View basket “Where The Viaduct Looms” has been added to your basket. Un-American Activities Molly Nilsson SKU: 21.00 21.00 £21.00 £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Night School Released Date: 16th August 2024 Buying Format: 1LP 1LP Coloured Vinyl Buying Options Choose an option1LP1LP Coloured VinylClear Un-American Activities quantity Add to basket ReserveBack Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info Un-American Activities is the 11th Studio album by Molly Nilsson. Written and recorded entirely on location in California at the former home of writer, poet and early opponent of the National Socialist regime in 1930s Germany, Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife Marta. An album of experimentation, genre-mashing and, above it all, Nilsson’s instantly recognisable melodic skill and empathy, it continues the songwriter’s explorations of power, freedom, oppression and its opposing force, a love unbound. After accepting an artist residency as part of the Villa Aurora program, Nilsson began work crafting a new album from scratch in a new environment, afforded the freedom, space and time to challenge her practice and take her music into new territory. The resulting work, Un-American Activities, is a love note not only to the artist who was among the very first to be declared an “enemy of the state” by the Nazi regime but also to both the eternal struggle he fought and the human spirit that pervades all of Nilsson’s best work. It is also a double-pointed poison pen letter: a critique of the new forms of oppression wielded by her temporary adopted country of the USA but also an acknowledgement of the promise it always offers but never fulfils. Along with the novel use of colour and photography in the artwork for Un-American Activities, there are swathes of new techniques, genres and timbres new to Molly Nilsson’s music in evidence, 16 years into her music career. On Jackboots Return is an icicle-cold New Beat track that deals directly with the current situation in Germany and the resurgent Nazi-affiliated AfD. The question the song asks is, what’s the timeframe we’re talking about? Is this the 30s, or somewhere a lot closer to home? The beat is picked up on The Communist Party, Nilsson’s deepest bow to House music, evoking the early 90s Rave pioneers, Belgian 80s music and Vogue-era Madonna. Here the lyrics are direct quotes from the McCarthy-era, anti-Communist pamphlet 100 Things You Should Know About Communism in the U.S.A. The Beauty Of The Duty does to pounding Electro what Nilsson’s last album Extreme did to Metal: subsume it into the Molly Nilsson aesthetic. It goes hard. While Un-American Activities finds Nilsson experimenting, creating instinctive music on a first-thought-best- thought basis there are still “classic” Molly moments liberally spread throughout. Excalibur feels like the Molly of old, an absolute star of a chorus refrain smudged with the vaseline of fuzz and hope, Red Telephone is wide-eyed, slathered in reverb and chorus effects, distorted with soaring melody, a heart-tugger that tugs the body upwards to the heavens with each evolving wave. Glistening digital tones wash through the album, providing a Y2K etherealness to Nilsson’s audacious Stars and Stripes reference to Wetcheeks. Perhaps the album’s standout, however, is Palestine (Somewhere Over The Rainbow), which is suffuse with empathy, solidarity and, in referencing the classic socialist-penned canon song from The Wizard Of Oz, speaks directly to the tradition of fighting oppression with full hearts of hope. NOTE FROM MOLLY NILSSON: These songs were recorded during the first quarter of 2024 as part of the Villa Aurora residency program held at the former home of Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger (née Löffler) in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. Lion Feuchtwanger, born July 7, 1884, was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. Born into an affluent family – his father owned a margarine factory in Munich – Feuchtwanger was the oldest of nine siblings, two of whom also became authors. An early and outspoken opponent of the National Socialists, Feuchtwanger was among the first to be declared an official enemy of the state in Germany. His books were subsequently burnt, and his citizenship revoked. In 1933, the now stateless Feuchtwanger sought safety in France. There, however, he would be imprisoned twice. First with the declaration of war in 1939, and again in 1940 after Hitler invaded France. With the SS drawing closer, Feuchtwanger managed to escape captivity following the intervention of, among others, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. A long-time reader who happened to recognise his face in a photo of work camp inmates, Roosevelt helped to facilitate his treacherous escape from Europe. Arriving in Portugal via Spain, he boarded a ship bound for America: the Excalibur. Travelling with a false passport under the name “Wetcheeks,” the literal English translation of his name, Feuchtwanger crossed the Atlantic. He arrived in America in 1941. The Feuchtwangers eventually settled in the outskirts of Los Angeles, purchasing their home for $9,000, equivalent to the annual salary of a teacher at that time. From 1943, he continued to work and write alongside famous, LA-based exiles like Bertolt Brecht and Thomas Mann. Both were close friends and frequent house guests – though never both at the same time. He and his wife Marta established themselves in their villa, which became a meeting point, literary salon, and a bastion for anti-fascists and leftist intellectuals on the West Coast. As World War II ended and the Cold War began, wartime allies became new enemies. In the McCarthy era “Red Scare” that ensued, suspicion of leftists turned into hatred. Thousands of real or suspected communists were persecuted in a series of public hearings held by the Committee of Un American Activities. Many of those called