Suede Shot in grainy fag-ash monochrome, he sits side-

on with head back, long hair draped over one

released 29th march 1993 nude records half of his face, filter-tip in paw, and a distant,
formats: lp/mc/cd (nude1lp/mc/cd) unreadable experience in his eyes. The credit
members of the band: Brett Anderson (lyrics, says simply: “Beckenham ‘69”
vocals), Bernard Butler (music, guitar, some
piano), Mat Osman (Bass), Simon Gilbert
(drums) Now 1969 was a strange year for Bowie. He had
producer and some piano: Ed Buller just been turned down by a fourth record
company. His improbable, over-ambitious folk-
01 so young 02 animal nitrate 03 she's not dead mime trio Feathers was going nowhere. His
04 moving 05 pantomime horse 06 the drowners relationship with self-styled actress Hermione
07 sleeping pills 08 breakdown 09 metal mickey Farthingale was on the skids. And his grandiose-
10 animal lover 11 the next life sounding Beckenham Arts Lab – the venue
where the photo was taken – was in truth just a
So Young back room of the Three Tuns boozer in
anderson / butler Beckenham high street. It was not a great time to
be the future Thin White Duke.
she can start to walk out when she wants

because we're young, because we're gone But weird karma was afoot. He had written a
we'll take the tide's electric mind, oh yeah? oh song called “space oddity”, Neil Armstrong was
yeah fourth months away from sketching that crucial
inaugural moonwalk. And David Bowie was five
we're so young and so gone, let's chase the months away from making that giant step into
dragon, oh what, in the vernacular, would be called
“headfuck stardom”
because we're young, because we're gone
we'll scare the skies with tigers eyes, oh yeah?
oh yeah “I like to imagine,” suggests Brett Anderson over
yet more tea “that he’s just sitting there thinking
we're so young and so gone, let's chase the that no one quite knows yet. He looks very cool
dragon, oh and inscrutable. I’ve always thought like that.
let's chase the dragon . . . I’ve always had a kind of romantic self-image,
sitting in drab surroundings thinking of what I
. . . from our home high in the city could possibly do.”
where the skyline stained the snow
i fell for a servant who kept me on the boil
What Brett Anderson and Suede could do is the
we're so young and so gone, let's chase the most exciting moot point in rock music today.
dragon from our home! Depending where you’re standing, they could go
any or all of the following… Become Britain’s
Whatever happened to the teenage dream? By biggest and sexiest rock band of the 1990s in
Dave Cavanagh (Q magazine) UK december record time… re-familiarise a jaded notion with
1992 glamour, sex and songwriting class on a scale not
seen since Roxy Music, Marc Bolan and the
On the wall of Brett Anderson’s dingy finest inter-galactic hour of Bowie himself…
claustrophobic Notting Hill first-floor flat hangs Have a number 1 debut album in March…. Bond
a poster of David Bowie. A pretty cool idea. hedonistic and neurotic youth alike in the most-
Millions had it before him. Anderson likes to all encompassing display of life-threatening
contemplate the picture while he sips his tea. ambisexual teenage fan-worship since the
heydays of the Smiths… Write some of the most
But this is one of the most anomalous and beautiful songs about complete unquestioning
challenging images from Bowie’s mighty folio. sexual devotion since Bowie’s Lady Grinning
Soul… Induct the hitherto underrated word think we can live up to it. It would be dreadful
“paracetamol” into rock’s workable thing if it was under-listened to.”
vocabulary…And turn the Brighton commuter
belt satellite town of Haywards Heath into the He speaks fluently, confidently, his sentences
most famous British Rail Southern pitstop since building up into paragraphs of vaguely neurotic
Paul Weller first announced he hailed from self-reference, all delivered with a bright glint in
Woking… the eye. Like Morrissey, there’s a love of arcane
words: “gruesome” and “drab” tend to re-appear.
For Suede, after two brilliant singles, years of Unlike Morrissey, there’s no coy self-loathing,
daydreaming, and horrible upbringing in no “well, of course, I’m unloveable”. Brett
working-class nowherevilles, have it in them to Anderson seems particularly pleased with the
be just about the most extraordinary, intelligent new vistas his talent has opened up.
and potentially enormous guitar band and
potentially enormous guitar band this country has It’s difficult to avoid comparing Suede to The
seen in a decade. Smiths. Anderson’s deliberately blurred gender
references recalls Morrissey on songs like
Handsome Devil and Reel Around the Mountain.
“There’s nothing more frustrating than knowing (Anderson claims to be a bisexual who has yet to
you’ve got all these songs that no one knows have a homosexual relationship). Morrissey,
about yet” says Anderson moodily, as he leans possibly sensing a chip of the old block here, has
over to the tape machine to play a song from become a fan: he has covered “My insatiable
Suede’s as yet untitled debut album. The song is One” live and has gushed about Suede to
a beautiful piano ballad called “The Next Life”, journalists on his autumn American tour….
which Anderson wants to end the record.
The relationship between Anderson and his co-
As it unfolds – and it takes a while – a scene writer, guitarist Bernard Butler, too, has strong
lodges in the memory. A decrepit little Notting echoes of Morrissey and Marr. The singers are
Hill flat. An upright piano in the corner with its eloquent and witty, the guitarists are moody and
front removed and all its mechanics showing in a aloof.
gynaecological pre-war pianola effect.
And Bernard Butler is really aloof. He won’t
actually talk at all. That’s pretty aloof for
And the singer and writer of “The next life” someone who has only two singles out. He’s
nonchalantly sipping tea while he gazes at a 23- quiet explicit about it. Request to Suede’s
year old poster of David Bowie that was taken management for permission to ask him “a couple
when he himself was two. of questions” in the studio come back with a curt
communique that reads “don’t bug Bernard.”…

“We always knew the kind of bands we’d be” At 22, Bernard Butler is already a serious
states Suede’s bassist Mat Osman categorically candidate for guitar hero of the next decade, a
through long, thin hair “which was an important, wonderfully fluid, almost bluesy musician, he
celebratory, huge rock band. A really old- dips dextrously from metallic T-Rex thrash into
fashioned thing. A great British rock band.”…. sympathetic sad clown texture that drip with
emotion and melody. Mat Osman, a bit of a star
Somewhere in among that bizarre little lexicon, himself on bass at it happens, calls Butler
in the songs’ fantastic hooklines, in Anderson’s “uncanningly brilliant”
self belief, in the guitar playing of Bernard
Butler, and in the sweaty high dram of Suede’s
1992 live shows, four putative stars have been “One of the most poignant thing he’s ever said”
fashioned. …….. recalls Anderson “is he thinks of himself as a
“It’s always been a case of wanting to make pop singer who can’t sing. He speaks through his
songs that people love,” says Anderson in his guitar, pretty much. He definitely co-stars with
slightly camp, precious twang “there’s a sense of me on the song. He astounds us with what he can
expectancy about our record, but that’s good. I play.”……
 probably quite unemployable as well.”
“The feeling of desperation in the lyrics is
reflected in the music,” says Anderson His father was an “insane classical music fan”
approvingly “and there’s something really dark who was in the habit of taking yearly pilgrimages
about it that I like. Those were always the kind to Franz Liszt’s birthplace in Hungary, where he
of songs that I wanted to write – something that would kiss the ground and bring back some soil
was incredibly emotional, but not necessarily in as a souvenir.
the normal way. Usually, something that’s
emotional is quite inspiringly emotional… “His three heroes are Liszt, Nelson and
Churchill. And on their birthdays he puts a
The recording of the album seems to be giving Union Jack outside his council house on his
him a kind of ulcer of the soul. flagpole. That used to bug me to sh1t when I was
a kid, but now I think it’s one of the greatest
things ever.”
“It’s been upsetting us for quite a long time,” he
says thoughtfully. “Even one duff track and it Brett himself was a bit of a loner; nominally
would be a failure. We don’t really have any aligned to a punk gang at school, but appalled by
refuge from it at all.” the violence.

