002 virgin/labels
elko blijweert karel de backer daan stuyven rudy trouvé wouter van belle
contributing artists: ken nordine
01: landside 02: centrifugitives 03: crossfades 04: a single thing 05: short term investments 06: authentic 07: blue volkswagen 10.10AM 08: things that will happen again 09: need 10: losing the lost
From the first notes of Landslide it is clear - Dead Man Ray's latest Cago is swimming in a different direction from both the poppy Berchem as the moody Trap. This is the most rock & roll Dead Man Ray will ever sound, with recording techniques conducted by Steve Albini which reveal not a single digital effect, loop or cut-up. Cago sounds ultra-crisp, and if anything, more mature than its predecessors. Like it or hate it. Fans of the first hour might initially be disappointed with the straightforward sound and feel of Cago, though a little patience will bend the disappointment into the discovery of wonderful songs and structures. Simplicity can be beautiful too. If i were forced to pick highlights, I'd say A Single Thing and Need stand out - just a bit. Truth is - picking out highlights doesn't do justice to the remaining songs, as nearly all of them are plain excellent to me. The only (slight) dip might be Blue Volkswagen 10.10AM, which is the most a-typical song of the bunch, with guest appearance by legendary beat-poet Ken Nordine. While initially a favourite, the novelty wears off after a while, and you start wishing it lasted a couple of minutes shorter. However, it's only a short dip, which I'm glad to oversee in my conclusion of Cago : A personal high-five-stars/thumbs-up-stamp-of-approval !

CAGO PROMO #1
01: landside 02: centrifugitives 03: crossfades 04: a single thing 05: short term investments 06: authentic 07: blue volkswagen 10.10AM 08: things that will happen again 09: need 10: losing the lost 11: rental (hidden track)
The first promo of Cago that was printed, sometime July 2002. The promo has no artwork, tucked in a plastic sleeve and is printed on a CD-R. Rental, the hidden track on the album is an eleventh track, not featured on the definite album, but possibly to be released as a B-side later on.

CAGO PROMO #2
01: landside 02: centrifugitives 03: crossfades 04: a single thing 05: short term investments 06: authentic 07: blue volkswagen 10.10AM 08: things that will happen again 09: need 10: losing the lost
A promo nearly identical to the actual album. Printed and released in August 2002, sent out to the usual suspects : press, radio stations and friends. Biggest difference is the sleeve, which is a single fold-out cardboard package, contrary to the albums' thicker double fold-out, and with a green tone in stead of a saturated brown one.

CAGO PROMO DVD
teaser video
A cool teaser DVD, printed early August 2002. The video track is a 6-minute compilation of video footage filmed in Chicago, at Steve Albini's studio, on the dole in Chicago or posing with Ken Nordine. The audio features snippets from a handful of tracks from the album, cut up and with in-between voice-overs by Ken Nordine. In the summer of 2002, the official Dead Man Ray website had a small Quicktime version of the video available.

lionell
horrowitz