Los Angeles, California: It’s twelve years since Danish industrial legend Claus Larsen, aka Leæther Strip, introduced his AEppreciation series of albums, each one a wild cornucopia of dynamic covers, reimagined and, in the process, wholly reinvigorated in a style that only Claus has truly mastered.
Soft Cell, Daniel Miller, Dead or Alive and David Bowie were among the artists whose music informed that first volume; since then, Claus has revisited favorite songs by Marianne Faithfull Kim Wilde, Adam and the Ants, Nena and Kraftwerk (the latter pair across a volume dedicated to German rock), Billy Idol, Propaganda, Duran Duran and so many more, alongside stand-alone tributes to The Cure and Halloween.
Now comes Appreciation IX, releasing on July 24 but previewed today with “Sin,” Leæther Strip’s interpretation of a cut from ex-Throbbing Gristle mainstays Chris & Cosey, originally heard on their 1991 album Pagan Tango. It’s a dark, sensual piece of music, certainly one of their strongest later recordings, and Claus treats it with all the respect it deservers, at the same time as unmistakably placing his own imprimatur on the performance.
SINGLE: https://orcd.co/leatherstrip_sin
Appreciation IX itself is another themed edition, with Claus explaining, “With this edition of my Æppreciation series, I wanted to pay tribute to some of my favorite LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ+ friendly artists and songs. They have all been a huge inspiration for me and shown me that there was a place for me to express myself with my own songs.”
Tracks originally recorded by Man 2 Man (“Male Stripper”), Peaches (“I U She”), Throbbing Gristle(“Discipline”), Coil (“Heaven’s Blade”) and Boytronic (“Trigger Track”) illustrate the sheer depth of this collection, as Claus is swift to point out.
“The whole industrial/electronic genre has from the very beginning been represented by the Queer community in a big way, so I feel it time to wave the flag for these amazing artists.”
That his selection here delves deeper into period club culture than any of the preceding volumes only adds weight to its assertion - particularly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the era most heavily represented on the album, the burgeoning industrial scene was one of the truly “safe spaces” around.
Clubs like The Church in Dallas, TX (subject of the Cleopatra DVD/bluray Dark Sanctuary: The Story Of The Church), the Vogue in Seattle, WA and so many more - remain legends for precisely that reason and, placing Appreciation IX on either the turntable or the CD deck is like walking into any of those clubs, and knowing there was nothing to fear.
Even the drinks were often reasonably priced!
CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=Le%C3%A6ther+Strip+-+%C3%86ppreciation+IX
DIGITAL: https://orcd.co/leatherstrip_appreciationix
Track listing
Sin
Dark Allies
Male Stripper
Sulk
Run From Love
I U She
Discipline
Heaven’s Blade
Trigger Track
Joy