Suede’s roots lie in working-class, early ‘80ies “There is really a violent element to the school I
Britain. The thing is, they don’t look like it, as went to. I remember once this boy got lifted up
Mat Osman ruefully concedes. by these older kinds with a huge iron bar,
……………
“If we were the tea-drinking fops that we’re An early love for Crass and Discharge (he
made out to be, we’d probably all be Seatle compares Feeding of the 5000 to “your first …”
grunge chic types by now,” he reckons “I don’t soon mutated into a love affair, via his big
think you can be interested in looking good or sister’s record collection, with David Bowie.
being glamorous without coming from the most Here, he was bang on tune with Mat Osman.
stultifyingly boring backgrounds. And there is
nowhere duller than the suburbs of London. I do At 16, Brett was wearing a tuxedo to school or,
think if you come from there you’re the only failing that, a “yellow Cliff Richard suit” in an
people left who believe in the pop dream. All of effort to get the David Bowie blow-dried Let’s
us, from the age of seven, have assumed this is Dance look. He compounded the effect by dying
what we were going to do.” his hair blonde and sporting a bow tie. He sang
in a band called Suave and Elegant (error: they
Anderson seems particularly keen to stress the were called Geoff, they were called Suave and
seediness of his roots. He claims that every Elegant when the band played in London). “I
single member of Suede had had a job at one was a right ponce, actually.” He says breezily.
time or another scrubbing toilets. He told one
interviewer that when he was growing up, a raw But there was fear about. Aside from the very
onion was “a luxury”. obvious threat of a nuclear war (1983 was the
year of the Cruize/Pershing crisis) – about which
He and Mat Osman grew up in Haywards Heath, he used to have nightmares every night, the
near Brighton. Both were working-class. Osman teenage Brett’s chief concern was to avoid
was a one-parent family. “Whenever I went getting beaten up, while Simon Gilbert, the
round there,” remembers Anderson “the place drummer, paid the price for being the first 12-
always smelled of cat piss and they were having year old punk in Stratford-On-Avon in 1977 by
baked beans for tea.” having the shit kicked out of him on almost an
hourly basis.

His own family had little money, since his “Me and Brett would go and see the Smiths in
mother (now dead) was an unsuccessful artist Brighton.” Says Osman “And you’d see rugby
and his father was “permanently unemployed” players down the front with their arms round
(taxi driver, ice cream van driver), And I think each other – very strange – and you’d know that
these people kissing each other’s necks were the overdoing-it limpwrist warbling untold
same people who were going to beat you up on perversions in music-hall cockernee. (estuary
the way back to the station.” english)

As one pledged to looking “quite chic, quite But they were learning. Bernard Butler was
special”, Brett was an obvious target of grief brilliant anyway, and Anderson’s writing was
“Everywhere you went, there was always the showing signs of a definite peculiar skill. All
threat of someone beating you up.” He sighs they needed was to work as a songwriting
“Everyone was always pushing themselves partnership. (Meanwhile Justine left the band)
towards being some sort of sexual, potent, One day they got it right. And they swear the
violent character all the time. glam rock sound is wholly accidental.

And Suede emerged from that smog of small “Well,” sighs Anderson “We’re a guitar band,
town violence, Anderson and Osman have been and that’s the accidental sound we’ve arrived at.
making music together since they were “about We’ve grown up playing venues where you have
14”. Early catastrophes were survived (one to be blatant about what you do. I think a lot of
prototype demo is voted “a horrible twee perfect glam music was quite blatant, quite teenage, and
pop piece of crap” by Brett now) and when they that’s the accident we’ve arrived at. There were a
pocked up Butler through an NME ad (which lot of definite points made in the 70ies and recent
actually did say: “No musos”), they knew that guitar music has tended to be very obscure. We
they were on to something. Osman and Anderson do have a desire not to sound like that, I guess.”
maintain that they’ve known since age 16 that Osman is more forthright:
they would be in a shudderingly successful and
very brilliant band.” “I came from a background where any
excitement or any degree of extremity came
through records. If you took me when I was 13
They (moved to London and) went on to record or 14 and said. Show me something glamorous,
their first single “Be my god/art” (produced by sexually bizarre and talented, I’d have pointed
Mike Joyce) in 1990. The band in those days was you to my Bowie records. And if you listen to it
Anderson, his girlfriend Justine on guitar (who every day for five years, it’s imprinted in your
inspired the name of the band after a laundrette memory cells. You can’t help it. Your fingers
in Stoke Newington), Butler and Osman (and move that way. It feels right.
drum machine). They were “unripe musically”.
They needed a drummer. So they advertised for a Mat Osman is shooting pool in the studio
temporary one. kitchen. A quick appraisal of his physique,
haircut and attire conforms that, sure enough,
“And Mike Joyce walked in” laughs Anderson this man could walk into Mott the Hoople circa
incredulously “He just randomly answered the Honaloochie Boogie.
ad. One of the most incredible things ever to “Hmm” he considers “I just can’t understand the
happen to us. It was like Jim’ll Fix. A beautiful way they’re always singing about being in Mott
guy, though. He was so helpful.”. The single the Hoople and how awful it is. Incredibly
never materialised (it’s the one named above arrogant. Mind you, give us 10 years and it’ll
which was printed but not distributed), hence the probably be the most meaningful music I’ve ever
legal wrangling with the label boss, who heard.”
apparently thinks now is the suitable time – and
suede embarked on the long and painful process Bernard Butler is nowhere to be seen, ferociously
of becoming famous by playing gigs. avoiding those who might bug him.

