Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
Encyclopedia
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is the second album
by the British indie
and psychedelic rock
band
Kula Shaker
. The album was released on 8 March 1999 and reached #9 in the UK Albums Chart
, during a chart stay of 10 weeks. It was less successful in the U.S., however, where it failed to break into the Billboard 200
album chart. It was preceded in April 1998 by the "Sound of Drums" single
which reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart
. Two further singles were taken from Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts: "Mystical Machine Gun", which was released concurrently with the album and peaked at #14 in the UK, and "Shower Your Love
", which was released in May 1999 and also reached #14 on the UK charts. None of the album's accompanying singles charted on the Billboard Hot 100
in America.
Initial recording sessions
for the album were produced
by John Leckie
but the band soon decided to bring in producers George Drakoulias
and Rick Rubin
instead. Eventually Drakoulias and Rubin were rejected by the band and Bob Ezrin
was brought in to complete the album. As a result of this, the production credits for the album's lead single, "Sound of Drums", name Drakoulias and Rubin as producers, while the rest of Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is produced by Ezrin. Like its predecessor, K, the album continues the band's hybrid of 1960s-style psychedelic rock
, groovy indie pop
, and Indian instrumentation
, albeit with a more progressive rock
slant than on previous releases. Musically, many of the songs make use of Beatles
-influenced psychedelic effects, swirling guitars, and Indian chants. This musical eclecticism prompted the band themselves to refer to Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts as their "kitchen sink album".
The album was partly recorded at the Astoria
recording studio
, a houseboat-studio owned by Pink Floyd
guitarist, David Gilmour
. During production, the album was given the working title
of Strangefolk, as lead vocalist
Crispian Mills
revealed during a BBC Radio 2
interview on 10 September 2007. Mills explained that the album's title was only changed to Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts at the last minute before release. However, the rejected album title was later reused for the band's 2007 comeback album, Strangefolk
.
In addition, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was originally intended to feature the song "Strangefolk", a 10-minute long track that began with the spoken introduction "In the beginning was the word, and the word was...'Om Keshavaya namah aum'." Ultimately, this track was not released on the album but an excerpt of it was included as a hidden track
on the 2002 compilation album
, Kollected: The Best of Kula Shaker
. Another song entitled "Strangefolk" was included on the 2007 reunion album but despite its identical title, this song is not the same as the Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts outtake
.
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was re-released in a 10th Anniversary, 2 CD
edition on 20 January 2010. The 10th Anniversary edition included an expanded running order for the original album, with the outtake song "Strangefolk" included, as the band originally intended. It also featured previously unreleased demos
, alternate versions of songs, and new artwork.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the British indie
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by outspoken frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a number of Top 10 hits on the UK Singles...
. The album was released on 8 March 1999 and reached #9 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, during a chart stay of 10 weeks. It was less successful in the U.S., however, where it failed to break into the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart. It was preceded in April 1998 by the "Sound of Drums" single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
which reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Two further singles were taken from Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts: "Mystical Machine Gun", which was released concurrently with the album and peaked at #14 in the UK, and "Shower Your Love
Shower Your Love
"Shower Your Love" is a song by Kula Shaker. It first appeared on their second album Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts in March 1999 and then as a single in its own right two months later. It reached #14 on the UK Singles Chart.-Releases:...
", which was released in May 1999 and also reached #14 on the UK charts. None of the album's accompanying singles charted on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in America.
Initial recording sessions
Studio recording
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.-Studio cast recordings:...
for the album were produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by John Leckie
John Leckie
John Leckie is a British music producer, notable for producing many high-profile albums such as The Stone Roses's debut and Radiohead's The Bends...
but the band soon decided to bring in producers George Drakoulias
George Drakoulias
George Drakoulias is a Greek-American music producer and A&R executive at the American Recordings label. He is often considered a protege of Rick Rubin....
and Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
instead. Eventually Drakoulias and Rubin were rejected by the band and Bob Ezrin
Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan "Bob" Ezrin is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, known for his work with artists including Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004.-Biography:...
was brought in to complete the album. As a result of this, the production credits for the album's lead single, "Sound of Drums", name Drakoulias and Rubin as producers, while the rest of Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is produced by Ezrin. Like its predecessor, K, the album continues the band's hybrid of 1960s-style psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, groovy indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
, and Indian instrumentation
Indian musical instruments
Indian musical instruments can be broadly classified into four categories, mainly classical, western and folk. See Carnatic music and Hindustani music. The instruments are further sub-classified into the type based on the science behind the same....
, albeit with a more progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
slant than on previous releases. Musically, many of the songs make use of Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
-influenced psychedelic effects, swirling guitars, and Indian chants. This musical eclecticism prompted the band themselves to refer to Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts as their "kitchen sink album".
