Name: Mutator
Brand: Alan Vega

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

SBR271lp

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2021-04-23

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Secre­tly

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

843563135228

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

SBR271cd

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843563135242

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Alan Vega

Genre US

Label US

Alan Vega (1938-2016) was an American musician, vocalist, and sculptor. He gained recognition as a visual artist for his "light sculptures" before venturing into music. Alongside Martin Rev, he formed the influential electronic duo Suicide, known for their minimalist and aggressive sound. After disbanding in 1980, Vega pursued a solo career, exploring his rockabilly identity. He released several albums with Suicide and as a solo artist, incorporating drum machines and effects with free-form prose. Despite health issues later in life, Vega continued to create music until his passing.

In addition to his musical endeavors, Vega was also an accomplished painter and exhibited his artwork in various shows throughout New York City. His final studio album 'IT' was released posthumously in 2021 and featured original artwork by Vega himself. Sacred Bones Records has since released 'Mutator', the first of many unreleased materials from the Vega Vault.

Alan Vega's contributions to electronic music continue to inspire artists today, solidifying his legacy as a pioneering figure in the genre.

New Wave / Post Punk

Alan Vega’s name is synonymous with unfettered, tireless creativity. Beginning in the late 1950s, when he was a fine art student at Brooklyn College, through his years playing in Suicide, and all the way up until his death in 2016, Vega was constantly creating. That process naturally led to a wealth of material that didn’t see the light of day immediately when it was recorded, which came to be known as the Vega Vault. Mutator is the first in a series of archival releases from the Vault that will come out on Sacred Bones Records. Mutator was recorded alongside Vega’s longtime collaborator Liz Lamere at his NYC studio from 1995-1996, and it serves as a document of a particularly fertile time in his creative life. He had 11 full-length solo albums come out during the ‘80s, ’90s and ‘00s — plus numerous collaborations, and Suicide records A Way of Life and Why Be Blue. Mutator wasn’t shelved intentionally, but Vega’s back-to-the-grindstone M.O. meant that he had moved on to making his next record before this one was finished. Lamere and Vega’s friend and confidante Jared Artaud (The Vacant Lots) rediscovered the raw, unmixed recordings from the Mutator sessions in the Vault in 2019. Soon after, they mixed and produced them into the visionary album that was lurking within those tapes. “Our primary purpose for going into the studio was to experiment with sound, not to ‘make records,’” Lamere recalls. “I was playing the machines with Alan manipulating sounds. I played riffs while Alan morphed the sounds being channeled through the machines.” At the time of the Mutator sessions, Vega was massively inspired by what was happening in the streets of New York — not only the hip hop scenes that were exploding throughout the outer boroughs, but also the literal sounds of the streets, the traffic noise and industrial ambience of city living. That influence trickled into the sounds he and Lamere captured in those sessions. That sensibility, paired with Vega’s unmistakable voice and force of personality, is what made it the great album it is now. The final piece was the production job, completed by Lamere and Artaud 25 years after the songs were first captured. “Mutator bridges the gap between the past and present,” Artaud says. “It’s something we feel he would have been really proud of, seeing this lost album released today. In so many ways, his music is needed now more than ever.”

Mutator

Music US

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