“We were useless.” Says Anderson. And they Simon Gilbert is trying to persuade Brett to
were despised. Gigs throughout 1990 and into reconsider his power of veto on one of the songs
1991 were a mixture of catcall cacophonies and tentatively lined up for the album. But the veto is
silence, as audiences were trying to get their such that if one member of Suede isn’t happy
collective heads round a bunch of mincing glam with the song, it gets dropped immediately, so –
primadonnas in crimplene, fronted by a seriously out it goes.
“I have high expectations.” Grimaces Osman s’engouffreront dans cette brèche en cristallisant
over a tricky cannon “I think there is a curse of le mouvement, établissant ainsi des carrières
low expectations in British music at the moment. durables - Supergrass, The Boo Radleys, Oasis,
The curse of the mediocre – oh, it’ll do. The Blur. Mais dans ce contexte de début des années
march of the average. Well, no, it won’t bloody 1990 où le grunge fait rage outre Atlantique,
do.” c’est bien Suede qui, en Angleterre, tient la barre
de la pop à tel point que ce disque a été, sur
r. certaines éditions, baptisé symboliquement « The
French Review by xavier www.pafpaf.org : London Suede »...
released by nude records/ epic 1992 uk
Suede » serait-il une nouvelle illustration de ce Translation:
postulat selon lequel les grandes réussites, les suede album - released by nude records/ epic
grands albums sont le fait de rencontres 1992 uk - review by xavier paf-paf fr. -
marquantes, de confrontations novatrices ? En translation: zebras54 2004
restant en Angleterre, on se souvient que David
Bowie et Mick Ronson avaient été identifiés Suede would this be a new illustration of this
comme tels, Morrissey et Johnny Marr postulate: the great successes, the great albums
également. C’est précisément sur ces deux bases, are the result of marking encounters, innovative
on ne peut plus recommandables, que Suede confrontations? Staying in England, we
nous avait été introduit en 1993. remember that David Bowie and Mick Ronson
were identified as such, Morrissey and Johnny
Suede, c’est d’abord le charme de l’esthète Brett Marr as well. The album Suede was introduced
Anderson : des vocalises passionnées et to us on precisely these two bases, - which could
romantiques, des mimiques de scène maniérées not come more recommended.
mais juste ce qu’il faut pour ne pas tomber dans
le pompeux, des emprunts au glam dans son côté
théâtral mais en laissant de côté les bouclettes, le Suede it is first the charm of the aesthete Brett
maquillage et les déguisements. Suede, c’est Anderson: passionate and romantic vocalises,
aussi toute la virtuosité du guitariste Bernard mannered mimicry on stage but just enough not
Butler : des rythmiques, des solos, des arpèges le into the pompous, borrowings of glam from the
tout baignant dans un subtil dosage d’effets du theatrical side but leaving aside curly locks,
type flanger, fuzz ou e-bow. Sacré boulot make up and disguises.
d’enregistrement mais aussi sacré boulot en
concert quand on sait qu’il fait ça sans aide. Aux
postes de bassiste et batteur, Mat Osman et Suede it is also the virtuosity of guitar player
Simon Gilbert portent le fertile duo avec justesse Bernard Butler: rhythms, soli, arpegio - all of this
et assiduité. Ce premier album aligne de bathing in a subtle dosage of flanger, fuzz or e-
puissants hymnes rock - « Animal Nitrate », « bow. What a heck of a recording, but also what a
Metal Mickey », « Animal Lover » - sur lesquels heck of concert when it is known that he does so
Anderson contribue à forger des refrains without help. Posted as bass-player and
particulièrement entraînants à l’aide d’une très drummer, Mat Osman and Simon Gilbert bring
juste maîtrise du tambourin. Le disque propose accuracy and assiduity to the inspired duo.
également des titres comme « Pantomime Horse
», « Sleeping Pills » ou encore « Breakdown », This first album lines up powerful rock anthems -
plus calmes, plus noirs mais tout aussi prenants. "Animal Nitrate", "Metal Mickey", "Animal
Enfin, non content de placer ses terribles talents Lover" on which Anderson contributes to forge
de guitariste, Butler s’offre deux parties de piano particularly catching choruses with the help of a
- « So Young », « The Next Life ». very accurately mastered tambourine. The record
also offers titles like "Pantomime Horse",
C’est grâce à cette première œuvre éponyme que "Sleeping Pills" or else "Breakdown" which are
Suede posera, en premier, les fondements de la calmer, darker but as much catching. Finally, not
touche Brit Pop - même si les Stones Roses happy enough only to place his amazing talents
avaient déjà pas mal déblayé le terrain. De as a guitar player, Butler treats himself with two
nombreux artistes d’influences plus diverses parts on piano "So young" and "The next life"
 bend?
it is thanks to this first eponymous work that
suede, as the first band, put the foundations of . . . ever tried it that way, have you ever tried
the Brit Pop touch - even though the Stone Roses it that way?
had quite cleared the site. Many artists with
various influences would go through this opening
by crystalising the movement, thus establishing
long lasting careers - Supergrass, the Boo
Radley, Oasis, Blur. But, in this context of the
beginning of the nineties where grunge was all
the rage beyond the Atlantic, it is very much
Suede who in England, held the level of pop so
high that this record was on edition symbolically
baptised "The London Suede".

Pantomime Horse
anderson / butler
i was born as a pantomime horse
ugly as the sun when he falls to the floor
i was cut from the wreckage one day
this is what i get for being that way

well did you ever, did you ever go round with

them?
well did you ever, did you ever go round the
bend?

i was conned by a circus hand

tragic as the son of a superman
"i would die for the stars” she said
this is what i get for my beautiful head

well did you ever, did you ever go round with

them?
well did you ever, did you ever go round the
 dog man star anderson / butler

there was a girl who flew the world from a

lonely shore
through southern snow to heathrow to
understand the law
there was a boy who loved the noise of the
underground
he left the coast and overdosed on that london
sound

he said,
"i don't care if you're black or blue
me and the stars stay up for you
i don't care who's wrong or right
and i don't care for the uk tonight so stay,
stay"
released 10th october 1994 and then one day she moved away from those
nude records garden walls
she left some flowers, he smoked for hours
formats: lp/mc/cd (nude3lp/mc/cd) she understood the law
01 introducing the band 02 we are the pigs 03
heroine 04 the wild ones 05 daddy's speeding
06 the power 07 new generation 08 this i don't care if you're black or blue
hollywood life 09 the 2 of us 10 black or blue me and the stars stay up for you
11 the asphalt world 12 still life members of i don't care who's wrong or right
the band: Brett Anderson (voc, lyrics), and i don't care for the uk tonight
Bernard Butler (music, guitar, some so stay, stay, stay, stay
arrangements, some piano), Mat Osman
(bass), Simon Gilbert (drums)
there was a girl who flew the world
Produced by Ed Buller,
guest musicians: London Sinfonia And those shoes,
during live tour: Richard Oakes replaces Q magazine
Bernard Butler
Brett Anderson’s footwear is battered and
gaping; he constantly picks at the stitching,
whose valiant attempt at holding the leather flaps
into shoe-shape will soon be over. The hems of
his trouser legs have been taken up and hand
sewn on the inside, a party to which no iron was
invited. The word scruffy simply doesn’t suffice.

For a band seen as fashion plates, style gurus,

trend setters, Suede are a delightfully, shabby
bunch. For all claims of flamboyance and camp,
Suede sport a very sensible shoe, as it were.
Perhaps this is another part of their charm, a
cherishably dog-eared ordinariness. ](Mat)
Osman, no slouch in crap V-neck thermal and a
pinstripe jacket he’s had on since the first gulf
war opines, “I’ve always liked vain people. We
Black or Blue live in seriously unflashy times. I like people
who stand up to be ridiculed.” walked into the collaboratory studio in France
Talking to Q (Andrew Collins) two days later in and decided “Oh, I get it. You’re the Anti-
BBC’s Maida Vale studios (they are live on Christ” and exited, stage left. His reputed
Emma Freud’s Radio One show) Anderson response was “I’m not the Anti-Christ, I’m
clarifies the difference between how they look Bernard.”
and what they do:
It would be fanciful to suggest that Dog Man
Star’s high drama and bold excess were fuelled
by internal tension between Sir Anti-Christford
“If you want to call me some stupid fop, or a and the rest of Suede, but at least he was
ponce, that’s fine – but just listen to the music. professsional enough to finish the work before he
The music is much better than our image. Our hopped it. On its making, (Simon) Gilbert
image is shit. We don’t really have one.” enthuses: “They talk about difficult second
albums; this was easier than the first one. Well…
“We’re Suede. And we are back.” Anderson’s at the beginning it was. And at the end… the
first words as he mounts the bonsai stage at Raw, very end.”
couldn’t have been better chosen, heading off at
the pass all those ambulance chasers who would At any rate, it seems agreed that the finished
have happily seen Suede fail in their darkest days product is a towering testament to Anderson,
thus far. It didn’t happen. Butler, Osman and Gilbert – Suede Mark 1.

