We repeat, Monster Magnet’s forthcoming album is not a remix of last year’s Last Patrol. It is, however, a “reimagining.” What’s that mean? Well, it carries over to the title, Milking The Stars: A Reimagining Of Last Patrol,. which will be released on November 18th on Napalm Records. It also means that the band, which now features bassist Chris Kosnik, were able to re-record many of the songs on the album. Here’s what singer/guitarist Dave Wyndorf says about the album:
What if these songs were recorded in 1968? What would happen if I turned a pretty song into an angry one? How would adding creepy organs and Mellotrons affect the emotional vibe of a song? These are just a few of the questions that roll around in my head when I write and record any album but this time I decided to actually answer them with fully fleshed out, recorded and mixed examples.
The process actually created new songs. That’s the icing on the cake for me. New sounds, new vocals, different instruments and arrangements make for a weird 1960′s vibe totally apart from Last Patrol which was fun for Phil, Bob, Garrett, mixer Joe Barresi and myself to explore.Finally there’s expanded versions of the songs “Last Patrol” and “Three Kingfishers” as recorded live at the AB club in Belgium, 2014. Both those songs were re-arranged for “maximum rock and psych” before we hit the road last year and feature the debut performance of new Magnet bassist, Chris Kosnik. Personally, I think they beat the original versions.
OK. It sounds kind of cool in theory, and you can listen to “No Paradise For Me” below to hear it in practice. However, if we’re going to hear a Monster Magnet album re-recorded, how about one of the classics, like Dopes To Infinity or Superjudge? Hearing Monster Magnet re-interpret their older material with 20 years to live with it would be infinitely more fascinating than hearing alternate versions of an album that, while solid, is hardly a year old.
Here’s the track listing:
1) Let The Circus Burn
2) Mindless Ones ’68
3) No Paradise For me
4) End of Time (B-3)
5) Milking the Stars
6) Hellelujah (Fuzz and Swamp)
7) I Live Behind The Clouds (Roughed Up and Slightly Spaced)
8) Goliath Returns
9) Stay Tuned (Even Sadder)
10) The Duke (Full On Drums ‘N Wah)
11) Last Patrol (Live)
12) Three Kingfishers (Life)
