Cause For Complaint - Remastered & Expanded!

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Regular: £10.99

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Cat No: SPCD1021S

Release Date: 13 September 2024

Label: Steam Pie Records

Packaging Type: Digipak

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 5060124840093

Genres: Folk Folk-Rock

Description

An old scratched vinyl album and a battered cassette tape stuck in the back of a drawer have opened a stunning new window on Wales' greatest struggle...all thanks to the magic of artificial intelligence.
Forty years ago this year, the Miners' Strike cut a savage swathe through the fabric of Welsh life: a year-long battle against pit closures documented by Welsh folk supergroup The Chartists and their epoch-defining album Cause For Complaint.
But as time passed, the album sold out, The Chartists disbanded. And songs that spoke of the working-class struggle against the juggernaut of government - as relevant today as they ever were - gradually fell silent.
Until, at the end of 2021, a miracle of happened - courtesy of Lord Of The Rings film director Peter Jackson. Jackson helped pioneer a way to use artificial intelligence to bring rough Beatles recordings back to crystal clear life.
Watching developments were the two remaining performing members of The Chartists - songwriter Wynford Jones and multi-instrumentalist Geoff Cripps - and their original producer Tony Williams.
Williams, constantly fascinated with the newest technology, takes up the story: "It was a mountain to climb," he says, "but as I ran the songs through program after program of AI, separating voice from instrument, music from noise, it was like digging a diamond out of the earth and rubbing away the mud to reveal a jewel. Bit by bit, something magical was coming through my headphones."
The miraculously reborn album, Cause For Complaint, is released on September 6, along with those bonus tracks from the BBC session.
It is a treasure trove of superlative playing, memorable tunes and lyrics that speak to the economic struggles of today as much as they ever did.
Wales's pre-eminent modern songwriter Martyn Joseph is in awe of the album. "I can't recall a moment in my lifetime when we needed the siren call of protest more than now," he says. "We need the spirit of these songs...to remind ourselves of who we truly are."
Tracklisting