| Life in Exile After Abdication | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Moe Tucker | ||||
| Released | 1989 | |||
| Recorded | March 1988, June – October 1988 | |||
| Studio | Noise New York, West 34th St, New York City; Mirror Image, Gainesville, Florida | |||
| Genre | Alternative pop, rock, post-punk | |||
| Label | 50 Skidillion Watts[1] | |||
| Producer | Moe Tucker | |||
| Moe Tucker chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Robert Christgau | B+[1] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [3] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [4] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [5] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10[6] |
Life in Exile after Abdication is the second album by Moe Tucker, released in 1989.[7][8]
Production[edit]
Rather than performing all of the instruments herself, as on her debut album, Tucker is accompanied by Lou Reed, Jad Fair, Daniel Johnston, and all four members of Sonic Youth.[9]
Critical reception[edit]
Robert Christgau wrote that "'Work,' 'Spam Again,' and 'Hey Mersh!' are Amerindie knockouts, lived postpunk takes on the grind and release of lower-middle class adulthood, a subject rock and rollers usually leave to Nashville company men."[1] Trouser Press wrote that "Tucker’s loose and unpredictable Life in Exile offers a little of everything, all performed and recorded with ramshackle casualness."[9] The Chicago Reader called the album "a tour de force recording that wedded noisy indie guitar textures to songs of blue-collar rage, fueled by [Tucker's] years as a divorced mother of five trying to support her family on a Wal-Mart paycheck."[10] The Washington Post wrote that "anyone who ever loved Maureen Tucker -- and that surely includes all true Velvet fans -- will find Life in Exile, motley as it is, irresistible."[11] The Spin Alternative Record Guide deemed the album Tucker's "finest solo outing."[6] The New Yorker thought that the album "demonstrated an abiding love for Bo Diddley rock and girl-group pop, played as if by dinosaurs and sung as if by a choirgirl."[12]
Reed selected the album as one of his "picks of 1989".[13]
Track listing[edit]
All tracks written by Moe Tucker except where noted.
- "Hey Mersh!" – 3:16
- Maureen Tucker – vocals, guitar
- Lou Reed – lead guitar
- Kate Messer – guitar
- Hank Beckmeyer – guitar, bass
- Joe Martinelli – drums
- Scott Jarvis – drums
- "Spam Again" – 5:25
- Maureen Tucker – vocals, guitar, percussion
- Jad Fairs – lead guitar, percussion
- Kate Messer – 12-string guitar, percussion
- Hank Beckmeyer – slide guitar, percussion
- Scott Jarvis – drums
- Kim Gordon – percussion
- M. C. Kostek – percussion
- "Goodnight Irene" (Huddie Ledbetter, John A. Lomax) – 2:29
- Maureen Tucker – lead vocals, guitar
- Kate Messer – backing vocals
- Hank Beckmeyer – backing vocals
- Joe Martinelli – backing vocals
- "Chase" – 8:07
- Thurston Moore – guitar, arrangement
- Lee Ranaldo – guitar, arrangement
- Hank Beckmeyer – guitar, arrangement
- Kim Gordon – bass, arrangement
- Maureen Tucker – drums, arrangement
- Jad Fairs – cymbals, arrangement
- Kate Messer – congas, arrangement
- "Andy" – 5:08
- Maureen Tucker – vocals, guitar, piano
- Hank Beckmeyer – guitar
- Jad Fairs – guitar
- Kate Messer – acoustic guitar
- "Work" – 3:38
- Maureen Tucker – vocals
- Hank Beckmeyer – lead guitar, bass
- Kate Messer – guitar
- Barry Stock – bass
- Scott Jarvis – drums
- "Pale Blue Eyes" (Lou Reed) – 6:44
- Maureen Tucker – lead and backing vocals, drums, guitar
- Lou Reed – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Hank Beckmeyer – guitar, backing vocals
- Kim Gordon – bass, backing vocals
- Jad Fair – backing vocals
- Kate Messer – backing vocals
- Scott Jarvis – backing vocals
- Daniel Johnston – backing vocals
- Rob Elk – backing vocals
- Don Fleming – backing vocals
- "Bo Diddley" (Ellas McDaniel) – 5:07
- Maureen Tucker – lead and backing vocals, guitar
- Kim Gordon – bass, backing vocals
- Steve Shelley – drums
- Kate Messer – backing vocals
- Hank Beckmeyer – backing vocals
- Scott Jarvis – backing vocals
- Jad Fairs – backing vocals
- "Talk So Mean" – 4:59
- Maureen Tucker – vocals, guitar
- Kate Messer – 12-string guitar
- Ann Marie Ear – piano
- Kim Gordon – bass
- Scott Jarvis – drums
- "Do it Right" (Jad Fair, Daniel Johnston) – 3:10
- Maureen Tucker – vocals
- Daniel Johnston – vocals, piano
- Moejadkatebarry Bonus Tacks
- "Guess I'm Falling in Love" [Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker)
- "Baby What You Want Me To Do" (Jimmy Reed)
- "Why Don't You Smile Now?" (Lou Reed, John Cale, Vance, Phillips)
- "Hey, Mr. Rain" (Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker)
Personnel[edit]
- Moe Tucker – guitar, percussion, piano, drums, vocals, arrangements, production, mixing
- Barry Stock – bass
- Jad Fair – guitar, percussion, cymbals, background vocals
- Kate Messer – acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, electric guitar, percussion, conga, background vocals
- Hank Beckmeyer – bass, guitar, percussion, background vocals, slide guitar
- Lou Reed – guitar on tracks "Hey Mersh!" and "Pale Blue Eyes"
- Kim Gordon – bass, percussion, background vocals
- Thurston Moore – guitar
- Steve Shelley – drums
- Lee Ranaldo – guitar
- Don Fleming – background vocals
- Daniel Johnston – piano, vocals, arrangement on "Do it Right"
- Scott Jarvis – drums, background vocals
- Ann Marie Ear – piano
- Rob Elk – background vocals
- Mike Kostek – percussion
- Joe Martinelli – percussion, drums, background vocals
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Robert Christgau: CG: Moe Tucker". www.robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Life in Exile After Abdication at AllMusic
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Volume 8: MUZE. p. 282.CS1 maint: location (link)
- ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1195.
- ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 719–720.
- ^ a b Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. pp. 415–416.
- ^ "Moe Tucker | Biography & History". AllMusic.
- ^ Buckley, Peter (February 10, 2003). "The Rough Guide to Rock". Rough Guides – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "Maureen (Moe) Tucker". Trouser Press. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Meyer, Bill. "Moe Tucker". Chicago Reader.
- ^ Jenkins, Mark (September 13, 1989). "THE REMAINING HALF OF HALF JAPANESE" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
- ^ Greenman, Ben. "Moe, Then a Feeling". The New Yorker.
- ^ Rolling Stone, March 8, 1990
