"A harrowing masterpiece of industrial music, ‘Sinsation’ was born from a crucible of desperation and nihilism, this album captures the raw intensity and emotional turmoil of Raymond Watts at his most vulnerable, reflecting a solitary journey into the depths of his own psyche, fueled by a relentless pursuit of sonic extremity" ~ The Spill Magazine
On the trail of his latest 'Red Room' album, industrial legend Raymond Watts a.k.a. PIG is re-releasing his seminal 'Sinsation' album via Metropolis Records (digital, CD) and Armalyte Industries (vinyl). Out of print for several decades now. this album now makes a fine re-entry to the world, completely re-remastered at Abbey Road.
'Sinsation' was originally released in the mid-1990s - both in Japan and on Nothing Records, which was established by Nine Inch Nails kingpin Trent Reznor. An influential and commercially successful label with a cult underground following, PIG joined such artists as Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Squarepusher, Autechre, Meat Beat Manifesto, Pop Will Eat Itself, Einstürzende Neubauten and Plaid.
Here, Watts adeptly blends the profound and the profane, featuring such PIG classics as 'Painiac', 'Hamstrung On The Highway' and 'Hot Hole'. As it was since the beginning, Watts & Co teases, taunts, tempts and tantalizes with PIG's singular blend of hook laden, genre-bending, electronic-tinged alternative rock, loaded with malevolent reverence, glitz, glamour, sleaze, sin and swing.
"Every record I make is PIG through a different noose … and when I made Sinsation the noose hung high. Sinsation was born in 1995 at Ranch Apocalypse in London. The culmination of creation and cremation … an apotheosis of desperation, nihilism and desire … the only place I could go was to the poison well and drink deeply," says Raymond Watts.
"I was locked inside the studio and myself. The barricades were up in my fortress of solitude with only Steve White and a large box of drugs for company. Sinsation was the sound of the last card turning and burning. The only way out was through. I had to give birth to the noise inside my head and record it. A fiendishly simple and yet simply fiendish task. A place in which I was so uncomfortable that success would be to fail, as to fail had been my only success."
Recorded and mixed by PIG and Helen Woodward (Pale Saints, Dodgy, Kitchens of Distinction, Alien Sex Fiend, Ultra Vivid Scene), this album features contributions by several notable artists, including Karl Hyde (Underworld), Jimmy Cauty (The KLF) andt Steve White (KMFDM), who has also collaborated and recorded with Ocean Colour Scene and Mekon, as well as Carol Anne Reynolds (Sow) and Japanese artists Imai Hisashi (Buck Tick) and Hoppy Kamiyama.
"Sinsation wasn’t anything about the ascent of man. It was the descent of ham. As surely as everything passes, so did the spotlight on sin, as the long thin shadow that scratched the words from deep within and conducted the chaos would soon cast its darkness on a new vision. PIG would crawl to a different master in me and hang from a new noose," says Watts.
"I was surprised and saddened to re-visit Sinsation, surprised by the energy and invention and saddened to hear the pain … But I was strangely glad to have visited hell, and blessed that I didn’t stay."
Raymond Watts has had quite a colourful and stellar career since cutting his teeth in the mid-1980s industrial rock scene as a member of KMFDM. Apart from releasing 14 albums as PIG, he has toured with Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM and Einstürzende Neubauten, written music for fashion and film (Chloe, Marios Schwab, Halston, The Row), and even did sound design for the exhibition 'Punk: Chaos to Couture' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Watts also collaborated with the late fashion icon Alexander McQueen, who commissioned him (with John Gosling) to embellish the serene instrumental track ‘Inside’ (from PIG's 1999 album ‘Genuine American Monster’) for the soundtrack to ‘Plato’s Atlantis’. The show was reprised after McQueen’s untimely death in as the finale of ‘Savage Beauty', a posthumous retrospective that broke all records at both The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
As of August 23, 'Sinsation (Remastered)' is available from fine online platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp, where 'Red Room' can also be found (on CD and digitally). The limited edition vinyl offers 2 slabs of black, heavyweight vinyl - barely enough to contain the sin, sleaze and salvation that his album oozes. The gatefold sleeve comes with two inserts - a 12" by 12" lyric sheet and a huge foldout poster (approx 7" x 42") showcasing designer Steve Lovell-Davis' inspired artwork. On the fourth side of the vinyl is Armalyte's very first etched piece - a true beauty of a beast.
