Zodiac Youth To Release “Carnival Of Souls” On Vinyl Through Creation Youth

Zodiac Youth‘s Carnival Of Souls is a previously unreleased double album from the High Priest of Love himself, Zodiac Mindwarp (Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction), and Youth (Killing Joke). The album, that features posthumous contributions from Nik Turner (Hawkwind) and Brian James (The Damned / The Lords of The New Church), was recorded when this self-confessed band of ‘cosmic dudes’ felt the calling over the years. Carnival Of Souls has been assembled by Youth from these various meetings and sessions, the album will be released on double coloured vinyl through Creation Youth Records on double coloured vinyl on the 18th September. Zodiac Mindwarp suffered a catastrophic brain injury earlier this year, you can read about his health issues and how to help spread awareness of the campaign to ensure he has appropriate care put in place here.

“Where this bizarre persona of Zodiac Mindwarp came from I’m not sure. Certainly, the name was inspired by Spain Rodriquez comic strip. We spent a lot of time hanging out together in the early eighties going to clubs, the Batcave, Billy’s, Skin Two, Astral Flight, Rusty Egan’s Camden Palace, tuning into the vibes. The genesis came when we went on holiday together in Formanterra, I was 25 and Zed a few years older but he had never been in a plane or got out of the country before. Whilst living in a cave writing journals, reading poetry and a hostel painting angel’s and demons on the marble floors as well as a few nights as beach bums dissolving into the dust and cosmos and Zed sitting in a tree for two days, in his y fronts trying to prove sleep was a conspiracy. We were ingesting copious amounts of LSD. From these star addled minds came the concept of Zodiac Mindwarp And The Love Reaction. Imaginary cartoon characters with crazy cosmic names, with Zodiac’ satirical persona being a mix between the exhumed corpse of Elvis, biker Jesus good looks with the acid poetry of Bukowski and Beefheart. The band itself was the Stooges meets James Brown Via Hunter S Thompson, in the desert with Jim Morrison, the bastard child of Zeppelin and The Damned’s 1st album with Bukowski, Belushi and Ginsberg on acid … in short filthy blues punk. The revelations continued once we returned to London. A hastily assembled line up of Zed, myself on bass, Jimmy Cauty on guitar and Jake Le Measurier on drum did a couple of show case gigs. The label cheque books were flashed and one of the biggest deals inked was secured by Bill Drummond and Balfie, mangers I brought to the table from my previous band Brilliant. Once Zed signed the band were swiftly dispensed with and sacked by management, for younger better looking cats. I was 26! FFWD a few years and the brief flare of initial success has waned, the Mindwarp had been dropped and Zed was at a loose end. Meanwhile my own production and mixing star trail was on turbo charge and I felt we had unfinished business, so we began recording again. Late 80’s we released Fast Forward The Future on WAU Mr Modo with Orb Remixes. In the 90’s we released The Devils Circus, an album of Goa trance remixes with some of Zed’s narratives. Still considered stone cold classics of the genre. But by the 2000’s We hooked up again and started recording and revisioning the transitions we received in Formanterra. This time as initially intended, Raw Rock and Roll. These recordings are the result of our journey over the last 20 yrs or so. Most have never been released and only a hand full of gigs together. A lot of industry people misunderstood Zed’s persona as Zodiac and didn’t want to work with him. Though Bill Drummond recognised his genius throughout, bringing him in for KLF events as well as coco-writing many books with him.  Zodiac isn’t Mark but Mark is sometimes Zodiac. Zodiac is a construct, a cynical scream, a dark satire of the cliche, a black mirror to us all. The cod rock star of yore. like Spinal Tap on crystal meth and bad acid. Nevertheless, the mask reveals a truth. There is purity in the unfiltered menace of Zodiacs malcontent, his wrestling with identity became real as the mask took over, possessed him, like the red shoes, but with patent leather, it almost killed him. It’s all in the songs and storytelling, the abandonment of reality, the bad drugs, the carousel of sex, lust and suffering, the ruinous relationships with dark noir, femme fatales. It’s art because it’s honest, even through a dark mirror mask.  There are deeply repressed real emotions exploding through the glam ego of a crucified Elvis.  The band conjure up a fierce noise, relentless repetition of bass and shredding guitar licks, all recorded in one or two takes, it’s punk, it’s rock. It’s noise, it’s beautiful in its filthy essence. The band are on fire, they know what’s happening and add vicious razor slashes to the vortex of Intensity of this acid Baptist, unholy seer that is Zodiac. he is dancing with snakes, talking in tongues, a rapture of insanity, testifying his outsider stooges ministry not to an audience, not to the band, not even to himself but to the desert wind in his far away eyes. Zodiac’s church is the under the thunderstorms and stars, amongst the prickly pears and salt white beaches, and dark caves of Formanterra.” (Youth)