The album was partly recorded at the Astoria
Astoria (recording studio)
Astoria is a grand houseboat, adapted as a recording studio by its owner, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. It is moored on the River Thames near Hampton Court...
recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
, a houseboat-studio owned by Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
guitarist, David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
. During production, the album was given the working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
of Strangefolk, as lead vocalist
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
Crispian Mills
Crispian Mills
Crispian Mills is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the son of actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, the grandson of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell , nephew of Juliet Mills and Jonathan Mills, and half-brother to Jason "Ace" Lawson...
revealed during a BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
interview on 10 September 2007. Mills explained that the album's title was only changed to Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts at the last minute before release. However, the rejected album title was later reused for the band's 2007 comeback album, Strangefolk
Strangefolk (album)
Strangefolk is the third album by Kula Shaker, the first album since the band reformed. The album has received mixed reviews since its release...
.
In addition, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was originally intended to feature the song "Strangefolk", a 10-minute long track that began with the spoken introduction "In the beginning was the word, and the word was...'Om Keshavaya namah aum'." Ultimately, this track was not released on the album but an excerpt of it was included as a hidden track
Hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
on the 2002 compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, Kollected: The Best of Kula Shaker
Kollected - The Best of
Kollected: Best of is a 2002 compilation album by Kula Shaker.-Track listing:# "Sound of Drums"# "Into the Deep"# "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There"# "108 Battles "# "Start All Over"# "Hey Dude"# "Drop in the Sea"...
. Another song entitled "Strangefolk" was included on the 2007 reunion album but despite its identical title, this song is not the same as the Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts outtake
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
.
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was re-released in a 10th Anniversary, 2 CD
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
edition on 20 January 2010. The 10th Anniversary edition included an expanded running order for the original album, with the outtake song "Strangefolk" included, as the band originally intended. It also featured previously unreleased demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
, alternate versions of songs, and new artwork.
1999 Original Edition
- "Great Hosannah" (Crispian MillsCrispian MillsCrispian Mills is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the son of actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, the grandson of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell , nephew of Juliet Mills and Jonathan Mills, and half-brother to Jason "Ace" Lawson...
) - "Mystical Machine Gun" (Crispian Mills, Kula ShakerKula ShakerKula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by outspoken frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a number of Top 10 hits on the UK Singles...
) - "S.O.S." (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Radhe Radhe" (traditionalTraditional musicTraditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, arranged by Crispian Mills, Gouri ChoudhuryGouri ChoudhuryGouri Choudhury is a British singer and music teacher of Bangladeshi origin.-Education:In 1984, Gouri Choudhury completed her Secondary School Certificate and then in 1985, she attended Sylhet Academy of Fine Arts and gained a diploma in Folk Songs...
) - "I'm Still Here" (Crispian Mills)
- "Shower Your Love" (Crispian Mills)
- "108 Battles (of the Mind)" (Crispian Mills, Alonza BevanAlonza BevanAlonza George Bevan is best known as the bassist for the English rock band, Kula Shaker.In between Kula Shaker splitting in 1999 and reforming in 2006, Bevan played in a number of groups including Johnny Marr's band, The Healers.- References :...
) - "Sound of Drums" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Timeworm" (Crispian Mills, Alonza Bevan)
- "Last Farewell" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Golden Avatar" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Namami Nanda-Nandana" [aka "Nanda-nandanāṣṭakaḿ"] (traditional, arranged by Crispian Mills)
- "Stotra" [hidden track]
Disc 1
- "Great Hosannah" (Crispian Mills)
- "Mystical Machine Gun" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "S.O.S." (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "I'm Still Here" (Crispian Mills)
- "Radhe Radhe" (traditional, arranged by Crispian Mills, Gouri Choudhury)
- "Shower Your Love" (Crispian Mills)
- "108 Battles (of the Mind)" (Crispian Mills, Alonza Bevan)
- "Sound of Drums" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Timeworm" (Crispian Mills, Alonza Bevan)
- "Last Farewell" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Golden Avatar" (Crispian Mills, Kula Shaker)
- "Namami Nanda Nandana" (traditional, arranged by Crispian Mills)
- "Strangefolk" [the original title track]
- "Stotra"
Disc 2 (Astronauts Anthology)
- "Sound of Love" [Bearsville Studios Session, which became Sound of Drums]
- "Avalonia"
- "Golden Avatar" [Band Demo]
- "Strangefolk" [Band Demo]
- Roger Morton Interview with Crispian and Alonza recorded on 13 November 2009 in London about the making of Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts