View basket “The Ladder” 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 Mariah Carey Mariah Carey – National Album Day 2022 Rock And Pop | Sony | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 14th October 2022 £25.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Mariah Carey Mariah Carey – National Album Day 2022 £25.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Sony SKU: 19658723151 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 14th October 2022 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Morrissey The Very Best Of Morrissey Rock And Pop | EMI | 2LP Released 21st April 2011 £23.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Morrissey The Very Best Of Morrissey £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: EMI SKU: SMLP71 Formats: 2LP Released Date: 21st April 2011 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Cornelius Dream in Dream Rock And Pop | Like Ltd | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 23rd August 2024 £29.00 - £32.00 Select options Cornelius Dream in Dream £29.00 - £32.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Like Ltd Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 23rd August 2024 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Billy Strings Me/and/Dad Americana / Country | Concord | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 18th November 2022 £26.00 - £30.00 Select options Billy Strings Me/and/Dad £26.00 - £30.00 Genre: Americana / Country Label: Concord Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 18th November 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Automatic Excess Rock And Pop | Stones Throw | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 24th June 2022 £20.00 - £23.00 Select options Automatic Excess £20.00 - £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Stones Throw Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 24th June 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Nadine Shah Love Your Dum And Mad Rock And Pop | Apollo | 1LP Released 11th January 2019 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Nadine Shah Love Your Dum And Mad £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Apollo SKU: AMB1314LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 11th January 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Bobby Kimball We’re Not In Kansas Anymore Rock And Pop | Inakustik | 1LP Released 3rd February 2017 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Bobby Kimball We’re Not In Kansas Anymore £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Inakustik SKU: INAK91481LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 3rd February 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Bloc Party Intimacy Rock And Pop | [PIAS] Recordings Catalogue | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 5th July 2024 £23.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Bloc Party Intimacy £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: [PIAS] Recordings Catalogue SKU: PIASC1093LPX Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 5th July 2024 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View David Bowie Davie Jones …And Other Stories Vol. 3 Rock And Pop | Audrey Records | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 24th November 2018 £42.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders David Bowie Davie Jones …And Other Stories Vol. 3 £42.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Audrey Records SKU: AR 029 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 24th November 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Spacemen 3 Transparent Radiation Rock And Pop | Fire Records | 1LP Released 25th February 2011 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Spacemen 3 Transparent Radiation £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Fire Records SKU: FRE1582LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 25th February 2011 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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