View basket “Court and Spark (UK)” 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 Edie Brickell & New Bohemians Hunter And The Dog Star Rock And Pop | Shuffle Records | 1LP Released 19th February 2021 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Edie Brickell & New Bohemians Hunter And The Dog Star £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Shuffle Records SKU: 56988LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 19th February 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Jawbreaker Dear You Rock And Pop | Blackball | 1LP Released 20th March 2004 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Jawbreaker Dear You £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Blackball SKU: BB004LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 20th March 2004 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Loop Array 1 Rock And Pop | ATP Recordings | 1LP Released 29th June 2015 £16.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Loop Array 1 £16.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: ATP Recordings SKU: ATPREP07 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 29th June 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Toyah Posh Pop Rock And Pop | Demon | 1LP, CD, DVD Released 27th August 2021 £16.00 - £19.00 Select options Toyah Posh Pop £16.00 - £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Demon Formats: 1LP, CD, DVD Released Date: 27th August 2021 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Tindersticks No Treasure But Hope Rock And Pop | City Slang | 1LP Released 15th November 2019 £23.00 Select options Tindersticks No Treasure But Hope £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: City Slang Formats: 1LP Released Date: 15th November 2019 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Lambchop This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You) (Indies Only) Rock And Pop | City Slang | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Download Code Released 22nd March 2019 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Lambchop This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You) (Indies Only) £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: City Slang SKU: SLANG50197X Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Download Code Released Date: 22nd March 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Drums, The The Drums Rock And Pop | Moshi Moshi | 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 3rd June 2010 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Drums, The The Drums £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Moshi Moshi SKU: 2740848 Formats: 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 3rd June 2010 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Rifles, The Singles Collection Rock And Pop | Cooking Vinyl | 1LP Released 15th December 2017 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Rifles, The Singles Collection £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Cooking Vinyl SKU: COOKLP693 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 15th December 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Moon Diagrams Lifetime of Love Rock And Pop | Sonic Cathedral | 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 30th June 2017 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Moon Diagrams Lifetime of Love £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Sonic Cathedral SKU: SCR125LP Formats: 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 30th June 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Martha Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart (Blue/Orange Splatter) Alternative Rock / Punk Rock / Emo | Fortuna Pop! | 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 28th June 2016 £15.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Martha Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart (Blue/Orange Splatter) £15.00 Genre: Alternative Rock / Punk Rock / Emo Label: Fortuna Pop! 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