If Dog Man Star’s music is the sound of a door

Dog Man Star, unleashed to ecstatic reviews is being closed for good, then Anderson’s lyrics are
according to Brett Anderson, “three times better” its written guarantee. Suede are a going concern.
than the debut. Suede who has now sold a quarter These words, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes
of a million. (“there were some big flaws on the alarming, conjure a netherworld where nuclear
first album, looking back I wouldn’t have had threat is rife, a peculiar urban squalor patched up
Moving or Animal Lover on it”) Osman says “10 with postcards brought from Athena in 1981.
times better”. It’s a lot better. And it had to be. Brando, Monroe and Dean are its heroes; pigs,
blood, drugs, and concrete its hard reality. (He
When “Suede” was released in March 1993, the knows that James Dean as an icon in the song
vultures were already checking their callendars “Daddy’s speeding is “utter cliché” but defends
for the Suede backlash. But it never came. Suede the usage as a snook cocked to all those Suede
never once lost their cool, unless you count Stay watchers who still expect cosy British themes:
Together (the first single after the album) only “They’re better songs than if they’d been about
entering the charts at Number 2. The front covers Dad’s Army)
kept on piling up, as did the odds against them.
“I don’t know why people hate us so much”
ponders Anderson “Maybe because we are in Anderson’s sixth sense for dirt and depravity is
their faces.” He tells a tale of a rep from their obviously linked with his well documented
record label Nude going into Tower Records to appetite for drugs. He regrets being so frank in
check on the sales of the new LP and a interview and yet his lyrics give him away (“I
thoroughly fed-up assistant reporting: “Suede, need my heroines/aching, being dying for hours,
Suede, Suede and more bloody Suede”. and “I supply her with ecstasy) “Some of the
things I say in interview must sound really
“There is this theory that we couldn’t have crappy” he admits “I can’t help it, I am crappy
failed, which is absolute twaddle. It would’ve sometimes. Who really gives a shit if someone
been so, so easy for it to have all crumbled.” takes drugs? Everyone takes them anyway. I only
mention it because it’s as much part of my life as
The exact details of Butler’s departure are still sitting here drinking coffee.”
veiled in mystery. He’s been AWOL ever since,
and apocryphally at least, his first post Suede But not everyone takes drugs. The majority of
“project” with former All About Eve singer Suede fans don’t take drugs.
Juliette Regan ended when, one morning, she
“No? Perhaps you get a distorted image living in Written by Anderson/Butler
the city. But even people in the sticks do cider
and cigarettes.” Produced by Ed Buller, 1994
Song duration - 4:19
…. As they storm Raw in (relative) secret, it still Track 2 on the album "Dog Man Star"
feels like Suede belong to “us”, whoever “we” Track 19 on the album "Singles"
are. (…) Suede's 6th single

“People are always going to think that this band Well the church bells are calling
is just about to fall apart.” Concludes Osman “I Police cars on fire
look at people like R.E.M. and Paul Weller and And as they call you to the eye of the storm
sometimes I’m really jealous of the goodwill All the people say "Stay at home tonight"
they generate. People were desperate for that
R.E.M. album to be good. It’s never going to be I say we are the pigs, we are the swine
like that for us; there are always going to be huge We are the stars of the firing line
gangs of masked men with baseball caps waiting
for us. Come on, fuck up, fuck up! It’s always And as the smack cracks at your window
one crisis after the other… You wake up with a gun in your mouth
Oh let the nuclear wind blow away my sins
And I'll stay at home in my house

I say, we are the pigs

we are the swine
we are the stars of the firing line

But deceit can't save you so

We will watch them burn

a review:
Instead of following though on the Bowie-esque
glam stomps of their debut, Suede concentrated
on their darker, more melodramatic tendencies
on their ambitious second album, Dog Man Star.
By all accounts, the recording of Dog Man Star
was plagued with difficulties -- Brett Anderson
wrote the lyrics in a druggy haze while
sequestered in a secluded Victorian mansion,
while Bernard Butler left before the album was
completed -- which makes its singular vision all
the more remarkable. Lacking any rocker on the
level of "The Drowners" or "Metal Mickey" --
only the crunching "This Hollywood Life" comes
close -- Dog Man Star is a self-indulgent and
pretentious album of dark, string-drenched epics.
But Suede are one of the few bands who wear
pretensions well, and after a few listens, the
album becomes thoroughly compelling. Nearly
every song on the record is hazy, feverish, and
heartbroken, and even the rockers have an
insular, paranoid tenor that heightens the album's
melancholy. The whole record would have
collapsed underneath its own intentions if
Butler's compositional skills weren't so subtly
nuanced and if Anderson's grandiose poetry
wasn't so strangely affecting. As it stands, Dog
Man Star is a strangely seductive record, filled
with remarkable musical peaks, from the Bowie-
esque stomp of "New Generation" to the stately
ballads "The Wild Ones" and "Still Life," which
are both reminiscent of Scott Walker. And while
Suede may choose to wear their influences on
their sleeve, they synthesize them in a totally
original way, making Dog Man Star a singularly
tragic and romantic album. ~

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

www.allmusic.com
 Coming Up observed a lone young man strolling the streets
in a vaguely distracted condition. While the
shoppers bustled by and the bunked off school
released 2nd september 1996 kids ran for the nearest park, the tall, towsel
nude records haired figure would move at a slower pace,
lp/cd/mc (nude6lp/cd/mc) slightly out of time with everything but the
01 trash 02 filmstar 03 lazy 04 by the sea 05 she stirring litter. In one hand he'd be cupping a
06 beautiful ones 07 starcrazy 08 picnic by the cigarette, in the other there'd be a dictaphone
motorway 09 the chemistry between us 10 which he occasionally hummed or half-sung into.
saturday night His petrol blue eyes would flicker with a benign
proprietal light. Sometimes he'd step off the
produced by Ed Buller pavement as if unaware of the traffic.
Band members: Brett Anderson (voc, lyrics),
Neil Codling (keyboards, some music), Richard With the "Dog Man Star" tour over, Brett was
Oakes (guitars, some music), Mat Osman (bass), back in West London. The Edgar Allen Poe like
Simon Gilbert (drums) environs of Highgate had been left behind for a
more human, sunny flat in Ladbroke Grove,
trash allowing Sphinx, his Persian cat to sunbathe in
anderson / oakes comfort and Brett was set about writing the next
maybe, maybe it's the clothes we wear, album in a more tranquil frame of mind. (....)
the tasteless bracelets and the dye in our hair, This time around he wanted to write directly and
maybe it's our kookiness, colloquially. In consideration of his flatmate and
or maybe, maybe it's our nowhere towns, to avoid fights with the neighbours, he had one
our nothing places and our cellophane sounds, room soundproofed and for ays he'd pace the
padded mini-studio, working on ways to translate
maybe it's our looseness, the chemically, sexually, joyfully insane lives of
but we're trash, you and me his small circle of friends into songs.
we're the litter on the breeze,
we're the lovers on the streets, When inspiration wasn't coming he'd wander off
just trash, me and you, outside, maybe head out to some forgotten edge
it's in everything we do, it's in everything we of town and record his free'd up melodies and
do thoughts into a dictaphone. Occasionally a mad
maybe, maybe it's the things we say, night at getting high would kick him into the
the words we've heard and the music we play, right frame of mind. He was taking time to do
maybe it's our cheapness, some groundwork too. Saul Galpern from Nude
oh maybe, maybe it's the times we've had, Records was sending him records over. T Rex's
the lazy days and the crazes and the fads, "Tank" made a big impression for the first time.
maybe it's our sweetness, He'd never listened much to Bolan in the early
but we're trash, you and me, years when critics were fingering him as a glam
we're the litter on the breeze, rocker and in the same way, after years of being
we're the lovers on the streets, told that there were similarities, he finally started
just trash, me and you, listening to Scott Walker. Brian Eno's early
it's in everything we do, edgey solo pop also took few good spins on the
it's in everything we do . . . CD player. This time around he wanted the kind
of simplicity and gleaming metal hooks that cut
through even while you were doing the ironing.