On September 28, PIG launches his ‘Heroin For The Damned’ tour with Curse Mackey and Unitcode : Machine. The 40-date itinerary follows PIG's headlining set at Cold Waves XII in Chicago.
ALBUM CREDITS
All songs written by Raymond Watts,
except 'Shell' written by Raymond Watts & Karl Hyde
Recorded & mixed by Helen Woodword & Raymond Watts at Ranch Apocalypse (London),
except 'Analgesia', mixed by Raymond Watts & Jimmy Cauty
Produced & arranged by Raymond Watts
Mastering by Tom Hall at Abbey Road
Raymond Watts - vocals, synth, guitar, drums, programming
Steve White - guitar
Imai Hisashi - guitar on 'Analgesia'
Karl Hyde - guitar on 'Shell'
Jimmy Cauty - keyboards
Hoppy Kamiyama - loops on 'Painiac'
Carol Anne Reynolds - backing vocals on 'The Sick'
Additional words by Anna Wildsmith
Cover photo by Steve Lovell-Davis
Released by Metropolis Records
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon atShameless Promotion PR
TOUR DATES 'Heroin For The Damned' Tour
9/28/24: Chicago, IL, @ Metro
9/ 29/24: Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze *
9/30/24: Des Moines, IA @ Lefty’s Live Music*
10/2/24: Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade*
10/3/24: Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel*
10/4/24: Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck*
10/5/24: Denver, CO Kulture Music Hall*
10/6/24: SLC, UT @ Quarters*
10/7/24: Boise, ID @ Visual Arts Collective*
10/9/24: Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s*
10/10/24: Seattle, WA @ El Corazon ^^
10/13/24: Portland, OR @ Dante’s^^
10/15/24: Sacramento, CA @ Starlit Room^^
10/16/24: SF, CA @ DNA^^
10/17/24: San Diego, CA @ Whistle Stop^^
10/18/24: Las Vegas, NV @ Sinwave^^
10/19/24: Los Angeles, CA @ Catch One^^
10/20/24: Scottsdale, AZ @ Pub Rock^^
10/21/24: Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad^^
10/23/24: OK City @ Beer City^^
10/24/24: Dallas, TX @ Three Links ^^
10/25/24 - Houston TX @ Secret Group *
10/26/24: Austin, TX @ Elysium *
10/27/24: New Orleans, LA @ Santos *
10/29/24: Pensacola, FL @ Handlebar *
10/30/24: Orlando, Fl @ Handlebar *
11/1/24: West Palm Beach, FL @ Respectable Street *
11/2/24: Jacksonville, FL @ Underbelly *
11/3/24: Greenville, SC @ Radio Room *
11/5/24: Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar *
11/6/24: Richmond, VA @ Fallout *
11/7/24: Baltimore, MD @ Metro Baltimore *
11/8/24: New York, NY @ STIMULATE *
11/9/24 - Wilmington DE @ Bar 13 *
11/10/24: Millersville, PA @ Phantom Power *
11/12/24: Cambridge, MA @ Middle East *
11/13/24: Quebec City, QC @ L’anti Bar *
11/14/24: Montreal, QC @ Cabaret Fous *
11/15/24: Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace *
11/16/24: Detroit, MI @ Smalls *
11/17/24: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern *
* dates with Unitcode : Machine
^^ dates with Curse Mackey and Unitcode : Machine
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