Mercury Blues + Skulduggery

by Shiva Burlesque

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Double compact disc set packaged in an oversized 5-color die cut pocket folder with multi-page booklet including liner notes by David Fricke.

Includes unlimited streaming of Mercury Blues + Skulduggery via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
At long last, the double LP vinyl edition of the definitive expanded re-issue of Shiva Burlesque’s classic second album is now available for pre-order. This translucent blue vinyl edition includes both a remastered version of the original "Mercury Blues" album along with a second album consisting of previously unreleased demos and outtakes titled "Skulduggery." This numbered blue vinyl edition (limited to the first 450 copies) also features entirely new artwork, printed in 5 colors on IPR’s iconic die-cut packaging, a 5-color 12” x 24” folding insert with liner notes by David Fricke - who in a 1988 issue of Melody Maker called the sound of Shiva Burlesque “a marriage of Joy Division’s shadowy abstractions and Love’s Forever Changes," and includes a postcard-sized full-color download card with code for a free download of the album.

Includes unlimited streaming of Mercury Blues + Skulduggery via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 10 days

Purchasable with gift card

$45 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
At long last, the double LP vinyl edition of the definitive expanded re-issue of Shiva Burlesque’s classic second album is now available for pre-order. This black vinyl edition includes both a remastered version of the original "Mercury Blues" album along with a second album consisting of previously unreleased demos and outtakes titled "Skulduggery." This numbered vinyl edition also features entirely new artwork, printed in 5 colors on IPR’s iconic die-cut packaging, a 5-color 12” x 24” folding insert with liner notes by David Fricke - who in a 1988 issue of Melody Maker called the sound of Shiva Burlesque “a marriage of Joy Division’s shadowy abstractions and Love’s Forever Changes," and includes a postcard-sized full-color download card with code for a free download of the album.

Includes unlimited streaming of Mercury Blues + Skulduggery via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 10 days

Purchasable with gift card

$40 USD or more

1.	Mercury Blues 05:11	info	buy track
2.	Do the Pony 04:20	info	buy track
3.	Cherry Orchard 04:08	info	buy track
4.	Sick Friend 05:44	info	buy track
5.	Chester the Chimp 04:00	info	buy track
6.	Who is the Mona Lisa? 03:42	info	buy track
7.	Nez Perce 03:45	info	buy track
8.	Sparrow Song 03:27	info	buy track
9.	Peace 04:50	info	buy track
10.	At Last Our Flag Has Fallen 01:46	info	buy track
11.	Chrome Halo 04:02	info	buy track
12.	Nez Perce (Demo #2) 03:21		buy track
13.	Stoves! (4 Track Demo) 03:02		buy track
14.	Moonchild (4 Track Demo) 04:00		buy track
15.	Sick Friend (4 Track Demo) 04:21		buy track
16.	Who is the Mona Lisa? (4 Track Demo) 03:50		buy track
17.	Chrome Halo (4 Track Demo) 04:09		buy track
18.	Paul is Dead (24 Track Demo) 03:30		buy track
19.	Do the Pony (4 Track "Trio" Demo) 03:24		buy track
20.	Sparrow Song (4 Track Demo) 04:02		buy track
21.	Mink Emeralds Play (8 Track Recording) 05:22		buy track

about

Creators of what Uncut Magazine editor Allan Jones lauded as “timeless, brilliant music,” Shiva Burlesque was founded by
transplanted northern Californians Jeffrey Clark and Grant-Lee Phillips, emerging from the alternative music scene of subterranean
Hollywood/Downtown Los Angeles in the mid-1980’s. Drawing comparisons to everything from John Cale to Echo & the
Bunnymen to early Leonard Cohen, and described by All Music Guide as “a powerful and graceful band too post-punk to be
folk rock, and too folk to be post-punk”, the group forged its eclectic (and at times hallucinatory) sound in Raji’s, the Anti Club,
The Scream and similar fly-by-night L.A. venues of the time. Shiva Burlesque released a pair of vivid, multi-faceted albums: Shiva
Burlesque (1987) with drummer Joey Peters and bassist James Brenner; followed by Mercury Blues (1990), again with Peters on
drums, Paul Kimble replacing Brenner, and featuring cellist Greg Adamson. Between the two albums the songwriting output by
Clark and Phillips elevated into high gear, and the band recorded a number of new songs in demo versions, mostly on a home
studio eight track cassette machine with Paul Kimble engineering. Work began on the Mercury Blues album proper in early summer
of 1990, tracking (largely after-hours during “down time”) at Village Recorders, one of the best equipped, finest sounding,
studios in Los Angeles at the time. Along with the intense and potent results of those sessions, IPR’s beautiful, remastered, 2021
reissue includes a bonus album of ten of the demo songs, none of which have ever been previously released. Although both
Shiva Burlesque albums garnered high praise in the US and in Europe, (“… a trip into startled wonder”: Melody Maker, 1988);
and resonated deeply with tuned-in listeners, they found scant commercial success in the proto-Grunge / pre-Shoegaze era;
and the group disbanded in late 1990, (thereby helping to midwife the also excellent Grant Lee Buffalo).

credits

released February 25, 2022

Performers: Jeffrey Clark (vocals, acoustic guitar); Grant-Lee Phillips (electric and acoustic guitar, vocals); Paul Kimble (bass, vocals); Joey Peters (drums, tabla, percussion).

Publishing credit per each track: Jeweled Explosion Music (BMI) and Storm Hymnal Music (BMI) for all tracks.

license

about

Shiva Burlesque Los Angeles, California

Shiva Burlesque was founded by
transplanted northern Californians Jeffrey Clark and Grant-Lee Phillips, emerging from the alternative music scene of subterranean
Hollywood/Downtown Los Angeles in the mid-1980’s.Shiva Burlesque released a pair of vivid, multi-faceted albums: Shiva
Burlesque (1987) followed by Mercury Blues (1990). ... more

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First off I’m unbelievably excited this recording exists. Bonus is this label rules. So much care put into the packaging, fair pricing, postcards, and the ever important handwritten thanks. Peace, love, and take care. Your efforts on this document are greatly appreciated! popetones
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