By a coincidence of instinct, Richard Oakes was

meanwhile putting together tunes in a bristling,
sweetly vicious fuzz rock style. Brett would
come over and sing him vocal lines. With
surprising speed they put together "Trash", "She"
As the summer of 95 faded, residents of some of and "Saturday Night" and as soon as they were
London's less chic perimeters might have written the mood picked up. At last they knew
for sure that the Anderson/Oakes team really picnic by the motorway
could produce a great album. anderson / oakes

Written by Roger Morton - The Beautiful Ones i'm so sorry to hear about the news,
ISBN 1-873884-80-X ufo music ltd 1997 don't you worry,
i'll buy us a bottle and we'll drink in the petrol
Reviews in quotes: fumes,
i'm so sorry to hear about your world,
3 Stars (out of 5) - ...Suede get back to pop don't you worry,
basics, offering concise melodies and taut, there's a gap in the fence down by the nature
brashly energetic arrangements... reserve,
Rolling Stone (05/29/1997) hey, such a lovely day, such a lovely day,
such fun, looking at the lovers in a lay-by with
8 (out of 10) - ...Swinging free of their past, my little one.
ignoring the football present, Suede concentrate i'm so sorry to hear the news today,
on one sweet, super-trebly corner of the world. don't you worry,
Madly devoted flash hounds, they erase the there's been a speeding disaster so we'll go
distance between 1973 and 1997 and triumph at we'll go to the motorway,
their own game. i'm so sorry to hear about the scene,
Spin (05/01/1997) don't you worry,
just put on your trainers and get out of it with
me,
5 (out of 5) - ...Suede view this album as a brand- hey, such a lovely day, such a lovely day,
new beginning, and though the themes are such fun, looking at the lovers in a lay-by with
familiar, low life and loveless, in many ways my little one,
they're right....Busy, brave, bright, that's hey, such a lovely day, such a lovely day,
COMING UP... such fun, looking at the lorries in the litter
Alternative Press (02/01/1997) with my lovely one,
we could go dancing, we could go walking,
Ranked #96 in Q's 100 Greatest British Albums - we could go shopping, we could keep talking,
...A glam-rock crunch redolent of DIAMOND we could go drinking, we could sit thinking,
DOGS-era Bowie, while visualising mid-'90s we could go speeding, or we could go
youth as bored teens and beautiful losers. In their dreaming, see? oh hey . . .
neon-lit world, the kids only come alive via pills,
booze, sex and music...
Q (06/01/2000)

...Suede return with a determinedly harder yet

more buoyant offering. There's atmosphere
aplenty, but radio-friendly nuggets rather than
glam, histrionic set pieces are the order of the
day. - Rating: B+
Entertainment Weekly (05/02/1997)
 Written by Anderson
Headmusic Produced by Steve Osborne, 1999
Song duration - 6:12
Track 5 on the album "Head Music"

All the people in your life say you're down

And the strangers in the night say you're
down
And the loonies on the right say you're down
You're down
And the ambulances sigh that you're down
And the traffic speeding by say you're down
And the people in your mind say you're down,
you're down
Published by Nude Records (Bare Tunes) –
Hey, you chase the day away,
Epic/Sony
Hey, you draw the blinds and blow your mind
released 3rd may 1999
away,
NUDE 14 UK Release Date: 03-05-99
There's a sadness in your eyes,
1. Electricity 2. Savoir Faire 3. Can't Get Enough
And there's a blankness in your smile,
4. Everything Will Flow 5. Down 6. She's In
Fashion 7. Asbestos 8. Head Music 9. Elephant
And the people in the park say you're down,
Man 10. Hi-fi 11. Indian Strings 12. He's Gone
And the strangers in the dark say you're
13. Crack In the Union Jack
down,
Produced and Mixed by Steve Osbourne for
And the pissheads in the bars, say you're
140db.
down, you're down
And the audiences cry that you're down,
Cover by Nick Knight, Peter Saville, Brett
And the ambulances sigh that you're down
Anderson.
And the boyfriends and your love say you're
down, you're down
Designed by Howard Wakefield and Paul
Hetherington at Commercial Art
Hey, you chase the day away
members: Brett Anderson (voc, lyrics, some
Hey, you draw the blinds and blow your mind
music, some acoustic guitar, some weird name
away,
stuff), Neil Codling (some keyboards, some
There's a sadness in your lite,
music, some lyrics), Richard Oakes (guitar, some
There's a madness in your smile
music, some keyboards),
Mat Osman (bass),
Hey, you chase the day away
Simon Gilbert (drums)
Hey, you draw the blinds and blow your mind
away,
There's a sadness in your lite,
There's a madness in your smile"

down
Richard was well aware that the next record wrote the bulk of the material that would form
wasn’t going to be a traditional guitar record, but “Head Music”. “Can’t get enough” – his personal
while Neil was getting more and more interested Lust for Life – and she’s in Fashion based
in synthesiser experimentation, it left Richard in around a loop called “Gloopy Strings”, were both
a bit of a pickle. “It kind of meant that I didn’t based on tapes sent by Neil, while the deeply
really know what to write, because I always personal Indian Strings and Down about his slide
write on guitar.” He admits “I always write from into crack addiction, were solo works. “These
a fairly straightforward classic point of view. I songs were the first I had written using eight-
always write imagining a verse and a chorus. track rather than four-track portastudios and
Neil was far more… he’d write vibe pieces. And these songs were the first I had written around
he was doing some great stuff. He did the demo technology like Juno synth, loops and drum
for “She’s in fashion”, which was called “Gloopy machines rather than acoustic guitars and
Strings”. It was like something out of Doctor pianos.” He says “I was trying to do Prince,
Who at that point! He did a lot of really Tricky and Krautrock…”
innovative stuff and I was really into it as music, Written by David Barnett – Love and Poison
but there was no way, I could have written like (2003) Andre Deutsch Publishers London
that. I couldn’t find my way around a sampler. I
knew how to play the guitar but, especially with
Brett, that wasn’t what he wanted to hear.”

Oblivious to the concerns of his colleagues, Brett

was still full of enthusiasm for the next album,
soaking a huge range of influences. He became
increasingly excited by dance music and hip hop.
“One night… Justine played me Tricky’s “Black
Steel”, he remembers “I simply couldn’t stop
playing it. I loved the dark groove and the voice
but most of all I loved the words. They seemed
to sum up generations of racial anger. They were
written by Public Enemy.”