as witnesses were humiliated, defamed, and blacklisted as a result. Countless lives and careers were destroyed by these hearings, and many suicides followed in their wake. Bertolt Brecht left America the day after taking the witness stand, never to return. Lion Feuchtwanger never had to face the committee, but his association with and open sympathy for the USSR prevented him from obtaining American citizenship, and thereby a passport with which to travel. Lion Feuchtwanger died in 1956 after fifteen years in the USA. He was still stateless at the time of his death. Marta continued to live in the villa until her passing in 1986, leaving the estate and its immense library, which included more than 20,000 volumes, to USC. The property was eventually sold to the German state, which it now uses to host artist residencies, with several fellowships in various artistic fields provided each year. This record commemorates the 140th birthday of Lion Feuchtwanger. Artist Molly Nilsson Genre Rock And Pop Label Night School Buying Options 1LP , 1LP Coloured Vinyl Format 1LP , Coloured Vinyl Condition New Country UK Track Listings Prologue - Proud Destiny Excalibur Palestine Jackboots Return Wetcheeks Red Telephone Naming Names The Communist Party The Beauty Of The Duty Point Doom Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Molly Nilsson and more from Rock And Pop On Sale View Product Quick View Molly Nilsson The Travels Electronica | Night School | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 23rd July 2021 £10.00 £20.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Molly Nilsson The Travels £10.00 £20.00 Genre: Electronica Label: Night School SKU: LSSN017 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 23rd July 2021 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View Richard Hawley Further (B&M Exclusive) Rock And Pop | BMG Records | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 31st May 2019 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Richard Hawley Further (B&M Exclusive) £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: BMG Records SKU: 4050538478648 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 31st May 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Ultravox Rage In Eden: 40th Anniversary (Half-Speed Master) Rock And Pop | Chrysalis | 180g, 2LP, 4LP Released 30th September 2022 £26.00 - £52.00 Select options Ultravox Rage In Eden: 40th Anniversary (Half-Speed Master) £26.00 - £52.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Chrysalis Formats: 180g, 2LP, 4LP Released Date: 30th September 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Pop Group, The / Sleaford Mods Nations / Face To Faces Rock And Pop | Freaks R Us | 7", Single Released 15th June 2015 £9.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Pop Group, The / Sleaford Mods Nations / Face To Faces £9.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Freaks R Us SKU: FREAK16 Formats: 7", Single Released Date: 15th June 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Turin Brakes Wide-Eyed Nowhere Rock And Pop | Cooking Vinyl | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 16th September 2022 £22.00 - £23.00 Select options Turin Brakes Wide-Eyed Nowhere £22.00 - £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Cooking Vinyl Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 16th September 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Staves, The Dead & Born & Grown Rock And Pop | Atlantic | 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 3rd December 2012 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Staves, The Dead & Born & Grown £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Atlantic SKU: 2564654974 Formats: 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 3rd December 2012 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Stevie Nicks In Your Dreams (Rocktober) Rock And Pop | Rhino | 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 4th October 2024 £48.00 Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders Stevie Nicks In Your Dreams (Rocktober) £48.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Rhino SKU: 0603497822751 Formats: 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 4th October 2024 Read More Pre Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Editors In This Light And On This Evening Rock And Pop | PIAS | 1LP Released 10th August 2018 £16.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Editors In This Light And On This Evening £16.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: PIAS SKU: PIASR185LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 10th August 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Christine McVie Christine McVie Rock And Pop | Rhino | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 3rd November 2023 £28.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Christine McVie Christine McVie £28.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Rhino SKU: 0081227819392 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 3rd November 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Gun Club, The Lucky Jim Rock And Pop | Cooking Vinyl | 1LP Released 18th May 2018 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Gun Club, The Lucky Jim £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Cooking Vinyl SKU: COOKLP697 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 18th May 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Spooner Oldham Pot Luck Rock And Pop | Light In The Attic | 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 18th September 2015 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Spooner Oldham Pot Luck £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Light In The Attic SKU: LITA125LP Formats: 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 18th September 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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