Triumph of Life

ONE FOR THE ROOK, ONE FOR THE CROW, ONE TO DIE AND ONE TO GROW

(Message on reverse of sleeve)

Sleeve - Front (Jade Tree version)

Sleeve - Back (Jade Tree version)

Vinyl (Jade Tree version): These are on pink vinyl, the shade varies a little as indicated in the picture above, which shows two different records. Most have a light marbled pattern as can be seen on the left-hand disk.

Vinyl: Peter Bower / Vice Variants:
Bottom: First Euro press on black
Top: Second Euro Press on purple and purple w/ black splatter

Stats:

General:
Tracks: Triumph of Life B/W Neat Parts
Year: 2006

North American Version:
Label: Jade Tree - JT1116
Matrix A: 8532-JT1116-7(A) R-19997 xar
Matrix B: 8532-JT1116-7(B) JT1116 R 1999 8 ner

European Versions:
Label: Peter Bower / Vice - VRC-001 PBR-015
Matrix A: 64802H2/A PBR015 A
Matrix B: 64802H2/A PBR015 B


Pressing Info:

Jade Tree Version:
1000 on Pink vinyl

Peter Bower / Vice Versions:
1966 on Black
1000 mixture of plain purple and purple with black splatter, 75 of these have a ‘tour cover’

Inserts:

• Jade Tree version does not have a regular insert
• Peter Bower / Vice versions have single-sided insert, with photocopied ‘two naked men’ image (the black vinyl usually has an A5-size insert on white paper, the purple variants usually have an A4-size insert on coloured paper. Colour of paper depends on ‘what was available at the time’)
• Some PB / Vice versions have a small card copy of a gig flyer (various images), added by one of the distributors.

Variants:

• Pink Vinyl – Jade Tree 
• Black Vinyl – Peter Bower / Vice 
• Purple Vinyl - Peter Bower / Vice (Variable sleeves – see below) 
• Purple Vinyl - Peter Bower / Vice (Variable sleeves – see below) 
• Tour Sleeve (see below)
• Newcastle Version (see below)

Inserts - Peter Bower / Vice Variants:
Front: Small white insert - usually comes with black vinyl (First Euro press)
Back: Large coloured inserts - usually come with purple vinyl variants (Second Euro Press)

Some of the Euro Press versions also had a small card 'Show Poster' image, kindly added by one of the distributors. There are various images

Euro Sleeve Variants:
For the Euro Press there are two variants of the 'regular' sleeve:

• Peter Bower / Vice Sleeve
• Peter Bower Sleeve

The first Euro press on black vinyl was a joint venture between Peter Bower and Vice. The second press on purple and purple w/ splatter was done by Peter Bower and a new cover was produced omitting Vice. However, there were a number of covers remaining from the first press, so a lot of the coloured vinyl comes with the earlier sleeve. The new sleeves with the Vice logo omitted often come with the splatter variant, but many were packaged randomly.

Euro Sleeve Variants: Front
Left: Peter Bower ‘with’ Vice version - has white border below bird image on bottom edge of sleeve, similar to Jade Tree version
Right: Peter Bower ‘without’ Vice version - does not have white border on bottom edge

Euro Sleeve Variants: Back
Left: Peter Bower ‘with’ Vice version has Vice logo on bottom RHS
Right: Peter Bower ‘without’ Vice has Vice logo omitted

'Tour' Sleeves
These are black and white fold-out sleeves, made for the second press purple and purple w/ splatter. According to email correspondence, the sleeves were made for the last copies of the second press; a good year after the actual tour.

'Tour' sleeve, with purple vinyl. Borrowed from Kyle Whitlow's blog

Fold out sleeve printed both sides the left hand pic shows the reverse of the sleeve when folded out 

Tour sleeve with purple / splatter vinyl

Notes:

Announcement on LFG (Jan 28 2006):
"Triumph of Life", the first single from the upcoming "Hidden World" 2xLP, will be released first in the UK in April of 2006 to coincide with the Fucked Up UK tour (April 13-23). The single will later be released in North America with a different bside, with the album shortly following.

Spot Rusherz interview with Damian, posted on LFG (Jun 13 2006):
10. What did you write triumph of life about?
I didn't write it.... it's a Mike jam so it is no doubt about gardens or magic.

Scenepointblank.com interview, posted on LFG (Nov 14 2006):
10,000 Marbles:  I had militarism in mind when I wrote "Triumph of Life," ... but I like being discreet, you know?

Scenepointblank.com interview, posted on LFG (Nov 14 2006):

Scene Point Blank: "Neat Parts" seems like an account of being disillusioned with certain varieties of politics ("empty slogans they just fall on my left and deaf ear"). The question of Fucked Up and politics has always been fairly complex and uncomfortable for some; how does this fit in?

10,000 Marbles: Pink Eyes wrote "Neat Parts" about girls, I'm pretty sure. "Neat Parts" and "Reset the Ride" - that shit is about women.

Pink Eyes: "Neat Parts" really is two different songs in one, I guess. The first verse is definitely meant to be an attack on the sloganeering of punk. Where bands talk about being anti-racist only to turn around and have totally misogynistic views (or homophobic and classist) thereby totally ignoring the intersectionality (sic?) of systems of oppression. Or most of the time they do talk about being anti-oppression it is on a very surface level; like I'm anti-Nazi therefore I'm anti-racist, totally ignoring how deep these problems truly go. And it totally boils down to some idiot with a microphone telling us how to live so they can feel that they have somehow had a positive effect on the world. The other half of the song is about people subverting science to re-enforce systems of oppression. For me these two things are linked because they are both examples of people taking things and twisting them to serve their will. Both are totally different but both are equally self-serving.

Sleeve Notes

The following is copied from a LFG post (Dec 27 2010) regarding FU cover art work:

Triumph of Life 7"
Here is another cover with a subtle but powerful message. It's pretty much just a picture of a bird (The extinct Black Mamo) but then when you look closer you see that what makes the picture and the bird significant is the flower it's standing on, who's petals are perfectly formed to fit this birds beak, and no other. This holds with the syncretic message that most FU songs are about, our "anti-dualism" vibes. In 2006 I was mostly finished being interested in university and was taking biology and botany classes for fun and was learning about symbiosis in nature as it relates the evolution of species. It turns out that competition between two species, be it an antelope and a cheetah, or a bird and a flower is what drives evolution, since the constant battle between opposing forces makes each better and stronger and challenging the opponent. But since it's happening on both sides, its a positive feedback loop and allows new traits in each species to develop and strengthen the species as a whole. It's kind of like Marx/Hegels theory of the dialectic in society except that in nature it makes cheetahs that can run 100 mph, and in society it just makes Walmarts and Russian billionaires. I got the image from a huge picture book of extinct animals, and this was I believe the first time we ever used a colour photo on a 7" cover. I kind of tried to make this record like the part in The Wizard of Oz where all of a sudden everything was in colour. This 7" was kind of like a departure in style for us, and seemed appropriate for things to start being in colour.


Nazi Imagery?

Below is a screenshot from LFG, showing the first part of the post dated Jan 28 2006, announcing the forthcoming release of the 7''. The  image was reproduced on the inserts shown above and on FU Shirts. Some of its previous usages are outlined further down.

Pre-Nazi Usage:

‘’Die Germanische Glaubensgemeinschaft’’ Pamphlet (1921). 

This pamphlet was extracted from a Ludwig Fahrenkrog book, to promote Germanische Glaubensgemeinschaft (GGG) (Germanic Religious Community). 