“While we were touring Coming Up in Asia, I

started to read about Eastern philosophy and
began to practise meditation.” He says “There
were no religious implications, only
philosophical ones. The concept of ultimate
enlightenment, Satori, is very seductive.
“Everything will Flow is an obvious example of
this fixation with the karmic laws of cause and
effect, but Asia had a musical impact too as
witnessed by the bent string motifs of Indian
Strings, She’s in fashion and Everything Will
Flow. “The initial concept for “Indian Strings”
was to get that tinny Bollywood string sound”
says Brett, who had also begun devouring
literature for virtually the first time in his writing
career. “I read the Outsider by Camus around
1998. Its bleak, blank, observational style made
me want to write in a less romantic, flowery way.
I later discovered Michel Houllebecq, whose
obsessions with sex and depression seemed to
mirror my own.”
He had converted the summer house at the
bottom of his garden into a studio where he
Press release review: string-laden ballad that's sure to make it as a
single further down the line."Down" (sorry) is,
In mid-1998, SUEDE set about recording their quite simplly, breathtaking: Written as a
fourth album and the thirteeen songs which you backdrop to the aftermath/comedown… you are
are going to know and love as "Head Music". shamed into silence: "And the ambulances
They changed producers from Ed Buller to sigh/that you're down/ And the pissheads in the
Perfecto's Steve Osborne who was responsible bars/say you're down" says it all really if you've
for the early Happy Mondays' seminal work ever been here.
("Loose Fit", "Kinky Afro" et al ) and changed
direction too. Brett said after the last LP that he
wanted to make a less emotional record (by If you had an opinion about "Head Music" before
which, I guess, he means more honest since you hear it then you should probably listen to
emotions get in the way sometimes) but if you "She's In Fashion" which comes up next. Tipped
think that's gonna make it difficult to engage then as the second single, and featuring "oriental"
you've got another think coming: because "Head keyboards (thanks, NME), this is probably
Music" will be fucking wired to your head. It's a Suede's brightest, lightest moment ever.
colder record, sure, but it's hungrier and angrier Deliberately ironic, it is sure to be a huge hit (not
too and surely how a rock record should sound in just on the catwalk) not least because Brett
1999 - a blazing, twenty-first century rock 'n' roll manages to make the line "and she's as similar as
of a type that couldn't be made anywhere else in you can get/To the shape of a cig-ar-ette" sound
the world. It opens with "Electricity", the first so gloriously decadent. To follow, "Asbestos" is
single, which is a huge, life affirming, classic probably the spookiest Suede song around these
Suede pop song that's as hard-edged and spikey parts but it's also probably their sexiest. This is a
as any Suede single so far. On it, there are very groovy song that features the kind of
elements of Pistols and Hendrix and a chorus that casually magnificent guitar that's become a
you could probably eat if you could grab hold of Suede hallmark, “big time” trumpets and
it quick enough - "oh, it's bigger than the "suburban girls making eyes at suburban boys."
universe/it's bigger than the two of us/oh, it's A very, very slinky number for Suede to pull off
bigger than you and me/we got a love between us at this stage.
and it's like electricity." …For the record, Brett
has said that this is just meant to be a simple love
song. Cheers. "Head Music", the title track (not the LP) slides
through the open door marked Track 7 next and
is about as rude as it gets. "Give me head/Give
The dark sensibility prevalent on "Electricity" is me head/Give me head" Brett intones before
continued on "Savoir Faire" which, at the risk of slipping in "Music instead" as the kiss off. This'll
being accused of being oxymoronic, is probably remind you of a fucked-up and slowed-down
the most modern song ever recorded. Brett has "Breakdown" by the Buzzcocks (with more chic
said this is his favourite ever Suede track and the thug appeal), is all too brief and is the first time
key track on "Head Music" and you can see why; Suede have deigned to offer us a title track. And
it's funky, Prince-like in parts and as cold as you I think that means something. Hot on its heels,
can get - a remote, alien woman might make love comes "Elephant Man" which is written by Neil
and "swallow a Dove in her room" (rather than Codling, has elements of the Fall at their best and
kissing to a popular tune) here but earlier she is appears to conform to the Suede edict of
cooking up crack to give us a heart attack. Firm "apartness": Suede are the Elephant Men and
but fair you'd have to say. "Can't Get Enough" "people wish that they weren't around/when we
follows and starts like "She's Lost Control", all rock and roll into town."
mechanised synth drums and weird FX before The last four tracks on "Head Music" are
turning into an ever-so psycho punk rock song stunning. "Hi-Fi" is another groovy, sexy, other-
about needing another fix. It's a really exciting worldly number that Kraftwerk might have come
song (Gilbert's favourite and you can just up with if they'd had the foresight and
imagine the frenzy this is going to create live.) circumstance to record with Steve Osborne in the
After this we get "Everything Will Flow", which "white city " of London in 1999. "Indian Strings"
is possibly the warmest track on the LP and a big is a beautiful-yet-forlorn, orchestral, Eastern-
influence ballad (almost a continuation of "My so many games to play
Dark Star") that's about as sad as you can get - see the blue suburban dream,
particularly as it features the line "and you'll see under the jet plane sky,
my heart is broken too/cos I've seen the re-al sleep away and dream a dream
you". "He's Gone" is more upsetting still and life is just a lullaby
presumably concerns the fall-out from a
relationship as Anderson places himself oh, and everything will flow
asexually in the centre of the drama; I defy
anyone who comes up with a better stanza than watch the day begin again,
this: "Like the leaves on the trees/Like the whispering into the night,
Carpenters song/ Like the planes and the trains see the pretty people play,
and the lives that were young/He is gone and it hurrying under the light,
feels like the words to a song" – heartbreaking. a million cars, a million trains,
And finally, "Crack In The Union Jack" which under the jet plane sky
Brett has said is "the closest we've ever come to nothing lost and nothing gained
an overt political statement" and I guess might life is just a lullaby
remind people of the Costello/Stone Roses
acoustic codas of the '80s if only because ,duh, oh, and everything will flow
it's acoustic, political and it signs off the record.
It's more subtle than this, mind you, and maybe a the neon lights in the night tonight
lot more apocalyptic in vision: "Saw it on the will say "everything will flow"
news today/Heard the lonely people say/There's a the stars that shine in the open sky
great big crack/In the union jack." You should will say "everything will flow"
make up your own mind. the lovers kissed with an openness
will say "everything will flow"
Mat Osman has said that the current Suede line- the cars parked in the hypermarket
up only really became a band after they finished know "everything will flow"
recording "Coming Up" and if that is the case
then "Head Music" certainly has the feel of an
extraordinary debut. It might be the least
"themed" of any Suede record to date - and the
most difficult to pigeonhole - but it is also the
most modern record you'll ever get to lay your
hands on. And again, in Suede's case, this is not
an oxymoron.

"It's like modern art. When you see a piece of

really good modern art, you see a really good
painter who has managed to describe forms with
minimal strokes of the brush. That's what I want
to do. Keep it to a minimum."

Brett Anderson. 1999.

Written by Saul Galpern, Nude Records, 1999

A NEW MORNING
Everything will flow released: 30-09-2002 label: Sony 508956
producer: Stephen Street
anderson / oakes List of songs: Positivity, Obsessions, lonely girls,
watch the early morning sun, lost in tv, beautiful loser, streetlife, astrogirl,
drip like blood from the day, untitled morning, one hit to the body, when the
see the busy people run, rain fall, plus you belong to me, hidden track:
 Oceans Suede are - Alex Lee (guitar, clavinova
produced by Stephen Street keyboards, harmonica), Richard Oakes (gibson
guitar), Simon Gilbert (drums), Mat Osman
members: Brett Anderson: (voc, some acoustic (bass), Brett Anderson (vocals, lyrics,
guitar and perc, some music, lyrics), Alex Lee percussions) (keyboard player Neil Codling (and
(guitars, clavinova, keyboards, harmonica), Simon's cousin) had to take early retirement in
Richard Oakes (some music, some keyboards, 2001 due to ME disease – (edit 2010) he now
guitars), Mat Osman (bass, some music), Simon makes music for Pearl Lowe, Faithless, Talvin
Gilbert (drums, some music) Singh, and his band Barry O Neill, played
(Neil Codling gets credits for some music but left keyboards on some Brett Anderson solo live
the band in 2001) dates and joined Penguin Cafe Orchestra in 2009
guest musicians: Millenia Strings

...morning review -
(Anderson) " a new morning is what it feels like to survive
A new morning" and come out the other end with a revitalised
sleepy head get out of bed the big bad world is joie de vivre. it’s an album that somehow
calling manages to combine all the best bits of previous
step in your shoes and catch the news suede records and still sound remarkably
it’s another morning unique." says Suede.net about the album .
reviewer is glad to hear that!
morning it’s morning
morning it’s morning again Three years in the make, produced by Stephen
Street of The Smiths, err Blur (Parklife) fame,
rub your eyes as nature sighs Stephen Street also produced "Disgraceful" by
the population’s yawning Dubstar which to me was a classy record,(A
as you step in your shoes there’s so much to record sounding like Beck was not really what
do Suede wanted so that's why they parted company
with Tony Hoffers, who produced Sea Changes,
it’s a brand new morning mind you the producer of the new Beck album
morning it’s morning called Nigel Godrich did produce the first
morning it’s morning again McAlmont&Butler album. Hence the Suede
family might know a thing or two about arty pop
and all around this cardboard town the cops music and if they listen to Cohen and
are crawling Bacharach...! And how does the music on that
the sirens scream and break your dreams record sound? Read on what a lefthanded guitar
it’s morning player has to say: "A new morning is a
it’s morning surprisingly harmonious affair with a lot of
it’s morning piano, acoustic guitar, beatleresque choirs and
lyrical bass-lines from the hands of the much
underestimated Master Mat Osman ( cut cut cut,
ed ) the wonderfully beautiful songs "When the
rain falls" and "Lonely girls" prove that, it is
still worth to go on giving an inclined listen to
this band" (writes Now Magazine, Austria) hmm
bringing the Beatles in a Suede review, lovely -
so you heard everybody? listen to this album!!! .

Well, there is a bit of Cohen and Bacharach in

those lyrics, "Beautiful Loser" reminds me of a
book by Leonard Cohen. Here is the dejected
perspective of some mislaid pre-fab surburban
place by the sea where nothing happens on a wet
weekend, stuck with TV and music, and lots to
read.. . This New Morning album has been on the actual recording.”
nicknamed by friends of mine "happiness in a
Suede kind of way", rather that than being street life
troubled and confused . They just know how to (Brett Anderson/Alex Lee)
make their fans happy keeping telling them - us -
about being beautiful, and inviting to sing along. street life into the night with the syncopated
Yes, there is a huge difference between melodies
superficial flattery and a heartfelt compliment, street life look left look right you’ve got lips
and they know it.... the band's record collection is from a magazine
always interesting, they like the sex pistols, the cheap sound that comes from underground
Smiths, David Bowie, T-Rex, Prince, firm communicates to everyone
favourites Air, Beck, Stina Nordenstam, street life it’s alright you get your tips from a
Supergrass, Robert Wyatt, The Flaming Lips and popular song
some more unusual names like The Yeah Yeah
Yeahs, The Libertines, The Streets, Oxide and it’s the beat of the concrete street that you’ll
Neutrino. love for a million years
it’s the sound that comes from underground
After listening to Bound Da Reload, I conclude that’s got you clapping
that Streetlife is an accurate portrayal of some got you shaking your rears
modern urban life and some of the music, the
anger, the fast pace and the tenderness. Suede, as street life
Q magazine said in 1993, roots lie in working- street life step to the mike with your sexual
class, early 80ies Britain. The thing is, they don't equality
look like it, as Mat Osman ruefully concedes "If street life look left look right you’ve got lips
we were the tea-drinking fops that we're made from a magazine
out to be, we'd probably all Seattle grunge chic cheap sound that comes from underground is
types by now". The band has been keeping up like a bass drum kicking along
with the fast pace of a changing society and street life sweet life cheap life it’s street life
chronicling about it with their chosen style, there going on and on
is no need for them to follow a trend, they make
their own, give their opinions, just most people to the beat of the concrete street you can live
would do, in this case much to the surprise of for a million years
Oxide and Neutrino and their contempories, the dumb sound that comes from
Brett Anderson decided to give his opinion on underground that’s got you clapping
their music and the people who listen to it. got you shaking your rears
street life
Musically, the album is versatile yet coherent. It
is melodic and accessible. The songs are full of it’s all you know
characters and scenes and small stories combined it’s all you see
with some words of uplifting wisdom and it’s all you follow
foolishness: it’s all you believe

move your feet to the concrete beat and you

“the record’s about looking at life a different can live for a million years to the sound that
way i suppose,” ponders Brett, “looking at life comes from underground, clap your hands
as something that’s potentially ‘great!’ instead of get shaking your rears
troubled and confused.” and the title? “for me street life
it’s a symbol of a new start for the band. it isn’t
suddenly a reggae record or a swing record or
anything like that. it’s definitely a suede record.
but it seems like there’s a sense of freshness
injected into it. when we were making the record
i was feeling very excited about life and
hopefully some of that vitality has come across
 glauben? Die Steine bleiben so dahingeworfen
zwischen uns. Der Stein, also Come On ist im
Tschechischen ein Kamen mich hat dies an ein
Come on
SUEDE werfen keine Steine nach. Das ist
eindeutig nicht ihr Stil. Aber sie haben deren
Gehalt und Dichte. SUEDE sagen come on auf
ihre unnachahmliche Art und Weise und ich habe
darin den tschechischen kamen gehoert wie
planken schlittern, denn SUEDE stehen fuer
bewegung und Kontur.

Ich habe in den ersten Zeilen dieses Textes ein

paar Saetze von SUEDE frei kombiniert. Ja,
SUEDE sind kompatibel mit sich selbst, ihre
Texte gleichen kompakten Einheiten und
Review – in German/ English translation follows nehmen schnell Tempo auf. Sie koennen beliebig
gelesen und neu zusammengesetzt werden,
"Rezension SUEDE A new morning. Von verlieren dabei mitunter sogar etwas
Michael Stavaric kontextuellen Ballast. SUEDE entdecken etwas
Buntes in der Welt, und sie entdecken es von der
(poet, translator (czech/German) and writer Strasse aus - und nicht von einem sterilen
from Brno, born 1974, author of "Without Penthouse. Jeder Tag bringt etwas Neues, das
Wings" (Fluegellos) Neue ist etwas Gutes, und das Gute stirbt nicht.
, tagwerk.landnahme.ungelenk (a clumsy Die Schatten bleiben . So koennte es Brett
mapped dayjob") - Ed Vabene/Red&Guilty) Anderson vielleicht auch sagen.
cultural secretary for Czech embassy in Vienna,
assistant to Jiri Gruza, hobbies icehockey and
rollergliding, music: Czech, and Rage against Melodisch gelingt SUEDE eine gute Mischung
the Machine/Audioslave zwischen Stimme und Instrument, wobei das
letztere stets weichen muss, damit die Texte
atmen koennen. Eine gute Wahl und absolut
(he reviews A new Morning plus a cassette with empfehlenswert. come on SUEDE. See you in
Filmstar, Trash, Elephant Man and Europe is Prague."
Our Playground)
translation:
Morning! Morning it's morning again. Tina sits
and waits for a telephone call. Maybe it's our Morning! Morning it's morning again. Tina sits
looseness. What to believe in, it's impossible to and waits for a telephone call. Maybe it's our
say? You're coming down the hard way. The looseness. What to believe in, it's impossible to
pretty people run. Or ist that a cardboard sky? say? You're coming down the hard way. The
Run with me baby from Eastern Block to France. pretty people run. Or ist that a cardboard sky?
Der Morgen als ewige Wiederholung der Run with me baby from Eastern Block to France.
Hoffnung auf andere Tage. Ein Morgen in Wien
und Prag und London und Belfast. Menschen The morning as an eternal return of hope for
sitzen vor Telephon und inhalieren Nachrichten, other days. A morning in Vienna and Prague, and
beginnen ihr Tagwerk, schliessen die Herzen. London and Belfast. People sit in front of their
Tina erneut auf dem Boden der Tatsachen. Ein telephones and inhale the news, start their daily
Morgen in einem Land ihrer Wahl in Europa. work, close the hearts. Tina once again back to
the floor of reality. A morning in a country of her
Ein Tag, wenn er zu Ende geht, bleibt kein Stein choice in Europe. The first lines of this, I
auf dem anderen, so schrieb ich in der Einleitung combined freely a few sentences from Suede.
meines letzten Buches. Woran soll man sonst Indeed, Suede are compatible with themselves
and their lyrics resemble compact units which
get the rhythm quickly. They can be read and re-
assembled, losing perhaps a bit of kontextual
"ballast" (excess weight).

