MFANS

The correct title of this article is M:FANS. The omission of the colon is due to technical restrictions.

2016 studio album by John Cale

M:FANS

Studio album by

John Cale

Released| 22 January 2016
Recorded| 2013–2015
Studio| A.R.M. Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Genre| Experimental rock, industrial rock, electronic music
Length| 53:43
Label| Domino/Double Six, Electric Drone
Producer| John Cale
John Cale chronology
| Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood
(2012)  | M:FANS
(2016)  | Mercy
(2023)

|
|

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
Metacritic| 76/100[1]
Review scores
Source| Rating
AllMusic| [2]
The Line of Best Fit| (8/10)[3]
Loud and Quiet| (8/10)[4]
Pitchfork| (6.0/10)[5]
Under the Radar| (8/10)[6]

M:FANS is the sixteenth solo studio album by Welsh musician and composer John Cale. It was released in January 2016 on the Double Six Records imprint of Domino Recording Company. Produced by Cale, it features new versions of songs from his 1982 album Music for a New Society. "Close Watch" was the album's lead single. It was released in November 2015 and features Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors.[7]

## Background

[edit]

In a statement Cale recounted the process of making the album, and how the 2013 death of former bandmate and collaborator Lou Reed had informed it:

> Losing Lou [too painful to understand] forced me to upend the entire recording process and begin again...a different perspective - a new sense of urgency to tell a story from a completely opposite point of view - what was once sorrow, was now a form of rage. A fertile ground for exorcism of things gone wrong and the realization they are unchangeable. From sadness came the strength of fire!!![8]

## Accolades

[edit]

Publication  | Accolade  | Year  | Rank

|
|
|

The Quietus | Albums of the Year 2016  | 2016  |

92[9]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks composed by John Cale; except where indicated.

1. "Prelude" – 2:17
2. "If You Were Still Around" (Cale, Sam Shepard) – 5:18
3. "Taking Your Life in Your Hands" – 5:43
4. "Thoughtless Kind" – 5:27
5. "Sanctus (Sanities Mix)" – 5:19
6. "Broken Bird" – 5:10
7. "Chinese Envoy" – 3:51
8. "Changes Made" – 3:54
9. "Library of Force" – 3:09
10. "Close Watch" – 5:15
11. "If You Were Still Around (Choir Reprise)" (Cale, Shepard) – 4:44
12. "Back to the End" – 3:34

## Personnel

[edit]

* John Cale – vocals, voice, noises, keyboards, organ, piano, electric piano, guitar, electric guitar, programmed guitar, bass, programming, synthesizer, drums, viola, samples, production, recording, mixing
* Dustin Boyer – guitar, guitar synthesizer, bass, loops, programming, drum machine, drum programming, drums, mixing, recording
* Deantoni Parks – keyboards, noises, loops
* Joey Maramba – synth bass
* Ralph Esposito – synth bass
* Alex Thomas – drums, samples
* Matt Fish – cello
* Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – viola
* Thomas Lea – viola
* Jessy Greene – violin
* Chris Bautista – trumpet
* Amber Coffman – vocals on "Close Watch"
* New Direction Church – choir
* Benjamin Goodman – choir director
* William Arthur George Cale – voice
* Margaret Cale – voice

Technical

* Adam Moseley – mixing, recording
* Nita Scott – mixing, executive producer

## Charts

[edit]

Chart (2016)  | Peak
position

|

Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] | 74
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] | 188

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "M:FANS - John Cale". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
2. ^ Deming, Mark. "M:FANS - John Cale". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
3. ^ Oinonen, Janne (21 January 2016). "John Cale's M:FANS offers a refreshingly barbed take on the much-sampled 'classic album' concept". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
4. ^ Wisgard, Alex (January 2016). "John Cale: M:Fans". Loud and Quiet. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
5. ^ Anderson, Stacey (25 February 2016). "John Cale: M:FANS / Music for a New Society - Album Reviews". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
6. ^ Lucas, Dan (20 January 2016). "John Cale: FANS / Music For a New Society". Under the Radar. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
7. ^ Grow, Kory (17 November 2015). "See John Cale Attend Dreamlike Masquerade in Eerie 'Close Watch' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
8. ^ "John Cale Reworks Music for a New Society as M:FANS, Reissues Original Album". Pitchfork. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
9. ^ "The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016". The Quietus. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
10. ^ "Ultratop.be – John Cale – Music for a New Society / M:FANS" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
11. ^ "Ultratop.be – John Cale – Music for a New Society / M:FANS" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2016.

* v
* t
* e

John Cale

Studio albums|

* Vintage Violence
* Church of Anthrax (with Terry Riley)
* The Academy in Peril
* Paris 1919
* Fear
* Slow Dazzle
* Helen of Troy
* Honi Soit
* Music for a New Society
* Caribbean Sunset
* Artificial Intelligence
* Words for the Dying
* Songs for Drella (with Lou Reed)
* Wrong Way Up (with Brian Eno)
* Last Day on Earth (with Bob Neuwirth)
* Walking on Locusts
* HoboSapiens
* blackAcetate
* Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood
* M:FANS
* Mercy
* Poptical Illusion

Extended plays|

* Animal Justice
* 5 Tracks
* Extra Playful

Live albums|

* June 1, 1974 (with Kevin Ayers, Brian Eno and Nico)
* Sabotage/Live
* John Cale Comes Alive
* Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
* Fragments of a Rainy Season
* Le Bataclan '72 (with Lou Reed and Nico)
* Circus Live
* Live at Rockpalast

Soundtrack albums|

* Paris s'eveille - suivi d'autres compositions
* 23 Solo Pieces for La Naissance de L'Amour
* Eat/Kiss: Music for the Films by Andy Warhol
* Dance Music
* Process

Compilation albums|

* Guts
* Seducing Down the Door: A Collection 1970−1990
* Close Watch: An Introduction to John Cale
* The Island Years
* Gold
* New York in the 1960s: Sun Blindness Music
* Inside the Dream Syndicate, Vol. I: Day of Niagara
* Inside the Dream Syndicate, Vol. II: Dream Interpretation
* Inside the Dream Syndicate, Vol. III: Stainless Gamelan
* Conflict & Catalysis: Productions & Arrangements 1966−2006

Related articles|

* Discography
* Productions
* Filmography
* The Velvet Underground
* Theatre of Eternal Music

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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