Ludwig Fahrenkrog

(The following is quoted from ‘’Brown Shirt Princess’’ By Lionel Gossman):

His (i.e. Fahrebkrog) basic article of faith, he had written then, was ″Gott in uns″: ″If God is in everything, hence not only in me, then I am also the Other. If, however, God is in me, then his law is also in me and I have no need either of written law or of a Mediator. Likewise I cannot expect to achieve salvation otherwise than in and through myself.″ His ″new-won view of the world″ could be summarized, Fahrenkrog explained, in three short phrases: ″God in us – the Law in us – self-redemption.”... Later still, he proposed...”It is. The All is in me and I am in the All. [...] All things spring from the same original source. There is no difference between God-All and human soul. Man is part of the Totality, a particular being. And yet he is also God.″ According to Fahrenkrog, the immediate, incontrovertible experience of the indwelling of God in the human soul is the essence of all true religion: ″Whoever does not find these propositions self-evident is not truly religious. They refer to fundamentals. Neither faith nor dogma plays any role here.″ (1)

The GGG under the Third Reich (From Wikipedia):

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they outlawed almost all other groups not affiliated with the party. The GGG, however, was not forced to disband, partly... "because of Fahrenkrog's international status as an artist." Nevertheless, some of its activities were limited. They could no longer hold public meetings, and after 1938 could no longer use the swastika, which the GGG had been using as its symbol since 1908.

Nazi Usage: 

Fe y Acción (1938)"Faith and Action" 

This publication was an official text of indoctrination to the Hitler Youth, published by the NSDAP. It is a “Book of Virtues,” discussing the ideal traits of Nazi youth. A Nazi era review noted that this was a good book for those who wished to give their children something better than “the Jewish myths of the Old Testament.” The author was in charge of military education for the Hitler Youth. 

The above text is paraphrased / copied from the introduction to a translation of the publication HERE

Post-Nazi Usage

Going back to the screen shot above, the image appeared under the title: 'Give Dust To Life' and with the caption, 'One for the rook, one for the crow, one to die, and one to grow'. The song lyrics are also included in the post.

See separate page about use of FU logo to subvert religious / state imagery. (If it gets written later). In the meantime the replacement of the swastika with the FU logo and its subsequent usage was probably to do with selling records and T-shirts and maybe converting fans to Nazism, rather than anything weird like extending the alchemical themes of the record to distil and separate the pure elements from the muck associated with the image.

See also section in ''Brown Shirt Princess'' regarding Julius Hart’s Triumph des Lebens (Triumph of Life) poem.

Commodity Fetishism 

Triumph of Life 'Newcastle'  This picture shows the armband and patch, some had a button badge. The armband was placed around the first press (black vinyl) record, as shown in the picture below. The record was numbered on the back (25 copies) and sold at the Newcastle show (without the band's involvement).

Packed up - there were two variants to the armband; the one shown above and another that had a black logo on red fabric, shown below.

Test Press - Peter Bower / Vice - Euro Press: These had white labels with 'side A' stamped  on. The 'B' side label was blank

As above

Test Press - Jade Tree - North America Press:
A few of these were given away by Jade Tree as competition prizes:
Left: Cardboard mailer packaging (JT116 is the record code)
Right: White blank labels, small-hole vinyl

Test Press - Jade Tree

 (1) GOSSMAN, Lionel. Brownshirt Princess: A Study of the “Nazi Conscience”. New edition [online]. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2009 (generated 10 February 2014). Available on the Internet: <http://books.openedition.org/obp/399>. ISBN: 9781906924027.  HERE

''Bruises''

Bruises are a universal language...

Sleeve - Front
Sleeves are hand-screen printed on brown heavy-stock paper

Sleeve - Back

Vinyl:
Left: 'A' Side
Right: 'B' Side
Some labels are pure white, overs are cream coloured; one of each is shown above.

Sleeve - Folded Out
(Reverse is blank)

Stats:

General:
Tracks: 'A' Side - Fate of Fates / Police 'B' Side - Ban Violins / JTGA / Reset The Ride
Released: 2009
Label: Slowboy
Matrix A: BRUISES-A ...we will go and eat so much chocolate!... MMP VINYL
Matrix B: BRUISES-A ...bruises are a universal language... MMP VINYL

Pressing Info (Figures based on considered interpretation of conflicting information)
Black Vinyl

Total Press of 800:

600 in Brown 'regular sleeve'

100 in White 'show sleeve'

100 in Red 'mail-order sleeve' 

5 test presses

White Vinyl

Total Press of 50, Mixture of above sleeve colours, hand-stamped and numbered. Kept by label mostly for trading.

5 Test Presses

Inserts: 

No regular insert. Some have gig tickets from Düsseldorf show.