"Ein tag wenn er zu Ende geht/Bleibt kein Stein

auf dem anderen" (A day when it comes to an
end, no stone is left unturned), this is what I
wrote in the introduction of my last book. What
to believe in? The stones are thrown between us.
The stone is called in Czech "kamen" - and this
word reminds me of "come on" SUEDE do not
throw stones. That is not their style at all. But
they have content and poetic density (dichte:
means 1) to write poetry and 2)density). Suede
say "Come on" in their inimitable ways and in
that I hear the Czech word "kamen" gliding over
the stage boards because Suede stand for
movement and contours.

"Suede discover something colourful in the

world and discover it from the streets - and not
from a sterile penthouse. Every day brings
something new which is good, das Neue ist
etwas Gutes, und das Gute stirbt nicht. The
shadows remain. Maybe Brett Anderson would
put it that way also. Musically, Suede get the
right balance between voice and instruments, and
the latter always steps back to let the texts
breathe. A good choice and highly
recommendable. "Come on" Suede. See you in
Prague.
Suede split at the end of 2003 their last release
was a compilation album called "Singles", it
gives a great overview of the band's career. In
1997 they released a compilation album of their
B-Sides called "Sci-Fi Lullabies"

tracklist Sci-Fi Lullabies (from 1997)

b-sides 1992-1997

1. My Insatiable One
2. To The Birds
Drums: Simon Gilbert, bass: Mat Osman,
3. 3. Where The Pigs Don't Fly.
singing/lyrics: Brett anderson
4. He's Dead5.
guitars and keyboards as follows:
5. The Big Time
01 beautiful ones (richard Oakes/Neil Codling)
6. High Rising
02 animal nitrate (bernard butler)
7. The Living Dead
03 trash (new recording) (richard Oakes/1996
8. My Dark Star
Neil/2004 Alex Lee)
9. Killing Of A Flash Boy
04 metal mickey (bernard Butler)
10. Whipsnade
05 so young (bernard butler)
11. Modern Boys
06 the wild ones (bernard butler)
12. Together
07 obsessions (richard oakes, alex lee)
13. Bentswood Boys
08 filmstar (richard oakes, neil codling)
14. Europe Is Our Playground disc
09 can't get enough (richard oakes, neil codling)
10 everything will flow (richard oakes, neil
1. Every Monday Morning Comes
codling)
2. Have You Ever Been This Low?
11 stay together (bernard butler)
3. Another No One
(1994 not available on other albums)
4. Young Men
12 love the way you love (richard oakes, alex
5. The Sound Of The Streets
lee)
6. Money
(2004 not available on other albums)
7. W.S.D.
13 the drowners (bernard butler)
8. This Time
14 new generation (bernard butler)
9. Jumble Sale Mums
15 lazy (richard oakes, neil codling)
10. These Are The Sad Songs
16 she's in fashion (richard oakes, neil codling)
11. Sadie
17 attitude (richard oakes, alex lee)
12. Graffiti Women
(2004 not available on other albums)
13. Duchess
18 electricity (richard oakes, neil codling)
19 we are the pigs (bernard butler)
20 positivity (richard oakes, alex lee - music by
Neil Codling)
21 saturday night (richard oakes, neil codling)

the Asian Edition included a video CD of an

acoustic concert in Singapore from 2003.
 What they did next: Brett Anderson, got in touch with former
songwriting-partner Bernard Butler from the
first two Suede albums. He also was a guest
musician on Rollerskatin' an album by Bertine
Zetlitz and produced by Fred Ball, from teh band
Pleasure - originally from Norway and now
based in London. Brett played his first solo-
concert in Copenhagen in 2003, where he
previewed "Love is Dead" a song from his
forthcoming solo album.

Simon Gilbert – moved to Thailand where he

joined glam-punk band Futon and regularly
visits the UK. Apart from playing concerts in
Asia, Futon also played in Europe incl. Dublin
and London Their album is called Love Bitem
they are now called Goo and their EP is called
Sniffin' Goo

Message from Brett, on Suede website,

September 2004
thought I'd just make a brief appearance here to
keep you all updated about what's going on.
Well, me and Bernard are back in a London
studio putting the finishing touches on what is
shaping up to be a truely special record.Usually
by this point in making any album I go through a
period of doubt about it's quality but this time the
songs are just getting better. My drive, direction
and focus ,which became clouded towards the
Alex Lee – played guitar and produced Patrick end of my work with Suede, are all back with a
Duff's solo album "Luxury Problems" Both vengeance and both me and Bernard are excited
musicians were members of the band about being back in the game. The record should
Strangelove. Patrick and Alex played several be finished in October so you will be able to
concerts in the UK, Africa and New Zealand judge for yourselves whether I am bullshitting or
within the WOMAD festival and within their not early next year when it is released. We are
home town of Bristol. He also guested on Goldie planning our first live appearance for December
Lookin Chain single and with Placebo during 2004.
their 2007 live tour. My solo album is pretty much finished but will
now probably be released after the Bernard
record. It has turned out to be a dark,
melancholic affair, kind of 'Brett Noir'. It goes
without saying that I am hugely excited about
this too. That's it for now. The next news you
will hear will be more concrete. Thanks for all
Mat Osman is based in Notting Hill, London
your love Brett
and plays bass for the band alternative/dub band
Brett Anderson: Here Come the Tears (under
Mista Brown who released a single called Inner
The Tears with Bernard Butler) , Brett Anderson
Harmony in 2005, they split in 2007 - he also
(2007), The London Sessions (Live LP 2007),
edited a book called "Le Cool Book on London")
Wilderness (2008), Slow Attack (2009)
All the former Suede bandmembers are still
Richard Oakes - formed the group Artmagic with
keeping in touch.
Sean McGhee in 2010 - They premiered their
material on June 28th, - more info:
www.myspace.com/artmagic

Suede played live dates in 2010 - line up: Brett

Anderson, Mat Osman, Neil Codling, Richard
Oakes, Simon Gilbert

for further information on the Suede

bandmembers and the band's discography
and live dates please visit: www. suede.co.uk