Variants: 
Brown Sleeve (Regular Sleeve)
White Sleeve (Show Sleeve - Sold at Fucked Up show in Düsseldorf, Dec 3 2009)
Red Sleeve (Mail Order Sleeve)
White Vinyl (For Trade) 

Sleeve Variants:
Top: Brown - Regular sleeve
Bottom Left: Red - Mail Order sleeve
Bottom Right: White - Show sleeve: Some copies come with the red 'insert' shown top left and right; these are tickets from the show at which the red-sleeve version was sold 

White Vinyl Variant:
White vinyl with pink(ish) swirl, white labels stamped as per the black vinyl version.
Mixture of sleeve colours.

White Vinyl Variant:
As above. The sleeves have the FU logo stamped on the reverse and are hand-numbered out of 50.

Notes:

Recorded live at Gleis 22, Münster.

From 'Münster Maritim' Tumblr:
Gleis 22, Münster (Jan 3 2007): This was one of the first shows of their second Euro tour. On this tour they came over with a complete lineup, unlike the first tour, where Damian had been replaced by the singer of Urban Blight. Also the “Bruises” live LP was recorded during this show. 

LFG Post (July 21 2009)
A few years ago we played a show in Munster Germany. It was the first time we ever got a hotel to stay at after the show. Plus the spread they gave us before the show still ranks with the best we've ever had. Before our set, I remember doing an interview with Ox Fanzine that took about 3 hours to do. We started before the show, had to move it into the van outside when the first band started, and then finished up just as we were about to play - you can hear sections of this interview on the 3rd Mixtape we did. It was funny and informative. That afternoon, or the next day, we had to take Damian to the hospital because he had some severe problems with his vocal chords - these were the days before we'd get him honey on every tour to leave on the floor of the van and never use, you see. Anyhow it was a busy day. We just got a board recording of the show, which was also notable because we set up behind a curtain that was dramatically pulled aside to reveal the band as we started into our first song. It was our first show in Germany with the full band (minus THE BEAV) and we all thought we played a pretty good show, but no one in the audience was doing anything - not moving, not singing, not really clapping. We were all confused when we had to do an encore after no one left at the end of our set. Some of the songs were a bit out of tune, I'm realizing now after listening to this recording but the set stands up, despite the old timey choice of songs.  It may one day get released on a 12" by some stand-stills in Germany.

German stand-stills at the Gleis 22 show - picture borrowed from Münster Maritim  

Sleeve Notes:

Jacobs Ladder (Image on Front of Sleeve)

Memento Mori? Image on Reverse of Sleeve & Ticket

Commodity Fetishism

Black Vinyl Test Pressing #04/05

White Vinyl Test Pressing #05/05

White Vinyl Test Pressing #05/05

To Do List

Photography - mixed results, some better than others, need to replace some of the crap ones.

Generally more basic stuff to add to all pages.

Next: Slightly amazed / intimidated by the Haymaker split (False song titles) and Generation EP (Red text and inserts, Freedom or Death, Nike, Ancient Greece, Imperialism, Empires and stuff).

After those two are done, it'll need a summary of the pre-Hidden World 7"s, then onto the next chapter...

Fuckipedia

I've been tinkering with the existing three pages and started work on Baiting The Public.

Hello

I was hoping to get pages for each Fucked Up vinyl release written up over the Christmas break. So far I've managed the first two and an introduction.

It's going to take a bit longer than anticipated...

David J Eliade - Part 1

INVISIBLE LEADER

Introduction:
Before he became a fictional character in a rock opera / musical / concept record thing, David Eliade was (and maybe still is) the invisible leader of Fucked Up. This page comprises clippings from interviews etc arranged in chronological order.

You can make friends with David on Facebook



DAVID ELIADE ANNOUNCEMENT (LFG Post Feb 14 2006):

Under New Management
If you have a question about Fucked Up, or would like to contact them regarding interview requests or philosophical queries, please feel free to contact David Eliade at vibrationandhum@hotmail.com. He is the newest member of the FU family and is eager to discuss all matters.
Triumph of Life!
(1)

JADE TREE PROFILES: 

(2)

Lyrical Miracle
His role as manager was announced in 2006, but he had been closely involved before this time, notably having conducted the MRR interview in 2004. Perhaps most telling is the change in lyrical content that took place following his arrival:

Pre-Eliade Lyrics:

I went to my job even though I hate it, I need the money or else I'll get evicted. They said ''we're sorry'' there's no room for me, onto the curb with no money no dignity, I'm circling the drain. (''Circling The Drain'') 

On the streets the police, in my house the police, gotta run the police, they gotta gun the police, a shitty band the police, I ain't no fan the police  (''Police'')

Generation, holding my breath, no hesitation, freedom or death (''Generation'')

Post-Eliade: 

The bees decide who listens and who speaks. Their golden mead is fed to heads we keep. New worlds and paths do these new minds conceive. (''Looking For Gold'')

We spill out of the fish turn Pisces to twins, divide twelve into six, two halves of a whole tug at a singular soul wound round a staff. (Two Snakes)

A reversed Oedipal complex based on power and not on the sex. (Son The Father)

TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 2006 (Image at top of Post):

Band meeting with Eliade dressed in oriental changshan / bath robe.

MIXTAPE 2 SIDE ONE 2006:

Intro to David Comes to Life song:

''This goes out to the supreme exalted high master, the grand dragon, David Eliade! 

Colonel Clink Mother Fucker, Colonel Clink''

C Link

Mixtape Sleeve Notes for David Comes to Life song:

None of us can really remember where or when we met David, but it seems like a long time ago. Originally this song was called "Ian"-something something, and was going to be in reference to Ian Dickson, who we had recently kicked in the balls rather severely.

While writing it at practice (about 2 weeks before we recorded the Hidden World LP) one of us said "Wait, maybe it should be about David, and be called David Comes to Life?" And David was born. This is a rare unmixed version without the backup vocals over the last chorus. Alternately, one morning while we were doing backups and pre-mixing, it was early enough that only me and Beat were in the studio. We did a version of this song that has a lush 14 part vocal harmony at the end of the song. By the time we got to the 5th and 6th overdubs, we were clapping, whistling and laughing.
I would have included this version but I couldn't find it.

Interview extract on Mixtape:

(Triumph)
Is it David's movie?
Oh, that one. He's (i.e Eliade) kind of bank-rolling my screenplay. He likes punk bands but he's also like an industry guy, he's a mover and a shaker, he has a few million dollars.

(3) Mixtape 2 Side One

SCENE POINT BLANK INTERVIEW (LFG Post Nov 29 2006):

Scene Point Blank: You've made a lot of references to David Eliade; how did you come into contact with him and what kind of effect has he had on Fucked Up?

10,000 Marbles: We met him at a show in NYC once. It's like how they say in the Kabbalah tradition - you can't seek a teacher, but one will appear in your life when you are ready. He showed up at the right time for us. He's like an invisible hand, we don't have much contact with him but he influences us a lot. I chat with him on the phone sometimes, but we only see him in person every six months or so, and we'll do a lot of heavy chatting and planning when we're together. He gives us a lot of influence; I don't really want to say a lot more than that.

10.26.06 The El Mocambo, Toronto: Marbles in DE mask 

(One of The Hidden World Release shows)

Scene Point Blank: Fucked Up has always seemed to be a band with ambitious plans for the future so what's on your agenda in the days to come?

10,000 Marbles: "David Comes to Life" soundtrack LP, "David Comes to Life" musical, Nation 12", another double LP, Army of Goldfaces, "Triumph" movie soundtrack (directed by David Eliade), split 12" with Mind Eraser, Black Sun side project (collaboration with Wyrd Visions), and Cassie remix 12".

(4)

Unidentified image - may be same show as above?
Damian apparently raising arms in salute / worship of female David Eliade

SKYSCRAPER MAG INTERVIEW (LFG Post Dec 20 2006):

The band relaxing at home with David Eliade

(Photo by Emma Lee)

The interview appears on LFG with the picture on the right, along with a number of hidden references to neoism and collective pseudonyms; some examples are pasted below:

Fucked Up are known for nothing if not their confusing discography... 

...I like that people buy the records I make,but I also hate them enough to make their lives a bit more trying, but making records they'll never be aMonty Cantsinble to own...

...I hope people like the record. I hope people just don't say "this is awesome" or like "this sucks" or "is too long", I hope that it hits peoKaren Eliotple I guess in someway. There are also some really specific reactions we're looking for, but again, there's sigils in the art to do that, so I can't talk about those ones...

We don't really have an agenda and I want there to be a lot of wLuther Blissettays people can perceive this,
so thats why we try and wear a lot of different hats. The next project we are going to start working on once Mr. Jo gets back from Japan is the "David Comes To Life" musical, and me and him are going to score a film for David Eliade.

TRENT ARTHUR INTERVIEW (LFG Post Jan 26 2007)

Arthur: When is the rock opera and movie coming out?

Mr. Jo: This project will certainly take some time, but some designs for the “David” musical are already being laid. You’d have to ask David [Eliade, the band’s elusive manager] about the film, though. Those are his connections, not necessarily ours.

(5)

'FRENCH ZINE' INTERVIEW EXTRACT (LFG Post Aug 28 2007)

What's the role of David Eliade in Fucked Up?
David is the coiled filament himself. Our job is to sit in front of giant microscopes to make sure
he doesn't come unravelled. He is the electric DNA at the bottom corner of our music factory.

Is there a connection between David Eliade and the song "David Comes to Life"?
David told us that he was born with 3 strands of DNA instead of just 2. He said the third one was covered with an osmium coating, and made him the first living cyborg. When he came to life it was like he was born backwards, so we had to write the song in reverse order and upside down by having some people hold mirrors to mirrors in our practice space. Decoding the upside down backwards lyrics was a huge pain in the ass. David claims to be able to do all these crazy things like see gas and oxygen molecules. We sometimes think he's kind of retarded, but then also like a weird genius. No one has ever met his father, if you know what i'm saying. Anyhow, the connection is that "David Comes to Life" is about jesus christ.

(6)

'ALTERNATIVE PRESS' ZINE INTERVIEW EXTRACT' (LFG Post Oct 23 2007)

Your blog directs people who click the name of your alleged manager/guru, David Eliade, to an entry for collective pseudonyms. Why do I think that's not accidental?
10,000 MARBLES: David is currently undergoing a massive personality crisis. He's still a bit immature: Like some self-referential teenager, his reaction to constantly having his identity and existence questioned, is to try and stop existing altogether.









'JAGGED VISIONS' ZINE INTERVIEW EXTRACT' (LFG Post Nov 04 2007)

Full version with updated pictures and different links on Jagged Visions Zine site HERE & HERE

Are you related to the Romanian philosopher and writer Mircea Eliade?
Well, the "Eliade" part of my name is a pseudonym, and absolutely it's taken from Mircea. The plan with Fucked Up has never been to waste words - we try to pill as many meanings into each word as we can, so that no word on the paper is wasted. It's also the rule to use fake names as much as possible, partly for the same reason, but also for anonymity, so we can walk away from it when we are finished without the residue.

Given that the band has a DIY punk background, do you ever have arguments with the band members about the musical and commercial directions the band should take?
At first we argued. I tried to explain their greater influence and potential. This is how it has been before - artists often need to be shown the way and have their art put in a greater context. I try not to interfere to much in the musical aspects of the group because that isn't my strong point, but I do show them things there too. I mean I try not to be too heavy handed in any aspect of the group because I want them to be able to stand behind everything they've done as their own, but I am a part of the group and do have an influence.

What is Wilsim Publogy?
Wilsim Publogy was an offshoot of Romanian Manicheanism, and the whole Gnosticism trip. It sees cosmology in the same way as the Gnostics, in that the universe, or the being, or whatever, is split into these two forces, "light" and "dark", or what have you, but differs in that Publogy doesn't see the forces as neccesarily opposite, but the same. It's more into dualism, more along the lines of Vedantic Hinduism, who thought in terms of the "non duality of duality". The whole Kabbalist "two poles" idea where the opposing forces are actually just different expressions of the same thing. We tried to be influenced by this when we were making Hidden World, and it shows up in songs like Triumph of Life, and Two Snakes and was the inspiration for the cover art. Actually, that's another way Mircae comes back in, the quote we used from him in the record; "to be no longer conditions by a pair of opposites results in absolute freedom". Especially in the world now where you've got your two political ideas, everyone has these strong feelings of wrong and right - we're living in an age where the multitude has been slashed into these singular opposites where life is a series of choices between two opposites, and there are really only two ways of existing, you know "right" or "left". It's important I think to try and pull the crate back open, try to release these other ways of existing. And to do that we try to just take away the divisions and the opposites and just shine through Wilsim Publogy.

Is Wilsim Publogy about knowledge or does it also influence your (moral) behaviour in daily life?
It’s the knowledge we use to live. Publogy informs all of my decisions, it is my cosmology. It’s the thing I refer to when I need to make decisions. I see WP in everyone around me, I use it to evaluate other people, situations I find myself in. It is a doctrine for living to me.

Do you see Fucked Up as a "Gesamtkunstwerk" or just a band? And in what extent do you see them as a contemporary manifestation of Dada or neo-Dada movements?
Well we're starting to work on the David Comes to Life LP, which will try to incorporate more than just music into the presentation. We want to package it as a memory stick so that it can incorporate an albums worth of music, the play, the documentary, the musical, the movie, you know the whole deal. Soon I think media will be presented more along the lines of size rather than style - instead of buying an LPs worth of music from your
favourite band, you'll buy a gigabyte's worth, so we're trying to get with that. It's the whole indie-vertical-integration American Apparel style that is really taking off, now you've got record companies that are getting into publishing and management, it's like this disaster style economics where everyone is sensing this foreboding doom and trying to scoop up as much as they can before the bottom falls out.
But ultimately Fucked Up is just a band. We tried to reference surrealism with Baiting the Public, but none of that kind of art really matters any more, things are too reversed to be able to make any sort of meaningful impact.

In the inlay of the Hidden World booklet is a text about the origin and harmony of the world: "Vibrations and hums the quantum sum where we're from" . You do not have to explain quantum physics, but can you explain your general idea of balance in the cosmos?
Well its the Wilsim Publogy trip again - we just feel the constant hum of unification throughout the cosmos. That piece ("Looking for Life") is about seeing the cosmos as one massive conduit for creating life. One of the quantum realities deals with the idea that maybe when you turn your back there's nothing behind it, that the physical reality we're surrounded by is manifested inside our heads, rather than outside it. So if there is no human consciousness, who manifests the universe? It's this nice one-sided romanticized view we decided
to run with - there is a picture by Kubin we used on the Year of the Dog12" that shows satan ejaculating humanity onto the earth, and it's sort of the same view - the 14 billion years of space was the preparation for the consciousness that would be able to bask in the glory. That text is trying to follow the evolution of life through time and into the future. We like to see the balance in the cosmos as just that, a cradle for life. How there is the pattern of self-replication, at every level, that manage this constant reclycing of materials to keep pushing life and existence into the future.

Are there any final misunderstandings about David Eliade you want to eliminate?
That I don't exist!

(7)

EXTRACT FROM 'STAY AT HOME MOMS GUIDE' BY OCTAVIO ST. LAURENT. (LFG Post Nov 12 2007)

The band has a manager called "David Eliade" who some people think is fake, and others aren't so sure about. Although I did have coffee with him this morning (he is my landlord).
(8)




EXTRACT FROM DAVID CHRISTMAS REVIEW PUNKNEWS.ORG (Feb 2008)

The A-side contains the main song, "David Christmas," which serves as the teaser for Fucked Up's next album, The Chemistry of Common Life. Though the song may be interpreted in multiple ways (á la most of Fucked Up's releases), the basic theme of the song is that Christmas is messed up and instead of worshipping Jesus, we should worship Fucked Up's "manager," David Eliade (who may or may not actually be a real human being).
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'David Mask'
From 'Get to Know You' Post LFG (May 20 2008)

MIXTAPE 3 SIDE ONE 2009
Interview Extract: (some use of 'like' omitted)

He's just like in charge of everything that is our band
Doe's he have any supernatural power?
No. It's like we're like his supernatural powers, he's like an arm and we're like his five fingers, we're the way that David can leave his mark on the physical world.
David's idea is that action movies are the new drug (reference then made to 'Religion is the Opium of the People'). We live in the 21st century now and it's like the only thing a billion people on the planet will see of the same thing is a big-budget action movie, so David's idea is that action movies are the easiest way to get at the most peoples brains, so his movie is going to be like, I don't know, it's going to be amazing, it's going to cost the most money of any movie, it's going to have the most weird-ass stunts and it's going to fuck the most people up. Ever.

Interview extracts (around 14.00)
...that's the thing with David, nobody ever really gets to meet him, he doesn't really come to shows or like hang out on the scene or whatever...
...(Triumph & Terminator) Yeah, Triumph (of Life) is like... We don't know everything about David and one of the things we don't know is how he got involved in the movie industry...This afternoon we divided the... films into ATL and BTL - which is Before True Lies and After True Lies. True lies is like the genus* point of American films and describes how we as a band feel about Schwarzenegger...
...(Damian interrupts) No I would like to interject here and say that some of us do not buy David's bullshit theory of god-damned bad action movies... some of us enjoy, you know the work of... movies that don't have Arnold Schwarzenegger in them... The Fucked Up project is not concerned with True Lies.
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*This is copied as heard off the tape, so it might be genus, genius, venus, penis or something else. Listen to it and see what you think.

''One of the only known depictions of the mysterious David Eliade''
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MASKS

Wikipedia:  In medieval Europe masks were used in mystery and miracle plays to portray allegorical creatures, and the performer representing God frequently wore a gold or gilt mask.

In Ancient Egypt Gold was thought to be the substance which formed the skin of the gods.

Spoiler for David Eliade - Part 2 (to follow)

MIXTAPE 4 SIDE ONE 2011
Interview Extract:
(DA Speaking) David Eliade fills a void that we need filled. He's more than just a person, he's an idea and as such he fills all the roles we need him to fill.
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(1) LFG

(2) Jade Tree Profiles
(3) Mixtape 2 Side One

(4) Scene Point Blank Interview (LFG Post)

(5) Trent Arthur Interview (LFG Post)

(6) French Zine Interview (LFG Post)
(7) Jagged Visions Zine Interview (LFG Post) and on Jagged Visions Zine site HERE & HERE(8) Stay at Home Moms Guide by Octavio St Laurent (LFG Post)
(9) Punk News Review
(10) Mixtape 3 Side One
(11) Caption from FU store
(12) Mixtape 4 Side One

Rated G.G.

Sleeve - Front

Sleeve - Back

Vinyl - Side G

Vinyl - Side GG

Insert - Single-sided, with credits

Insert extract

Sleeve - Folded Out (Single sided)

Stats:

General:
Tracks: Clap Clap Clap
Released: 2012
Label: WFMU SHRP-001
Matrix G: SHRP-001-A      U-66560M-A      
Matrix GG: SHRP-001-B      U-66560M-B

Pressing Info:
Black Vinyl:
Brown Vinyl:

Inserts: Regular insert as pictured above
Variants: Two vinyl variants, as above


Notes:

Compilation of various artists covering GG Allin songs, but for G-rated audience.

From Pitchfork: The cult-beloved New Jersey freeform radio station WFMU is having its annual pledge drive this month, and Tom Scharpling, host of the comedy/music show "The Best Show", is pitching in, as always. "The Best Show"'s two fundraising programs run from 9 to midnight eastern tonight and March 8, and Scharpling is hosting a number of famous friends. Tonight, Ted Leo and the New Pornographers frontman A.C. Newman will stop by to play music. And anyone who pledges $75 or more to WFMU during Scharpling's show gets a prize pack that includes Rated GG, a vinyl single with GG Allin covers from a truly unlikely cast that includes Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard, the Mountain Goats, Ty Segall, Fucked Up, and Leo.